Sunday School Lesson Plans to Download
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Tee-shirts and Christian-wear make great prizes for games or birthday gifts.
Leading a Middle School Sunday School Class NEXT PAGE
Here are my tips for leading a great Sunday School or Youth Group Bible lesson time. These methods are specifically for Middle School (Junior High) age kids.
Using my lesson plans: On the "Lesson Plan" page you will find many pre-made Bible lessons to choose from. These are not the usual "bubble-gum" lessons that you normally find offered in curriculum books. Rather, they are foundational, doctrinal issues. These kids are ready to learn more detailed answers to questions like, "Where do you go when you die?". Plus they want answers to hard questions like, "Can you go to heaven if you commit suicide?". Kids will ask you these loaded questions. If you give them the same old rote answers they will turn you off and mistrust whatever you're teaching. If, on the other hand, you prepare a detailed, Biblically supported answer, weather it's a tough answer or not, they will grow to trust you and appreciate your lessons.The point is to tell the kids the truth.
Age group differences:
My lesson plans can be adapted to both junior high and high school age kids but the teaching methods are quite different. Middle school kids are just starting to realize that they can make their own decisions. They are just now beginning to grow their own faith apart from their 
parents. It's an exciting time to teach them.
Here's a tidbit from "Frontline":
"As the prefrontal cortex matures, teenagers can reason better, develop more control over impulses and make judgments better. In fact, this part of the brain has been dubbed "the area of sober second thought."
Click on Lesson Plan for full size PDF Image
If your class is primarily 6th-7th graders I recommend having them fill in the blanks on the lesson plan worksheets. This helps them begin to be able to create a "life application" sentence drawn from reading a Bible verse. Have them sign their names, and hand them in at the end of the lesson (I let them select one item from the "treasure box" as a reward {more on that later}). At the end of a season we spend a class making cover pages and assemble the lesson plans into a booklet for them to bring home to their parents. I add pages of pictures of the class that we have taken throughout the year. The booklet becomes a valuable treasure and accomplishment for many of them. Click here for Sunday School lessons that I teach at the beginning if a middle school class.
For older kids and high school age filling in the blanks is more like a tiresome chore. They're ready for a free flowing discussion debating the finer points. Just use the questions on the lesson plan for discussion starters. Use the verses as Biblical support for the issue being discussed. Guide the discussion to the main point the verses are conveying.
Rewards: I use candy as a discussion stimulator. Any answer gets a kid a piece of candy. If they're not paying attention I usually bounce it off their heads. I've heard some youth leaders insist that this "keeps the kids in a perpetual state of immaturity." I say, it works great. All eyes are focused on me and kids are reaching for answers. They'll mature soon enough.
The treasure box: I made a treasure box of party favors from ShindigZ.com - the World's Largest Party Superstore
. This was a fun incentive for yonger teens to listen to the lesson and fill in the blanks. I filled it with five or six different things to choose from like
Silicone Religious Sayings Bracelet,
Magic Star Ball
, and candy. This is an inexpensive way to add a little excitement to your class.
I've used B&H Photo many times. Their prices are good and the service is great. I trust them now.
Take lots of pictures: Kid's love pictures of themselves. A digital camera is a must for a youth leader.
Digital images can be easily enlarged and printed to hang proudly on the youth room wall. Order your photo paper from B & H Photo (link ao the left).
Pepper the pictures on the back of the lesson plan worksheets. The work sheet then becomes a treasure that the kid will take home. You never know where that will lead, but a lesson plan with pictures will be viewed more often than one without pictures.
Add pictures to your e-mails. The kids will eagerly look for your messages increasing your communication effectiveness.
Matching Pre-Lesson Activity: A pre-lesson activity that demonstrates some aspect of the lesson reinforces the lesson increases the "remember-ability" of the lesson. This can be tough to come up with. Many of my lessons have this. If you come up with one let me know so I can update the lesson.
Also, matching your games to the group of kids that show up is essential. Sunday morning kids usually are dressed nice, tired from the school week. Midweek evening they can dress for the mess. Sometimes the group that shows up are brainiacs. Sometimes they're jocks. Have several different types of games ready to go so you can select the best one. Have good prizes ready for the winners.
