St John’s has a number of resources that you are welcome to use in your own Sunday School planning and teaching
We’ve also discovered some useful websites in our own search for resources.
Discovery Education Free Puzzlemaker – Make your own puzzles – word search, crosswords, mazes, and more!
DLTK Crafts for Kids – This is best for preschool to 8-year-old children and covers the big Bible stories. It includes crafts, colouring-in pages, and other activities.
God & Me
(5-7 year olds)
Resources: Lesson Plans & Workbook
A seven-week syllabus covering the main ideas about God. A hand puppet of a spider is the main teaching aid. The spider theme continues with the workbook.
Topics covered
What is God like? Noah’s flood
God cares about me – Jesus and the little children
I can be myself and God will love me – David and Goliath
God wants me to live in a particular way – The prodigal son
We can trust God – Daniel in the lions’ den
Talking to God – the Lord’s prayer
What does Easter mean?
plays
(6-10 year olds)
Resources: Plays
For groups of 7 to 12 children
The plays were written for children to do them in class with the text in front of them. (The idea was for them to learn the story – not to perform as such.) They generally take about 5 minutes, very few props, and no dressing-up. We usually did the play twice, often changing who had each role.
Generally they contain a ‘crowd’ or ‘group of apostles’ or some such group that could be 2 or 10 people, thus giving everyone who turned up a part to play.
There is a range of reading levels, from fluent readers for the leading roles, to simple one-line parts for the new readers.
They were written to coincide with the theme for the week so may not contain the whole story.
Daniel in the lion’s den – Daniel 6:1-19 – Daniel in the lion’s den (for very early readers)
Doubting Thomas – John 20:24-29 – Jesus appears to Thomas and the Disciples
Easter Day – The Resurrection
God rescues his people – Exodus 12 – The Passover
Jeremiah – Jeremiah 36 – Jeremiah tells God’s word to the people
Jesus and the little children – Luke 18:15-17 – Jesus blesses children
Jesus escapes to Egypt – Matthew 2:13-23 – Jesus escapes to Egypt (Christmas Play)
Jesus heals the hunched woman – Luke 13:10-13 – Jesus heals a hunched woman
Jesus heals the Centurion’s slave – Luke 7:1-10 – Jesus heals a Centurion’s Slave
Jesus raises Lazarus – John 11:1-44 – Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead
Jesus, Simeon, and Anna – Luke 2:22-38 – Jesus, Anna, and Simeon (Christmas Play)
Joseph – Genesis 40 – Joseph in jail
Naaman is cured – II Kings 5 – Elisha heals Naaman (for age 10 and above)
Nehemiah – Nehemiah 1-4 – Nehemiah rebuilds the walls (for 9-10 year olds)
Paul and Silas in prison – Acts 16:25-40 – Paul and Silas in prison and an earthquake
Paul and Silas in prison (simplified) – Acts 16:25-40 – A simpler version of the play about Paul and Silas in prison with fewer parts
Pentecost – Acts 2 – The coming of the Holy Spirit
Peter escapes from prison – Acts 12:1-17a – Peter escapes from prison; alludes to James’s death as well
Peter is a coward – John 18: 15-18; 18:25-27; and 21:15-17 – Peter denies Jesus three times; Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times
The shepherds visit Jesus – Luke 2:8-20 – Shepherds visit the Baby Jesus (Christmas Play)
The three wise men – Matthew 2:1-12 – The three wise men visit Jesus (Christmas Play)
The trouble with sin – Genesis 3:1-24 – Temptation in the Garden (Based on Contemporary English Version)
Triple S Challenge
(9-11 year olds)
Resources: Triple S Challenge 1-4
A very popular challenge series for Senior Sunday School children. They complete the tasks at home and then show them to their Sunday School teacher. We gave them about ten weeks to complete each challenge. When they completed the challenge, the child received a certificate and a small edible reward (like a chocolate bar), which was presented at the next Sunday School meeting. It’s also good to use an impressive-looking chart to record progress.
Challenge 1
This challenge helps children to learn the meaning of common Christian phrases used in worship, such as in the Lord’s prayer, the Aaronic blessing and so on. Two versions of the challenge booklet are available (feel free to modify the text to suit you).
Triple S Challenge 1a is designed to be an A5 booklet with text on both sides. Print it all off in A4 and then copy it so that it packs together as a book. (This is the format we used.)
Triple S Challenge 1b (A4) is in A4 – simply print and you don’t have to worry about double-siding anything.
Challenge 2
This challenge is about the Old Testament. Note that an extra reward is offered if the children also learn the books of the Prophets. We gave a small chocolate bar for this section and a larger chocolate box and certificate for doing the whole challenge. Over half of the children learnt the Prophets even though it was voluntary.
Triple S Challenge 2 – this should be copied at A4 size, with the temple being copied onto A3 light card that is stapled separately into the middle.
Challenge 3
This challenge is focuses on essential Christian skills – prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, and service. It sets week-long goals for each area. It was the least popular of the Triple S challenges as the kids seemed to find it too ‘fuzzy’ to grasp. For this reason we recommend you don’t use it for your first attempt at getting the children to do challenges!
Triple S Challenge 3
Challenge 4
This one is shorter than the others because it was for the term coming into Christmas when there were many other activities. It was enthusiastically received, and we ended up with a real village of houses.
Triple S Challenge 4 – copy this onto A4 paper. The two pages with the house parts need to be copied onto light card.
Teaching about Communion
(5-13 year olds)
Resources: Play, Worksheets, and Questionnaire
A 45-minute set of activities intended to be a lesson for the whole Sunday School to take together in the Presbyterian form of Communion. It is based on the words in the service used at St John’s in the City, but we suggest you modify it to reflect your service. The children entered church for the Communion part of our service at the end of this lesson.
Lesson structure
Introductory talk by one teacher about the words used for Communion (Communion, Lord’s Table, Eucharist, Mass). We emphasised that people all around the world in all sorts of churches were doing the same thing because it is so important to Christians, and that it wasn’t just us at St John’s.
Communion Play – performed by the teachers for the whole class
Recap the main points on the board
Worksheets, split into four groups:
senior communion worksheet (ages 11-13)
middle communion worksheet (ages 8-10)
junior communion worksheet (ages 5-7)
preschool children had a picture of bread and a cup of wine to colour
Return to church and fill in Communion questionnaire as the service takes place