Goal: Open the class with curiosity about the day's story.
Step by step
- Before class, put an object from the lesson in a closed box, with no sharp points or small pieces a child could swallow: a smooth stone for David (1 Samuel 17:40), a jar for the widow's oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), a red cord for Rahab (Joshua 2:18), toy loaves and fish (John 6:9) or a coin for the parable (Luke 15:8-10).
- Pass the box around the circle; each child may shake it or reach in without looking, and whispers to the teacher what they think is inside.
- When everyone has tried, open the box and ask: in which Bible story does this object appear?
- Teach the day's lesson with the object in hand and keep it in view all class.
- Application question: what object at home will remind you this week of what God did in this story?
Key verse: Proverbs 25:2 — it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out
Variation: With older kids, put three objects from the same story and ask them to guess the story before opening, with one hint per object.
Goal: Find out how the kids are doing and pray for them.
Step by step
- Give each child three cards: green (my week was good), yellow (so-so) and red (it was hard).
- On the count of three, everyone holds up the card that describes their week, without explaining.
- Ask who wants to say in one sentence why they chose their color; nobody has to speak.
- Read 1 Peter 5:7 and pray for the group, naming the kids who held up yellow or red and wanted prayer.
- Application question: when you have a red week, who can you tell, and how can you talk to God about it?
Key verse: 1 Peter 5:7 — cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you
Variation: If a child holds up red several weeks in a row, talk with them after class together with another teacher and, if needed, with their parents or the pastor, following your church's child-safety policy.
Goal: Review any story with questions that fit every lesson.
Step by step
- With a permanent marker, write six questions on a beach ball (or on strips taped to a fabric ball): who? where? what happened first? what was the problem? what did God do? what do I learn?
- Kids sit in a circle and the teacher tosses the ball gently, underhand.
- Whoever catches it answers the question under their right thumb about the story just told.
- If they do not know, they may ask a classmate for help; then they toss the ball to someone who has not answered yet.
- The last round always uses the question "what do I learn?": ask each child to finish the sentence "this week I will...".
Key verse: Luke 2:46 — sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions
Variation: For ages 6 and 7, roll the ball on the floor instead of tossing it, and the teacher reads the question aloud.
Goal: Review the lesson and recent weeks in teams.
Step by step
- Draw a three-by-three grid on the board and divide the class into two teams: Xs and Os.
- Prepare 12 to 15 questions about today's lesson and the last few weeks, at different levels of difficulty.
- In turn, ask one team a question; if it answers correctly, a child from that team picks a square and draws the team's mark.
- If the answer is wrong, the question passes to the other team; the round goes to the team that makes a line of three first.
- At the end, ask the application question: of everything we reviewed today, what do you need to remember this week and why?
Key verse: 2 Timothy 3:14 — continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed
Variation: With large classes, play on a four-by-four grid with lines of four.
Goal: Retell the story visually and in the kids' own words.
Step by step
- Give each child, or each pair, a sheet folded into four boxes.
- Explain what goes in each box: how the story began, what the problem was, what God did and how it ended.
- Give ten minutes to draw, with a short sentence under each box; the youngest can dictate their sentence to a helper.
- A few kids show their comic and tell it to the class; the teacher gently corrects anything that is not in the text.
- Application question: if you drew a fifth box with your life this week, what would you be doing because of what you learned today?
Key verse: Psalm 78:4 — telling the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord
Variation: Ask them to take the comic home and tell it to their family; next Sunday, ask who told it and what they said.
Goal: Search a passage for clues like a detective.
Step by step
- Make pairs of kids who already read, age 8 and up, each pair with a Bible open to the lesson passage.
- Read clues like a detective case: in verse 3 there is the name of a city, which one? find who spoke first; find how many days passed.
- The first pair to find the answer raises a hand and reads the exact verse aloud.
- Give a paper detective badge to every pair that finds at least one answer.
- Read Acts 17:11 and ask: what can you do this week to read the Bible on your own, like the Bereans?
Key verse: Acts 17:11 — they examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so
Variation: With kids who read little, the teacher reads the passage slowly and kids raise a hand when they hear the answer to a clue.
Goal: Memorize the verse by erasing it one word at a time.
Step by step
- Write the full verse and its reference on the board and read it together twice aloud.
- Ask one child to erase one word; everyone repeats the verse, saying the missing word too.
- Keep erasing one word at a time, always with a different child, until only the reference is left on the board.
- At the end, the class says the whole verse with nothing in sight; then a few volunteers say it alone or in pairs.
- Application question: when this week might you need this verse?
Key verse: Psalm 119:11 — I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you
Variation: To review next Sunday, write only the first letter of each word and ask the class to rebuild the verse.
Goal: Memorize the verse with rhythm and movement.
Step by step
- Divide the verse into short parts and write them on the board, one under another.
- Ask the kids to invent a motion for each part: hands over the heart, arms open, pointing up.
- Add a rhythm of claps or knee pats and say the verse together, first slowly, then faster.
- Do rounds by groups (the girls, the boys, anyone whose birthday is in the first half of the year); the last group says it without looking at the board.
- Application question: who will you teach the verse to with the motions this week?
Key verse: Psalm 47:1 — clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy
Variation: With parents' permission, record the class saying the verse with the motions and send the video to families to practice at home.
