5 Things Every Sunday School Class Needs

Written by Dianna Wiebe on August 07, 2025.

In our day, Sunday Schools need five basic things to be effective:
✅ Prayer
✅ Interaction with the Bible
✅ Encouragement to ask questions
✅ A way to respond and apply the lesson
✅ Simple, meaningful homework

As a Sunday School teacher, you hold one of the most important ministries in the church. What a privilege to serve the children—and their parents—each week. That privilege comes with a lot of prayer, preparation, and heart.

Let’s talk about five simple things you can do to make every minute of your Sunday School count!

1. How to Pray in Sunday School

Prayer is one of the most powerful things we can do with our students—but it’s often the easiest to overlook. For some children, Sunday School may be the only place they learn how to pray or are prayed over by an adult outside their family.

Tips for including prayer:

Start and end your class with prayer
Model praying when students share requests
Celebrate answers to prayer, even if the answer is no or wait
Give students the option (never pressure) to pray out loud

Teacher Tip: Set aside time during the week to pray for your students by name. Pray for their families, school life, and spiritual growth.

Want help getting started?
✅ Try the Thankful and Prayer Journal prompts in our student journal pages for grades 1–3!

2. Hands-On Bible Activities for Sunday School

PKids learn best when they can hear, see, and do. That’s why at Grapevine, every lesson starts with Bible reading and ends with students stick-figuring what they learned.

It’s a simple method that reinforces memory and encourages creativity!

Other hands-on ideas:

Use coloring pages during Bible reading
Make crafts that connect with the story
Create memory verse puzzles with popsicle sticks
Try word games or scavenger hunts

Looking for Bible lessons that include all of this?
🎨 Our Bible Timeline Studies are packed with stick figure drawing, interactive reading, and reviews for every age group.

3. Encourage Questions About the Bible

When kids are taught how to ask questions about the Bible, they become curious learners who dig deeper into Scripture.

Use the 5W+H method to get the conversation going:

Who is this about?
What happened?
When and where did it happen?
Why did it happen?
How did they respond?

These simple tools build a foundation for inductive Bible study—a skill they can use for life!

You don’t have to have all the answers either. Saying, “That’s a great question—let’s look it up together!” teaches them it’s okay to learn alongside others.

Pro Tip: Our curriculum for grades 1–8 encourages questions in every lesson and leaves space for discussion.

4. Help Students Respond to the Lesson

Don’t rush to the end. Give students time to think and respond. This could be:

Quiet prayer time
Drawing a picture about what they learned
Writing a note to God
Talking to their parents about the lesson

We’ve seen how just a few extra minutes of reflection opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work deeply in young hearts.

💡Bonus: Our lessons often include journaling prompts or response sections—perfect for younger and older students alike..

5. Give Simple Homework for the Week

Reinforce Sunday’s lesson with a quick, practical homework assignment. Nothing complicated—just a reminder that faith grows outside the classroom too!

Homework ideas:

A memory verse
Prayer focus (like praying for a friend or family member)
Small service project
Family discussion

Want to make this easier?
📚 Each of our Bible Study sets includes built-in review, timeline activities, and homework-friendly memory verses—great for home and class.