Here are 8 great back-to-school Sunday school activities to help kids build a lasting relationship with Jesus this school year.

Back to school is a critical time for your Sunday school class. You’re taking kids on a journey that begins in your classroom and on into eternity. How will you begin the year with them? In which ways will you establish a loving, Christian relationship with the children you teach? How will you cultivate a yearning for more?

As kids head back to the basics at school, take them back to faith basics, too. Read on for ways to help kids overcome fear, serve others, develop character, pray for others, and much more.

As kids begin to develop friendships back at school, give them the tools to grow the most important relationship of all: the unique and eternal one they share with Jesus.

Back-to-School Activity #1: Disciple-Makers

Theme: The Great Commission

Scripture: Matthew 28:19-20

Age Level: 6 to 12

Prep Time: None

Activity Time: 20 minutes

Materials:

• Bible
• masking tape
• large activity area

The Game

This is a high-energy game you can use to teach kids how important it is for us to reach others for Jesus.

Using the masking tape, make two “x” shapes on the floor 20 feet apart. Form two teams. Have each team form a line 20 feet away from its “x” —home base—on the floor. Next, select one “Disciple Maker” from each team, and have that person stand on the home base, facing his or her team.

Read aloud the Scripture.

Play

Say: Inviting more people to be friends with Jesus is the first and most important job God has given us. The Bible calls friends of Jesus disciples. When we give people who don’t know about Jesus the chance to know him and his love, God is so glad. Let’s play a game for a fun way to practice this important job!

Disciple Makers, on ‘go,’ you’ll run to your team and make disciples of your teammates. I’ll explain how. 

On “go,” encourage the Disciple Makers to run to their teammates. When they reach the teammates, they’ll grab the hand of the first person in line and cry out, “You can be Jesus’ friend!”

Then they’ll lead the friend by the hand and run back to home base. Once a teammate is on the home base, the Disciple Maker will run back to the waiting teammates until all the kids have become disciples.

Celebrate together when everyone’s become a disciple. If time allows, invite kids to swap roles and play again for as many rounds as they’d like.

Ask:

• How did it feel to be a Disciple Maker?
• What did you enjoy about being invited to be friends with Jesus–as disciple?
• What did we do in this game that we could do at school, work, home?

Stoyan Georgiew
Sofia, Bulgaria

Back-to-School Activity #2: Harvest Cross

Theme: Changing Seasons

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Age Level: 10 to 12

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Activity Time: 30 minutes

Materials:

• Bible
• 10 small or medium pinecones per child (these can be found at craft stores or online if they aren’t readily available in nature where you live)
• dried or artificial fall leaves
• ribbon
• craft wire
• cardboard
• scissors
• a hot glue gun
• and craft glue

The Craft

Have kids make a harvest cross to mark the changing seasons and remind them of this Scripture.

Read aloud the Scripture. Ask:

• Why do you think God made seasons?
• How do our lives change kind of like the seasons?

Say: To celebrate this season, let’s make a harvest cross.

First, cut out a cardboard cross for each child to use as backing.

Using a hot glue gun, glue the pinecones to the cardboard cross backing with the pointed ends up. You, or your adult or teen helpers, will need to help with this step.

Before you move on, allow the glue to cool. Then have kids use craft glue to adhere the dried or artificial leaves to the crux of the cross. Next, have kids tie a ribbon bow and glue it on top of the leaf arrangement. Finally, kids can make a wire loop for a hanger. Have adults attach the hangers with hot glue.

Terri Quillen
Greenwood, Indiana

Back-to-School Activity #3: Keepsake Containers

Theme: God looks at the heart

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7

Age Level: 6 to 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Activity Time: 20 minutes

Materials:

• Bible
• opaque container with candy or treats inside
• empty snack-size cylinder chip containers (such as Pringles cans)
• various decorative craft supplies such as stickers, sequins, chenille wires, or adhesive gems
• washable markers
• craft glue or Glue Dots

The Lesson

Read aloud the Scripture.

Ask:

• I wonder, why do you think we often judge people by the way they look on the outside?
• When you only look at someone’s outward appearance, what do you really know about the person?
• What does God look at? And why is that a better way to really know people?

