Searching for the “greatest” curriculum in your youngsters’s ministry? There are a lot of choices from a wide range of publishers and denominations. The correct selection relies upon solely on your context and targets.
Beneath you’ll discover a checklist of Constructing Religion’s favourite curriculum choices based mostly on theology, availability, and pedagogy. The articles in our curriculum center can assist you determine your wants, capabilities, and hopes. Searching for extra help? Be a part of our free weekly Office Hours or attain out through email.
How To Use This Listing
For every curriculum “high decide,” we checklist the title, writer, publication date, age group, curriculum contents, and a quick abstract. Now we have performed our greatest to incorporate useful data similar to:
- how the curriculum works
- variety of classes included
- digital media choices
- supplies out there in Spanish
- further accompanying sources
- availability of corresponding curricula for different age teams (youth, adults, intergenerational)
Now we have organized the choices alphabetically by title underneath 5 kinds of curriculum (which you’ll be able to study extra about in “5 Types of Sunday School Curriculum“), noting the place some curricula match a couple of kind:
- lectionary-based
- Montessori-based
- rotation mannequin
- story-based
- thematic
Moreover, we have now restricted this checklist to Christian formation curriculum for church buildings to make use of with youngsters all year long. Whereas a number of the choices under may fit nicely in numerous settings and with numerous age teams, the checklist doesn’t function seasonally particular curriculum or sources designed particularly for households, at-home settings, or intergenerational formation. For intergenerational program sources, it’s possible you’ll wish to try our Top Picks for Intergenerational Curriculum. For seasonal sources, a great place to start out is our Articles by Topic web page.
The title of the curriculum supplies a hyperlink to the curriculum’s web site. The title of the writer hyperlinks to their “About” web page the place you possibly can study extra about their theological strategy. Should you observe the hyperlink for every church denomination, you possibly can assessment their assertion of perception.
As at all times, when selecting a curriculum in your setting, have in mind the theology, biblical interpretation, context, supplies, and illustration of human identities and experiences as you discern which curriculum could be the very best match in your context.
Lectionary-based High Picks (Up to date 2023)
1. Feasting on the Word
This curriculum revolves round exploring Bible tales by way of the lectionary cycle. The kids’s curriculum is a part of a set of formation curriculum for the entire church in order that youngsters, youth, and adults can interact the identical lectionary scriptures in age-appropriate methods. The full scope and sequence of 52 classes from September 2023 – August 2024 focuses nearly all of periods on the gospel readings with choose Outdated Testomony, New Testomony, and Psalms readings interspersed. Classes embody dialog in regards to the liturgical yr, Bible storytelling, singing, actions and video games, and numerous types of prayer. You possibly can try pattern classes on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Westminster John Knox, 2023, new publications yearly (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.))
- Age group(s): elementary, organized by grade teams (Okay – 2, 3 – 4, 5 – 6) in addition to a multi-age possibility for grades Okay – 6
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by age group for every season (fall, winter, spring, summer time) or the entire yr in printed or digital codecs; it entails a pacesetter information with useful resource sheets and accompanying shade packs; music sources are additionally out there to make use of with the teachings
2. Mini Revolutions
This curriculum encourages holistic exploration of lectionary scriptures, immersion within the rhythms of the liturgical yr, and “micropractices” to remodel individuals’s lives of religion week by week. It’s designed to be versatile sufficient for intergenerational teams, youngsters’s formation, or household devotions at dwelling. Now we have included it on this youngsters’s curriculum checklist as a result of its content material could also be notably helpful for year-long youngsters’s formation in some church contexts. Weekly classes embody a scripture story, questions for “questioning,” a associated subject or occasion for additional investigation, exercise choices, coloring pages, a micropractice, and prayer. You possibly can request pattern classes on the writer’s web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Illustrated Ministry, 2021 (not affiliated with a particular church denomination)
- Age group(s): elementary (grades Okay – 5) in addition to intergenerational teams
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market in digital format by way of a month-to-month paid subscription; it entails a pacesetter information with graphics, coloring pages, Bible story booklets, and a media equipment
3. Spark: Activate Faith Lectionary (Spark Lectionary)
This curriculum allows youngsters to study in regards to the liturgical yr and choose Bible tales featured within the Revised Frequent Lectionary. Its classes embody opening actions and dialog, Bible storytelling, further video games and artistic actions that relate to the story, and prayer. The curriculum makes use of pupil leaflets to assist facilitate studying. The full scope and sequence covers all three lectionary years with roughly 37 – 38 complete classes for fall, winter, and spring. Pattern classes are supplied on the writer’s web site. (Be aware: Story-based and rotation mannequin variations of “Spark: Activate Religion” are additionally out there and mentioned under.)
