Teaching a Tiny Sunday School Class (1 to 5 Kids)

Use this guide on the Sundays when your Sunday school class or children’s church has one to five kids. A small class is not a failed class. Below is how to adapt any lesson for one or two kids, plus no-supply games, mixed-age tips, teaching with no screen and how to welcome a visitor.

Want lessons already built for a room like yours? The free Kids sample pack has four complete Sunday school lessons for ages 6 to 12, one from each of four of our 2027 series. Every lesson is built like a menu, not a checklist. Each one has a craft, a coloring page, a word search and a take-home page for parents.

Tiny Sunday School Classes Are More Common Than You Think

Teachers write us about small classes often. One teacher said some weeks she has ten kids, and the next week she has one. Another serves a small church where most members are over 65. It has three kids, ages 9 to 11. One church has no building and no projector. They rent space from another church. And a teacher with just one student said the lessons needed no trimming at all. The teacher just picks what will help most.

Why a Small Sunday School Class Is Not a Failure

A class of two matters to God as much as a class of twenty. Jesus often spent time with one person. He talked with Nicodemus at night (John 3:1-2). He spoke with one Samaritan woman at a well while His disciples went into town (John 4:6-8).

Jesus also told about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one that is lost. He said there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:3-7).

Your job is not to grow a crowd. Your job is to tell a few kids about Jesus, week after week. Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). The results belong to God.

Don’t be discouraged if your church is small and there are not as many kids as you wish. Consider every child as a sacred trust and do your best with what God has given you. Ministry is not a game or a job, it’s a calling.

Tony Kummer, founder of Ministry-to-Children, writing in 2008

A small class has gifts of its own. Every child gets a turn to talk. You can pray for each one by name. You notice when one of them is hurting. For more encouragement, read Even the Smallest Sunday School Matters to God.

How to Adapt a Sunday School Lesson for One or Two Kids

Don’t trim the lesson. Choose from it. Here is how.

1. Read the whole lesson once, then pick. Choose the Bible story, one or two questions and one activity. Save the rest for another week.
2. Turn the group game into a game with you. You are the second player. Kids love to beat the teacher.
3. Make the discussion a conversation. Sit at the same table. Ask one question and wait. With one child, a quiet pause is fine.
4. Give the child real jobs. Let them hold the story picture, find the verse or lead the closing prayer.
5. Skip what needs a crowd. Relay races and team games can wait for a bigger Sunday.
6. Do the craft with them. Make your own beside theirs. Talk about the story while you work.
7. Keep Jesus at the center. A short lesson still points to what Jesus has done, not only to what kids should do.
8. Pray for each child by name. With two kids, you can pray about what they actually told you.

Sunday School Games for One or Two Kids (No Supplies)

One teacher wrote us that some weeks the game in the lesson won’t work. She needs something one or two kids can play. These games work with one child and a teacher. None need anything but a Bible.

1. Storm and Stop. This one comes from Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41). When you say “Storm,” the child makes noise and waves their arms, staying on their spot. When you say “Peace. Be still,” everything stops. Time how fast they get quiet, then try to beat it.
2. Twenty Questions. Think of a person from the Bible. The child asks yes-or-no questions to guess who it is. Then switch.
3. Who Said It? Read a line someone said in the Bible story you just taught. The child guesses who said it.
4. Story Order. Say four events from the story out of order. The child holds up fingers to put them in order, 1 to 4.
5. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down. Say a sentence about the story. Thumbs up if it is true, thumbs down if it is false. Slip in a silly one.
6. Act It Out. Take turns acting out a scene from the story without words. The other person guesses the scene.
7. Hot and Cold. Hide a Bible in the room. Say “warmer” or “colder” as the child hunts for it. Then open it to the story you are teaching.
8. Verse Echo. Say the memory verse, and the child says it back. Each round, leave out one more word for them to fill in.

Storm and Stop is one of the 25 Bible games in our free printable PDF. Each game is tied to a Bible story, and 17 of them need no supplies at all. For more ideas, see Sunday School Games Without Materials.

Teaching Mixed Ages in One Small Class

Teach one Bible story to everyone, then split the work by age.

I think mixed-age groups have to work because that’s the reality in so many churches, and there are all kinds of ways around it, like having older kids as the helper or the co-teachers.

Tony Kummer, founder of Ministry-to-Children, in 2026

1. Make an older child your helper. Let them read the Bible verses aloud or help a younger child with the craft.
2. Tell the story at the youngest child’s level. Then give the older kids a harder question.
3. Ask questions in layers. Ask a five-year-old, “Who was in the boat?” Ask a ten-year-old, “Why were the disciples afraid?”
4. Offer two versions of one activity. Little ones color the picture. Older kids do the word search.
5. Use one story at two levels. Our free Kids pack and our free Preschool sample pack (ages 3 to 5) teach the same four Bible stories. A mixed room can hear one story at two levels.

For more on this, read Teaching Tips for Multi-Age Classrooms.

Teaching Sunday School With No TV or Projector

You don’t need a screen. A Bible, a picture and your own voice are enough.

1. Open the Bible in front of the kids. Read the key verses from the page, so they see where the story comes from.
2. Hold up one picture. Each lesson in the free Kids sample pack has a full-page Bible story picture to hold up. The story is written out, so you can read it right from the page.
3. Print in black and white. Coloring pages are made for kids to add the color.
4. Use your voice. Slow down at the tense part. Whisper. Let the kids make the sound effects.
5. Bring one everyday object. An object lesson needs no power cord.

How to Welcome a Visitor When You Usually Have Two Kids

Be ready before they come. Help them feel at home in the first few minutes.

1. Keep one extra copy of everything. Print a spare coloring page and craft every week.
2. Learn their name and use it right away.
3. Pair them with a regular. Ask one of your kids to sit with the visitor and show them what to do.
4. Don’t put them on the spot. Don’t ask a visitor to read aloud or pray unless they offer.
5. Explain as you go. Say what comes next, so they never feel lost.
6. Send something home. A take-home page tells parents what their child learned.
7. Follow up that week. A short card to the family says you were glad to meet their child.
8. Pray for the visitor by name.

Keep Teaching Your Small Sunday School Class

A small class is not a failed class. God sees the two kids at your table. He knows their names, and so do you. For more on serving a little church, read 11 Tips for Serving a Small Country Church.

How many kids are in your class this fall? What game works best for one or two kids? Share it in the comments so another teacher can try it this Sunday.