How Busy Sunday School Teachers Can Prepare Lessons Faster
If you teach Sunday School, you probably know how quickly Sunday can come around.
You may have every intention of preparing early, but then the week gets busy. There is work, family, church, appointments, laundry, dinner—and suddenly it is Saturday and you still need to look over the Bible story, print the craft, gather supplies, and figure out what you are doing for the memory verse.
I have learned that Sunday School preparation becomes much easier when we stop trying to make every lesson complicated.
You can prepare a meaningful Bible lesson for your children without spending hours putting it together. Sometimes it is simply a matter of having a routine and knowing what deserves your time first.
Here are a few things that can help.
1. Decide What You Really Want the Children to Learn
Before I start thinking about crafts or games, I like to know the main truth of the lesson.
Ask yourself:
If my children remember only one thing from this lesson, what do I want it to be?
Maybe you are teaching David and Goliath. There are many things you could talk about, but your main truth might simply be:
I can trust God when I am afraid.
Once you know that, planning gets easier.
Now when you look at a craft, game, or activity, you can ask, Does this help me teach what I actually want the children to understand?
If it doesn't, you probably don't need it.
This has also helped me avoid trying to fit too much into one lesson. We don't have to teach children everything about a Bible passage in one Sunday.
2. Don't Spend Too Long Looking for the Perfect Activity
This one is easy to do.
You start looking for one craft idea. Then you find another one. Then another one looks even better. Before you know it, you have been searching for half an hour and still haven't chosen anything.
Give yourself a stopping point.
If you find a craft or activity that works with the Bible lesson, fits the ages you teach, and is realistic for your classroom, use it.
It doesn't have to be the most creative idea you found.
Sometimes the simplest activities work best because the children can actually do them without the teacher having to prepare half of the project at home.
3. Use the Same Basic Lesson Routine Each Week
You don't have to reinvent your entire Sunday School class every Sunday.
Having a basic routine saves a lot of planning time.
Your class might usually look something like this:
Welcome & Prayer → Lesson Starter → Bible Story → Questions → Craft → Game → Memory Verse → Closing Prayer
The Bible story changes. The activities change. But you already know how the class will flow.
This also helps when you are planning because you are not sitting there wondering, Okay...what should we do next?
And there is another benefit: the children become familiar with the routine too.
4. Be Realistic About How Much You Can Do
I think sometimes we make Sunday School preparation harder because we find a wonderful idea and immediately think, I want to do that!
Then we realize it requires cardstock, paint, twelve little pieces that need to be cut beforehand, and supplies we don't already have.
Before choosing an activity, think about your actual classroom.
How many children do you normally have?
What ages are they?
How much time do you have?
Can the children do most of the activity themselves?
And most importantly on a busy week:
How much preparation will this require from me?
There is nothing wrong with choosing a simple craft.
If the children can color it, decorate it, cut a few pieces, and put it together themselves while you continue talking about the Bible lesson, that may be exactly what you need.
Simple doesn't mean the children are learning less.
5. Put Everything You Need in One Place
One small thing that can save a surprising amount of time is gathering everything for the lesson at once.
After you finish planning, put your materials together.
Your Bible, printed lesson, craft templates, crayons, scissors, glue, memory verse cards, game supplies—whatever you need for that Sunday.
I like the idea of keeping everything in one basket or container so you aren't looking for things right before church.
It also helps to have a regular Sunday School supply box with the things you use all the time:
crayons
markers
scissors
glue sticks
tape
cardstock
pencils
Then each week you only need to add the supplies that are specific to that lesson.
6. Print Everything in One Sitting
This is another simple habit that can make preparation feel much easier.
Once your lesson is ready, print everything you need at the same time.
Print the craft.
Print the memory verse.
Print your teacher pages.
Count how many copies you need.
If something needs to be cut beforehand, do it then.
Then put everything with your lesson supplies.
I would much rather have one preparation session than keep coming back to the printer throughout the week because I remembered one more thing.
And if you already know what you are teaching for the next few Sundays, you may even be able to print several weeks at once.
