This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from purchased products at no additional cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Whether Sunday School is feeling stale, you’re short on volunteers, or your kids are bouncing off the walls, it might be time for a refresh. Consider these creative ideas to structure your children’s ministry pause or shift. It doesn’t take a big budget or a large staff to add a new twist to your kid’s ministry. Any one of these 5 ideas is perfect for a small church, works great with mixed-age groups, and is just as engaging for 2 kids for a large group. Along with a bit of a reset, these ideas may lead to the following:
- New volunteers that you weren’t expecting.
- Kids being more excited to come to class.
- The momentum you’ve been praying for.
Whether you’re in a church of 20 or 200, I want to assure you that God is very much at work! The Holy Spirit doesn’t just show up when attendance hits a certain benchmark. God never said, “I’m going to do great things if you have enough people there.” No, our God is a God for the one as much as He is for the many. He is actively at work in your life, your heart, and your whole church. Sometimes we need to ask God to help us stop the negative thought train, and open our eyes to what He is doing.
Traditions
There is beauty in tradition. We all have traditions, and churches do too. They have the potential to bring comfort and connection to history and others we love. There is nothing wrong with tradition. When Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He was basically instating a new tradition. Throughout Biblical history, traditions were honored. They aren’t merely things that we practice. The word tradition includes beliefs, patterns of thought, customs, and stories that are retold.
As we delve into some fresh ideas for children’s ministry and Sunday school, please don’t think I’m saying to throw out traditions, that isn’t my heart. Sometimes tradition can bring us a lot of good things, but it can also hold us back. That being said, adding a new twist, taking a break, or re-examining our culture doesn’t mean that we are throwing out a tradition or even lessening its value. Taking a break from a tradition can strengthen your values and even your desire to return to it.
Sunday School As A Tradition
The tradition of Sunday school is the custom of how we teach people about the Bible. Keep in mind, that having Sunday school is not a Biblical command and it isn’t required, but it is a tradition. I want to quickly remind you that the history of bringing kiddos into a classroom setting for Sunday school started way back in the Industrial Revolution.
Its original goal was to teach literacy, not discipleship. From there, Sunday school morphed into what it is today. Many churches rely on Sunday school as their main avenue for teaching Scripture and biblical truths to children and often adults as well. All of this is great. However, taking time to evaluate this custom is undeniably healthy.
If the setup isn’t working as well as it used to, you aren’t alone. Many small churches are struggling with not having enough lead teachers or the right teachers, or are struggling to maintain a safe and productive learning environment.
An Addition To The 5 Ideas
I want to first suggest a good structure for Sunday school to match the volunteers you currently have. Do not stretch their capability or sacrifice safety. I also want to suggest that you make it easier for volunteers to get a taste of the awesome children’s church. Along with this, you should take a break from what you’re currently doing.
Try shaking things up and add creativity for some much-needed momentum. This is all about adding intentionality. Consider the best way to get to the same end goal, which is for kids to love Jesus and experience the local church as an extension of His love. To do this, taking a break from your traditional setup might be exactly what you need.
5 Ideas To Structure Your Children’s Ministry Sunday School
1. 6-Week Learning Themes
6-week learning themes are so much fun and can boost momentum, along with adding in a break for your regular teachers. One way to do this is by using old VBS material for all the great ideas, resources, and learning pieces. Maybe you use a jungle theme, construction, or cowboys. Whatever it is, create some excitement and decorate it with all the jazz! Set up your Sunday school rooms or hallways, and create a 6-week series. Another resource to check out is the Small Church Ministry website! We have an easy 6-week rotation called The Neighborhood.This isn’t a full children’s ministry curriculum, but it’s an easy setup for 6 weeks that uses this idea plus a few more!
If you’re thinking, “How can this give my teachers a break, this seems like more work,” this depends on how you look at it. When you do something fun and different for a short-term project, different people are happy to step up. You’ll find that people would never commit to teaching Sunday school, but are ecstatic to help out for a 6-week series.
2. Involve Guest Speakers
Without changing too much of your plan, I highly encourage you to involve guest speakers. It’s one of my favorite go-to’s for lightening the load and giving others a safe and fun taste of children’s ministry. There are a lot of ways to involve guest speakers. Having someone come to share a hobby, or inviting someone to read a Bible story like a story corner would be amazing. You could even consider having an interview panel. You could bring in adults or teens on a panel and talk about a certain topic, Bible story, or whatever you want!
This is extremely engaging and allows kids to interact with other church members. It gives people in the congregation a better understanding of how awesome your children’s ministry is, without a commitment to teach.
If you are concerned that this disrupts class or your plan to get through the curriculum, keep in mind that the curriculum is for the kids and the teacher, not the other way around. The goal shouldn’t be to get through the curriculum. The goal should be centered around the needs of children and your ministry leaders.
3. Do Service Based Projects
People like to do things. We like to be busy with our hands, learn new things, and tactically try them too. We also like to make a difference. Our younger children are like this too. So, what service-based projects could you do together? This could be once a month, for a few weeks straight, or maybe for a season. It’s up to you.
Could you plant a garden? Redesign a kid’s area together? Can you build something or pack Christmas shoeboxes? You could learn about the unhoused community and do a care project. Remember that engaged kids are happy. Think about how many things we do for kids, that they would love to help with.
If you include kids in doing things, and you show them patience and understanding as they mess up or make mistakes, you’re being like Jesus. In this way, in teaching moments, more is caught than simply taught. You are modeling Jesus, not just talking about Him!
4. A Twist On Centers, With Rotating Teachers Instead Of Locations
If you’ve been in children’s ministry for a while, you’re probably familiar with ‘Centers.’ They’re used a lot in curriculum, VBS, and even preschools. This is where you may have a play center, a reading corner, an art table, etc. and kids have certain time slots at each center. Instead of using learning centers with one or two teachers moving from one focused activity to the next, why not find different people to lead different centers?
Before you skip this idea because you don’t have enough teachers as it is, remember that we are not recruiting more teachers. You can ask a dad if he would lead a 10-minute game once a week for only a month. You can ask a grandpa to come and read a Bible story with his fun voices for 10 minutes each week for this month only.
The transition of welcoming new ‘center leaders’ is exciting for kids, and your regular teachers get some breathing room too! You are connecting your congregation to the kids. This is intergenerational ministry right here.
5. Take A Break
I’m not saying to cancel Sunday school, but do something instead. No one wants to lose momentum, and canceling is such a negative word. However, most of us love vacation! A vacation means you’re doing something fun, but we’re going to come back. It means that we want to experience something else. There’s not a void of activity, we are just participating in a different activity.
“Taking a break” from Sunday school could look like having a Waffel Sunday. It can be a day, or season, of intergenerational community in place of Sunday school. We made waffles, ate them, and had breakfast together during Sunday mornings. This was intentional and purposeful, and it gave our teachers a break.
Taking a break isn’t waving a white flag, this isn’t a surrender. It’s having fun and regrouping. You get the opportunity to enjoy each other in a great way and create something new!
You Never Know Until You Try
These ideas can stand alone, or they can be added to your regular mix, as an addition to your current curriculum and plans. Try one. Don’t be afraid to try something without knowing if it’s going to work perfectly or not. You won’t know until you do it.
If we are open to learning along the way or are trying new ways of teaching, learning, and experiencing Jesus Christ, then we are going to start tapping into our own creativity and solutions that work for the details of our solutions. God does that, and it is so beautiful!
Read More:
4 Ideas To Make Sunday School Meaningful With Just 3 Kids
