People have been producing curriculum resources for more than sixty years, and churches have been doing Sunday Schools for much longer than that. However, there’s still a bewildering array of options if you’re looking for materials to use. They’re not the most exciting things to wade through, so I’ve taken a look at the most popular and come up with my recommended resources for leading Sunday groups in church. So get yourself a cup of coffee and let me take you through it!
Best for church and non-church kids: Urban Saints Energize
Put simply I think this is the biggest and best resource out there. There is a huge number of sessions on a wide range of topics such as Jesus’ life, Bible characters, Christian foundations and much more. And you can follow the sessions by topic, in the order of their four-year syllabus or mix and match them however you want.
Not only is there a huge number of resources but nearly every session has been tailored for five different age groups – 3 to 4, 5 to 6, 7 to 10, 11 to 14 and 15-plus. There should be something in there for all Sunday groups. And within each session there is a huge amount of ideas, over two hours’ worth in most cases. Their timings are very tight, though, and in reality I have to allow longer for each of the activities, so really each session has enough for two sessions, not one!
It’s not just the quantity, it’s the quality as well. Each programme comes with a variety of ideas with a mixture of different styles eg reading the Bible, sounds, pictures, film, acting. And there is also a chance to reflect on the story in each session – how different people in the story would have felt, quiet time, prayer etc. The result is a well-balanced session that appeals to church kids and non-church kids, ideal if you’re looking to expand your group and bring in those who might not normally come to church.
Come on though, there must be some negatives? Well it is only available online, there is no magazine. That’s very much a positive for me but I know others might prefer a paper copy. (You can print off the session and pass that round if your leaders prefer). It’s not free, it costs £20 a month. However, that’s comparable to buying several copies of a magazine for your leaders. But here’s the big one, the one that might be the deal breaker – there are no worksheets! I know! Personally I’m not a fan of worksheets but if you like them you’ll be disappointed with this resource.
You don’t have to take my word for it, go to the website and try out the free samples and sign up for a six-week free trial.
Best free resource: Scripture Union LightLive
www.scriptureunion.org.uk/LightLive
If money is too tight to mention then I recommend Scripture Union’s Light Live. I’ve not idea how they manage to run the website and offer all this for free but they do!
It follows a syllabus, with each of the age groups looking at the same story on the same day. (You can also use the search function to find old sessions if you want to make your own syllabus). The age groups covered are under-5s, 5 to 8s, 8 to 11s, 11 to 14s, 14-plus and a new group called ‘Mosaic’, aimed at groups with a wide range of ages all in together (very helpful!).
Scripture Union is a resource that has improved in recent years and they’ve embraced a number of styles of learning eg acting, sounds, repeating, drawing etc. There is also a whole section on ‘Living the Life’, which helps the children reflect on the story and think about application as well. For me it’s aimed more at church kids although the non-church kids side is improving and there are some approaches aimed at children who have no knowledge of the Bible.
And some of you will be pleased to know that there are worksheets galore in this so if wordsearches, mazes and colouring in are your thing this is the resource for you!
LightLive is also available to buy as a magazine if you’d prefer that to online but the magazines aren’t free. So if you want to dip your toe in I recommend checking out the website first of all.
Best resource that follows the lectionary: Roots
If you want a high-energy, noisy session this may not be the resource for you but if you want one that follows the lectionary and takes a more reflective approach look no further. The emphasis is on music and prayers and in the latter there are prewritten prayers and leader/response style prayers. It also focuses on Bible reading and responding to word.
Roots aims to cover different spiritual styles and it lists these as Word (listening, speaking, reading), Emotion (feelings, connecting with people, helping), Symbol (using objects to connect) and Action (doing, playing, free activities).
One problem is that it only provides separate resources for two groups: ‘children and young people’ (one session for all ages within that) and ‘adults and all ages’ (for all-age services). Within the ‘children and young people’ resource the activities highlight which age group they’d be better for but there’s not much for teenagers.
There’s nothing online so you need to order the magazine and use that. There are six issues a year and the annual cost is £49.50 (£82.00 if you include the All-Age magazine). You can order a free sample online if you’d like to try before you buy.
And here’s a quick summary of other resources if you want to try something different.
Go Teach
This favours a school lesson plan format where the emphasis is on teaching the Bible. However it feels dated in both look and approach. (The main teaching method was cardboard cut-outs against a background). There’s not a great deal of variety in each session with just one craft and one story idea and the response section was just one line.
The Bible Curriculum
An excellent craft resource but the rest is a mish-mash of confused ideas. Each month has a theme and an activity linked to that theme but this can have little or no relevance to the story of that session. There’s nothing in here on response or reflection – not even a prayer section.
Click
A resource for those who want a school lesson plan type format where the emphasis is on teaching the Bible. Unfortunately this means the material is rather lacking in reflecting and responding to the story and there’s little in the way of prayer. Good selection for children but nothing for teenagers.
KidZone
A simple, straightforward resource, but one that feels dated. There are a range of styles for telling each story and the theme runs well through the session. But it looks so old fashioned. As an example one session included a rap using pom-poms that was real head in the hands stuff.
Stephen Mawhinney is Children’s Worker in Barnsbury Parish and is a fan of Liverpool FC.
Do you agree with Stephen? What are your thoughts on some of the resources available?