Helpful hints for Sunday school teachers

Helpful Hints

But Jesus called the
children to him and said,
"Let the little children
come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the
kingdom of God belongs
to such as these."

Luke 18:16 NIV

1. Pray with your class helpers, craft preparers, snack makers, etc. before each teaching session, before
children arrive. Not all adults involved in preparation need to stay for the actual class time, just your adult or
mature-teen class helpers.

2. Helpers, helpers, helpers. Yes, enlist the aid of helpers. Even if you have a very small church and let’s say,
just one child comes to Bible study or Sunday School; have a class helper. Another person helps protect you
from any misunderstandings or miscommunications between you and the child when speaking to the parents.
Use that other person as your monitor/observer in these kinds of situations. Also, by having another adult or
mature teen in the room with you, you will instill more trust in you by the parents and in turn, this will foster a
better relationship between the parents and you. (Remember, especially if this is a first-time visit for a family -
they don’t know you.)

Use your judgment as to how many helpers you will need. This will depend on the number of children present,
their activity level, what activities you have planned, the length of time allotted for your teaching, and of course,
how many volunteers you can “muster-up”. (I would estimate that eight well-behaved children could use two
helpers.)

3. Never let a child go to the restroom with another child or alone. Always send a helper to escort the child and
to wait just outside the door until the child is finished. Kids will want to play or maybe wander off, so it’s a good
idea to accompany them. You may want to get the word out to parents to have the children make restroom
visits before class time begins.

4. Try to use both volunteers that are parents and mature teens. This way parents will get to see what goes on
in your room and teens learn responsibility and servitude. And teens are especially helpful at crafts. It may be
helpful to you to have a rotating schedule assigned and posted. (I used the concept that if a parent has a child
in my room, then I would like the parent to see for themselves what is being taught and to sign their name to the
rotating helper list.)

5. Never keep a parent from their child. If the parent wants to sit in on a lesson, tell them you would be very
glad to have them and then ask them to come into the room as a helper. This way, their own child won’t feel like
“Mom” or “Dad” is spying on them, plus you’ll get a helper to work with the other children as well.

6. What is your church policy if a child becomes upset, unruly or ill? Have a helper take the child to the parents
directly (never send a child alone to find his/her parents), or have a helper find a parent to come and get the
child. If the child has been unruly, verbally tell the child that he/she cannot come back to class until they feel
better. Watch the tone of your voice here - not too hard and not too soft and use the words, “feel better”.
Again, go with church policy first if you have one regarding classroom behavior.

7. Know your children. Any food allergies? Do any of them have special diets? If you have a diabetic child that
won’t be able to partake of the snack you will be providing, ask that child’s parent to bring a snack and/or drink
that he/she would enjoy. Also, ask about any other special needs, such as physical, emotional, and mental.
The key here is to be prepared. Parents will appreciate your conscientiousness in this area. An index card
with the child’s information listed would be helpful for you to keep. (Some parents may drop off their children
for class and then leave the church. Do you have their phone number in case of an emergency?)

8. Teach children dexterity skills as much as possible. (I was surprised to learn that children of this age have a
lot of trouble with scissors.) Some won’t even know how to hold scissors. They may have never had a pair of
scissors. Child/youth scissors with very rounded tips can be purchased quite inexpensively and kept at the
church. If you have extra time at the end of a lesson, let the children cut out items from old magazines. It’s best
to have your helpers rip out pages from magazines and then show the children how to cut from holding a single
sheet. Remember, you have right-handed and may have left-handed children. Make sure your helpers are not
trying to make a left-handed child cut right handed. And make sure the child is holding the scissors the correct
way with the thumb in the thumb slot, not upside down.

9. Let the kids “do”. Let the kids distribute the cups, napkins, plates, papers, crayons, etc. This gives them a
sense of responsibility and servitude. Remember, you are there to teach, to guide, and to control group
behavior; the helpers are there to help control isolated, individual behavior and to help children with physical-
learning dexterity when making crafts; and the kids are there to participate.

10. Ask the kids to raise their hands so that you may call on them. Do not call on a child unless the hand is
raised. If the child speaks out without raising his/her hand, reiterate that he/she must raise their hand first; and
then ask the same question again and call on that particular child who did not raise his/her hand at first, but did
after you prompted him/her.

11. When a child answers a question, never say “that’s wrong.” You can say, “that’s not the answer I was
looking for, but that was a good try.” Be verbally positive about a child’s answer. This will give the child more
confidence to try to answer further questions. Also, when a child answers correctly or actually says what you’re
wanting to hear, give a resounding, “yes, very good, that’s right or that’s what I was wanting to hear.” Soon, by
using this technique, your outcome will be to have all children raising their hands to answer. Wow, you’ll have
class participation. The kids will be much happier and more attentive too.

