Middle School Ministry Podcast

It's such a blessing to have students in our ministries who are different! When it comes to students with special needs, they have a set of needs that ought to be addressed and met. Both Michelle and Ronald have and have had students with special needs in their ministries. This episode breaks down some strategies to help you think through how to help out the families who have students with a different set of needs than the rest of the group.How are you communicating with the parents of special needs students?What space have you set up for when your student needs a moment?Who can you have champion your special needs student on a regular basis?Why is it important to keep the conversation going with the student's parents?Mentioned on the podcast: DYM Community Podcast NetworkGot a middle school ministry question?Email talkingsquirrelspodcast@gmail.comNeed student ministry resources?Check out www.downloadyouthministry.comDo you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!Social Media:InstagramTwitterFacebook

Sunday Morning Squirrels:Woohoo! Sex talk time! Ok, maybe not everyone is excited about this, but that's alright. We had a great start to a potentially awkward and wonderful series!Countdown Video:Silly SalmonYup. Just silly. My students really enjoyed this video! It was definitely silly and hopefully they don’t copy all the pranks.Games:Fail GuessRelationships sometimes go great. Sometimes not. A fail game is a great way to talk about it! We had a good time bringing up everyone with a March birthday to play this!Feed the TurtleFunny game with the whole crowd! You've got to be a DYM Gold Member to get it though. Click the link and see what the buzz is about!Songs:Alive10,000 ReasonsBible Study:God Guys and GirlsThis was a great start to a series we are super pumped to get going! Instead of talking about sex right away, we focused on all relationships. Students were really dialed in!Main Idea:Unless I’m wholeheartedly pursuing a relationship with Jesus, all other relationships will be an attempt to fill that void. Scripture:Genesis 2 and 3Exodus 20:3Resources:One month free Sidekick and DYM Gold Member Access: Click here!

We all post to social media. Whether it's for our personal pages or for our ministries, putting up a quick pic is something we all do!Have you ever put up something that you later thought might not have been the best? Or has a recent Facebook memory from seven years ago made you cringe?Or have you ever stopped to ask a student, "Hey, before I post this are you cool with the pic and the description?" This week, Ronald and Michelle break down what it means to ask a student for their opinion before you put something about them up on social media.When you post something with a student in it, are you celebrating them? Championing them? Or trying to get a laugh?Have you ever asked a student if it was ok to post their picture or quote before? What happened?Are you posting to benefit yourself, your ministry, or your student?What's happened the last time you asked a parent for permission to post their student's photo?Mentioned on the podcast: DYM Community Podcast NetworkGot a middle school ministry question?Email talkingsquirrelspodcast@gmail.comNeed student ministry resources?Check out www.downloadyouthministry.comDo you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!Social Media:InstagramTwitterFacebook

Sunday Morning Squirrels:After a great trip to California, I’m back and it’s Sunday with the Middle School ministry! Between helping the children’s ministry with technical difficulties and watching some students be ridiculous during worship, today was a great (and very normal) morning program!Countdown Video:Thomas the Train StuntsSometimes the videos you can find on the internet are not only ridiculous, they're pretty impressive too! This was a weirdly neat video we showed this Sunday!Games:Maze CrazeLast week’s movement game was a bust   This week it was awesome! My students were REALLY into this game from DYM and it was a lot of fun. Four pieces of colored paper on the walls and we were ready to go!Sync'd UpThis was an easy upfront game. Students got called up in pairs and had to shout the same thing in the category on the screen. Great game!Songs:Alive10,000 ReasonsBible Study:This was one VERY violent Bible study lesson! Seriously this is a crazy story, but it helped us communicate to students that you can do SO MUCH and still have a legacy that leaves much to be desired. We talked about how we can live in such a way that when people think about us, they think about Jesus.Main Idea:Leave a legacy of faith.Scripture:2 Kings 9-10Resources:One month free Sidekick and DYM Gold Member Access: Click here!

Middle school students are great. But sometimes they're also punks. Michelle has a rule in her group: Don't be a jerk.Our students don't always live by that rule.But we get to watch them grow, mature, and change over time.Sometimes... a long time.This week Michelle and Ronald talk about how to handle the punk kid, even when they end up on stage to play a game.What are your plans for dealing with that student?Who are your adults that you can partner with the rough student?Why is it important to have a plan in your head for when students are jerks?Mentioned on the podcast: DYM Community Podcast NetworkGot a middle school ministry question?Email talkingsquirrelspodcast@gmail.comNeed student ministry resources?Check out www.downloadyouthministry.comDo you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!Social Media:InstagramTwitterFacebook

