When Wednesday night Kids Club starts Sept. 8, much will look the same: fun and games, a large-group talk and breaking into smaller groups with leaders. 

But the lessons will look different, with a big emphasis on discipleship. 

Kids Director Kari Heckler and her team are replacing the Awana curriculum, familiar at First Free for generations, with a program called KidzLife. There’s still Scripture memory and weekly lessons — but with a strategic focus on one topic per week with an accompanying Scripture passage and memory work.

“These books just blew me away. What was started as a cost-effective fill-in and trial run turned out to be just what we needed.”

Kari Heckler

Kari didn’t take the change lightly. She had watched her own six kids succeed in Awana. Two even won the Timothy Award, whose requirements include memorizing 648 Bible verses. But something wasn’t working. As many parents can attest: Kids were memorizing verses on the spot, but forgetting most of them by the time they got home.

“Kids were supposed to come prepared to talk about the lesson, but that never happened because a majority of the kids found it hard to complete their book,” she says. “Leaders would be frustrated because all they were doing was helping kids with their homework and get their verses memorized in 20 minutes, so they could get their weekly mark.”

Kari hopes the fresh approach helps move Scripture from kids’ heads to their hearts. KidzLife incorporates complete stories from the Bible each week, and helps kid see Scripture as one unified story from Genesis to Revelation, she says. This entire school year’s topic is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Kari or another leader will teach the evening’s lesson to the large group, and then kids will split into smaller for discussion groups sorted by age, each with an adult leader. 

The evenings will still include game time, with a mix of familiar games and new ones. And, kids can earn points to shop at store nights by doing things like bringing their Bibles and having the verses memorized when they get to Kids Club.

A chance to rethink

The change to KidzLife actually began last spring as Wednesday-night activities emerged from COVID.

“When we were shut down,” Kari says, “I took time and really looked for what I thought I would want my kids to have. Something that is driven with relationships and discipleship, so they get to know the Lord and his Word instead of just getting a book done. I wanted something that flowed, and something that was updated, bright and Interactive. More kid-friendly. And these books just blew me away. What was started as a cost-effective fill-in and trial run turned out to be just what we needed.”

She hopes this will lead to deeper conversations around those tables as kids actually listen to each other rather than just trying to get a workbook done. Kids will have the same small-group leaders all year, and maybe even longer than that if leaders decide to stay with the same group for several years.

“Yes, they’re going to share their verse that we are hoping they learned at home,” Kari says. “But if they didn’t, it’s not going to be the end of the world. Then we’ll talk about how we will we apply what we just heard. It’s not just a story. The Bible is the living, breathing Word of God. That means it’s alive and active. So how do we apply the Bible to our lives?”

It’s free — but please register

Kids Club is for kids ages 3 through grade 5, with kids and lessons grouped by age. The materials are free. Kari does ask that families register their kids before as soon as possible, so enough books can be ordered for everyone. But even if kids haven’t registered, they are welcome to come.

“We’re happy to have them,” she says. “Bring a Bible. If you don’t have one, will give you one for free. Bring your Bibles, bring your friends.”

In fact, not charging for materials and not needing to use Wednesday-evening time for kids to catch up on their books makes it much easier for them to invite their friends. That already was borne out during the trial run of the KidzLife materials last spring, when the number of First Free kids inviting their friends rose dramatically.

“We are praying and anticipating that this will be a great opportunity again for kids to bring their friends from schools and from their neighborhoods,” Kari says.