A journey with Abraham

As part of the Rotaton.org content team, it was my pleasure to spend a few weeks traveling with Abraham through our Genesis forum, and I discovered quite a few treasures there to teach this story of faith and trust that will work for enhancing your “store-bought” curriculum as well as for use in Workshop Rotation Model Sunday schools. Here are some of my favorites for teaching your kids this story.

Children have great imaginations and they love to pretend, which is why using drama to reenact a Bible story is a great way to teach. But so many curricula use scripts in their lessons, which means the younger students (and less-proficient readers) cannot fully participate; or those lessons include costume and prop-heavy activities that are a bother to organize.   Take a look at this fun Interactive Drama Workshop  that demonstrates how any Bible story can be adapted to a lesson where the teacher/narrator cues the students/characters with what to do and say. The kids act out the narration and provide the sound effects. A fun twist in this script is the addition of an echo-effect toy microphone (found at discount retailers and online for under $10 – a great addition to your drama supply closet!).

Carol (CreativeCarol) Hulbert’s complete lesson set for teaching about Covenant and Call  includes six lessons (including a YUMMY sand pudding cooking lesson that doesn’t require cooking!) and a collection of Family Discipleship activities that you can share with your community.

The stories of Abraham and Sarah’s faith journey include a good part of the book of Genesis. While we love to read directly from the Bible as part of our lessons, these stories are too long to read in their entirety. Take a look at the videos that we found for you (most of them FREE) so that you can share the story in a concise way and move on to the digging and reflecting part of your lesson.

Finally, our Supporting Members will want to use the Writing Team’s lesson set Abraham & Isaac: God Will Provide  for the challenging story of the near-sacrifice of Isaac. In addition to the helpful Bible Background (open to all), you will find eight creative lessons to help students understand and reflect on this foundational story that teaches us that we, like Abraham and Isaac, can trust God with our lives, and that God will provide what is needed for our forgiveness and salvation.

Your art-loving students will enjoy creating a weaving  using materials that reflect different aspects of the story. Reflection on the Bible passage is “woven” into the art activity.

The second games lesson in this set  is particularly noteworthy! Students play with sand in unique ways to understand the importance of Abraham's test and God's plans for the world, and to learn some Bible skills related to the region where God first established his Covenant. The activities included use your students' mathematical intelligence, as well as tactile and visual intelligences. Combined, the lesson is designed to leave a strong memory.

Our Writing Team is a group of volunteer church educators, teachers, and pastors working together with Rotation.org's professional writer and educator to produce exemplary and extra-creative lesson plans for Rotation Model Sunday Schools and for traditional Sunday Schools looking to teach with creative methods. Because Supporting Members pay for the cost of this site and our Team coordinator, they get access to all of the Writing Team's lesson sets and much more. Join today!

Treasures to help you plan lessons for a new school year!

Here are several stories and lesson activities that caught my eye for our fall kickoff.

Peter and Cornelius: Everyone is Welcome

If you're looking to start the learning year with a Bible story that welcomes all people, the story of Peter and Cornelius in Acts 10:1-11:18, is a great one!

I love this Peter and Cornelius art lesson by Lisa Martin that invites children of all ages to carve from soap a reminder of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And it reminds all of us that through Jesus' sacrifice we are forgiven and washed clean on the inside. What a great daily reminder of God’s love and welcome! Best of all, soap sculpture materials are inexpensive and easy to find.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders: Another great "Kickoff Story"

Member Meghantoo offers an excellent video with a simple animated telling of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, accompanied by a great activity: painting a house on a rock! We love it!

As an alternative to paint and brushes, acrylic paint marker pens are a fun way for children and youth to create their design on rocks. Imagine a display of a whole rock village of houses representing the firm foundation of faith you are building on throughout the year in your education ministry setting!

Wise and Foolish Builders Science Experiment

Check out this really cool science experiment for the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders that Chris Epstein found on YouTube. This demonstration uses water and acetone for a stunning visual effect! I love how the presenter talks about not being able to see the foundations of buildings because they are underground. That would make a nice discussion topic about empathy and how we don’t always know what’s going on on the inside for other people unless they share about it, and how we can draw strength from our faith when the going gets tough….

Back to this experiment though — children (and adults) will not forget this lesson when one building totally disappears before their eyes! Wow!

Find more great content about Peter and Cornelius and the Wise and Foolish Builders at Rotation.org to help you kick off a new school year!

View Rotation.org's Fall Kickoff and Renewal Resource Forum

Our Holy Week resource forums are deep with treasures. Here are a couple that caught my eye -- especially because they could be used not only for Sunday School, but as at home and for intergenerational events.

These stepping stones and the book, The Story of Cross for Children are an attractive and fun lesson. And while I love a stepping stone, if it is too complicated you can use the same art designs with quicker and easier materials like paper plates and construction paper. This is part of a Stations of the Cross lesson for Palm Saturday event which helps kids remember the steps in an age-appropriate way.

Here's another Easter story treasure from our lesson forums...

This free Easter poster printable could be a great handout for families as you remind them of the importance of sharing Jesus and the Easter story with their friends and neighbors.  And if you print it on a TRANSPARENCY SHEET, you can turn it into a nice "Stained Glass" project for Sunday School

Everybody loves a good video, so why not invite students and families to create an Easter video like this one to share. Familiar faces telling the Easter story are compelling and fun.

Want to suggest videos to families or a teacher? Check out the Easter story told with Legos

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The treasures keep coming in 2024!

I was first attracted to the Rotation.org website because of the creative and unique lesson ideas (and we still have plenty of that), but there is so much more here to explore. So that is what I am highlighting this time around—some creative resources for VBS, and leading a smaller Sunday School.

VBS

Yes—VBS will be here before you know it and we have so many resources to help you. Last year we had a wonderful Zoom Coffee Chat about writing your own VBS using the many resources at Rotation.org.  View the video, along with some notes and brainstorming from the participants. The video is one of our Supporting Member resources.

Or maybe you are thinking about trying something different this year than a “traditional” VBS? If so, look here for some ideas that might get your creative juices flowing.

SUNDAY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

Many Sunday Schools saw a drop in attendance and regularity after the pandemic. And the members and leaders of Rotation.org have been addressing it. Last year, we had a Zoom Coffee Chat about this topic and you can watch the panel discussion on video. You can also read the summary of the discussion here.

They discuss a number of questions such as,

• “How do you handle combining older kids with younger ones?”
• “How do handle attendance fluctuations?”
• “What are some of the nice things about a smaller Sunday School?”

USING THE ROTATION MODEL IN A SMALL SUNDAY SCHOOL

If you're small but value creativity and bible literacy, read this article on “How the Rotation Model Works In and Can Help a Small Sunday School.” It has lots of practical ideas for managing your attendance fluctuations, schedule, teacher needs, space needs, and so much more.

“The Rotation Model can work great in any size program because it is inherently FLEXIBLE . And especially in small Sunday Schools, it can adapt to attendance fluctations,, room needs, and teacher availability throughout the year.”