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Sparkhouse, 2011 (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Age group(s): preschool (beginning at age 2) and elementary as much as grade 6, organized by grade pairs (pre-Okay & Okay, 1st & 2nd, third & 4th, fifth & sixth)
- Contents: This curriculum is on the market for buy by season (fall, winter, spring) and grade pair degree; it entails a pacesetter information and learner leaflet pack for every season and grade pair degree; accompanying Story or Spark NRSV Bibles are additionally out there (digital curriculum sources can be found with an annual subscription)
Montessori-based High Picks (Up to date 2023)
1. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
This curriculum goals to domesticate youngsters’s lives of religion with pleasure on the heart by creating an area of prayer the place youngsters can encounter God. Grownup leaders, or catechists, take a supportive and “co-listener” stance within the curriculum’s formation strategy in order that God in Christ will be the major instructor for kids. The curriculum entails displays on scripture and liturgy in addition to easy tactile supplies. As an alternative of distribution by way of a writer, this formation program trains academics within the curriculum by way of programs, which you’ll be able to study extra about on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: THE CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD®, 1954 (Roman Catholic Church)
- Age group(s): start to age 12 (grade 6), organized into age and grade group ranges (infants to age 2, age 3 – grade Okay, grades 1 – 3, grades 4 – 6)
- Contents: The curriculum coaching is on the market in programs for every age group, or “atrium,” degree; it entails 90 hours for the primary degree and extra time for subsequent ranges; coaching and curriculum can be found in English and in Spanish
2. Godly Play
“Godly Play” invitations youngsters to attach with God by encountering tales, questioning, and responding by way of process-oriented artwork. It facilities youngsters’s spirituality and company in its strategy to religion formation, and it makes use of easy tactile supplies to foster sacred area and imaginative engagement with scripture, liturgical seasons, and the lives of saints. The curriculum scope and sequence entails 54 core displays that concentrate on scripture and liturgy plus further classes for extension tales on scripture, liturgy, and the communion of saints. You possibly can study extra and consider pattern story movies on the Godly Play Foundation website.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Church Publishing and Godly Play Foundation, 2017 – current (The Episcopal Church)
- Age group(s): preschool (beginning at age 3) and elementary (as much as grade 5); consists of possibility for center college ages
- Contents: The written portion of the curriculum is on the market for buy as a sequence of books with every quantity containing a pacesetter information for 13 – 20 classes; further volumes present steerage on educating; accompanying story supplies are additionally out there on the Godly Play Basis web site; first three volumes can be found in English and in Spanish (the writer additionally affords a separate e book referred to as Godly Play in Center and Late Childhood for utilizing the curriculum with older youngsters)
Rotation Mannequin High Choose (Up to date 2023)
Spark: Activate Faith Rotation (Spark Rotation)
This curriculum is designed to allow youngsters to have interaction Bible tales and liturgical seasons by rotating by way of a number of actions, or “workshops,” at totally different stations that every one revolve across the identical Bible story or season. The eight station choices embody: artwork, Bible abilities and video games, cooking, digital media and know-how, inventive drama, music, science, and video. The full scope and sequence accommodates 48 classes; nonetheless, the director’s information affords ideas for devoting between 4 and 6 weeks to every lesson to facilitate full rotations in weekly youngsters’s formation applications. You possibly can assessment a pattern lesson on the curriculum web site. (Be aware: Lectionary-based and story-based variations of “Spark: Activate Religion” are additionally out there; see above and under.)
