I did it! I was able to capture the attention of the hyper and tired (&ADHD) kids with Hands On Learning. I guess I cannot take full credit. Obviously God was showing me a way this past Wednesday night. I taught our kindergarten through second graders the story of Nadab and Abihu. They learned that God always has a plan and His plans are perfect. We cannot simply change His plans. We learned that we must show God honor and respect or it leads to death. Thankfully, God sent His son to die for us giving us grace, life in Him.
Teaching this lesson is a lot of fun since kids enjoy the idea of fire consuming these men; however, leading up to this part can be a bit dry. When teaching a super ADHD child, and I mean really, really hyper, I had to have a plan of my own. (To give you an idea of my hyper student, she was early to class, running circles around the tables telling me she ate peanut butter and it made her nutty. I love it!). First task was to get her and the others in their seats. I put on a short animated bible video (I just used my iPad. Our classes are small.) and turned out the lights. This worked like a charm. After 10 minutes, it was time for a prayer and everyone participated. Now for the lesson. How do you get kids, especially tired and hyper ones to pay attention?
Mini dry erase boards. Amazing! I divided my talk into 12 drawing points. I gave them something applicable to the story to draw. They wanted guidance so I’d walk them through each drawing step by step. Then, I’d tell that part of the lesson while they added to their drawings. They’d erase and we’d do it again for the next part. And for kids, stick figures are great because they can draw those. You don’t need to be an artist. I have to say, I was so impressed with their rams. Every child did it! Most importantly, the kids all listened, participated and answered questions. (Take a look at the video to see how this can be done so easily.)
Make sure to change things up so kids don’t lose interest. Draw on mini dry erase boards one week, post it notes another and on mini clipboards another. They are always drawing and engaged, just using different supplies so they don’t realize it’s pretty much the same thing. I have also hung butcher paper around the room but they tend to get out of hand if standing; so, I’d put chairs around the room next time. If you try any of these ideas, please share your experience.
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