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Children’s Ministry
Learning Centres: Children Learning About God in Sunday School

Our Children’s Ministry goal is to provide our learners, ages two to Grade 6, with a “total learning experience” during the Sunday School hour. We developed a Learning Centre format because we do not have a mid-week children’s program and we wanted to bring some of that fun and variety into our Sunday School time. All the activities are focused on the lesson theme and its application to daily living at the student’s own level.

The children are divided into 2 groups – ages two to Grade 1 and Grades 2-6 with flexibility to change the grouping when the size of the groups has changed. The younger group, called the Lakeview Sprouts, have their own large room with activity and learning centres. The Bible story is taught using a flannelgraph set and/or an object lesson.

For the students in Grades 2-6 we began by taking a VBS program and tailoring it to our childrens’ needs and interests. We created and developed eight learning centres which are used on a rotation basis. During the Sunday School hour, each centre uses the story’s message as a focal point to reinforce that truth in the centre’s activities or teachings.

The Listening Lounge is used first every week as our time to take attendance, collect the offering and acknowledge birthdays. The leaders alternate each Sunday and lead the first centre as well as guide the children from centre to centre.

In the Music Corner a leader teaches songs that relate to the theme. This time can be used to teach songs for special programs or used in the Sunday morning worship service. This is usually scheduled every other week.

The Storytime Centre consists of a wooden clubhouse and fence which is the puppet stage and the setting for the story. The Bible based story is told in various styles which might include a game, object lesson and/or Bible drill; all reinforcing the theme of the story. As an alternative, a storyteller interacts with the students to present the story. Occasionally a group of senior high students is asked to present a skit related to a theme.

The Creativity Corner is scheduled about five times per quarter. The crafts are organized by either the Ministry Team or by someone else who is asked to come in especially for that activity.

The Memory Lane Centre is used to teach the Bible verse using various creative methods. The teacher sometimes combines it with the Bible Builder Games Centre so that the verse is learnt by using a game method. This makes it fun and exciting for the child and they can be active while learning. We usually have two teachers involved with this centre and they meet and plan beforehand. This centre is scheduled six times.

The Bible Builder Games Centre is also a time for fun and for playing various types of Bible oriented games. This centre happens usually five times.

The Special Projects Centre consists of two areas – Books and Missions. Each area has a different person teaching. The Books are scheduled three times during the program and the Missions twice. The Book Centre teacher brings new church library books in and reads either a short story or few chapters from a longer book. She then introduces other books and then the children can sign them out.

Our Special Treats Centre involves either a take home paper, a special snack, or a video. We alternate these six times.

Each Sunday morning consists of four or five of these centres lasting about 15 minutes each. If one centre runs longer, another can be shortened. This allows everything to flow smoothly. All the centres are located in a large open area of the church basement so moving quickly from one centre to another is easily done.

Not all staff needs to work every Sunday. Preparation time is reduced compared to the traditional classroom centered approach where one teacher does everything.

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Written by Alisa Laturnus, of Lakeview MB Church in Lethbridge. For more information contact Alisa at (403) 345-4826.
Last modified October 31, 2000.

Ideabank is a quarterly newsletter published by the Board of Christian Education Ministries, a board of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

© 2000 Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
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