Tip of the Week: Manage Transitions

     Transitioning from one activity to the next seems to be one of the most challenging aspects of leading a successful Crossroads Kids Club program. It seems like things can come unglued rapidly at these times of moving from large group to small group and from small group to games. I want to offer three simple tips that may help manage these transition times.
     First, it is very important to be explicitly clear on what the students need to do and when. For example, saying, "Everyone go to your small group." is not nearly as effective as saying, "I would like the members of the blue group to raise your hands. Great! Blue group: When I say, 'Go!' I want you to follow Jennifer to the corner by the side door and to sit down and get to work as quickly and quietly as you can. Where's the red group? Raise your hands. Great! Red group: When I say, 'Go!" I want you to follow Jeff to the corner by the window (point to corner) and to sit down and get to work as quickly as you can. In fact, let's see which team can get to their place and get started the quickest. Ready? Go!" In the second example, you will notice that I took a lot of time to explain the transition. I made sure that each student knew they were involved in this transition by asking them to raise their hands. I gave them a clear direction about who to follow, where to go, and what to do when they got there. I also told them when they should start making this transition and even introduced an element of fun (competing against the other team to see who could get started first) into the transition.
     Second tip: Give the students some "lead time." What I mean by this is to let them know that a transition is coming. If you are playing games and large group is coming up, you might say, "We're going to play one more game for about five minutes, and then it will be time to get into large group."

     The third tip is simply to publish a schedule of your club activities on a poster on the wall. You can refer to it each week in large group so that the children understand the agenda for each club session. Giving the students an awareness of the various activities in advance orients them to what is ahead and helps them to transition. A schedule can be like a map that helps to guide the group toward a destination.

What are some other ways that you successfully manage transitions in your club or ministry?