So this hideous orange puppet's been gathering dust in our supply closet forever. I mean ugly. Like someone's craft project went horribly wrong. Always figured puppets were for people who couldn't teach properly.

Last week I'm dying up there trying to get kids to care about honesty. Complete silence. One kid's literally asleep. Out of sheer panic I grab this ratty thing and start talking in this ridiculous voice.

Boom. Every single kid perks up and starts spilling their guts to this piece of fabric. Stuff they'd never tell me in a million years. Jake confesses he broke his mom's favorite mug and blamed the dog. Emma admits she's terrified about starting middle school.

We're talking about how kids will have heart-to-heart conversations with dollar store socks but won't make eye contact with real adults. Why being awful at puppet voices actually works better. What happens when you stop trying to control everything and let things get weird.

You think puppets are embarrassing? Wait till you hear what kids will tell them. Your pride might not survive but your ministry definitely will.

For anyone who's ever felt like a complete fraud standing in front of kids, wondered why simple things work better than fancy ones, or just needs permission to be ridiculous in the name of Jesus.
Check out KidsMinistry.Blog for more ideas, tips, and resources to help your Children's Ministry thrive!"