When does Sunday School take place?
Children attend the church service with parents until children’s story, after which they go downstairs, accompanied by the Sunday School teacher(s).
We find this gives the children a chance to participate in worship, form a relationship with the Pastor, and feel a part of our church family.
As we have a small, but wonderful group of children, we are currently staying together as a single multi-age group (ages 4-12) and we find this has worked well for us and the children.
What do we use for curriculum?
Back in 2000, we learned about the Rotation Model and it inspired us to change….
- We redesigned our classrooms into bright, creative, kid-pleasing rooms (workshops).
- Children rotate to a new workshop each week for four weeks, the “rotation” period.
- During the four-week period, only one Bible story is taught.
- Each week’s workshop focuses on a different creative learning style or “intelligence,” which broadens memory and therefore Bible literacy improves.
Our lessons are generally gleaned from www.rotation.org, where the lesson may be used in its entirety or adapted by us for our space and available resources. Here’s an excellent video & article explaining “What is the Workshop Rotation Model”.
Please join us for a “whale” of a time!
Jonah Rotation
Inflatable Whale – nothing more memorable than being inside a big fish to hear Jonah’s story!
Here is an overview of our different workshops:
Art Workshop
Explore the Bible story further through creative art projects they will want to take home and share. Example (pictured) in Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac (a Rotation.org WT Lesson) the lesson played off of an 
archaeological insight about the story related to the practice of setting up “sacred witness stones”—as a way of remembering our role as witnesses to God. Students created “witness stones” from Crayola Model Magic Clay—it’s ART, not paper and glue crafts!
Computer Workshop
We have four computer stations with an extensive array of 60+ Christian software titles. Students learn about the bible story we are studying and what it means to them today through interactive stories, games, quizzes. Or they may draw, write, or create a slideshow of the story with narration and sound effects (see how we incorporated photo’s taken in God’s Story Table below).
Cooking Workshop
Nothing like the sense of smell and taste for locking in memory retention. We may simply retell the story using food, or we may cook the story. Pictured are Baby Noah’s in a basket cookies. We’ve done Mary Anoints Jesus Ice Cream Sundaes, edible toast sandals for Ruth’s journey, after we’d gleaned and then ground our wheat with a millstone. Chopped and cooked Jacob’s stew, served along with peace pitas….it’s the yummiest workshop!
Drama Workshop
Participate in the bible story. Here we use a variety of drama methods, such as: acting it out with props and costumes (pictured scene from Joseph in prison), freeze frames, shadow theater, or puppets. We may dance, sing, or play instruments (boomwhackers, bells, rhythm sticks, tambourines, etc.).
There’s always lots of action!
As you can see in our Blacklight production below.
Games Workshop
Learn through games as students explore or review the Bible story using a variety of games or quizzes, some examples are: Bible Jeopardy, Bible Bowling, interactive drama/game, parachute play, matching and sequencing, quiz with buzzers, or a life-size board game (pictured – The Last Supper life-size board game.)
God’s Story Table Workshop
Retell the bible story by re-creating the Bible scenes using an
assortment of miniature props and then photograph them. Just like a “movie crew” the students swap positions after each scene, from scene setter, to background or lightening technician, to the camera person. We have collected quite an array of miniature props that are sized nicely to go with Playmobil® or Lego®, people, animals, buildings, and accessories so we can recreate any bible story!
Bonus Feature: We can use these same photos in the computer workshop, where the children can upload them into “Kid Pix Deluxe 3”, add narration and music, then create a slideshow (movie) of the bible story with sound effects. Below is our 2009 David & Goliath video from scene photos taken by the students in “God’s Story Table”. This particular video was created using Windows Movie Maker by Luanne. Music background used is “I Give You Everything” written and performed by David Delgado (iTunes), used with permission.
Video Workshop
Off we go to our own little movie theater where they see and hear the bible story unfold before their eyes. Questions and discussion take place throughout the video. We might also sing-along to a music video or answer on-screen quizzes about the Bible story. Wouldn’t be the movies of course without popcorn & juice!
Hampton United Church 