During this time of quarantines and shutdowns, many of you are probably wondering how you can keep in touch with your Sunday School students. Don’t worry; you have options! We have many digital options: call/text your students, create a YouTube video, or use a live streaming service to teach your class. Still, nothing beats something physical to put in your students’ hands! Here are some ideas to create a fantastic and relevant goody bag for your class.
The following steps are intended to help you prepare for just one class. If you are preparing for multiple classes, just repeat the steps for each class. By using things around the church/house, you should be able to create packets for about $.50 each. Totally doable!
1.Decide your theme.
What is your lesson about? Choose a color or design that represents the point you are trying to get across and use it through out your packet. (Example: your lesson is about prayer. Incorporate clip art of praying hands throughout.) Or use something totally unrelated, but cute. (owls, race cars, etc.) This will help tie everything together. Be sure that you include some sort of printout that explains the passage that you are teaching in such a way that parents can easily read it to their children without having to study themselves.
2. Gather your items.
If you are doing this for a large group, organization is key. You will be surprised how much you already have laying around! The kids won’t know that the candy is leftover from the last bus promotions; you weren’t going to use those leftover popcorn bags from VBS anyways. Be creative! If expense is a concern, ask people to help you gather items. If one person gets crayons, one person grabs juice boxes, and another takes care of printing worksheets, no one person will be burdened with the expense.
Here are some ideas of what to include: snack, candy, crayons/pens, small toy, memory verse card, tract, bookmark, easy craft, hand sanitizer, worksheets, coloring pages, and personal notes.
3. Personalize.
This is where you can have some fun! The internet has all sorts of resources that you can take advantage of, or you can create your own. Your kindergarten class would love a simple coloring sheet- older children might enjoy a word search, crossword puzzle, or fill-in-the-blank. Teens can get involved too- try a Bible verse hunt or questions about a section of text. Have a little extra time? Throw in a small personal note: believe me, they will appreciate the thought! Any little thing you can do to make it unique for each child will make an impact. Do you know that one kid doesn’t like chocolate? Throw in a sour candy instead. Did that one parent ask you not to feed their child sugar? Add an apple instead of a snack cake. Think about what your students like- and what you would want YOUR kids to have.
4. Distribute.
Put all your items in some sort of bag and attach a label of some kind (or write on the bag). Then drive to your students’ houses and drop them off. Depending on your church’s policy, you can either visit with your student or just leave it on the doorstep for them to find. Make sure you leave a tract or something similar so that they will know who it is from.
There! You’re done! Wasn’t that fun? Plus, your students will never forget the effort you put forth to connect with them during this crazy time!
For help finding worksheets or coloring pages, go to the Contact page and send us an email. We would love to help you. Good luck!