Involve Preschoolers in Helping Others

Do missions and tell others about Jesus. This is one of the missional characteristics we want preschoolers to develop through missions discipleship. We wouldn’t take a group of preschoolers on a missions trip, so how can we do missions with preschoolers? Through Helping Others activities!

Mission Friends Leader, WMU’s missions discipleship curriculum for preschoolers, includes a section called “Helping Others Activities” on the “Meet the Missionaries” page for each month.

Helping Others activities are simple ways of involving preschoolers in doing missions themselves. In Helping Others activities, preschoolers make something, give something, or do something for other persons.

A Helping Others activity is more effective if the preschoolers actually know the persons they are helping. The Helping Others activity might involve doing something for a family member, neighbor, pastor, or other church helper they know.

Once in a while, you might involve preschoolers in helping people they do not know, such as making things to share with people in a nursing home or homeless shelter. In Big Enough to Help Others, Rhonda Robbins-Reeves states, “Take preschoolers with you to make deliveries whenever possible.” When not possible to take preschoolers, ask a representative from the home or shelter to visit your class to receive the items from your preschoolers.

Though we do not involve preschoolers in witnessing to others, we do want them to know they can share God’s love with others. In each Helping Others activity, help preschoolers understand how they are sharing God’s love with the persons they are helping. Say to preschoolers, “We can tell people about Jesus and His love.” As part of Helping Others activities, be sure to pray with preschoolers for the persons they are helping.