Take a look around you. What do you see? What sounds do you hear? How does the space feel to you? Your environment helps inform and store all of the information you take in about a place. It’s why a doctor’s office feels differently than a concert venue—one feels clean and bright while the other feels dark and full of energy.
This isn’t just true for our favorite (or least favorite) places to be but also for our ministry spaces. On Sundays, we might think learning starts with the sermon, but in reality, the process of learning begins the moment kids walk through our doors. So it’s probably time to be strategic about building the right environment.
In every series of Grow, we’ve crafted an engaging theme for each teaching series that complements what we’re teaching. Then, we created an environment around it. This helps tie together all of the teaching, activities, visuals, and experiences your kids will experience, and it complements all of the Bible stories you’re sharing.
Here’s every theme you’ll find in Grow Kids Volume 8 and how it connects with the series!
BLAST OFF
In our free series, Blast Off, we’re talking about how to “launch” your faith in Jesus to greater heights. We’ll be using the theme of rocket ships and outer space.
GAME PLAN
The theme for Game Plan is sports because we’re talking about trusting and following God’s game plan!
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The theme for Under Construction is construction because we’re talking about building our lives on the foundation of God’s wisdom!
ALONG THE WAY
The theme for Along the Way is travel because we’re talking about Job’s journey of faith!
UNSUNG HEROES
The theme for Unsung Heroes is superheroes because we’re talking about how God is our hero and helps us be heroic, too!
JOY STORY
The theme for Joy Story is toys because we’re talking about how the gift of Jesus brings us the greatest joy!
CAMP BELIEVE IT
The theme of Camp Believe It is camping because we’re talking about how to live out our faith in the “wild!”
MIRACULOUS
The theme for Miraculous is aquariums because we’re talking about the miracles of Jesus involving water and fish!
BIG PICTURE
The theme for Big Picture is movies because we’re talking about how Jesus sometimes teaches us through stories!
FULL BLOOM
The theme for Full Bloom is larger-than-life gardens because we’re talking about how Jesus gives us new life and helps us grow!
WHAT’S NEXT?
The theme for What’s Next? is mazes and puzzles because we’re talking about how the Early Church had to figure out how to follow Jesus and spread the good news!
FIRED UP
The theme for Fired Up is baking because we’re talking about how Elijah was fired up (usually literally) for God!
IMAGINE THAT!
The theme for Imagine That! is art class because we’re talking about the amazingly creative ways God showed up through Elisha!
That’s the plan for Volume 8 of Grow Kids! No matter which curriculum you’re using, you need a strategy for your weekly environments. A great way to make your weekly environment strategic is to give it a theme that complements what you’re teaching.
If you’re using Grow Kids Curriculum, we’ve already done this work for you. With every month of curriculum, we provide a monthly theme that complements the teaching content and includes everything you need to theme your program in our Environment Guides —decor ideas, editable graphics, music suggestions, games, funny characters and sketches, take-homes, coloring pages, and more.
In this post, here’s what we’ll cover: