HomeKids today are wound up in a fast paced world with fast paced gadgets and need to be taught in a way that keeps their attention. When we were younger, the Sunday School teacher could stand up front, read from the bible, tell the bible story in her own words, then ask questions that all the kids knew the answers to. Not today!
Teaching Sunday School
No matter what age class you teach (with adults being the exception), you'll need to keep their attention or the kids will not learn anything. The whole point of Sunday School is to learn about the Bible, God, Jesus dying on the cross, how to get to heaven, and how we can live like Jesus. Of course, this is a brief description of what kids learn. There are many other things they need to know and that is where we as Sunday School teachers come into play.
Games are a great way to help them learn the Bible story and their Bible verse. No matter how old a child is or whether they can even talk yet, I can't stress how important it is for them to learn Bible verses. Bible verses give children a foundation to build their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Active role playing can help children as well. Planning your story ahead with costumes can bring new learning into the Sunday School room. If you have a large class of children, have group 1 children play different characters in the story while group 2 kids watch, then let them switch. By going through the story more than once, you'll be helping them gain a better understanding of the meaning of the story and they will remember it to tell their parents when class is over.
Sunday School Games
One Sunday School game that can be played at any age and with any number of students is 'Chair Bounce'. To begin, set up one chair for each child in a square, a circle, or a rectangle. The teacher can play too as the kids seem to love it! If you have parents in the room, get them involved too.
To play 'Chair Bounce', each child and adult will sit in a chair. Be sure the kids can see each other. It makes the game funner. Next, ask a question about the story or about stories you have already told. Let the children yell out the answers. By letting them yell out the answers, they will try to compete to answer the questions while the children who don't know the answers will learn them.
When a child gets the answer right, call out, 'Chair Bounce' or 'change seats'. Everyone will move to the right (or left - your choice) and sit down in the next seat. Continue asking questions and chair bouncing until you come back around to the seat you started in. The kids love to move fast, answer fast, and get back around to their seat fast.
The faster the questions are asked and answered the better they like it. It can get a little crazy, but they will listen and learn. You can also change it up a bit by sitting the seats a little further a part and making them hop to the next seat, duck walk to the next seat, or even tip toe. Don't forget to ask the Bible verse during the game!
Other Resources for Sunday School Teachers and Parents
Read Allowed Bible Stories
Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids
The Games Bible - Over 300 Games
Links That May Be Useful
Sunday School Game – Launching Words of Kindness : Sunday ...
Warning: This is one of our water games and is great for hot days! LAUNCHING WORDS OF KINDNESS GAME Materials needed: Water balloons, two bed sheets, Sunday school table or a couple of chairs, container for your filled water ...
Runabout Games for Sunday School Kids « The Vicar's Wife
thevicarswife.wordpress.com2/28/12Runabout Games for Sunday School Kids. 28 February, 2012 by thevicarswife. We normally have about ten kids in our Junior church. Their ages range from 4 to 12, so we have readers and non-readers. We often have some very wriggly ...
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