Hold up the container with treats inside.

Ask: Would you rather have just this container or what’s inside it? Why?

Say: Let’s open the container and see what’s inside.

Show everyone what’s inside the container.

Say: Containers are important, but they’re not as important as what they hold inside.

Ask:

• How is that like or unlike us?
• How can we learn to see a person’s heart and not just the outside?
• How can God help us see the good in others?

Say: Let’s make a fun storage container that’ll help us remember this Scripture as we meet people at school and work–wherever we go. It doesn’t matter what it looks like on the outside. We’ll store things inside that are more important.

The Craft

Give each child a chip container. Allow kids to decorate the container with the supplies—any way they’d like. Then invite kids to think of something they could keep inside the container at home that has a special meaning to them. Encourage kids to keep the containers for a reminder that what’s inside of them is most important to God, and they can watch for the good inside of others too.

RoseAnne Sather
Greeley, Colorado 

Back-to-School Activity #4: No Fear

Theme: Facing fear

Scripture: Daniel 6

Age Level: 3 to 5

Prep Time: None

Activity Time: 10 minutes

Materials:

• Children’s Bible

The Lesson

Help younger children overcome their first-day-of-school fears with the story of Daniel and a song.

Say: Sometimes I get scared. If I go to a new place or see people I don’t know, it can be scary. Let’s listen to the story of Daniel. He knew what it felt like to be afraid!

Read the Scripture. Invite kids to help act out the story as you go to engage them in the details.

Say: Daniel had a scary slumber party with lions! But God protected him and he wasn’t hurt. We can pray when we’re scared too. God hears all our prayers and can help us get through scary times.

Ask: What’s something you might feel worried about or afraid of at school?

Say: Let’s pray about those things now, together.

Pray for the worries and fears kids share and ask God to bring peace, calm, and comfort to the children as they face those concerns at school.

To wrap up, sing this song with your class to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

If you’re scared and you know it, pray for help, 

If you’re scared and you know it, pray for help, 

If you’re scared and you know it,

Pray for God to help you through it,

If you’re scared and you know it, pray for help!

Sandy Spooner
O’Fallon, Missouri

Back-to-School Activity #5: Sand Sculptures

Theme: God’s masterful plan

Scripture: Psalm 139:13-16

Age Level: 6 to 12

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Activity Time: 30 minutes, plus one week drying time

Materials:

• Bible
• a large bucket
• a large stick
• clean sand (available at landscaping and home improvement stores)
• a scoop
• craft glue (large quantity)
• tempera paints
• assorted beads
• plastic lids
• toothpicks

The Lesson

Help kids appreciate the details God put into each of us as they create these unique paperweights.

Read aloud the Scripture.

Say: Imagine what a job it would be to create everything on this earth, piece by piece. From every grain of sand to every leaf on every tree. How big a job would that be?

Imagine how God worked to create the earth, and imagine how he worked on each of you. Everyone in this room is God’s creation—that means he made every part of you—your smile, the color of your eyes, the way you walk. Everything we see and know about is part of God’s creation.

Pour the sand into the bucket. Then have kids reach into the bucket and lift out a handful of sand. Tell them to let the sand trickle through their fingers.

Ask:

• How many grains of sand are in your hand?
• Can you count them? Why or why not?

Say: Imagine how many grains of sand are on a beach. More than we can understand! Just think—God created every single grain of sand, just as he created every one of us.

Ask:

• How does it make you feel to know that God made you just the way you are on purpose—and he loves you for who you are?

Say: There are times we wish we were different—maybe in the way we look or the way our personalities are. But God has a special plan for each of us.

Ask:

• How can we make the most of the special gifts God’s given us?

The Craft

Say: Let’s create paperweights that’ll help us remember that God created each of us to be unique. You’ll get to add special details to your artwork. As you do, think about how God cared about every detail he included in you. You are God’s artwork! 

First, pour glue into the bucket and stir it with a large stick until all the sand is moistened. Then, have kids each pick a plastic lid to use as a mold for making a paperweight.

