1. Jesus Loves: How We Can Help Children Ages
3-5 Experience Jesus
by Laura Hebling
posted 6/15/07
This article is third in a series that answers the question "What are we doing?"
You can read Yes, Jesus Loves Me to understand the big picture.
Preschoolers love action.
They want to play, sing, dance, tie their shoes, write their names, create and
recreate games and stories, and build block towers only to knock them down
again. How fitting, then, that these same children—between three and five years
old—are able to learn that God and Jesus are active, present, and do amazing
things! Jesus doesn't merely exist, but he walked on water, calmed storms,
healed sick people, and came back to life. He even continues to love and help us
today.
Of course none of this is news to you or me—but it can be wildly exciting stuff to
learn for young kids. We, as children's ministry workers, will build up Jesus'
importance in the minds and heart of preschoolers when we focus on what he's
done and what he wants us to do. In other (simpler) words that summarize this
concept: Teach preschoolers that "Jesus loves," and that we can love, too!
But How?
Before jumping straight into the Bible lessons to teach young kids, let's take a
quick look at a more subtle, less talked about concept. Here's what I mean: One
way preschoolers experience Jesus as an active, loving person is through feeling
secure when they hear about him; a big issue when you're small. Around age
three, kids become prone to separation anxiety because they're old enough to
realize that mom and dad just left them in the care of someone else—and yet
they remain young enough to fear mom and dad won't come back.
Our ministry strives to have consistent leaders and teachers in the rooms to
promote emotional security among the kids. Here's how this works: When kids
see the same faces week after week and learn that these adults are here to play
with them, teach them, and take care of them until mom and dad return, then
they will start to piece together the fact that church is a safe place. It's then that
youngsters can begin to trust these adults and what they're teaching—as well as
associate that feeling of safety with the person of Jesus.
Leader consistency heightens the ability for preschoolers to learn because the
kids' energy turns from focusing on their anxiety to hearing and participating in
the lessons. Not to mention the fact that the concept of "Jesus loves" is much
easier for kids to grasp when the same teacher they've learned to trust not only
tells the kids verbally, but also demonstrates it with his/her commitment to them.
Does your ministry highlight consistency among your volunteers as a high value?
Have your volunteers bought into the concept of "being Jesus" on a regular basis
for their kids?
Okay, now let's look at how preschoolers experience Bible stories taught each
weekend. Sure, they hear that God and Jesus exist. But they also hear about the
incredible active roles God and Jesus play in these stories. We reinforce the
ministry and magnificence of Jesus through a single key concept for each lesson—

2. the one phrase kids walk out the door saying each week that reinforces the day's
Bible story.
Up through age two at our church, kids have heard about Jesus, God, and basic
truths from the Bible articulated with simple statements: Jesus loves me all the
time, God made me, God gives us friends, the Bible has true stories, and many
more. Jesus and God are present in these early key concepts, but at an
introductory level—meaning we introduce kids to the fact that God and Jesus
exist.
Starting at age three, the lessons make a definitive shift. Key concepts build on
those introductory truths and now describe who Jesus is through what he does
and what he wants us to do: Jesus wants us to love others, God always keeps his
promises, Jesus can do anything, and I can trust him.
Each key concept purposefully contains a personal application—what Jesus wants
us to do—that serves as another step in laying a foundation to help kids
eventually walk into a personal relationship with him. Oh, how preschoolers love
to learn what they can do and how they can act! And to build on that desire to
actively participate in learning, we also add simple motions to our key concepts to
reinforce each lesson (pointing up for "God" and "Jesus", giving ourselves hugs
for "love"). The physical movement helps kids remember what they learned, and
enables the lesson to repeat the key concept in various ways to make it fun and
challenging.
A Lesson That Stuck
A few months ago, we taught the story of the Good Samaritan to our
preschoolers. The key concept of the day was "Jesus wants us to be kind to
everyone," and in small groups the kids explored different ways they could be
kind to others (sharing, helping, taking turns, giving a hug).
The next week, I was playing with a group of four and five-year-olds at an
activity station before the program. The kids near me were busy constructing
towers of chutes and loops and flying their marbles through their personal
obstacle courses. Soon all extra pieces were used up and kids who wanted to play
had to wait until someone decided to leave. I watched one little boy who had
patiently built up his marble course. As he was about to send his few marbles
down the chute, another boy twice his size came up next to him. He whispered
something that made the smaller boy smile, open his hand, and offer his marbles
to another boy waiting for a turn. The new player took a marble, noticed I was
watching them, held it up, and pointed to the first boy, saying, "He is letting me
play with him! He's being kind to me!" I affirmed how polite and kind they were
to each other and asked if they knew who else wanted them to be kind. Both of
them answered, "Jesus!"
I don't know how many details those boys remembered from the previous week's
lesson, but they sure embraced the key concept. And they were so proud of the
fact that they were doing something Jesus wanted them to do! While some Bible
stories focus on specific actions of Jesus, this story illustrated how he wants us to
love others. But wait; Jesus did do something in this story—he told the story.
Why? To teach a lesson. A clear example of the key concept that "Jesus want us
to be kind to everyone."
Does your ministry challenge kids in fun and intentional ways to be like Jesus and
to do what he teaches us to do?

3. Kids in the three to five-year-old ages enter the stage of life where they begin to
choose how they act. We have the opportunity to encourage them to act as much
like Jesus as possible. So let's make a concerted effort to teach our preschoolers
that "Jesus loves" and that Jesus wants us to love others, too. Because the
simple, pure faith of preschoolers, when nurtured to be like this Jesus who
they've heard so much about, can easily grow into a lasting, active relationship
with Him.
And preschoolers love action.
Laura Hebling teaches and develops lessons for the age four/five room in Promiseland, the
children's ministry of Willow Creek Community Church.
Copyright © 2007 Promiseland.