The KIDStory Format - A Summary

Hi KIDStory friends,

Here's a brief summary of the KIDStory format, just to give you a bit of a refresher, in case you aren't using it and would like to.

1. Opening
2. Background
3. Tell the Story
4. Retell the Story
5. Discovery and Response Questions

OPENING

A time for the kids to get engaged in sharing with one another something that is linked with one of the possible themes of the lesson. (Could be a game or a question that results in sharing with one another).

BACKGROUND
This is a short background on the story for the day - need not be more than a minute, and could be one of the following

1. Geographical background
2. Cultural context of the day
3. Explanation of difficult words
4. Preceding story

Remember, not to to into the story of the day yet. This is only to set the stage for the story.

TELL THE STORY

This is the time you tell the story to the children in one of many creative ways - a few are mentioned below:

• First Person: as though you were one of the characters in the story
• Third Person: as a storyteller
• Art: paper, crayons, markers
• Objects: cloths, spray bottle
• Drama
• Hand Motions
• Audience Participation
• One reads the story, while others enact it

RETELL THE STORY

Following the telling of the story, get the children to retell the story to one another. This too can be done in more than one creative way, so as to engage the children actively, as well as to help them remember the story. Ensure that they Retell the story with accuracy and in sequence. The reason behind Retelling the Story is so they remember the stroy well enough to go and tell their friends in their neighbourhood or school etc. Some of the creative ways to Retell the story are below:

• Games
• Art
• Drama
• Music
• Writing

DISCOVERY AND RESPONSE QUESTIONS

The last, and for many of us, the best and most effective part of the KIDStory Format is the Discovery and Response Questions, where we ask kids the the following 3 kinds of questions:

• Head Questions - mostly open-ended (some closed-ended) questions pertaining to the facts and information in the story, the thoughts of the characters in the story, the thoughts of the children as they engage in the story, learnings from the story etc.
• Heart Questions - questions pertaining to the emotions of the characters in the story, or that of the children as they engage in the story.
• Hand Questions - questions pertaining to what the children had learnt through the story or what they would do differently as a result of what they've learnt through the story.

While asking questions, feel free to share your thoughts, feelings, learnings and decisions as well, since many of the children we reach out to won't be from Christian backgrounds, and with their lack of Biblical knowledge, it's possible for them to take the discussion off-track. 

Note: To encourage children to open up and share during the questions session, tell them that you aren't looking for right answers per se, but rather that you want them to share their thoughts, feelings, learnings and decisions. This lightens the burden of responding to questions. 

There are other things that the Training Manual covers, that I haven't included in this brief summary - feel free to read through the manual.