Sunday Morning Squirrels:What a Sunday morning! It was a fun and crazy morning, but we made and students really got challenged by the lesson! Good times all around.Countdown Video:People are Awesome and Some FailsThis was a fun video, but if your group doesn't appreciate some shirtless or sports bra stunts, skip it and find something similar!Games:Castle SiegeWe played a move around game with this interesting take on the lesson. Each team had a bucket up on the wall and were given a straw and a pile of Q-Tips. The goal was to try to get as many Q-Tips in another team's bucket as possible. Five minutes to get as many as they could! Pro tip: test your props first!Old Testament or Scary MovieAnother good game that went with the rather crazy story we were looking at today! Students enjoyed it and got stumped at some of the questions as well!Songs:Give Me FaithBurn Like a StarBible Study:Even when things are terrible, God is not only there, but He is faithful and loving to us! We looked at the really terrible siege of Samaria. It was a good reminder of whenever we are in seemingly hopeless situations, God is faithful to us!Main Idea:God is faithful, even when we are not.Scripture:2 Kings 6:24 - 2 Kings 7:20Romans 5:8-10Resources:One month free Sidekick and DYM Gold Member Access: Click here!

Who in their right mind would talk to middle school students about sex?Well, people who are in their right mind of course!Someone is talking to your middle school students about sex. It might be the parents, but it might also be social media, Netflix, their buddies, Tik Tok and porn.This week Ronald and Michelle talk about what doing a sex series with middle school students looks like and how they approach it. Be brave!How do you communicate to parents that you're going to talk about sex?What tools can you put in the parent's hands to empower them?Why do middle school kids giggle so much when we talk about doing it?Mentioned on the podcast: Ronald is doing this series by Derry Prenkert on DYM: God, Guys, and GirlsMichelle is doing this series by Orange: None of Your BusinessGot a middle school ministry question?Email talkingsquirrelspodcast@gmail.comNeed student ministry resources?Check out www.downloadyouthministry.comDo you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!Social Media:InstagramTwitterFacebook

Sunday Morning Squirrels:Sunday mornings are crazy and fun all at the same time. Today was definitely both and why I love Sundays with middle school students!Countdown Video:Things You Take for Granted in Video GamesHonestly, this video wasn't great. I edited it to make it shorter, but it was just ok. You can use parts of it if you want, but I wouldn't. I'd go with another video.Games:Clumps Vol 2This game was a blast! Students were up and moving and having a great time during the whole thing! Highly recommended. Get Sidekick too!The Secret MoveThis game should be fun. But our group didn't love it. Maybe it's just our group. They couldn't get the idea that they were just supposed to cheer and not MIME the movements. Oh well.Songs:10,000 ReasonsThis Is Amazing GraceBible Study:The kings of Israel were terrible. Like, the worst. Ahaziah was a king who fell out of a window and thought he would die. So he tried to reach out to Baal, when he was the king of ISRAEL. Elijah reminds us that we should reach out to God when we face times of trouble.Main Idea:Don't ignore God when you face trouble, include Him!Scripture:1 Kings 22:51-53 - 2 Kings 1:1-18John 15:1-8Resources:One month free Sidekick and DYM Gold Member Access: Click here!

You finally got your students to camp! It's been a crazy ride of getting all the paperwork in, the money collected, and the leaders all lined up.And then the camp speaker starts to talk. And you disagree with... most of it. What do you do? It's happened to us all (and if it hasn't yet, it will). This week Michelle and Ronald talk about what they have done in the past when they disagree with the camp speaker and how they've turned that bad experience into a chance for growth.How do you still respect the speaker without agreeing with them?What tools do you give your leaders when they talk to your students?What things do you bring up with your students?Who do you talk to about the things you disagree with?Mentioned on the podcast: DYM Community Facebook GroupGot a middle school ministry question?Email talkingsquirrelspodcast@gmail.comNeed student ministry resources?Check out www.downloadyouthministry.comDo you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!Social Media:InstagramTwitterFacebook

Sunday Morning Squirrels:We finally made it through January! Does anyone else feel like this month was a whole year long? Just me? Ok then. We started a new series called "Retro" this week where we are going to look at some of the Old Testament kings and what we can learn from them.Countdown Video:Bad Day at WorkWhat a fun way to connect students to the king of our story today! Asa was a young king whose first job was probably not what he wanted it to be. Games:Color MixerLast week's mixer was a win. So I wanted to create one this week for our group! It's not amazing, but it's one you could use. Click the link above to get it and use it with your group.Missing WordThree words that form a group. Students have to figure out what word connects the other three. Great game for the students who come up on stage!Songs:AliveGive Me FaithBible Study:New series! We begin looking at the kings of the Old Testament and see what lessons we can learn from them. From Asa, we talked about how he had TERRIBLE examples but still did what was right first. We should not wait for someone else to do what's right, but we should do it first!Main Idea:Be the first to do right.Scripture:1 Kings 14:21-241 Kings 15:1-15Resources:One month free Sidekick and DYM Gold Member Access: Click here!