Question about Sunday School

[STAYING_STRONG4HIM]

What made sunday school fun for you? Did your sunday school teachers do anything really fun that has stuck out in your memory? I teach sunday school to 3 and 4 year olds and I want to find a way to make the class more interesting and fun for them

 

[tchristiec]

Hello S.Strong4Him:
My name is Christie and I've taught children of all ages for many years. The best resource that I have ever come across was from Metro Ministries - metroministries.org. go to the store on this website.
It's very important the kids have fun at church and see it as a place of joy as they receive The Word. I've changed my teaching methods recently and Praise God this has been successful. I'll share a few things you may want to consider trying.
1) Pray earnestly for the children and ask The Holy Spirit to guide you.
2) Ask the church members to donate small inexpensive party favors for good seat prizes for the children. Yes, I use bribery and it works! Put the good seat prizes in a bright container mark treasure chest.
3) Write down a few simple rules on poster board and have the children recite them back.
4) Get Christian music c.ds for kids and play each week until they learn the songs.
5) Instead of going directly into the lesson - get the children's energy out first by playing fun games. Have upbeat music playing while the games are played. Then put on slow music and get out the treasure box. Tell the children if your caught sitting up straight, not talking and listening quietly the will put their hand in the treasure box.
7) Use visuals. They can be very simple 'around the house' items. One week I used two mops. I drew faces on craft foam sheets and glued them to right under the mop part so they would have hair. This became my Bible characters. For the story I gave my husband and son a script and recorded them. When it was time for the lesson I simply turned on the recording and made the mops come to life. The kids loved it.
Finally, you may want to use memory verse games and simple crafts as well. Surf the net there are tons of free resources out there. I'll keep you in prayer and God bless you.

 

[Nessie]

Honestly, I moved a lot as a kid, but there were three Sunday School teachers who really left an impact on me. And to be truthful, I don't remember even one lesson they ever taught! All I remember is that:

Sis. Elizabeth, my teacher when I was 6-7, used to be able to tell all kinds of awesome Bible stories. She put a love in my heart of the Bible where from that age (literally 2nd grade) I would flip open a KJV and read it A LOT. I loved it. She placed a love of God and His Word in my heart by showing me all the cool stuff in the Bible. She taught me that it's actually fun to be a Christian.

Then there was Sis. Susan (when I was 8-9), and every single week she would dismiss class as the altar call was starting in adult church and she would take all of us up to the altar to pray. EVERY SUNDAY. At first I didn't know what to pray but she kept on praying with us and eventually I started praying like I never knew possible. Whatever she did, I have no idea to this day, but she gave me a habit that has stuck with me since those days--that no matter what I can always pray and God always listens.

Then there was Bro. Jason (10)--I don't remember anything from his class either other than once he gave us a sheet with Bible verses on it that we had to memorize. And after we memorized them all he bought us each our own Bible. I still have my Bible to this day and I teach Sunday School from it now. I remember my friend and I used to remember it really quick then tell him, just so we could get the mark for the Bible. Well, one day he said, "It's great you want to get your Bible, but do you think it's really helping you any if you don't remember the verses long term and just for now?" I thought about it, and he showed me that Bible memorization is absolutely necessary for the Christian. Now I have my SS kids memorize verses all the time, too

That said, I always make sure there is something in class that makes the kids laugh. We sing this song with motions called, "Jesus You're My Superhero" by Hillsong. There's a part where you shout out "Jesus is better than [insert superhero]!" The kids love just shouting out names! We play games, use puppets, do songs, etc.

One thing that keeps it good for them is that if there's something they want to talk about any given Sunday, so long as its church or Bible related, I have no problem saving my lesson for the next week and talkng about what they want. I taught on Hannah once and all they wanted to know about was what Samuel did when he grew up. So my lesson switched from Hannah to Samuel.

There have been times when kids have come in hurting from family problems, and the kids will ask if we can pray with the kid instead of our normal lesson. Not a problem! If they're doing something for God, isn't that our entire objective? So what if we don't finish the craft or story--if the kids get even one step closer to Jesus the goal is accomplished.

But most of all, and I learned this the hard way, we can have the flashy games and logos and the best music, but if we aren't praying with the kids and teaching them God's complete Word, then we're failing. Because as I learned growing up, I don't remember one craft or song or lesson, but I remember the spiritual blessings my teacher gave me.

 

[STAYING_STRONG4HIM]

Thanks for all these great ideas...sorry I haven't been able to get back to you all sooner, as I was absent for a few months. I see how important that it is to just have some fun, teach the kids that its fun learning about God, and really plant the Word of God in them. You have inspired me to challenge myself.

I have to say that with depression its hard for me, but I try my best to make things exciting and new. I'll just pray that God uses me to touch their lives, I don't know that I have the strength to do that right now, but I pray that God will give me the strength to touch their lives and get them excited about Him.

 

[theseagullwithoneleg]

i think it was the "suprise bag" where you got given prizes but had no idea what you were getting.

my aim now is to try and make sunday school fun. in a way that relates to the kids and not droning over their heads.

 

[Clark H.]

