5 Apps That Will Make Your Life Better

So much of our lives and ministries happen using technology. We've compiled a list of 5 apps that can help make your life easier. We'll give you the list below as well as how each one can be an asset to you!

#1 - Pinterest

This app might seem obvious since many people use this app personally. But when you want to find creative ideas for crafts, activities, and more, there's not a better place on the internet right now than Pinterest. Explore it for an amazing supply of ideas for your visual and kinesthetic learners. Best of all, it's free, even if you only use it to look and not post anything!

#2 - Plickers

Winning the "most interesting name" for this list, Plickers helps you collect answer data from a large group of children all at once, using your phone. So if you wanted to play our "Can You Believe It?" gameshow (found here), you can use this app to gather every group's answer at the same time, and it even keeps score for you! The app is designed for teachers who want to measure student results on the spot, so it's also useful for classroom teachers from preschool to high school!

#3 - Adobe Voice

Have you ever wanted to create a quick video giving a great tip to your volunteers to make them more effective? How about a video of you telling them thanks for all the hard work or Merry Christmas? Or how would you like to create a video of someone reading a Bible story that's illustrated, that you can show during service or let parents download to watch with their kids? If you know nothing about video, this can be a daunting task. Adobe Voice is a free app that makes story telling easy. Simply record your voice on each slide, and pick the visuals you want to see on the screen from a wide array of choices. Though it's designed for story telling, you can use the app to create quick training videos for staff, e-cards, or whatever you'd like to send! Definitely give this one a try on your tablet!

#4 - Bible For Kids

Every one of your kids needs a Bible. For the ones that have smart phones or tablets (a quickly growing percentage of your students), why not have them download a free Bible app that's designed for younger students (ages 5-9). All your children can follow along with the story in a beautifully illustrated, easy to read version. Stop translating "thee's", "thou's," and "begat's", and dive deeper into the text with your children!

#5 - Dropbox

We all live busy lives. And you're not always in front of a computer screen when you get the inspiration for a perfect idea to do this Sunday. Dropbox helps you keep all your files at your fingertips, so you can import your lesson videos for the week, schedules, volunteer lists--every document you need. Best of all, you can create folders inside of Dropbox to share with others. So create your midweek service folder, and share all those lessons with just your midweek volunteers. Stop emailing files with attachments that are too large--just send a reminder that the Dropbox files have been updated for the entire month! Once a volunteer accesses the shared folder on Dropbox, they can easily get to the lessons every month. Make your file-sharing simple, and bring all your volunteers on the same page!