To help you plan your kids ministry activities, we’ve created a list of three free Sunday school lessons for kids that you can conveniently incorporate into your curriculum.
1. Moses and the Burning Bush
This lesson teaches your Sunday school class how God helps with difficult tasks.
Say:
“Today’s Sunday school lesson from Exodus 3 and 4 is about a difficult assignment that God gave to Moses when he started his leadership in Israel. Young people your age often have to do different kinds of jobs. Some of these jobs may be difficult.”
Ask:
- Did you ever have a hard time doing a job? How did you deal with this situation? (Allow all children to answer. If the kids are shy to speak, you can start by sharing a time when you dealt with a difficult assignment and tell them what you did.)
- It’s common for people to prefer doing things they are comfortable with. Difficult tasks can lead to failure and nobody likes that. Moses wanted to help God’s people but failed. Now, God gave him a new and difficult task. Do you think Moses will try again? (Give your students the opportunity to discuss God’s response to Moses’ excuses after asking him to do a difficult task).
Say:
“Moses was born just before Pharaoh ordered the deaths of all male babies in Egypt. So his mother and sister hid him and placed him in the Nile, where he was rescued by the daughter of the Pharaoh and raised as her own son. At the age of 40, Moses tried to help the Hebrew people by killing an Egyptian. He failed and had to flee Egypt because the Pharaoh wanted to kill him. But God hadn’t forgotten about Moses or the Hebrews. This was all God’s master plan and soon Moses would find out.”
Read:
Continue with the Bible study and ask your students to find Exodus 3 in their Bibles. Ask one student to read Exodus 3:2-3.
Ask:
- Who appeared to Moses? (One of God’s angels.)
- What was strange about the bush? (Even though it was on fire, it didn’t burn up.)
Read:
Now, ask one student to read Exodus 3:7, 10-12.
Ask:
- What did God want Moses to do? (To go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt.)
- How did Moses respond to God? (He said he wasn’t good enough to do what God asked.)
- How did God answer Moses? (God said He would go with Moses and help him.)
Read:
Next, ask for another volunteer to read Exodus 4:10-15.
Ask:
- In what way did God offer to help Moses? (God wanted to teach Moses what to say.)
- How did Moses respond to God? (He tried to get God to send someone else.)
- Why do you think Moses didn’t want to do what God wanted him to do? (He was scared, embarrassed, didn’t know how to speak well, and lacked confidence.)
2. Adam and Eve
This is an excellent kid’s Sunday school lesson for teaching creation.
Say:
“The Sunday school lesson for today is about Adam and Eve and creation.”
Read:
Read Genesis 3 aloud, and ask the kids to act out the story. Then, invite your class to go to different parts of the room which serve as the following learning centers:
- Grapes Learning Center – Prepare a platter of grapes and encourage the kids to smell and touch the fruit but forbid them to eat any. Now discuss how difficult it is to smell and touch delicious-looking grapes without being allowed to eat them. Ask the students:
- How do you think Eve felt when she saw a beautiful fruit she wasn’t allowed to eat?
- Have you ever wanted something but couldn’t have it? What was it and how did it make you feel?
- The Snake and Adam and Eve Learning Center – Set out a snake in a glass cage or bring a snake toy. Allow kids to touch the snake and encourage them to crawl on their bellies as if they were snakes. Then, discuss how the snake must have felt after he was cursed to crawl on his belly. Ask:
- Why did God punish the snake?
- Why did God punish Adam and Eve?
- Have you ever been punished for something, maybe for breaking a rule? How did it make you feel?
- Newspaper Clothes Learning Center – Collect paper scraps and old newspapers and bring them to class for the next activity. Let the children use these old papers to create clothing for themselves, similar to the clothing they imagine Adam and Eve created.
Once the children complete all of the learning centers, play a game of hide-and-seek in which they have to hide from God. For this game, you can play God. Afterward, discuss with the kids how it felt to hide from God.
Ask:
- What did Adam and Eve do wrong? Why did they do it?
- Why did God want them to follow His rules?
- Have you ever done something wrong and felt like hiding so that nobody would find out?
- Did you ever feel the temptation to break a rule?
- Have you ever eaten candy although you were not allowed to?
While discussing this, emphasize that God loves us and wants us to be happy and that by following God’s rules we will find happiness.
3. Serving God and Others
This Sunday School lesson for kids teaches them to serve others.
Say:
“Service always starts with God. By serving others, we serve God.”
Do:
Before class starts, draw five rings of service (God, family and friends, church family, community, and the world) as concentric circles on a whiteboard. Then, fill a round plastic tub set on a classroom table with a bit of water. Now, ask the students to sit in a circle on the floor and start asking a few questions.
Ask:
- What does the word “to serve” mean? (Allow kids to respond and then read the dictionary’s definition of the word. Explain that the word has many meanings, including to work, give honor, help, offer food, spend time, and be obedient.)
- Who do you serve in your life?
- What do you do to serve others?
Say:
“The Bible says we all have special gifts or talents we can use to serve others.”
Next, ask one of the kids to read aloud Romans 12:4-6a.
Ask:
- What kinds of gifts do you think this paragraph is talking about?
- What kinds of gifts do you see in your family members or friends?
- What gifts do you have that you could use to serve others?
- How can you be a willing servant at home, with your parents, or with your friends?
Say:
“God has given each of us special gifts to use for Him. Let’s discover how to use those gifts to serve God.”
Ask one of the kids to read aloud Psalm 100:2, then ask:
- What does this passage say about how we should serve God?
Do:
Have the kids participate in a short activity that portrays different attitudes. Ask one of them to play a happy person and another one a grumpy person. Now, let them act out their roles. Ask them both to carry out a simple task like getting a glass of water. While the grumpy person complains, sighs, whines, walks with a slouched back, and drags his feet, the happy person completes the task without complaints but instead, does it cheerfully and quickly.
Once this task is done, ask the entire group of kids who they would rather be or associate with: the happy or the grumpy person — invite them each to vote. Then talk about how it affects each one of us to have grumpy people in our lives, unwilling to help, and discuss how Jesus is an example of an excellent servant, so much so, that He was willing to die on the cross for us. Then read Matthew 20:26-28, and talk about what Jesus says about serving.
Bottom Line
Children’s Sunday school lessons don’t have to be complicated, costly, or require a lot of preparation. As long as you create a balanced Sunday school curriculum that incorporates activities, reading, games, and discussions, you will be sure to keep the kids engaged while they learn about the Word of God and grow in their faith at the same time.