BibleZone(R) LIVE: Sunday School Lessons for Small Churches

Sunday school is an important part of Christian education especially for children. The sermon alone doesn't provide all the knowledge that kids need about God and the Bible. In fact, most kids don't understand the sermon and find it rather boring. A good quality Sunday school curriculum can change all that.

If your church is like mine, then you are a part of a small congregation with a tight budget. Children are visual learners. They need to see and experience what they are being taught in order to gain a good understanding of the subject matter. Purchasing the basic supplies was no problem, but buying props to create entertaining Sunday school lessons became costly. Lesson books are often sold in bulk of at least twenty-five, but my class never had more than six students. I was at a loss as to what to do until I found BibleZone® LIVE.

BibleZone® LIVE is a product of Abingdon Press. Each kit comes neatly packaged in a color-coded tote bag. BibleZone® lessons are designed for three categories of children: Preschool (2-5), Younger Elementary (5-9), and Older Elementary (9-12).

Each kit contains a teacher's guide, transparencies, a music CD, and materials for each lesson. The teacher's guide contains thirteen lessons based on a central theme (By the Waters, In the Garden, In the Land of the Messiah, etc.). The teacher' guide comes with permissions to photocopy the lessons and puzzles for every child in your class. Transparencies of maps and game boards are included for churches with overhead projectors. The music CD contains appropriate songs for each lesson that children can learn to sing.

The unique feature of BibleZone® LIVE is the all-in-one prop kit. Each lesson requires props for visual teaching called ZoneZillies ®. Each kit contains all of the props needed for every lesson in perfect numbers for small church Sunday school classes. ZoneZillies® include: Frisbees, rubber balls, clappers, inflatable hands, whistles, flags, hats, stuffed animals, etc. Kids will enjoy the fun activities you can create with all the props. The best part is, when the lessons are finished, you still have the ZoneZillies® left over to use for other projects you may think up.

The kits are designed to teach the lessons of the Bible at a child's level. Each lesson has a memory verse that is repeated throughout the games, puzzles, and interactive story time. In some lessons, children will have a chance to role play characters from the Bible. In almost every lesson there will be opportunity to draw on their every day experiences at home and in school to drive home the point of the lessons being taught. Kids learn to look up specific passages in the Bible to solve puzzles. The games give children a chance to work off some of their nervous energy and learn at the same time. The kids in my class would beg to stay and learn more when Sunday school was over.

For a full year of study, you will need four BibleZone® LIVE kits. The kits sell for $79.99 + tax at Cokesbury Christian Stores. For an entire year, the cost was cheaper than purchasing all the items separately each week for my class. There are extra supplies that can be purchased if you choose to do the HomeZone® projects, but it is not necessary.

Parents will be impressed by how much their kids enjoy Sunday school. You, as a teacher, will be amazed at how much information the children retain about the Bible.