3 Steps For Motivating Children To Learn

This is boring – when can we go play! Ouch … There is nothing more demoralizing to a Sunday school teacher than an unmotivated student. Unless kids want to learn – your Sunday school lesson will fail. Many books have been written on the topic, “How to motivate a student?” But the whole process comes down to 3 simple steps.

How do you motivate your Sunday school class? This is one area that Sunday school curriculum often falls short. Teachers need new ideas. Too many ways to motivate rely too heavily on extrinsic rewards and incentives. Use the following ideas to help every child with motivation in Sunday school. My goal is to give you simple and effective steps to help your children learn.

3 Steps To A Motivating Sunday School Lesson

  1. Get their attention. Children rarely come to Sunday school focused on the learning process. Little girls are thinking about their new shoes. Little boys are thinking about their friend’s new toy. Maybe it was a rocky morning for the family – complete with a parental shouting match over being late! As the teacher you must capture their attention. My favorite way to do this is by telling a story. Stories capture their imagination and can set up the next step.
  2. Show them a need. Present a compelling problem or life situation. Demonstrate how important your lesson is before you start teaching. When children understand they have this gap in knowledge, they often become eager learners. This step answers the “Why” question.
  3. Set a goal. Be very explicit about what the class will be learning. Say to the children, “Today, our goal is to find God’s answer to that problem in the Bible.” If the first three steps have worked this should be a natural transition into the lesson. This step answers the “What” question.

Relationships Make The Difference In Sunday School

Build relationships with your students. Learner motivation is largely an effect of the teacher-student relationship. The old cliché is true, “Kids don’t care what you know until they know how much you care.” There is no single technique or trick that can compensate for a poor student-teacher relationship. This is one reason why your attitude toward the children in your class is so important. You must cultivate real Christian love for every child you hope to teach. I’ve found the best way to do this is by prayer. Pray each day this week for your least motivated student. Ask God to change your attitude toward him.

Don’t Make This Mistake With Your Sunday School Lesson

Warning: Don’t prepare your lesson introduction until you are rock-solid on the main content and meaning of the Bible passage. Faithfulness must come before relevance. Study, pray and understand the passage first. Only then will you be ready to craft sure-fire introduction. Drafting your ‘hook’ first will either distort your lesson or promise more than the particular passage delivers.

Written by Tony Kummer. © 2007 Gospel Driven Children’s Ministry