Tight on Time? Take a Look at These Sample Sunday School Schedules!

Answers Bible Curriculum is designed for each lesson to take approximately an hour. But what if your Sunday school class takes more or less time than that? Don’t worry, you can still use ABC in your church. We designed the curriculum to be flexible to accommodate varying class lengths.

As the teacher, you have the freedom to adjust the amount of content you teach, and how many activities and games you do, depending on the length of time you have been given. Of course, ideally, you will have time to teach everything and do every activity. But that’s not always the case. So, as the teacher, you can use your discretion to decide what to cut to ensure children are still learning lots, and having fun while they are at it.

As long as you are still helping your class see the flow of biblical history and the gospel, you’re doing a wonderful job.

The big thing to keep in mind if you have to cut content from the lesson is that, as long as you are still helping your class see the flow of biblical history and the gospel, you’re doing a wonderful job teaching these children and instilling in them a biblical worldview. The curriculum is phenomenal even if you don’t have time to do everything. (And we do tend to provide more than enough, so don’t feel badly if your schedule requires that you not do every game or craft or review question.)

To help you get started in organizing your time, here are some sample Sunday School schedules for preschool through grade 6 for varying classroom lengths:

If you have a 30-minute class, consider taking two weeks per lesson or following a schedule such as this:

• “Come on in” games: 5 minutes. Tip: If all children arrive at the same time, you may wish to skip or shorten this section
• We use this curriculum with our Kids Club because we can't find anything else which chronologically presents the gospel and ties the gospel into almost every lesson. The connection between the Old and New Testaments is always evident. The focus on God's character/attributes is also unique, I think. We have churched and non-churched kids in club and all enjoy it. Two were saved this year (out of only 15 attendees!).
• Lesson: 15 minutes. Tip: Cut back the review time to give more time for the main lesson. For younger students, you may need to cut out the “Justin and Jessie” story.
• Activity: 10 minutes. Tip: The activities help students remember the lesson, so if you must choose between a game or an activity, we suggest keeping the activity. But if you have a very high-energy class, you may need to play one game first before sitting them down to quickly work through the activity.

If you have a 45-minute class, consider:

• “Come on in” games: 5 minutes. Tip: If you’re tight on time, consider having something for students to do right when they arrive, such as a coloring sheet or books of the Bible cards, to minimize distractions so you can jump right into the lesson right on schedule.
• Lesson: 25 minutes.
• Activity: 5 minutes.
• Games: 5 minutes. Tip: Finishing with games allows any students who take longer on an activity to finish while the rest of the class plays a game. It also allows any student whose parents arrive early to leave without the hassle of rushing to finish their activity.

For older students, have them fill out their student guides during the week before class if you have a shorter service. For longer services, work through the student guides during class and save time for more discussion.

Hopefully these schedules and tips will help your class stay on time and get the most they can out of ABC, no matter the length of the service! You can learn more about ABC and its unique approach by trying a month of lessons for free.