Preteens are different than any other age group to which you will teach Bible lessons. Here are some ideas for making sure those lessons stick with them.
Preteens are full of giggles and wiggles. They can be both fun and occasionally (as every parent and teacher knows) frustrating to work with. When teaching this age group lessons about the Bible, you really want to make an impact, and teach lessons that you hope will stick with these children for a lifetime. Here are some ways of teaching preteen Bible lessons on their level.
Respond. In order to really capture kids' attention, and maximize the time you have with them, take some time at the beginning of each Bible lesson to get kids ready for learning. Kids of this age can easily get a thing that educators and Sunday School teachers might call the “gotta do something syndrome.” Kids who have this syndrome often have a difficult time paying attention, or absorbing what is being taught. So what’s the cure? Before learning begins, make sure the children’s basic needs are attended to. Are they hungry? Break out some crackers. Thirsty? Get a drink of water. Do they need a bathroom break? Give them 5 minutes to take care of this need. Sometimes kids just had a bad day. They may be having troubles at school, or at home. What these kids really need is someone to talk to about what happened. Letting children take a few minutes before the lesson to tell about their good or bad day (or week), and let them know you care, can keep them from whispering back and forth about it while you’re teaching the lesson. Kids who “wanna go home” sometimes just need a hug. Saying something like, “I understand how you feel,” and offering to let them sit in a special place that’s closer to you, can help them to change their minds.
Raise Awareness. Now that the kids are feeling better it’s time to shift their focus to the lesson. Grab their attention with something that intrigues them or gets them thinking. Ask a question that’s related to your Bible lesson, or give them a short crossword puzzle, word search or other kind of “problem” that they can apply their minds to solving. This gets their bodies settled down, and their minds focused on learning.
Reveal. This should be a good time to reveal the lesson that you want them to learn. Children learn in different ways. Some children are visual learners, while others may be either audio learners or hands-on (kinetic) learners. The more things children have to see, hear, or touch the more likely you are to capture their attention. Use flannel boards, magnetic boards, or posters. Try puppets, paper dolls or live actors. Use background tapes, or incorporate sounds in any ways you can think of. You will keep their attention, and help them commit what they are learning to memory.
Reinforce lessons with hands on activities. Try to incorporate other senses (smell or taste) when possible. Get them active, moving and thinking. Games, crafts and other activities will help them retain the lessons for a longer period of time.
Recap. Review the lesson for the children before you move on. Give them a brief outline of what you talked about, or better yet, let them recap the lesson for you.
Reflect. Reflection activities are important to do at the end of the lesson. Help kids understand how the Bible story relates to their own lives by asking questions about what they think they can learn from the story, or how the story made them feel, what they thought, etc.
Repeat. Asking children to tell the story to at least three other people during the week will help them remember it longer. Give the children a take-home paper to be signed by the three people they tell the story to. Children who bring their take-home paper in the following week should be able to receive recognition and a small award.
