I have recently talked about how I’ve been teaching Sunday School without curriculum. The kids and I are simply spending time in the Word, discussing what we have read, and reflecting on what we can learn. A part of what has made this work is their Bible Journals.
What are we using for Bible Journals?
Our Bible Journals are simply blank sketchbooks. I didn’t put anything together, print anything out, or design a cover page. The first Sunday, I let them spend time creating their title page while we talked about what we would be doing. However, based on previous lessons I have learned, I did give a few guidelines like being Bible related and no war references like tanks and blowing people up. (Teaching is never boring!)
I found black, hard cover sketchbooks at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. If you have a larger group of kiddos, you could use notebooks or folders with plain paper.
How do we use our Bible Journals?
We are currently working through the New Testament. Each Sunday we are looking into a different book and each book has it’s own page in their journal.
I have them write the name of the book at the top, then the author and timeline underneath that. If there is something specific about the author I want them to remember (like Matthew was a tax collector), they will include that information as well.
Once they have all that written down, we dive into the scripture. Be sure to click over to my post Teaching Sunday School without Curriculum to see a more detailed outline of how we spend our 30-45 minutes together.
I then have them illustrate something that represents what we have read or what they want to remember. The picture below is one child’s depiction of Saul’s conversion.
This was probably one of my most favorite lessons to do with the kids. We really got into Saul’s background and his motive for what he was doing. They just lit up seeing Saul in a different way. We were able to talk about how we can do wrong things for what we think are right reasons, about the changes that occurred in Saul, about how Ananias obeyed God even when he didn’t want to, and about why God might choose someone like Saul to spread His word.
It was so much fun to watch these kids learn and process and become animated in their discussions.
This is why I love teaching these kids!
When these journals are complete, I will send them home with the kids to share with their parents. Hopefully, they will keep their journals for a while and will be able to remember some of the lessons we learned along this journey through the New Testament.
Don’t forget to read more about how our lessons work here.
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This is such a great idea! I need to try this with my own kids!
Thanks, Melissa! It has been such a joy seeing what the kids create.
This is really great! I’m sure they will really grasp and remember things much better from journaling about it. And a special keepsake as well. ❤️
Thanks, Hope! This was my goal for them!
I teach 3 yr olds and have considered adding some journaling time into our time even though it would be just scribbles. I think it’s such a great habit to get them into!
3 year olds love to “scribble”!