One of the best ways to engage an audience full of kids is to bring a few of their peers on stage. To many storytellers I know, the very thought of having kids on stage to help with the story gives them heart palpitations. It’s true, when you work with kids, there’s a chance that a child could derail the storyline or not cooperate or start crying or throw you off or…

Let’s face it, any number of unexpected moments are possible when you start to include kids in the story. But here’s the thing. The reward of what happens when kids are included in the Bible story is worth risking the unknown.

Your fears are probably legitimate. We’ve all been in an audience where the child on-stage didn’t cooperate with the storyteller. But here are some answers to help you overcome those fears.

“What if I pull up a child who’s never heard the story before and doesn’t know how to respond to the action?”

We have a huge heart for kids and never want them to feel uncomfortable. However, research shows that kids learn through tension. As the storyteller, you can guide them to how they should “fight Goliath” or “complain like the Israelites” within the context of the story. Who knows? How you explain complaining or fighting may be a lightbulb moment for someone in the audience as well.

Even if kids do know the story, they may freeze on stage when asked to say what David or Joseph might have said. Be ready with a quick phrase that you can “feed” to the child to help them win in the moment.

“The story calls for eight kids. I only have eight kids, no one will be in the audience.”

You don’t need an audience to tell a good story. In fact, those kids will learn more about the story your telling if they’re all immersed in the action on stage. They move from passive learning to active learning, from watching to experiencing. This is most often not a bad thing.

“My time is limited, and it takes more time to choose the kids from the audience and wait for them to come on stage.”

This is a true statement. Depending on the size of your room and the number of kids, this could take a while. Here’s an idea: as kids are coming into the room, preselect the children you’ll need for the story. Have them sit towards the front of the room. They’ll be ready to come on stage when you need them.

Adding kids to the story will lengthen the story as well, simply because there’s more wait time as the child figures out what to do or say. Knowing that beforehand allows you to tweak the story to fit within your time constraints.

Those are just a few simple ideas to get you started. How do you incorporate children into the Bible story? Share your thoughts below!

Sometimes we take Bible storytelling to kids for granted. After all, they’re kids right? They follow along wherever you take them. What choice do they have? So we put anyone on stage, hand the person a Bible, and say “Go!”

Truth be told, that just doesn’t cut it. Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told deserves more than slap on the back and a “you can do it” to reach into the hearts of young ones. We need to know what we’re doing.

Sharing the Bible story in church (or wherever) should be treated with both respect and care for the art of storytelling. While people spend years developing the craft of making words come to life in the imaginations of people everywhere, there are a few simple ideas that you can use that will help you tell a great story. Over the next few days we’ll unpack a few those ideas. First up, the fine art of memorization.

Memorize the words, but make them your own.

You can’t effectively share the story unless you know the story.

Most storytellers have some sort of script they either wrote themselves or borrowed from a curriculum or script. While someone probably a good deal of time crafting those exact words, as the storyteller, you still must make them feel like your own. Of course there will be some phrases that you’ll want to deliver word for word (bottom lines or REALLY good sentences), but for the most part get the story in your head and deliver it.

If you try and memorize every single word on the page, you’ll be worrying about every single word. The story might come across as stiff and robotic. Making the story your own will make it feel comfortable and engaging.

Try this:

Rather than memorize every single word on the page, memorize the big ideas of the story that keep it moving. This will force you to find the best way for you to tell the story.

If there are key phrases that you need to capture, rehearse not only the words but how you want to deliver them. If you’re getting caught up on the exact words and tone of voice in rehearsal, chances are you’ll get hung up in the “performance” as well. Make sure that the delivery of those specific phrases from the script is as clean as the ones that come from your own head.

My parents recently attended the memorial service for a long-time friend of our family. As we FaceTimed with them last night, my mom was sharing a great story about how she was singing at the church the night this man came to faith in Jesus.

This is how the conversation went down:

My Mom: “… so we realized that I was at the church the night he went forward.”
Elli (7) – “He went bald?”
Jenna – “No he got out of the pew and went forward down the isle.”
Elli – “He fell forward—what’s a pew?”
Mom, Jenna, and Dan: *bent over laughing and feeling ancient*

And why would she know what “pews” are or what it means to “go forward”? She’s never been in a kids environment where they had chairs for large group. She’s never attended a church where there were pews in the main auditorium.

These vocabulary words and phrases that once were crucial to how you talked about what happens at church are virtually obsolete, save for a nostalgic story or a decent find at an antique market.

When you attempt to Refine the Message, choosing the right word, idiom, or colloquial phrase is important. What you say this month, might not be cool to say next week and might garner empty stares a year from now. Choosing the right word every single time is hard work yet absolutely necessary if we want kids to understand the message.

Jenna eventually was able to help Elli understand that Mr. Taylor put his faith in Jesus and was rescued. Jenna refined the message using words familiar to Elli.

We laughed, but at the same time we once again realized the importance of words when we talk to our 21^st-Century kids about Jesus.