My best memories of Sunday School as a child is the love that the teachers had for God and for us children. Yes, there was candy and fun activities, but they taught us something more important, about how Jesus came to be our Savior.

 

[KidsMediaPastor]

Yeah, that is tough because kids have short attention spans, don't they? Well, when I was in Sunday School, most of what the teachers tried to push was pretty boring.

However, there were certain things that were really exciting, such as:
1) Make believe creating/acting/role playing
2) Any kind of crafts
3) Games such as duck, duck, goose.

Toddlers need to explore their own fantasy world. I think the important thing is to not try to cram too much "data" down their throats in one Sunday or they will get confused. Especially with toddlers, one or two basic concepts is enough.

 

[Ms. McE]

The most important thing to do is to think like the kids. Don't worry about looking silly. I once taught a lesson on Psalm 23. I used my grandpa's old cane, and a dowel rod I bought at Home Depot as my rod and staff and drapped a sheet over me, tying it with a long piece of fabric so that I would look like a shepherd. (I wore this over clothes since the sheet doesn't always stay in place). I also carried a stuffed sheep calling it "my flock". I spoke to the kids as a shepherd applying for a job shepherding sheep. I posted a job listing talking about all the difficulties of being shepherd and what was to be expected of the applicant. I used it to demonstrate how much work Christ puts into his own sheep (based on the book Psalm 23: A shepherd's perspective and a lesson from the adult Awana books). The kids loved it. The parents raised a few eyebrows coming to pick up their kids, but when the kids told them what the lesson was, they understood.

Also, understand that sometimes, kids have a hard time sitting for a long time. Get them involved in the lesson, not just listening. I taught a lesson on how their is only one way to Heaven. I had some volunteers (kids) stand on one side of a gap. I gave them methods and lines for how to get across. One tried to jump, one waited for a helicopter, etc. Only one took the bridge (representing Jesus), and only that one made it to Heaven.

Visuals and items that can be held and passed around also help.

Kids need to be involved, be entertained, and have the message age-appropriate. If it's too far over their heads or too basic, they lose interest quickly.

They also need to see that you are excited about what you're doing. If you are happy to be there, they more likely will too. If you aren't happy, the kids will think church is boring.

 

[Ms. McE]

Honestly, I moved a lot as a kid, but there were three Sunday School teachers who really left an impact on me. And to be truthful, I don't remember even one lesson they ever taught! All I remember is that:

Sis. Elizabeth, my teacher when I was 6-7, used to be able to tell all kinds of awesome Bible stories. She put a love in my heart of the Bible where from that age (literally 2nd grade) I would flip open a KJV and read it A LOT. I loved it. She placed a love of God and His Word in my heart by showing me all the cool stuff in the Bible. She taught me that it's actually fun to be a Christian.

Then there was Sis. Susan (when I was 8-9), and every single week she would dismiss class as the altar call was starting in adult church and she would take all of us up to the altar to pray. EVERY SUNDAY. At first I didn't know what to pray but she kept on praying with us and eventually I started praying like I never knew possible. Whatever she did, I have no idea to this day, but she gave me a habit that has stuck with me since those days--that no matter what I can always pray and God always listens.

Then there was Bro. Jason (10)--I don't remember anything from his class either other than once he gave us a sheet with Bible verses on it that we had to memorize. And after we memorized them all he bought us each our own Bible. I still have my Bible to this day and I teach Sunday School from it now. I remember my friend and I used to remember it really quick then tell him, just so we could get the mark for the Bible. Well, one day he said, "It's great you want to get your Bible, but do you think it's really helping you any if you don't remember the verses long term and just for now?" I thought about it, and he showed me that Bible memorization is absolutely necessary for the Christian. Now I have my SS kids memorize verses all the time, too

That said, I always make sure there is something in class that makes the kids laugh. We sing this song with motions called, "Jesus You're My Superhero" by Hillsong. There's a part where you shout out "Jesus is better than [insert superhero]!" The kids love just shouting out names! We play games, use puppets, do songs, etc.

One thing that keeps it good for them is that if there's something they want to talk about any given Sunday, so long as its church or Bible related, I have no problem saving my lesson for the next week and talkng about what they want. I taught on Hannah once and all they wanted to know about was what Samuel did when he grew up. So my lesson switched from Hannah to Samuel.

There have been times when kids have come in hurting from family problems, and the kids will ask if we can pray with the kid instead of our normal lesson. Not a problem! If they're doing something for God, isn't that our entire objective? So what if we don't finish the craft or story--if the kids get even one step closer to Jesus the goal is accomplished.

But most of all, and I learned this the hard way, we can have the flashy games and logos and the best music, but if we aren't praying with the kids and teaching them God's complete Word, then we're failing. Because as I learned growing up, I don't remember one craft or song or lesson, but I remember the spiritual blessings my teacher gave me.

I got a little misty eyed when you said you teach from the Bible your Sunday School teacher gave you. I also got a lot from that last paragraph. That is so vitally important. I pray for my kids and I hope that they truly do understand what I am trying to get across to them. One day one of my kids at church was talking to a friend of hers. She asked "Have you ever been saved? I was. Rachel showed me how." I got so chocked up with happiness knowing that one of the kids I led to the Lord was now sharing her faith with others.