Sunday school kickoff is an exciting highlight of children’s ministry. Begin a winning season of learning and growing with practical ideas from kidmin leaders and volunteers!
A new school year is kicking back into gear. If you’re a children’s ministry director, you need to recruit, train, and organize your team. Plus, you need to get everyone excited about all that God will do in children’s lives this year. If you’re a teacher or small-group leader, you’re realizing you need to get your space organized and decorated before children arrive. So much to do, so little time…
And so many ideas! We’ve collected 15 reader-tested Sunday school kickoff ideas. They’ll help you start a phenomenally faith-enriching year for children and families. You’ll find everything from organizing crafts to making creative meeting reminders to staging a carnival for families. Pro Tip: Fall Festivals are a great idea for children’s ministry or Sunday school kickoff.
Don’t let this school year sneak up on you! Get in gear today so you can kick off a great fall programming season.
15 Sunday School Kickoff Ideas for Fall
1. Sunday School Kickoff: Revamped Roll Call
Accurate attendance and follow-up can be difficult for teachers with all they have to do during class time. So we solved this problem by putting one person in charge of attendance for each service. This person takes a clipboard with attendance lists for each class. The helper goes to each room to take attendance and fill out visitor information cards for new children.
After all the attendance is taken, the helper checks the list for kids who’ve been absent for more than one week in a row. Then the helper addresses and stamps a postcard for each absent child and gives it to the appropriate teacher at the end of the service. Teachers write personal notes to the missing children and mail the cards that week. This has worked tremendously well and has been a real improvement in our organization.
Amy McMunn
Lambertville, Michigan
2. Sunday School Kickoff: Photo Posters
Why decorate with store-bought posters when you can make your own that’ll thrill children?
Simply take color or black and white photos of the children in your class. It’s helpful to take these outdoors where the light is good. In your photos, use props such as park benches, playground slides, or swings. Include two or three children in each photo.
After developing your photos, choose a few to enlarge. You can have photos blown up to poster size at copy shops or at kiosks in stores such as Wal-Mart. To help your posters last, laminate them, affix them to foam core with spray adhesive, or frame them.
Then hang these posters in your classroom, hallway, or another visible place in your building. Posters of your children will create a sense of belonging for the children, parents, and teachers. These posters will also foster self-esteem, look great, and create smiles.
Sarah Hockenbrocht
Fort Worth, Texas
3. Sunday School Kickoff: Resource Closet
Our church members have been very generous in offering craft items, such as paper towel rolls, fabric remnants, and egg cartons, to use with the children. So we needed a place to store and organize all the stuff to maximize its usefulness. We cleaned out and painted an unused room, put in plastic shelving, and bought plastic baskets from a dollar store. We organized the resources so like items were together. Then we let our teachers and volunteers know about the room. This has been quite useful all year—and especially at vacation Bible school time. Getting organized is the perfect kickoff idea for fall!
Annie Yelton
Charlotte, North Carolina
