As a child, I remember attendance charts being rows and columns with the students’ names down the left side and the date across the top. Star stickers were placed in their proper place each time a student attended Bible class. I assume the original intent of these charts was to help the teacher see at a glance whether the student was attending regularly. If not, he could be checked on to see if the family needed encouragement or help in some way. It was also a motivator for the student because everyone wanted to be able to have a complete row of stars.

There is one big problem with this way of tracking attendance. There’s always a kid or two that would love to be in class every time but his parents are not so motivated. It’s not his fault he doesn’t have perfect attendance. Because of this, I have always sought out attendance charts that don’t punish the child that is absent for one reason or another. I prefer an attendance chart that looks complete or pretty much so whether the child is there one week or every time. If it isn’t possible, I’ll let the child add some extra pieces to the attendance chart at the end of the month. I also seek out attendance charts that are another teaching point in the classroom. The following attendance charts meet both those criteria.

Moses/Aaron
This is not only an attendance chart but the student can wear it when the study is over. All you need is a square of yellow cardstock, a piece of yarn and 12 brightly colored squares of copy paper. Each class time, the student adds a stone to his ephod.

Gideon
A picture of Gideon glued to a piece of black construction paper is the background for this attendance chart. Each class period the student gets to glue a torch on to represent the people who fought with Gideon.

Samson
The picture for this attendance chart was taken from Soul-ly For Kids. Each class period the students would glue a bee to the picture.

Samuel
Another one inspired by Soul-ly For Kids. If you don’t have their materials yet, get them when you can. I don’t know if they are still being published or not. It can be reproduced with other visuals as well. Hannah and Samuel are already attached to the background by cutting and pasting then copying. Each week the student adds a new coat to the picture just like Hannah took to Samuel when he was young.

Saul/David
This is another attendance chart that can be worn home when done. I used it for 2 months while studying Saul and David. The crown shape is cut from yellow foam sheets. I used the stick on letters for their names and each class they added a star to their crown. At the end of the 2 months, I took them off the wall and stapled a strip of yellow foam sheet to the back to make the crown fit their heads.

 Solomon
This is the only attendance chart I’ve done that did not hang on the wall. It is a small pouch with a little elastic at the top. Each week the student added a coin to the pouch. The money pouch represents the wealth of King Solomon.

Elijah
This picture came from Soul-ly For Kids. It was scanned into the computer and colored with a paint program. It could also be colored by hand. Any coloring page with a similar picture would work. Students add a raven to the chart each time they come to class.

Jonah
I took pictures of the kids praying. They added pictures of places they could pray and still be heard by God. The pictures came from Thru-the-Bible Coloring Pages by Standard Publishing. Just scan them in and reduce them down to size.

Daniel

Choose good food to add to this paper plate attendance chart just like Daniel chose good food.

Baby Jesus
The pictures for this one came form Palma Smiley’s To Toddlers With Love.  The stable is simply 4 strips of brown construction paper glued to a piece of black construction paper.  Add a person or animal from the story of Jesus’ birth to create a picture to remind the student of the story of the birth of Christ.

Miracles of Jesus
Another one of Palma Smiley’s To Toddlers With Love visuals. The child adds a basket to the picture to represent the baskets of leftover food when Jesus fed the 5000.

Parables of Jesus
The center picture of Jesus teaching is printed on a piece of cardstock with the words Parables of Jesus and a border. Each time the student comes to class he adds a pictures relating to one of the parables we studied.

Peter
The artwork for this one was borrowed from the Peter pop-up book. Each class, the child glues a fish to Peter and Andrew’s net. You could also make the net be a pocket and let the child drop a fish in the net instead of using glue.

Paul
The picture of Paul came from the Beginner’s Bible Card collection. During this class we talked about the letters Paul wrote. Each class period, the child will glue a scroll (small rolled up piece of paper) around the picture of Paul.

The Church
Picture taken from Palma Smiley’s To Toddlers With Love. Child adds additional family members each class period. Encourage the student to make the family look like his family — number of siblings, gender of siblings, etc. If necessary grandparents and friends can be added.