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Sparkhouse, 2009 (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Age group(s): preschool (beginning at age 2) and elementary as much as grade 6, organized by decrease & higher elementary or multi-age teams
- Contents: This curriculum is on the market for buy individually by lesson; every lesson consists of a pacesetter information that features a director information, station chief guides for 8 exercise stations, and shepherd guides for group leaders; accompanying Story or Spark NRSV Bibles are additionally out there (digital curriculum sources can be found with an annual subscription)
Story-based High Picks (Up to date 2023)
1. Celebrate Wonder
This curriculum embraces surprise as each a price and a way for kids’s formation. It’s designed to allow youngsters to have interaction Bible tales in a number of methods. Whereas its scope and sequence for 2023 – 2024 combines biblical narrative order, liturgical season, and theological theme in its group and choice of tales, we positioned the curriculum within the story-based checklist as a result of its primary focus is on Bible storytelling. The curriculum supplies a full yr of weekly classes, which embody opening dialog, quick movies with older youngsters speaking in regards to the Bible story, studying and questioning in regards to the story, a number of exercise choices, and a closing non secular follow. You possibly can entry a pattern lesson on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Abingdon, 2019 – current, new publications yearly (United Methodist Church)
- Age group(s): preschool (beginning at age 3) by way of older elementary (as much as age 12) as an All Ages curriculum with age-specific and multi-age exercise choices
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by seasonal quarter (fall, winter, spring, summer time) in printed or digital format; it entails a pacesetter information and extra supplementary supplies which are packaged as a equipment; accompanying story Bible and age-specific take-home sheets are additionally out there
2. Frolic
It is a curriculum for younger youngsters that brings collectively Bible storytelling, play and exercise facilities, music, and prayer. The two-year cycle of lessons highlights tales throughout the Outdated and New Testaments for roughly 40 weeks every year, and the remaining 12 weeks of classes give attention to story books about subjects like feelings and relationships. The curriculum is on the market in three variations: Nursery, for kids as much as age 2; Preschool, for ages 3 – 5; and Family, for younger youngsters and their mother and father and caregivers. Pattern classes and supplies could be accessed on the writer’s web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Sparkhouse, 2016 – 2018 (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Age group(s): start to preschool (as much as age 5)
- Contents: The supplies for the Preschool curriculum embody a pacesetter information and story sheet packs with stickers, organized into Outdated and New Testomony, Yr 1 and Yr 2; the Nursery curriculum entails a coordinator information; the Household curriculum consists of a pacesetter information, organized into Outdated and New Testomony and by age group (start – age 3 and ages 3 – 5); accompanying storytelling posters, story Bibles, story books, and different sources are additionally out there (digital curriculum sources can be found with an annual subscription)
3. Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible Curriculum
This curriculum is designed to accompany the Rising in God’s Love: A Story Bible. It highlights tales throughout the Outdated and New Testaments and incorporates age-appropriate Lectio Divina fashion meditation and open-ended dialog on the scriptures. Classes additionally function actions, video hyperlinks, and dialogue questions to assist youngsters join the tales with their very own lives and with modern points. The total scope and sequence covers 148 tales organized into 35 models with 3 – 5 classes per unit. You possibly can assessment a pattern lesson on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Westminster John Knox, 2020 – current, with further models forthcoming (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.))
