More Back to School Ideas for Sunday School
5. Ministry Teams for Kids
Tap into kids’ spiritual gifts and interests by setting up kid ministry teams. Begin by creating a master list of teams kids can serve on. Ideas include song leaders, Bible verse, drama, audiovisual, prayer leaders, read-aloud, welcoming, leading song actions, postcard mailing, supplies, and more.
Mail the list home to kids so they and their parents can go through the teams and their responsibilities together. Allow kids to sign up for more than one team if they wish.
6. Time Capsule
Create time capsules for children to mark their growth through the coming year. Have kids each bring an aluminum cookie or popcorn tin from home. Ask them to bring mementos they’d like to include that describe who they are at this moment. Ideas include a favorite candy, recording of their favorite song, ad for a favorite movie, and so on.
Also have kids bring mementos that represent things such as their greatest accomplishment, the most influential person in their life, and what they want to be when they grow up.
Before class, print a Personal Stats sheet for each child to complete. Include the following information:
- Likes and Dislikes (food, classes, movies)
- Favorites (colors, songs, famous people, Bible verses)
- Statistics (height, weight, hair color and length, shoe size)
- God’s Impact on My Life (statement)
- Note to My Future Self (what they want to learn, do, and accomplish in the coming year)
Have kids place their mementos and Personal Stats sheets inside their tins. Take a Polaroid photograph of each child to put in the tin. Have kids seal their tins and tape a label to the top that reads, “[Child’s name]’s Time Capsule: to be opened at the end of the school year.”
Store the time capsules in your classroom, and keep extra tins for new children who join your class. Kids will be thrilled to open their time capsules and review how they’ve changed and grown.
7. Early Bird Prayer Journals
Finally, surround all your back to school activities with prayer. Begin a new tradition in your classroom that encourages kids to arrive early and share prayer requests in a non-threatening environment. Prior to the start of your class, decorate a spiral notebook or binder. This will serve as your class prayer journal. Attach a pen to the journal with yarn. Write an entry in the journal yourself.
During the first class, introduce the journal. Encourage kids to arrive a few minutes early to write down their prayer requests and praises. Give kids the option to leave their prayer requests anonymously. Also include a prayer for the unspoken and unrecorded prayer requests among children.
Use the prayer journal to lead your class in prayer. Kids will arrive to class a few minutes early to jot their thoughts in the journal.
This article about back to school activities originally appeared here.
