Driving Sunday School Home

Sunday school is the highlight of my 3 year-old's week. She loves the songs, the stories, it fills her little social bucket like nothing else, and it gives her a whole new collection of things to inquire about. I love to see her sleepy face light up when she emerges on Sunday morning and realizes what day it is.

It's so easy to let Sundays fly by in a precious blur of worship, family togetherness, and preparations for the coming week.

After church we chat a bit about Sunday school in the car, then it's lunch, naps, baking bread and other random staples. Add a few chores or a visit with family and the day is done before we know it.

I realized not too long ago that I wasn't helping my daughter draw a connection between her Bible lesson and the rest of life. Asking a few questions on the way home, and maybe during lunch, is nice but I wanted to weave it into the rest of our week.

Here's three simple ideas we've been using to keep the lessons going strong after Sunday school:

1. Write it out – I put the words of the week's theme verse on two small cards, one for the dining table and one to use as a bedside bookmark. We go over these “Special Words” at every meal and during our bedtime routine. Usually we make up a few little hand motions to go along as well. By the end of the week my daughter has memorized a bit of scripture and we've had many opportunities to talk about key concepts.
2. Draw & color – Our whole family is fairly artistic, so this is one of the key ways we connect. I make sure at least one of our projects each week has to do with the Sunday school topic. Sometimes I find a printable online that coordinates with the lesson, or I may happen to have a coloring book with an appropriate page, or the topic may be easy for my pre-schooler to draw on her own. Then we hang her art and make sure to talk about it the rest of the week.
3. Keywords – These are for me, not so much my daughter. I try to pick one or two important concepts that I can use throughout our normal conversations that will segue nicely back to her “Special Words” or lesson theme for the week. This took a while to really become a habit for me so I started writing my keywords on the back of the special words cards as a reminder each time we practice.

These definitely aren't profound ways to take your kids to deep theological places. But for new moms like me, with little-to-no Sunday school teaching experience, they might help lay a foundation for some great faith-filled conversations with your little ones.

Do you have any tips for helping Sunday school lessons stick?