This curated list of online resources includes free to use resources (with acknowledgement of the source of the activity) and selected fee-based resources which often offer subscriptions for churches so that the programs can be provided to everyone in the church.
Activities & Programs
Building Faith
buildfaith.org Building Faith, a service of Virginia Theological Seminary, provides hundreds of articles and activities for faith formation with all ages. Use the "Articles by Topics" category to find activities on a variety of faith themes. Catechist.com www.catechist.com The website has lesson plans, activities, articles, and video suggestions for teaching the Catholic faith - at home and church. Topics include: The Mass, sacraments, saints, moral life, Catechism themes, and more. Use the search function to find activities for teaching a particular faith theme, Catholic Mom Lesson Plans & Activities www.catholicmom.com/resources The Catholic Mom website has a resource section with lesson plans on a variety Catholic faith themes, plus activities for Church year feasts and seasons. Children’s Ministry https://childrensministry.com ChildrensMinistry.com from Group Publishing has a library of Bible lesson plans for all children of all ages on a wide variety of themes or topics, as well as on holidays throughout the year. In addition to the library of lesson plans, there is a library of Bible activities and teaching tips for leaders. Christian Practices www.lifelongfaith.com/practices.html Lifelong Faith's Christian Practices project has produced faith forming activities - for age groups and for families - with a teaching plan for ten Christian Practices. All activities are included on separate MS Word document so that you can create handouts for sessions, a booklet, online playlists and activities, social media posts, etc. Each Activity can be done in 20 minutes (approximately). Practices include: Caring for the Body, Celebrating, Discernment, Eating Well, Forgiveness, Keeping Sabbath, Managing Household Life, Participating in Community, Prayer, and Reading the Bible. Episcopal Children's Curriculum (ECC) Curriculum Website The Episcopal Children’s Curriculum is a thematic Sunday school curriculum tied to the seasons of the church year: Advent-Epiphany, Lent and Easter, Spring and Pentecost. It was developed by the Center for the Ministry of Teaching under the direction of the Rev. Locke E. Bowman, Jr. and Amelia J. Dyer, Ph.D. Although no longer in print, ECC curriculum materials are available for free download. Group Publishing Resource Hub www.group.com/free-resources Group Publishing has free Bible lesson plans, video lessons, and activities for children and families. Illustrated Ministry ($) https://www.illustratedministry.com Illustrated Ministry creates accessible faith-based resources for the church and home. Their thoughtful and easy to use materials are designed to foster authentic faith engagement with refreshing designs, creative activities, and intergenerational focus. They produce curriculum programming, resources for the church year seasons, worship resources, and family resources—most of which are digital downloads. Their resources celebrate the expansive image of God in everyone, through open and inclusive language, diverse imagery, and progressive theology. Jesus Learning Stations - Loyola Press There are activities for five learning stations on Jesus. Just click on the title to download the activities.
Kids Corner kidscorner.net Kid's Corner is an online resource center designed for children (and their parents) to discover their place in God’s big story and learn how God is calling us to live out the Christian faith every day!
Lesson Plans that Work https://lessonplansthatwork.org Published by The Episcopal Church and designed to follow the Revised Common Lectionary, these lesson weekly plans include sessions for young children, for older children, and usually a lesson plan for adults. Intergenerational lesson plans are available for many major feast days throughout the liturgical year. Most lesson plans are based on the Gospel, and some also have an Old Testament Lesson Plan. Life.Church Open Network Resources for Young Children https://open.life.church/categories/301-early-childhood The Life.Church Open Network curriculum features a variety of free thematic lesson plans and activities. Created to work in tandem with the Bible App for Kids, the Life.Church Open Network curriculum features interactive videos, leader training, in-class activities, and all support materials. This 23-unit, two-year curriculum teaches young children about Jesus and allows them to reinforce what they learn in church at home through the app. Life.Church Open Network Resources for Elementary Age Children https://open.life.church/categories/303-elementary The Network includes a free lessons, videos, art, teacher guides, and in-class activities for kids in 1st grade through 4th grade. Lost Sheep Children’s Books ($ and free) https://www.lostsheep.com.au Lost Sheep Books makes available their children’s books in digital format. You can purchase one book and email the digital Activity books to families associated with your church community to print out at home. They have lots of free resources, activity sheets, coloring pages, crosswords, mazes, word searches, and more. Loyola Press Catholic Resources https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith Loyola Press Catholic Resources are a library of activities for the children and the whole family, including Scripture, Catholic basics, liturgical year, prayer, sacraments, saints, Scripture and tradition, and Ignatian spirituality. There are also resources in Spanish. (For Catholic saints go to: www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/saints/saints-stories-for-all-ages) Ministry Spark (David C. Cook Publishers) https://ministryspark.com Ministry Spark has free children and family activities and programs, including at home lessons for families, Bible devotions, Bible lessons, seasonal programs, and a variety of ministry guides. Ministry to Children https://ministry-to-children.com Ministry to Children provides free lessons, activities, and printables. Download a single lesson plan or choose a curriculum series. There are thousands of Bible lesson plans and activities. You