7. Keep a Few Easy Backup Activities Ready
If you have taught children for a while, you already know that things don't always go according to plan.
Sometimes five children come and sometimes fifteen come.
Sometimes the craft you thought would take 15 minutes takes five.
Sometimes the printer decides that Sunday morning is the perfect time to stop cooperating.
Having a few simple backup activities ready can save you from having to come up with something at the last minute.
You might keep:
extra Bible coloring pages
blank paper
crayons
index cards
simple Bible review questions
easy memory verse games
a few no-prep Bible games
You don't need a huge collection. Just a few activities you know you can pull out when you need them.
8. Give Yourself a Regular Time to Prepare
One thing that makes Sunday School preparation stressful is leaving it open-ended.
"I'll work on it sometime this week."
Then somehow "sometime" becomes Saturday night.
Try choosing a regular time during the week when you normally prepare.
Maybe Thursday evening works for you. Maybe Saturday morning is quieter.
Even 30 focused minutes can accomplish quite a bit when you already know what you need to do.
During that time, read your Bible passage, look over your lesson, print your pages, and gather your supplies.
When you're finished, you're finished.
You don't have to keep thinking about Sunday School preparation all weekend.
9. When You're Really Short on Time, Prepare the Most Important Parts First
Some weeks are simply busy.
When that happens, I wouldn't spend my limited preparation time worrying about making everything perfect.
Start with the Bible.
Read the passage you are teaching and make sure you understand what happened.
Then decide what truth you want the children to learn from it.
Next, think through how you will tell the Bible story in a way your children can understand.
After that, choose one activity that helps reinforce what you taught.
If you have more time, wonderful. Add the game, special decorations, or another activity.
But if you don't, you still prepared the most important part of the lesson well.
10. Make a Note When Something Works Really Well
This takes almost no time, but it can help you later.
After class, make a quick note about anything you want to remember.
Maybe your children loved doing motions with the memory verse.
Maybe a certain game was too difficult for the younger children.
Maybe the craft took much longer than you expected.
Write it down.
The next time you use a similar activity, you already know what to change.
You don't have to learn the same lesson twice.
A Simple 30-Minute Prep Routine for a Busy Week
If I only had about 30 minutes to prepare, I would keep it very simple.
First, read the Bible passage.
Don't skip this part. Give yourself a few minutes to read what you will actually be teaching.
Choose your main truth.
Write down the one thing you want your children to understand.
Look over the Bible story and questions.
Think about anything you may need to explain differently for younger children.
Choose your activity.
One good craft or hands-on activity is enough.
Print and gather everything.
Put it all together so you are not searching for supplies on Sunday morning.
Finally, pray.
Pray for your children by name if you can. Ask God to help you teach His Word clearly and to help the children understand what He wants them to learn.
That's it.
Some lessons will need more preparation than others, but not every Sunday has to become a big project.
Your Children Don't Need a Perfect Sunday School Teacher
There will be Sundays when everything is prepared early.
There will probably also be Sundays when you're cutting out craft pieces much later than you planned.
That's part of teaching.
Our goal isn't to create a perfect classroom every week. Our goal is to faithfully teach children God's Word and help them know and follow Jesus.
So if Sunday School preparation has started feeling overwhelming, give yourself permission to simplify.
Prepare the Bible lesson well. Choose activities with purpose. Use what you already have. Create a routine that works for your life.
And remember that sometimes a simple lesson taught with love and preparation is exactly what your children need.
Get More Sunday School Help
Get free Sunday School lessons, crafts, activities, and practical teacher tips sent to your inbox.
Need a Little More Help With Sunday School Prep?
There may also be weeks when you simply don't have time to put the entire lesson together yourself.
That's one reason I created the Ready-to-Teach Sunday School Lesson Kits for ages 3–10. The Bible lesson, craft, game, memory verse activity, and teacher preparation are already organized so you can spend less time putting everything together.
They are simply another option for those weeks—or seasons—when having the planning already done would help.