June 20, 2010
Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan
Written by Lydia Ma

Chiayi Presbytery's education committee held a training seminar for Sunday school teachers on June 12, emphasizing mainly on the themes of creativity and teaching props. It invited Wu Mei-huei, a presbytery staff with lots of experience in these areas, to share a few tips on making classes interesting.

According to Wu, many ordinary objects can become props that make Sunday school lessons a tad more interesting if teachers use a little imagination. Teaching props can go a long way in helping children focus their attention, enhance their ability to memorize a verse, and remember songs and lessons.

To illustrate her point, Wu held up a simple pen and glued a pair of wings at the tip of the pen. She then proceeded to add a simple decoration and in a few seconds the pen metamorphosed into a wooden dragonfly. Next, Wu demonstrated how to make a puppet from a single sock.

"When you teach kids from higher grades, they've probably heard the same story many times already. Sometimes, they already know what you're going to talk about as soon as you take out a picture book. So, of course, they won't be interested in hearing the same old story again," said Wu. However, adding new icebreakers or opening acts can still draw children's attention to an old story or familiar verse.

For example, Wu has tried placing magnets behind paper cards displaying all the characters of a familiar Bible verse. After scrambling up the cards, she would ask her students to place all the cards in the right order to recreate the verse. Methods such as this one have helped students get to know a verse much better and think about its meaning, she said.

Taiwan Church News