Bible teaching schemes
This page is designed to help Ministers, youth and children’s workers plan their teaching programmes. There are a variety of resources for adults, children and all-age services. Some offer a dated programme and are published on a quarterly or termly basis; others form an undated series of modular resources that make up a three or four year teaching syllabus. Most include resources for different age-groups from pre-school to teens or adults. Some specifically include permission to photocopy material others have internet-based support material. We have sought to indicate below where material is photocopiable.
InfoFile: Click HERE to download a two-page A4 sheet summarising these schemes
Probably the best-known range of teaching resources, Light is a programme covering all ages from under fives to adults. It offers a teaching plan through the year for All-age services, children's work and youth groups. The A4 Light books are published every three or four months. They are Bible-based and flexible. Most are dated.
The Bubbles, Splash, Xtreme and Grid programmes involve separate Teacher's Guides and Children's Activity Books.
LIGHT for the Lectionary
This offers oulines for weekly services following the Revised Common (or Common Worship) Lectionary. Each outline explores the designated Bible text with suggestions for prayer, a statement of faith, games and music. These are dated publications, published quarterly and cover special days as well as Sunday services.
LIGHT All-Age Service Annual
There are three volumes in this series, each containing fifteen complete all-age service outlines for churches with a monthly all-age service. They include creative ideas to help make the service interesting and meaningful. The series takes account of seasonal celebrations such as Christmas Day, New Year, Easter, Pentecost, Harvest, Mothering Sunday and Fathers' day.
 BUBBLES (for 5s and under)
Bubbles is based on a play and story approach to help children up to five years old to develop a personal relationship with God.
SPLASH (for 5-8 year olds)
A variety of age-appropriate learning styles is used to help 5-8 year-olds to grow in spiritual awareness and discover what God is saying to them through the Bible.
 Xstream (for 8-11 year-olds)
Xstream aims to feed the children's imaginations and give them space to ask questions about things that younger children take for granted. A pick 'n' mix approach includes a variety of activities to help them apply what they learn to their daily lives.
The GRID (for 11-14 year olds)
The GRID aims to be sensitive to the world of young teenagers, providing appropriate sources for use by leaders in traditional Sunday groups, cell groups or open youth groups.
 SUbstance (for 14-18 year olds)
SUbstance is published termly but, unlike the other materials listed above, is undated, so that it can be used at any time and re-used for a new intake of youngsters. Written by youth workers, each volume contains ten sessions each following a theme built around a Biblical framework with a strong emphasis on application. It is intended for young people, whatever their level of faith.
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 Go Teach offers a four-year programme of Bible teaching across four age-groups from 3 to 14, together with ideas for a related all-age Family service, photocopiable materials, visual aids and activity sheets. It aims to cover all appropriate major Bible characters, events and teaching over thie four years with all four age groups covering the same topic most of the time.
 For each year, three Teachers' Guides provide material for 15 Bible lessons plus ideas for a related all-age Family Service with a photocopiable leaflet, templates and other teaching materials. Each lesson has clearly stated teaching and response aims, notes to help teachers' preparation, a clear lesson outline, a key verse to memorise and suggested follow-up activities.
The four age-groups are:-
Beginners (3-4)
Primaries (5-7)
Juniors (8-11)
Young Teens (12-14)
In addition, for each age-group there are:-
 Visual Aids: A full-colour book printed on quality paper, the majority on one side only, together with a CD containing the visual aids in colour and in outline, plus black and white activities from the Teachers' Guide
Come Learn Activity Sheets containing questions, puzzles and other activities to help children assimilate the teaching.
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Christian Focus - On the Way |
 On the Way offers a three-year teaching programme covering three age-groups:
3-9, 9-11 and 11-14. It is developed by TnT Ministries and edited by David Jackman of the Proclamation Trust. It aims to help children realise that the Bible is God's guide for them - relevant, exciting and dynamic! A4 format.
UNDATED: You can start the programme at any time (although some books have material for Christmas and Easter).
REPRODUCIBLE: the activities are photocopiable so one book is all you need per teacher and there are no supplementary materials to buy.
