POP UP SUNDAY SCHOOL
What is "Pop Up Sunday School"?
It's for situations where you have children at the meeting for any type of service including Fraternals & Study Days and you are not in a position to offer a Sunday School lesson to them for whatever reason. It's similar to when you go to a restaurant or venue where children are given a "Kids Pack" with colouring book and crayons - kids love it!
I got the idea for Pop Up Sunday School after making Kids Packs for Salmesbury Sundays & Northern Praise Day. Those type of Kids Packs are too expensive to do every week (about £1.50 a pack - I will put details of those further down this page) so I was looking for a cheaper alternative. With this method I can print lessons rather than having to buy books, the kids borrow crayons and return after use and there is no little toy. They can choose a packet of Haribo from the tub - I don't put the sweets in the packs so the packs are easier to store and it's easier to keep a track of best before dates.
RESOURCES FOR POP UP SUNDAY SCHOOL
We have a couple of Ikea Trofast frames with assorted drawers. I used 3 of the thinnest drawers which happen to be green (other colours are available).
1 for infants | 1 for juniors | 1 for seniors. There are 4 packs of the same lesson in each drawer.
In the infants drawer is:
4 x CIL infants lesson and CIL activity sheet that goes with that lesson in a cello bag
https://www.ebay.co.uk/.../C5-A5-Clear-Cello.../262863844178
Tubs of wax crayons. I used food storage tubs (Home Bargains £1.50 for 5. (I sorted through all the wax crayons, got rid of broken ones and put one of each colour into tubs. There are 8 tubs out - if we get more than 4 kids it's easy to go and grab a pile of last weeks or next weeks lessons to top up with).
In the juniors drawer is:
4 x CIL junior lesson and CIL activity sheet that goes with it, in a cello bag.
Clear A5 plastic wallets (5 for £1.35 Home Bargains) with pencil crayons, a little ziplock bag with a small pencil sharpener and eraser.
In the seniors drawer is:
4 x CBM Learning about your Bible lesson in a cello bag and a pencil case with pens in.
SPARES
The CIL lessons are over 2 years so the library is going to take a while to build up. I currently print a month's worth in one go and bag them up, takes about half an hour. After 2 years they will all be done and can just be rotated. After each meeting, I make a note of what has been used and then replace it the following week. For ease, I have downloaded the CIL and CBM lessons into my Dropbox so it's pretty quick to print them out.
If we get more than 4 kids at one time in the same age bracket, there are plenty of spares to use.
If there are no kids at the meeting one week e.g. week 3 I will put the same lesson out the next week. We often have repeat visits which is why I am doing it this way so they don't end up doing the same three or four lessons each time. I guess each meeting will be different, you might prefer to do it a different way.
HOW IT WORKS: SETTING UP
Take the drawers out of the frame in the Sunday School room, put at the back of the meeting room in a visible spot, switch on the sign. Put the Haribo out (from the Seniors drawer). Put the laptrays out.
HOW IT WORKS: TAKING DOWN
Make a note of what lessons have been taken (to print out and replace next week). Put the green drawers back in the frame and the lap trays back in the Sunday School room.
HOW IT WORKS: FOR THE KIDS
It's "grab and go" - we don't have a Sunday School. The kids come in, go and pick a lesson from the appropriate drawer with crayons, grab a lap tray, a packet of Haribo and take it to where they are sat with their parents. At the end of the meeting, they return the crayons.
CIL LESSONS HERE
https://www.isolationleague.org/
CBM COURSE HERE
https://www.cbm.org.uk/2945-2/
It's for situations where you have children at the meeting for any type of service including Fraternals & Study Days and you are not in a position to offer a Sunday School lesson to them for whatever reason. It's similar to when you go to a restaurant or venue where children are given a "Kids Pack" with colouring book and crayons - kids love it!
I got the idea for Pop Up Sunday School after making Kids Packs for Salmesbury Sundays & Northern Praise Day. Those type of Kids Packs are too expensive to do every week (about £1.50 a pack - I will put details of those further down this page) so I was looking for a cheaper alternative. With this method I can print lessons rather than having to buy books, the kids borrow crayons and return after use and there is no little toy. They can choose a packet of Haribo from the tub - I don't put the sweets in the packs so the packs are easier to store and it's easier to keep a track of best before dates.
RESOURCES FOR POP UP SUNDAY SCHOOL
We have a couple of Ikea Trofast frames with assorted drawers. I used 3 of the thinnest drawers which happen to be green (other colours are available).
1 for infants | 1 for juniors | 1 for seniors. There are 4 packs of the same lesson in each drawer.
In the infants drawer is:
4 x CIL infants lesson and CIL activity sheet that goes with that lesson in a cello bag
https://www.ebay.co.uk/.../C5-A5-Clear-Cello.../262863844178
Tubs of wax crayons. I used food storage tubs (Home Bargains £1.50 for 5. (I sorted through all the wax crayons, got rid of broken ones and put one of each colour into tubs. There are 8 tubs out - if we get more than 4 kids it's easy to go and grab a pile of last weeks or next weeks lessons to top up with).
In the juniors drawer is:
4 x CIL junior lesson and CIL activity sheet that goes with it, in a cello bag.
Clear A5 plastic wallets (5 for £1.35 Home Bargains) with pencil crayons, a little ziplock bag with a small pencil sharpener and eraser.
In the seniors drawer is:
4 x CBM Learning about your Bible lesson in a cello bag and a pencil case with pens in.
SPARES
The CIL lessons are over 2 years so the library is going to take a while to build up. I currently print a month's worth in one go and bag them up, takes about half an hour. After 2 years they will all be done and can just be rotated. After each meeting, I make a note of what has been used and then replace it the following week. For ease, I have downloaded the CIL and CBM lessons into my Dropbox so it's pretty quick to print them out.
If we get more than 4 kids at one time in the same age bracket, there are plenty of spares to use.
If there are no kids at the meeting one week e.g. week 3 I will put the same lesson out the next week. We often have repeat visits which is why I am doing it this way so they don't end up doing the same three or four lessons each time. I guess each meeting will be different, you might prefer to do it a different way.
HOW IT WORKS: SETTING UP
Take the drawers out of the frame in the Sunday School room, put at the back of the meeting room in a visible spot, switch on the sign. Put the Haribo out (from the Seniors drawer). Put the laptrays out.
HOW IT WORKS: TAKING DOWN
Make a note of what lessons have been taken (to print out and replace next week). Put the green drawers back in the frame and the lap trays back in the Sunday School room.
HOW IT WORKS: FOR THE KIDS
It's "grab and go" - we don't have a Sunday School. The kids come in, go and pick a lesson from the appropriate drawer with crayons, grab a lap tray, a packet of Haribo and take it to where they are sat with their parents. At the end of the meeting, they return the crayons.
CIL LESSONS HERE
https://www.isolationleague.org/
CBM COURSE HERE
https://www.cbm.org.uk/2945-2/
