Today’s blog post is an excerpt from my friend David Francis’ latest book, One Hundred. He and co-author Michael Kelley wrote the book with the smaller church in mind. Smaller churches are important in kingdom work. Smaller churches are more prevalent than mega-churches. Smaller churches may be making disciples in ways that larger churches are not.

In the book One Hundred, David Francis addresses the topic of education space for kids. What he says is true – they need the best space the church has to offer. Here are his thoughts about providing great space for kids:

I seldom talk with a church leader who is satisfied with the number of young families his or her church is reaching. Here is a simple axiom: If you want to reach families with kids, you’ve got to devote the best rooms to kids. Bright rooms. Clean rooms. Well equipped rooms. With well equipped leaders. Nothing makes a more positive first impression with a parent than workers who have arrived early, set the room up with appropriate activities that invite kids to learn, turned on a music CD, and then kneel to greet a new child on his or her eye level and express how glad they are to see them. These are simple acts that make a world of difference to newcomers. Do you have great expectations that new families – with kids – will come to your church every week? Then get ready for them!

Here are a few other ways to make sure that your kids rooms are the best they can be:

1. Place young adult rooms in proximity to the younger children’s rooms. Parents will be more relaxed when the place they meet for Bible study is close to the place their kids are located.
2. Regularly evaluate the toys and equipment in your kids rooms. Toys need to be tossed out periodically and replaced with new ones.  Also, make certain that equipment is appropriate in size for the age group using each room.
3. Don’t forget how rooms smell! Clean, bright, well-equipped rooms are great, but if unwanted smells have crept into the carpet or other areas, it’s time to give the room a floor-to-ceiling cleaning.