can search by Scripture, Bible story, or faith theme. The Religion Teacher https://www.thereligionteacher.com https://www.thereligionteacher.com/?s=Jesus The Religion Teacher provides a large collection of Catholic religious education activities including crafts, worksheets, prayer ideas, and more. Use the "Search" and menu to find activities on Jesus and the Christian Life. Sadlier Religion Publishers www.sadlier.com/religion/resources Sadlier Religion Publishers makes available free activities and resources on a variety of faith themes for children and families. Saint Mary's Press Resource Center www.smp.org/resourcecenter The Saint Mary's Press Resource Center has resources for download including maps, activities, lesson plans, prayers, articles, worksheets, and videos on many topics in Catholic faith formation: Jesus, church history, church, liturgy, morality, prayer, sacraments, saints, and social justice. Vibrant Faith at Home Activities www.vibrantfaithprojects.org/families-with-children.html www.vibrantfaithprojects.org/just-for-kids.html Hundreds of activities for home and church, created by Vibrant Faith, are available to download as PDFs. Children's activities are organized in six categories: Bible Stories, Conversations, Learning about Faith, Prayer, Ritual & Tradition, and Serving Others. Visual Faith Activities www.vibrantfaithprojects.org/visual-faith-activities.html Vibrant Faith has created 32 Visual Faith Experiences that connect a Bible passage to visual images that you can download as PDFs and use as thematic lessons at home or church throughout the year! There is also a guide for using the experiences on online platforms. Wesleyan Resource Center - Children resources.wesleyan.org/?fwp_categories=kids The Wesleyan Resource Center curates theologically Wesleyan and holistic resources motivated to move people from making decisions to trust Christ to actively following Jesus in close discipleship communities. All of the resources are free. The children's section includes children's lesson plans on a variety of faith themes, seasonal programs, and videos. |
Videos
Beginner's Bible
www.youtube.com/c/TheBeginnersBible/featured The Beginner's Bible videos are created to share the most important lessons from the greatest stories ever told, The videos include memorable songs, vivid animation, and heartwarming characters - all designed to introduce young children to the timeless stories of inspiration, courage and faith in the Bible. Catholic Kids Media YouTube Channel Catholic Kids Media provides quality Catholic programming for kids to help parents and teachers instruct children in the Catholic faith and practices. They produce videos in English and Spanish. Search the site for videos on the Catholic faith and practices. Listener Kids - Christian Music and Video for Kids www.youtube.com/user/listenerkids/featured Listener Kids is a fun, educational platform for kids (ages 0-6) that teaches Christian values creatively. In a world where animals can sing, dance, and objects come to life, our music videos get kids singing and dancing while teaching values parents approve. Pop-Up Catechesis catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/tag/pop-up-catechesis/ Joe Paprocki (Catechist’s Journey) created a series of one-minute Pop-Up Catechesis videos for how to make faith alive in the home. Topics include the Ten Commandments, the sacraments, Catholic saints feast days, prayer, and more. For Jesus videos go to: catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/category/ catechetical-issues-topics/trinity-father-son-holy-spirit. Right Now Media ($) www.rightnowmedia.org More than 2,000 wholesome, educational, and entertaining videos for children. All available for streaming. Monthly fee based on the size of the church. Saddleback Kids Videos YouTube Channel Saddleback Kids, the children’s ministry at Saddleback Church, has developed animated videos to teach children (and families ) about God’s word. These videos can be used as stand alone lessons that parents can view with their children. There are videos for early childhood and elementary children. The Skit Guys skitguys.com www.youtube.com/c/skitguys/featured The Skit Guys have produced hundreds of videos of their skits on a variety of topics: seasonal, faith themes, life issues, and more - for teaching, sermons, events, and more. The videos are available on YouTube and on their website (for purchase and download). Studio 3:16 www.studio316.com Studio 3:15 - from Cross Boss Media, is a Hollywood-level, educational comedy based on Bible passages told through great storytelling, music, and humor for children and families. Cross Boss Media is committed to provide families — especially those with children ages 7-12 — with a safe outlet to discover Christ through fun, wholesome entertainment. It’s just the beginning of our goal to enrich the lives of viewers and lead kids on a journey to imitate Christ through a foundation of virtues, faith, and Truth. Veggie Tales www.youtube.com/veggietales Through hilarious storytelling, silly songs and lovable characters, VeggieTales presents meaningful lessons with faith-based values - like forgiveness, honesty and thankfulness - that are easy for kids to understand and that help guide them in their day-to-day lives. Virtual Sunday School www.youtube.com/channel/UCMu2bG8L2dp7ywUZVa9uXDA/featured Every week there is a new episode with Bible stories, crafts, games, challenges and a whole lot of fun, all available free on their YouTube channel. (www.virtualsundayschooluk.com) What's in the Bible ($ and free) www.youtube.com/user/whatsinthebible/videos Created by Phil Vischer (Veggie Tales), What's In The Bible? videos are designed to walk kids and families through the entire Bible. The YouTube are just a free sampling of all the videos available from the subscription site Minno Kids: www.gominno.com. Worship House Kids ($) https://www.worshiphousekids.com WorshipHouse Kids offers children's worship media resources to help make learning about God fun, interactive, and meaningful. You can find the best in kids worship videos, Christian worship songs, backgrounds, and church curriculum to make a lasting imprint on the lives of tomorrow's church. Check out the ability to use the videos on your website, email, and playlists. |