iPad in Kidmin: Notability

i've been looking for ways to put the ipad to work in the context of kids ministry, and haven't found much in the way of resources online. so, when i come up with a good use, i'll post about it in hopes that others will find it useful.

last night, we did a bible study community group with the kids as we finished up our unit on community. we took the passage that was taught sunday morning, john 14, and developed a set of related questions to discuss.

but as i was writing the questions, i knew that i wanted it to be more than just sitting and talking. that wasn't exciting, and i want the kids to see that talking about God is exciting. enter ipad.

last week, i picked up an app called Notability which allows you to draw, type, highlight, erase or just write with your fingertip. so the group discussion questions transformed into "discuss and draw your answer". we discussed each question as a group, but took turns drawing out our answer so that everyone got to participate.

here are a few of my favorite drawings from the kids.

 

Aidyn drew a picture of Jesus talking to the Disciples.

 

Brynn thought about the day children were walking to their school and miraculously were unharmed when a car crash happened right in front of them, leaving debris five feet away from the kids. She described this as "He protects us."

 

Ava drew a picture of "people who love Jesus" (aka, "disciples").

 

Taylor imagines the Holy Spirit as a little like us, but with gleaming light surrounding Him.

 

Elle said that the Holy Spirit helps us by "talking to our brains". (Yes, that's a brain, though afterwards she said "It looks like a piece of meat!")

it was great fun to see the kids play with the technology, and to see them eagerly answer the questions, helping one another develop their theology. but i won't lie - every time the ipad changed hands, my heart jumped a bit...