The Sunday school hour is a priority. It’s when children are involved in large group, then break up into developmentally-appropriate small groups by grade. If we run a ‘special’ on a Sunday, it always happens at the Sunday school hour because I want families to get into a new habit of joining us during that time. If Sunday school is a priority, then we want to do something memorable for the first Sunday school of the season. My colleague and dear friend, Katie Atcheson, who also leads ministry with children is part of our children’s ministry network in North Georgia and the POP INTO SUNDAY SCHOOL was her original idea. Thanks for sharing, Katie!

We prepared parent packets similar to what families receive when they go to their kid’s school for meet & greet. Ours included: school year calendar, parent/family interest survey to be completed and returned (family info and ways to serve in the ministry this year…think: parent volunteer list similar to what families get at meet & greet again), God Loves Your Family brochure, postcard for upcoming Glee Club & Cherub Choir open house, and pop-rocks (thanks for popping into Sunday school).

We had jars of Ring Pops and Mini Tootsie Pops for kids on Sunday as well as lined the main hallways with 1/2″ 24X250 (ordered two rolls) bubble wrap. When you step on it, it sounds like firecrackers! Can’t help but step on it. Can’t help but laugh. Can’t help but be surprised! I actually got an email from the church receptionist when it was delivered by Uline.com that the bubble wrap was too big for the church office door! We didn’t need all of it, so we cut the remainder into strips for the kids to pop upon arrival while in the Children’s Welcome Center.

The sounds of the kids popping and laughing were better than I imagined. It was noisy and made the morning a very special way to begin a new season of Sunday school. What did you do to begin a new year?

“Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story.” Acts 11:4