Sunday School teachers - ideas wanted please

[spokette]

I take my DTS to Sunday School (CofE) and they absolutely love it. They do lots of craft activities, singing, listening to stories and playing games. It is a small Sunday School but new children turn up every week. Current age range 2yo to 10yo.

The organisers have asked for volunteers to help out and I am seriously considering it. I have approached the leader about it and explained that I would not be able to attend every week. She is happy about that and asked me to put forward ideas.

I have some ideas but I thought I would ask what others do in their Sunday classes in order to collate what works and what does not (lol). Also, on average, how much time do you spend preparing for classes? I work part-time plus I am a Non-Executive Director for a NHS trust so I don't want to overload myself too much.

TIA

Hi - we follow the Scripture Union program - Scriptureunion.org.uk, this gives lots of ideas for different activites, including drama and music, discussions, craft etc. I work from the book, and it takes me about 2 hours to prepare for the lesson, make any craft bits etc. The childrens favourite activities are the games, and drama, and some of them love anything crafty.

I teach about once every 6 weeks, and love it.

we also use the scipture union guides - I work with 2-5 yr olds and we use a book called Bubbles. very good, interesting ideas each week, but often have to miss some of the activities out as our younger ones wouldnt manage the more complicated games etc. Have you got alocal christian book shop? they usually have a section with work books in for diff childrens ages.

What age would you be dealing with? What is right for a 2yo is not the same as for a 10yo.

A curriculum is useful - either bought in or home-made. We use CPAS materials. Most important is that you are building relationships with the young people, and not be too focussed on the tasks.

If you are preparing craft materials, or any other teaching resources, you may need to spend a couple of hours preparation.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

At the moment all the age ranges are lumped together hence why they need more volunteers. Since my DTS are 3yo I think I would prefer working with the younger age group.