12. To keep the kids quiet at specific times or to control unruly group behavior, show a signal. Previously, you
would have told the children what the sign is and what they are expected to do once they see the sign from the
teacher. (One that I have used in the past is that when I hold my right hand up straight and high and hold my
left index finger against my lips, then it is time that all children hold their right hand up straight and high and that
the talking stops.) Once you have achieved silence this way, you then say what you need to say and hey, you
didn’t even have to raise your voice to get the kids to be quiet. When the kids see the signal again, their
response is to hold their right hand high and be quiet to listen. (This may take several tries at first, until the
children know what’s expected.)

13. Explain the rules of the room before you begin. This should include the signal talked about in #12. Don’t
give too many rules, just the major ones.

14. Always pray with the children before the lesson and at the end of the lesson. Prayer can also be said
before snack. These prayers should be to the point (due to time constraints) and call on different children to
say them. If a child says, he/she doesn’t know how to pray, ask them if they would do it if you would help them.
If they still do not want to, go on to someone else. Whatever you do, try not to embarrass or make a child feel
uncomfortable.

15. Always send a letter to the parent(s), lesson papers, and/or craft, etc. home with the child with his/her name
printed on it. It is important to parents to see what their child has done and learned in class. (I got to the point
of sending a pre-copied sheet with a paragraph or two addressed to the parent(s) explaining what we did in
class that day. Click on "Sample Parent Letter") This way parents could actually question kids on the drive
home about the lesson and have the opportunity to discuss it as a family. You’ll never know just how many
parents you’re impacting as well.

16. Be prepared to help lead a child to Christ. Speak with your pastor/minister regarding the steps and the
approach in doing this.

17. Be prepared to help lead a child to be baptized. (While we’re on the subject of baptism, I feel it is best to
have as many people as possible view a baptism - the more people, the better. The baptism is also for viewing
and I believe helps the person being baptized to realize they’re doing something very significant in front of many
people. It also inspires others watching to want to do the same. Ask your pastor/minister to perform baptisms
during the main or largest service. Then ask the pastor/minister to ask for others who would like to be baptized
the next week to come forward now. The pastor/minister can also then lead any to Christ as well. Don’t wait to
baptize; baptize as soon as possible after a person becomes “saved”. Baptism helps the saved person
proclaim his destiny and begin to live for God in a public and private way. Believe it - this will help your
congregation flourish in numbers and in the Spirit.)

18. Be prepared to give Bibles to children that don’t have them. Even if a child attends your church only once,
give him/her a Bible. You’ll never know who’ll read it. (A children’s Bible is appropriate, I feel, to give.)

19. Be prepared, be prepared, be prepared. Know your time limitations. Each lesson will take a different
amount of time depending on many factors. Run through your lesson timing yourself and estimating the time
the children will take on their crafts and snacks, etc. Have your craft and snack materials prepared. Make sure
your helpers will be in attendance and inform them of what’s expected of them. PS: Don’t forget to thank
helpers for their service in the Kingdom of God.

20. If you have time left, be prepared to have games available to fill the extra time. You can find Christian
board games for children at many Bible bookstores. If you run short of time, you may be able to give your
lesson presentation while the children are having their snack. Remember, keep your lesson moving; children of
this age group have short attention spans.

21. Keep coloring to a minimum. Children grow tired of coloring very quickly. (I remember my son telling me he
was bored with pre-school. I asked him why he felt this way and he said that all he did was color pages.)

22. Reiterate the lesson while children are snacking. They’ll be quiet, plus you can go over major points in the
lesson again or maybe points you overlooked, or forgot during the lesson.

23. Let others help you. Don’t rob others of a blessing. Don’t be afraid to ask for anything. Remember, you
are like the supervisor putting it all together and you need other members to do other jobs. You’ll need class
helpers, craft preparers, snack makers, etc. Don’t try to do it all. (See Romans 12:4-8.) Let others receive
blessings as well in working for God’s Kingdom.

24. The memory verses may be harder for the younger children, so don’t expect too much from them.
Introducing the act of memorizing verses can lay a grand foundation for later learning.

25. Before snacks, always make sure that all hands are washed with soap.

26. If a child becomes ill or has an accident/injury while in your care, write a summary of the event(s) noting as
many details as possible. Keeping this kind of documentation may help you later if questions arise in possible
legal situations. (This helpful hint was provided by a "pastor friend" of mine.)

Hope these hints help you. Happy teaching!
Sincerely, Penny, Christian Kids World, LLC

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