- Age group(s): elementary (ages 5 – 10) in multi-age teams
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by unit in printed or digital codecs; it entails a pacesetter information that features handouts; accompanying story Bible can be out there
4. Shine: Living in God’s Light
This curriculum engages youngsters in a three-year exploration of tales throughout the Outdated and New Testaments. It prioritizes commitments to like, justice, and peace in its theological strategy to formation, and its classes mix Bible storytelling, questioning, video games and actions, singing, and prayer. The scope and sequence for one yr consists of roughly 39 weekly classes from September by way of Might with separate curriculum choices out there for 13 summer time periods. You possibly can try pattern classes on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: co-published by Brethren and MennoMedia, 2020 – 2023 (Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church USA, and Mennonite Church Canada)
- Age group(s): preschool (pre-Okay – Okay) and elementary (grades 1 – 5), with youthful (grades 1 – 2) and older (grades 3 – 5) elementary exercise choices in classes; a junior youth (grades 6 – 8) model can be out there for the autumn, winter, and spring weekly curriculum, and youth, grownup, and intergenerational variations can be found for the summer time curriculum sequence
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by age group and quarter (fall, winter, spring, summer time) in printed or digital format; it entails a instructor information and pupil booklet per baby (with pre-Okay, youthful elementary, and older elementary variations) that may be bought individually or in a equipment; accompanying story Bible (The Peace Desk: A Storybook Bible) and CD are additionally out there
5. Spark: Activate Faith Classroom and All Kids
This curriculum is analogous in design to Spark Lectionary (see above). The teachings in these variations, Spark Classroom and Spark All Youngsters, observe the biblical narrative over the course of two years. The Classroom scope and sequence consists of 39 – 40 weekly lessons a year for kids by grade pairs with a break for summer time. The All Youngsters model consists of 52 weekly lessons a year for multi-age teams. You possibly can try pattern classes on the writer’s web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Sparkhouse, 2009 (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Age group(s): preschool (beginning at age 2) and elementary as much as grade 6 for Classroom; grades Okay – 5 for All Youngsters
- Contents: This curriculum is on the market for buy by season (fall, winter, spring) with differentiated grade pair ranges for Classroom model and one set of supplies for all ages in All Youngsters; it entails a pacesetter information and learner leaflet pack for every season and grade degree; accompanying Story or Spark NRSV Bibles are additionally out there (digital curriculum sources can be found with an annual subscription)
6. StoryMakers NYC
This curriculum seeks to allow youngsters to be not solely recipients of Bible tales however energetic members within the tales of scripture. It makes use of zines (“quick for journal,” because the website says) with illustrations, data, and artistic actions to information group conversations and to create space for kids to attract, write, and share their experiences. “Playbooks” with scripts for the Bible tales are additionally supplied in order that youngsters can use drama or puppets to inform the tales. The curriculum is organized by story or seasonal “adventures” that include 10 – 12 classes every for 9 totally different Outdated Testomony journey sequence and 4 – 8 classes every for 4 totally different seasonal sequence (Introduction, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter) that concentrate on the New Testomony. You possibly can request pattern supplies and consider video tutorials on the writer’s web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: StoryMakers NYC, 2019 – current (not affiliated with a particular church denomination; learn their belief statement here)
- Age group(s): elementary (beginning at age 5)
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by story or seasonal sequence in addition to by way of subscription; it entails a zine per baby and a pacesetter information, which could be bought individually or in a starter equipment; accompanying supplementary supplies are additionally out there; the “Creation” sequence is supplied in English in addition to in Spanish
Thematic High Picks (Up to date 2023)
1. Diddy Disciples
This curriculum is designed to offer partaking and child-centered singing, Bible tales, actions, and prayers for younger youngsters from start to early elementary. It implements pedagogical “rules” that embody “motion” and “our [children’s] voices” together with different dimensions of younger youngsters’s experiences, growth, and presents. The total scope and sequence consists of 57 classes organized into thematic models that correlate with the liturgical seasons. You possibly can try pattern classes on the curriculum web site and Gretchen Wolff Pritchard’s review of the curriculum here.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2017 (Anglican custom, The Episcopal Church)
- Age group(s): start to younger elementary
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy as two e book volumes, one with classes for September to December and the opposite for January to August; the volumes provide a pacesetter information with scripts, music lyrics, and actions
2. Follow Me: Biblical Practices for Faithful Living
This curriculum is designed to assist youngsters study key Christian practices for a lifetime of religion. The kids’s curriculum is a part of a formation sequence for the entire church in order that youngsters, youth, and adults can all discover the identical Christian practices concurrently in age-appropriate methods. The practices embody “Welcome All,” “Pray,” “Do Justice,” “Worship God,” and plenty of extra. The total scope and sequence consists of 36 models that span 4 years, and every unit entails 4 – 6 classes on a particular follow, leading to round 38 classes per yr. Classes embody scriptures that illuminate the practices, a number of exercise choices and dialogue questions in regards to the practices, and prayer. You possibly can obtain a pattern lesson on the curriculum web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Growing Faith Resources, 2020 – current, with extra classes forthcoming (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.))
