Paper Trails and Children's/Youth Ministry

It’s been the time of Sunday school and congregational picnics and now many churches are into scaled-back summer programs. Some just invite their kids and youth to join them in the service, perhaps providing colouring or other quiet activities. Ideally, this is a time to involve others on Sunday mornings so that regular leaders can have a much-needed break.

This is also often the time that the Sunday school coordinator or equivalent starts to look at the accumulation of papers and crafts and curriculum in each learning space and tries to not pull his or her hair out. You may be lucky and have leaders who chip away at this through the year or manage to sort it early so that cherished items and creations are handed out at that wonderful year-end picnic to be taken home. But my hunch is that for many, the task has not yet begun.

Going through the accumulation of paper is easy for some and not so easy for others. I admit to my hoarding tendencies – “we may use that worn book again sometime”, “that craft sample could be good for a PA day program”, etc. And while some have no problem chucking stuff, we also need to be mindful of what it is that we’re disposing of and how. Here are some suggestions as you embark on classroom cleanout:

1. I’m a firm believer that the work of our kids is important. As much as possible, try to have names put on items as they are created so that kids can later decide whether they want to keep them. Having a file for storing finished and unfinished projects for each learner helps with this and then it can be emptied at the end of the school year. In the past, I’ve laid out unnamed work for a few Sundays during coffee time to be claimed. Whatever is left after the prescribed time goes in recycling unless it took a considerable amount of effort and resources. Those pieces I tuck away for a bit longer.

2. Consider decorating the learning space with some of the kids’ work if they don’t want to take it home and/or want to share it with others. This honours their unique contributions and learning and is a nice welcome back for September. This needs to be balanced with the freshness of new classes and potentially new leaders wanting to decorate their space, but you could still put it on a bulletin board in a main area.

3. Good recordkeeping for the safety of learners does produce paper. Ideally, there should be an updated learner information form each fall and for each special event day and VBS to help leaders best provide for your kids. These should be held onto in a place only accessible to leaders until they are replaced with the next year’s form. Because they include confidential information, old forms should be shredded.

4. Curriculum packs, take home papers and books for learners can accumulate rapidly. Especially when attendance and commitment can fluctuate wildly, it may be time to reconsider this approach as so much can be wasted. Because of the investment in purchasing these, those that are complete and unused are wise to store away in case you use the curriculum again. These materials should not be photocopied unless permission is given by the publisher. If you managed to finish all the lessons included and/or are choosing something new for fall, these materials should be sent home with the learners.

5. It can be helpful to keep attendance records filed so that you can plan well for materials and leaders for fall and beyond. Make sure that a minimum of information is recorded about the learners. Ideally, first name and last initial should be the only detail on an attendance chart to protect your learners’ privacy and safety.

6. Teacher resources, both those created in-house and bought, need careful consideration. Creating a filing system with lessons and crafts that went over really well will be useful down the line when a last-minute fill in activity is needed. Teacher guides are helpful to keep if you may re-use the curriculum again. It saves on cost and notes made by leaders may help prevent pitfalls a second time around.  

Ultimately, deciding what to keep and what to let go of is up to you and will vary depending on how many are in your groups, what amount of storage space you have and other factors. Regardless of what you decide, be sure to communicate clearly when this will be done so that your leaders have chance to go through their space first. Don’t forget to ask for their input. Whatever is kept, particularly as resources for leaders, needs to be in a place that they all know about and are free to access.

Clearing clutter helps to turn the page on what was hopefully a rewarding and Spirit-filled year. Allow it to be a freeing task as you look to what God is preparing next, which is hopefully some well-deserved time off.