The launch of Cape Town's Kidz Zone

Kidz Zone is a fun, funky and happening place for kids to learn how to become more like Jesus.

1.      The Need

Even though the old Kids Kingdom Curriculum was excellent and served its purpose, it was time to re-energise the Kids Ministry with a fresh and exciting new curriculum.

2.      The Solution

After much research, discussion and prayer, the South African Kids’ Ministry Leaders, in conjunction with the South African Missions (SAM) Regional Leaders, decided to implement the 252 Basics Curriculum.

This curriculum is named “252 Basics” after Luke 2:52 “and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.” 

The lessons go beyond bible stories and are focused on teaching the children key virtues.  The ultimate goal is to teach the children about imitating Jesus’ character.  Each month has one main focus, for example kindness. The lessons are simple but effective and take into account the developmental stages of each age group.

We downloaded the lessons from the www.252basics.org website and appointed a Curriculum Coordinator whose sole responsibility was to take the lessons and make them more relevant to South African children.

3.      The People

Firstly, potential teachers were hand-picked and all received individualised letters inviting them to teach in the next session.  Once we had received all the replies and allocated everyone to the right class at the right time (Sunday or Midweek), a training session was held for all the new teachers.  This took place at a Midweek Service and each teacher received an interactive CD and a booklet with all the rules and regulations, an overview of the new lessons and a guide to who’s who in the new Kidz Zone Ministry.

A Welcome Party was held at Croyden Wine Estate. The purpose of this event was to spend time with the new teachers and allow them to develop relationships with one another.  Each one also received a small welcome gift. 

The teachers received a month of lessons, reproducibles and materials which will enable them to be completely prepared for the month ahead.

Each teacher has been chosen because of their passion for children and desire to serve them.  We want each of them to feel like this is the only place where they want to be.  The teaching term is six months long, but we are hoping that they will beg to teach for longer.

4.      The End Result

Two weeks before the launch, a presentation was done to the church, explaining what was going to happen and why the changes were being made.  Small “Kidz Zone” chocolates were handed out to each person attending church that day and the excitement started…

On the 2^nd March 2008, Kidz Zone was officially launched.  A banner was made, each teacher was kitted out in a new Kidz Zone T-shirt and all the Coordinators were on duty to make this event spectacular.  A red carpet was rolled out from the front door to the steps and Kidz Zone footprints completed the pathway to the classrooms.  The Coordinators handed out brochures to each parent, explaining the changes and inviting them to contact us with any questions.  The children were greeted by a clown and a fairy who handed out Kidz Zone chocolates to each child.

Some of the responses from the teachers so far include:

“I love how easy the lessons are to teach, they are so user-friendly”

“It is obvious a lot of effort has been put into making these lessons work”

“The Training Session we had really made me excited about serving in the Kids’ Ministry”

The excitement has also spread to the children:

“I love the new logo”

“I enjoyed the launch”

“I like the new name”

We are still in the early days, so it is difficult to judge the success of the changes, but, judging by the positive response, Kidz Zone can only go from strength to strength!