- Age group(s): preschool (ages 3 – 5) and elementary (multi-age group for ages 6 – 10)
- Contents: The curriculum is on the market for buy by unit and age group in printed or digital format, and it consists of a pacesetter information; accompanying infographic posters are additionally out there
3. Illustrated Curriculum Series
The evergreen curricula by Illustrated Ministry discover collections of Bible tales or a particular passage by way of a typical theme with “open and inclusive language, numerous imagery, and progressive theology” (as they are saying on their About web page). Curriculum choices embody: An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation, An Illustrated Compassion: Learning to Love Like God, An Illustrated Invitation: Joining God at Work in the World, The Lord’s Prayer: An Illustrated Curriculum, and The Beatitudes: An Illustrated Curriculum (which is designed for intergenerational moderately than child-exclusive formation). Apart from “The Lord’s Prayer,” which accommodates 6 classes, every curriculum possibility consists of 12 classes. The teachings present a Bible story in age-appropriate language for kids, questions for questioning and imaginative dialog, story playing cards and handouts to paint, recommended actions, and a prayer. You possibly can entry pattern classes by way of the writer’s web site.
Extra Data
- Writer and date: Illustrated Ministry, 2017 – 2020 (not affiliated with a particular church denomination)
- Age group(s): pre-Okay and elementary (grades Okay – 5) for many curriculum sequence; intergenerational for “The Beatitudes”
- Contents: The curricula can be found for buy by subject in digital format, and a few could be bought in 4-week modules or full 12-week bundles; every sequence entails a pacesetter information with printable handouts and coloring pages; further sources (like coloring posters) and household variations for at-home use are additionally out there
Kids’s Curriculum Chart (2021)
Access the printable “June 2021 Children’s Curriculum Overviews” by Sharon Ely Pearson
Editor’s Be aware: This text was final printed on April 19, 2021. It has been revised, up to date, and republished on July 11, 2023. Particular because of Meg Jones & Mary Whitmire Bordley for consulting with the Constructing Religion editors for a previous replace on this text.
Meg Jones (she/her/hers) is at present the Director of Christian Formation at Christ Church in New Bern, NC. She is a life-long Episcopalian, raised within the Diocese of Atlanta. After graduating from Appalachian State College, she spent two years on the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta of their youth ministry internship program and a yr at St. Teresa’s Episcopal Church in Acworth, GA because the Director of Kids’s and Youth Ministry. Meg brings expertise in church buildings of various sizes in addition to Diocesan, Provincial, and Nationwide church connections.
Mary Whitmire Bordley (she/her/hers) is the Coordinator of Kids’s and Youth Ministry on the Church of the Good Shepherd in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a life-long Episcopalian, raised in her religion primarily within the Diocese of Atlanta and as an undergraduate on the College of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Mary holds a educating license and M.Ed. in Early Childhood Particular Schooling and taught for over ten years in private and non-private preschools for kids with and with out disabilities earlier than transitioning to working with youngsters, youth, and their households within the Episcopal Church.
Featured picture is by Ryan Wallace on Unsplash