Finding a great resource pack to get those creative juices flowing can sometimes be a bit of a tough endeavour. There are a lot of issues, such as the number of children, the number of leaders, your church context, the styles of learning in the group, as well as the age of the children you’re teaching. Choosing the best option for you and your church can be a daunting task, especially considering the cost of some resources.

At our church, we decided that we were going to try something new and we were recommended a resource pack called 252 Basics designed by the ReThink group, based in America.

The ReThink group are a large collective of creative minds and practitioners who collaborate on reams of resources with the 252 Basics pack, covering Reception to Year 5.

They also do resources for pre-school and youth (whom they call ‘students’) as well as all sorts of other things besides.

So why did we choose this resource?

The ethos: The ReThink group is the brainchild of Reggie Joiner. He explains the ethos behind all of the resources in a colourful way. Essentially, they aim to bring the light of the church (yellow) into the heart of the home (red) to make orange. Think Orange isn’t just a strapline, it’s a mantra. We should all Think Orange in our work, so that church and home connect in a meaningful way.

The bold approach: the whole session is scripted and like a TV show. Every word counts, meaning you can focus on delivery.

Something new! Sometimes even thinking of using different resources can be exciting. It’s a new challenge and unchartered waters.

What are the benefits?

It’s online: The sessions are planned months in advance and laid out week by week. It’s all online so your whole team can access the bit they need, whenever they like.

It’s comprehensive: The material has sections for different people: lighting, audio, video, storytellers, worship leaders, hosts etc. Don’t worry, there is a compressed version for smaller groups.

It’s at home: Although we are yet to launch our ‘at home’ element, we’re eager to see how it helps our families to talk about God at home. The ReThink group reckon that there are 3,000 hours available with children each year. Of that, time in church accounts for 40 to 50 hours. We need to engage the home if we are to see children deepen their faith.

What are the challenges?

There is a lot to wade through at first: Getting the hang of the quantity – what you need and what you don’t – can be hard. You need to get used to the choice.

Culture: These resources do come from a different culture and this poses its difficulties. You will need to tweak parts of the script – you might feel this defeats the object of having someone do it for you!

Training: Your team will need help in how to use, access and believe in the resource. You will need to test it, pray about it and sell the vision to your team if you want it to work. This is something that we definitely need to do more.

Cost: A year’s worth of resources for a group of up to 200 children to access is $1,550 (roughly £750). There are less expensive options, but this does include 200 subscriptions to their dedicated ‘home ministry’ website. Every family in the church can access the follow-on material, ideas, activities and more.

But should I get it?

Yes.

No.

To be honest, if you’re at all interested, I would recommend checking out their tester resources. In my brutal opinion, it has been harder to implement that I expected, BUT I still believe in the ethos and I want to see if we can do something that is bold and brave in our kids’ work. I hope this resource pack will encourage/challenge us to do that.

Last words…

The most important thing to consider when looking at any new resource is ‘Will it work in my church and area?’ I believe that you can make most things work. However, you’ll achieve far more with a resource pack that excites you than one that bores you (because it probably bore the kids too). Our work should be compassionate, effective, relevant, engaging, sometimes funny and always about God.

If you can find a resource that helps you to do those things then stick at it! And if you’re looking for something different, then maybe you need to Think Orange.

To see it first-hand visit www.whatisorange.org.