Match your style to the kids: Each group is different. Your's might be boys who like to play physical games. Another might be mainly girls who like to socialize. Yet another might be primarily kids who like "brain" games. You must match your teaching style to the kids.
Multiage Leaders: I strongly recommend putting together a mix of volunteers from different age groups. Most young leaders lack experience. They have a hard time coming across as authentic when talking about things like perseverance. They have not yet faced the troubles of life and won. However, the younger leader can offer the exuberance of a budding faith that an old warrior can not. In addition, 20-something jock youth leader will naturally attract athletically able boys to his youth group. A grand-motherly youth leader might have a group that resembles a girl scout troop. A leader will attract the kids they empathize with most.The other kids will feel disconnected and may drift off to some other churches group. If you find yourself serving at a new church with a group you don't connect with quickly enlist the help of volunteers with the characteristics that match your kids. No one will have all the characteristics of every kid in any group so a varied group of volunteers will help ensure that all the kids feel a natural connection to one of the leaders.
Don't be afraid to be silly or outrageous: Sometimes I come dressed in a Starfleet uniform or Jedi costume. In one of my pre-lesson activities I weigh the girls (you can hear the gasps). These are the lessons they remember years later.
Prevent BAD BREATH: Nothing can spoil the effect of your teaching more than bad breath. This may seem like a no-brainer but a lot of people have offensive breath. Make sure you don't. You may need some dental work but usually it's easy to fix with mouthwash, mints, or gum. I picked this up from a Billy Graham Crusade training course. It's important.
Biblical Directives and the Holy Spirit:
I rarely tell kids what they should do or how they should act. Rather I try to get Biblical truths deep into their hearts and let the indwelling Holy Spirit do the rest. Biblical directives aren't always as clear as, "Thou shalt not kill," and situations they face daily hardly ever have a clear Biblical answer for how the kid should respond. But, if they have Bible knowledge and the Holy Spirit I believe they will respond in a Christ like manner. Jesus says to, "First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Matthew 23:26) We need to develop Christ-like character if we want to get Christ-like behavior.
Single Digit Youth Groups, by Marcey Balcomb is one of my favorite books. It is inspirational, rejuvenating, and full of great stuff to make small youth groups awesome. If you ever feel envious of the "successful" youth pastor who has hundreds of kids in his youth group this book will get you back on track to value your smaller group. I've been involved with large and small groups and I much prefer the intimacy of a smaller group. Pouring your life into a few kids has an awesome effect on them for life. It's so great to see my students graduating from college bringing their faith with them into the world. Get this book.
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Single Digit Youth Groups By Marcey Balcomb / Abingdon Press This book includes benefits, strategies, and practical helps in beginning or strengthening signal-digit youth groups, as well as Scripture-based activities and short stories. A variety of reproducible forms are also provided for use or adaption. Each and every youth needs and deserves support and encouragement. This book offers some ways to be there for them on that journey, regardless of the size of the group. |
Great Snack Suggestions: 
I can not stress strongly enough the value of having a great snack. Bring something that surprises the kids at how good it is. Do it every week.
Hot spiced cider using Aspen Mulling Spices is always a hit on cold winter days.
Cheese. Anything with cheese. Kids crave cheese. Just slice up a block of cheddar. We're growing bones here people!
This is a great place to get the reluctant moms involved. They might be scared to death to enter the class room but they'll frequently be willing to bring a great snack. They usually get their teen to help put it together: Creates a little family activity; generates huge pride for the kid who brings it.
Click here for the expanded pdf article.
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Single-Digit Youth Groups 2: More Activities, Plus Mission Ideas Yea, she added more great advice, more activities, and mission ideas. This is one of the best resources I've ever read. Plus it's encouraging just to wander along the pages. Your heart for the kids begins to sing. Buy it from Christian Book.com through this link. |
I don't mean "get down, get jiggy". I mean get your body down to the kids level. Join them. Do not stand 
above them or preach from the stage. They get enough talking to at school and home. Get down with them and talk with them. Your body position and posture subconsciously indicates your feelings about the kids to the kids. In the typical youth setting shown on the right, the 
leader is separated and above the kids. What does this indicate about his feeling towards the kids? Is it any wonder we get the blank stares and poor participation in a setting such as this? In the picture on the left the leader is sitting with the kids, actually a little lower, the kids are facing each other and the conversation is lively.
