“Ain’t nobody got time for that!” Anyone who has been around today’s kids knows they learn through the use of technology and yet as children’s ministry teachers we believe that we don’t have the time, energy, or expertise to design Bible lessons that incorporate technology.
I am not here to disagree with you. We are all extremely busy with life in general. Trying to design your own Bible lesson just to incorporate technology would be time-consuming and daunting.
So what’s the solution? Maybe your church could purchase a whole new Bible study curriculum but that is a drastic step. Why not just use your existing Bible curriculum and weave technology into it?
For many years, I taught Sunday School from Lifeway’s Bible curriculum, Bible Teaching for Kids. It is a sound Sunday School Bible curriculum that follows traditional teaching strategies and activities. Changing our curriculum was not an option nor was a step that I believed necessary for myself or other teachers.
If you are interested in engaging today’s digital kids, start with baby steps. Try a teacher led technology integration activity such as showing an appropriate YouTube video to the whole class. As you gain more confidence, allow your students to collaborate and create their own technology products. There may be a small amount of prep time up front the first time you revamp a lesson or activity, but after that you will be set to go!
To give you some sample ideas, I have listed digital activities/lessons that could be used as an alternative or in conjunction with the 4-6 grade broadly graded lesson entitled “Daniel Faced the Lions” from Lifeway’s fall 2012 Bible Teaching for Kids curriculum.
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DANIEL FACED THE LIONS |
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| Bible Teaching for Kids Curriculum Activity/Lesson | Digital Activity/Lesson |
| Preview Activity: Have students learn the books of the Bible by using traditional notecards to put books in the correct order. |
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| Power Up: Form two teams to answer true or false questions about lions. Team with most points wins. |
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| Plug In: Introduce the lesson with talking points; Teach the memory verse by using a paper puzzle; Tell the Bible story in own words using a teaching picture; Ask review questions and ring a bell to answer question; Sing “How Great is Our God” from CD |
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| Personalize: Show kids “Trip Around the World” pictures. Print or draw a prayer request for each people group. Compare needs of people group with needs of people in their hometown. |
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*Read more about revamping classic review games in my blog post entitled “You can Stop Deer in the Headlight Looks by Revamping Old Review Methods”.
As you can see, I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel but I do believe it’s important to actively engage kids in learning about Jesus Christ. Enhancing your Bible lessons through the integration of technology is one way to do that.