COMPREHENSIVE: The syllabus covers all the major doctrines of the Christian faith. It is intended for children from a church or non-church background.
ENJOYABLE: Children love it and learn from it - so you will love teaching it too.
BIBLICAL: The children and the teachers learn together as everyone gets into the Bible.
TEACHER FRIENDLY: It is designed by teachers who teach teachers.
 3-9 year-olds. This aims to cover all the major Bible doctrines and themes over a three-year period in 14 books. Each lesson has activities specially designed for a different age-group 3-5. 5-7 and 7-9 year-olds so that they can learn and thrive together. Book One includes lessons on Creation, Abraham and Jacob.
9-11 year-olds. This is a two-year programme in six books. Book One includes lessons on the Psalms, Christmas prophecies fulfilled, and New beginnings from John's Gospel.
11-14 year-olds. This six-book series has less of a focus on craft and more on hard hitting issues. It is more discussion based to help develop greater reasoning skills and tackles key societal issues like homosexuality and teaches how to listen and analyse a sermon. Book One looks at Abraham, Jacob, The Messiah, The 'I am' passages and Ruth.
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The Game is up
 Another resource from TnT, published by Christian Focus, this comprises four books packed with activities, games and illustrations designed to support a clear, Biblical teaching point for children aged 3 to 11. The material is undated and carries photocopying permission for visual aids. There are two Old Testament books and two New Testament with 48 lessons in each. Each lesson has a clear subject, Bible Text and teaching point and includes "Warm up", "Consolidation" and "Wind up" text.
Book 1 covers Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Joshua
Book 2 covers 13 Old Testament books from Judges to Jonah
Book 3 covers Matthew, Mark and John
Book 4 covers Luke and Acts
This could be used as resource material to support any teaching programme (helpful indices enable users to identify material relevant to Bible passages), or a church or group could follow the syllabus, using its own teaching gifts whilst drawing on The Game is Up for creative activities for children.
Bible Detectives
 For children aged 8-12. This is not a teaching syllabus but a series of books that provide creative activities to help children discover Bible facts for themselves. Join the Bible Detectives, Harry, Jess and Click the Mouse as they negotiate the stories and pages of the Bible. The quizzes are designed for group use in kids clubs, Sunday schools and in the home. The one indispensable piece of equipment they need is a Bible.
The series covers: Genesis, Exodus, 1 Samuel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts.
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The Good Book Company - CLICK |
 CLICK is a Bible-based programme, written by former RBK Schools Christian Worker, Alison Mitchell, for children aged 3-11 years. The CLICK curriculum is based on the premise that the Bible's own theological framework should direct what is taught and how it is taught. It is Bible-based and covers the major events, concepts and doctrines of the Bible.
CLICK is designed as a three-year course comprising four units per year with ten sessions for each unit. There are three different streams, 3-5, 5-7 and 8-11.
Each unit has a Leader's Manual, posters and a child's component. The nature of the child's component varies according to the age-range and subject. The Leader's Manual can be purchased separatealey or as part of a pack with posters and a child's component.
Each Leader's Manual includes:
# Ten Bible teaching sessions
# Engaging and purposeful activities, games and crafts
# Music suggestions
# Extension ideas for more able children
# Photocopiable masters for visual aids and activities
CLICK for 3-5 year-olds: This material is designed for children who learn through play and action. Whether the child is a beginner reader or a non-reader, he or she will be introduced to the Bible, God, Jesus and the Christian faith in a way that encourages them to respond and to trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
Unit 1 looks at the questions "Who is God?" and "Who is Jesus?" from Genesis and Matthew.
CLICK for 5-7 year-olds: This material is for children who actively learn through a range of activities. The syllabus caters for a variety of learning styles that can be adapted to suit the children in each class.
Unit 1 looks at the subject of 'What has God done for his people? Jesus - from Luke's gospel'. The child's component is a Treasure box. The child makes a different item each week to keep in their Treasure box, to reinforce that week's teaching.
CLICK for 8-11 year-olds: This material is designed for children who are growing in confidence and who enjoy working in small groups with others.
Unit 1 looks at "On the trail of the real Jesus - through the eyes of Luke
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