Mike Johnson

Meet Wonder and Palette!

Have you met Wonder and Palette yet? They are the two newest characters in Elevate Jr! Wonder and Palette will be a consistent part of each new Elevate Jr. series. They bring even more fun to the Biblical teaching your preschoolers get from Elevate Jr!

Welcome to the Elevate Dojo!

The series we currently have in production is Dojo, the first series of Elevate peak 4! Check out these iPhone photos taken during some of our shoots. The folks you see are a mix of FC Kids staff and volunteers. You'll even see some real live kids!

     

 

          

Elevate Year 4 is Here!

The fourth "peak" of Elevate has arrived... and Renee Huisinga was the closest to guessing all seven themes. So close, in fact, it was almost scary! Congratulations Renee!

The seven themes are as follows: 

Dojo: Practicing The Right Moves For A Successful Christian Life

The Great Race: Learning To Never Give Up 

At The Big Top: The Three-ring Circus Life Of Some Of The Bible's Most Interesting Characters 

Roanoke Jones, Ace Detective: Using The Bible To Solve Life's Mysteries

Power Up: Learning To Control Your Character

Allaso Ranch: Getting Away And Getting To Know God 

Professor Playtime's Christmas Shop of Wonders: Come Experience The Wonders Of Christmas

These subtitles apply to Elevate; Elevate Jr. will continue to use the same basic themes to teach lessons that are age appropriate for our preschoolers.

For more Elevate Year 4, check out the fly-over of our newest peak!
 

Final Elevate Year 4 Map - Can You Guess It?

Here is the final version of the Elevate Year 4 map, minus the titles. Notice the previous maps in the background. Cool, huh?

This is your last chance to guess the themes and win a prize! Whoever gets closest to all seven themes will win a $25 gift card to Amazon.com. In the comments on the last map, someone gets every theme almost right, except the top right corner. No one has that yet! If you follow @elevatekids on Twitter, you should know the bottom right theme (it's the one we are working on now and will be the first released in year 4.)

Give your answers in the comments by April 12 and you just might be the winner!

Behind the Scenes: New Elevate Jr. Song

This is an iPhone video of our songwriter, Ryan McMackin, playing a new Elevate Jr. song during a deadline meeting for our next series, Dojo.  After hearing it, I decided we should shorten the song by 15 seconds and change the “play, play, play” lines to lyrics about learning. Can’t wait to hear the final version!

 

 

Children's Ministry - The Fun Factor

When it comes to teaching children, you have to capture their eyes and ears so that the Holy Spirit can capture their hearts. To do that, you need to make sure they are having fun. Fun is the currency of a child. If they think something is fun, they will want to do it. If they don't, then they will not want to do it. It's that simple. Just ask any kid if he or she would rather go to the doctor or Disney World. You'll get your answer quickly. So it stands to reason that if you want a child engaged, attentive, and involved in your ministry, you need to make sure they are having fun.

I don't believe that having fun in church means "making fun" of the Bible or the applications of the Bible to our lives. I just believe that having fun while learning is the best way to create an experience that can increase the retention of knowledge and encourage the children to return.

So, if you want to make a church experience meaningful for kids, make it fun.

C3 Kids West Starts Today!

Hey everyone, here we are in Sunny San Diego for C3 Kids West! If you 
can't be here (sorry) then be sure to follow along on Twitter under 
the tag #c3kidsWC. All our "twitterers" will give you minute by minute 
coverage!

If you couldn't make C3 Kids Dallas either, make plans now to attend 
C3 Kids East Coast in October. Dates and location will be announced 
next week!

It's all about volunteers...

 
 

Elevate Year 4 Map - Can You Guess It?

Development on Elevate Year 4 is well under way. The first series has been approved and is being written right now!

Above is the second rendition (but still not the final) of the Year 4 map. By looking at the above map can you guess what the 7 series are? Take a look at the last map I posted (the first rendition) because 2 of the themes were guessed correctly...hmmm, I wonder which ones? Don't forget that the prize will go to whoever can guess the 7 themes correctly first, so give it a guess!

CPC Nashville is Here!

Below are a few photos taken with our iPhones as Creative Pastors sets up the Elevate booth for CPC Nashville 2010. I’ll be at the booth some so if you're here, be sure to drop by and say hi.

   
  

Elevate Year 4 Map Will Be Unveiled Soon…

Hard to believe but Year 4 of Elevate is upon us! We are in the stage of developing the concept drawings for the Year 4 map. If anyone can guess what the seven series are from this image I have something pretty cool that I will send you. The offer is only available until I post the next concept drawing. Come on, give a guess...what have you got to lose?