Scoop some of the sand mixture and place it into the lid each child holds. They can decorate their paperweights by pressing beads into the sand or dropping small amounts of paint onto the sand and swirling it with a toothpick to add color. Kids can also press their fingers or toothpicks into the sand mixture to create different shapes and textures.

Once kids are finished decorating their paperweights, have them set their creations where they can dry for one week. After they’re dry, kids can peel away the plastic lid and enjoy their sand creations.

Back-to-School Activity #6: School Prayer

Theme: Praying for others

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Age Level: 6 to 12

Prep Time: None

Activity Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Materials:

• map (can be printed from a website and laminated with contact paper or slipped into a paper protector sleeve)
• Bible
• colored pins

The Activity

Teach kids they can actively impact their schools and friends through prayer. You’ll need a laminated map of your city or county where the children in your class attend school. Hang the map in a prominent location in your classroom.

Read aloud the Scripture.

Ask:

• Why do you think it’s important to pray for other people?
• What can happen when we pray for others?

Say: Prayer is talking with God—our powerful and loving Creator. God cares hears and cares about our prayers and knows that what we pray about matters to us. School is an important place—maybe with a lot of people and things that matter to you. So let’s pray for your schools.

First, have kids mark their schools’ (approximate) locations with a colored pin. Pray for each school, for the students, teachers, and staff.

Then, in each following week, pray with your class for a different school. You’ll invite kids into a rhythm of praying for their own schools and all in the community. Home-schoolers can pray for kids on their sports teams, their parents, siblings, other home-schoolers, or other friends.

Pam Kohlbeck
Apple Valley, Minnesota

Back-to-School Activity #7: Fun Nights for Outreach

Theme: Outreach

Scripture Basis: Matthew 18:20

Age Level: 6 to 12

Prep Time: 1 hour per night

Activity Time: 2 hours

Encourage your class to invite friends to join in the fun during these themed “Fun Nights.” Kids need a safe environment where they can simply have fun and build friendships. Make your children’s ministry that place!

Schedule two or more Fun Nights for each school year. Friday nights often work best. Publicize each event in advance with fliers, announcements, emails, social media communications, and ads in your church bulletin or website. Reach out to local schools to ask for permission to post fliers there too.

Here are a couple theme ideas to jumpstart your brainstorming.

Game Night

Invite kids to bring their favorite game (board, cards, or activity). In addition, organize several fun active games such as a dress-up relay where kids dress up in oversized clothing and run an obstacle course. Serve popcorn with various flavoring options, apples, caramel dip, and cider.

Movie Night

Choose a full-length kids’ movie with a Christian or moral message, plus a few shorter cartoons such as the old Disney classics. Serve some simple snacks such as popcorn or tortilla chips with individual cups of various dips—such as nacho cheese, guacamole, or mild salsa.

Teri Nessia
Lansing, Michigan

Back-to-School Activity #8: Supplies and Demand

Theme: Serving others

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10

Age Level: 3 to 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Activity Time: Collection taken over four weeks

Materials:

• wrapping paper cardboard rolls
• tempera paint
• paintbrushes
• poster board
• markers
• a large cardboard box
• construction paper
• tape

The Activity

Sponsor a four-week back-to-school supply drive as a service to kids and families. This is great for just ahead of a new school year, but you can do this at any time. Kids’ needs continue well beyond the first few weeks of school and supplies can run out quickly!

Partner with a local public school or shelter so you can provide much-needed supplies. Invite donations of notebooks, pencils, crayons, paints, folders, erasers, boxes of tissues, hand sanitizer, and more to help meet needs.

Have kids decorate a large cardboard box with construction paper, paint, and markers. Make a “School Supplies Needed” sign. Create fliers explaining the goal of the collection and who’ll benefit from it. Include a list of needed items and the final day of the collection.

To spice up the collection area, decorate with extra-large pencils made from wrapping paper cardboard rolls. Paint the rolls yellow, and attach a pink eraser and a black tip made from construction paper. Fold two poster board sheets in half lengthwise to create oversize books. Write the Scripture on the inside “pages.”

When you deliver the donations, seek permission to get some photos of the supply delivery. Then show the photos to your class so they can see what their efforts accomplished!

Looking for more back to school ideas? We have you covered!