Sunday School Lesson Plans to download
Making a Bible Lesson Plan
10 Ways to a
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Making a Great Youth facility.
Leading a Middle School Youth Group
Growing your
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Youth Group Games
Keeping Kids Interested in Church
Volunteer Sunday School Teacher Page
Help parents parent
Practical Tips To Help Grieving Teens
Safety & Accountability
Youth Ministry Tips
Youth Ministry Links
Continuing Education
Teaching Sunday School Using drawing
Plus other fun methods of teaching the Bible.
Fun Youth Group Lesson: Teaching Through Murals
This youth group lesson idea can be used for just about any lesson you want to teach. I use this method mostly for teaching a passage in the Bible, like The Exodus, or The Christmas Story.
Here's the plan: Get a long strip of white butcher paper (about eighteen inches per kid). Have plenty of colored markers, felt tip pens, and crayons ready. Pin or tape the butcher paper to a flat wall at the kids eye level. Give each kid a piece of paper containing a verse or verses that is easily drawn as a picture.
Example: To teach the Christmas story use sections of Luke 2:8, " And there were shepherds living out in the fields..." Suggest that this teen draw shepherds and a flock of sheep. The next kid would draw the "heavenly host", the next the manger scene, etc. While they drew I added things like clouds, sky, a road, trees, etc to connect the scenes. Let them draw for about 20 minutes then start at the beginning of the line and have each kid read their verses to the rest of the kids and show their illustration. By the end they will have learned the Christmas story and created a master piece of artwork they will be proud of. Move the masterpiece to the top edge of the wall. After several lessons your entire youth room will be ringed by illustrated Bible lessons That they'll remember.
For the Christmas story I printed the passages I wanted then taped these along the bottom edge of the mural. Here is the .pdf of the text ready to use. We made it in the lobby. I had the kids sign their names. The congregation appreciatively viewed their masterpiece on the way out of church. Parents eagerly looked for their kids contribution. Younger teenagers actually love doing this. The older teenagers are a bit reluctant. For them, and for those who have no drawing skills, I printed out some coloring pages from Free Coloring Pages website that matched the Bible story. They sat at the table and colored while chatting. Then we trimmed their drawings and pasted them to the mural.
Here's twelve more similar Sunday School lesson plans.
Letting them teach:
As a closer to the year (the Sunday after Christmas) I celebrate "Boxing-day". This is actually a real holiday in some countries, celebrated in different ways. One way is for the boss to trade places for the day with an employee (not a popular TV show).
In my case I have the kids become the teacher and the teacher becomes the student. I encourage each kid to come prepared to do a five minute presentation on the most significant Bible verse, faith lesson, or spiritual growth from the past year. They also have to bring me a snack since I've been bringing them the snack for the past year.
I have a backup lesson ready to go, and a game, just in case.
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Ministry by Teenagers: Developing Leaders from Within Jonathan McKee, president of The Source for Youth Ministry, is the author of numerous youth ministry books including: Connect: Real Relationships in a World of Isolation, and the award winning book Do They Run When They See You Coming? "What if we pour into these young teenage leaders, disciple them, and do ministry alongside of them instead of for them? What if we ease back on our ministry to teenagers, supplementing it with more ministry by teenagers?" |
Make your own sock puppets with the kids then make skits. Video tape the skits and play them back for the kids. We laughed so hard our sides hurt.
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You might think your kids are too old for puppets but it can still be tons of fun. Let them develop a skit to illustrate a Bible passage and then put on a puppet show for the rest of the group. Supply them with a handful of puppet characters or make your own. They laughed so hard I was afraid they'd choke on their powered donuts. The links shown are from Mardell.
Helping kids understand Biblical culture and geographical area:
The DVD shown at the left is a great asset for helping kids understand the culture and geography where the Bible stories took place. There are three one-hour episodes that cover the stories from the first five books of the Bible. Made for PBS, it's not completely theologically accurate but it is really great to help them envision the settings and cultures of the Bible stories.
When reading the Bible we automatically fill in the scene using our imagination. Being able to properly envision the scene or setting helps to properly understand what the author is trying to tell us.
Teaching With Love & Logic: Taking Control Of The Classroom
My wife and I learned the Love & Logic techniques of parenting to help raise our kids. It worked very well. I naturally brought these same techniques into my interactions with all the kids in my life. Because I maintained the respect of the kids in my Sunday school classes I have been able to have an effective ministry in their lives. Even with the tough kids. Those tough relationships have actually turned out to be some of the most rewarding.
I strongly recommend this book. Click on the book to order from Barnes & Nobel.For more on classroom or group discipline methods.
