February Lessons

Our theme for February is "Jesus Shows Us How to Love"

Week 5- Jesus Heals the Sick: What You Can Do (Matt. 4:23-25, Mark 1:29-39, Luke 4:31-44
Week 6- Oh, How He Loves Us! (Special Valentine's Day Lesson)
Week 7- Jesus Cleaned the Temple: How Do We Clean Up? (John 2:12-25)
Week 8- Jesus Talks to Nicodemus: What You Can Say to a Friend (John 3:1-21)

Week 4: January 26

Our theme for January is "Who is Jesus and Why Does it Matter?" 

Week 4- Jesus' First Disciples: Why We Are Called (Luke 5:1-11, 9:1-9)

To finish out this month's theme, I found this Go Tell All craft from Oriental Trading. 

I'll paraphrase Luke 5:1-11 for the kids, then hand out the bags. I walk through the beginning of projects like this, then let kids finish on their own. I'll start out by saying, "Get out your big yellow oval. This will be your background. Now find your..." While kids are working, I'll ask these questions about the lesson:

1. What were Simon, James, and John doing when Jesus met them? (Cleaning their nets.)

2. Did they have much luck fishing? (No. They didn't catch anything at all.)

3. Jesus told them to let down their nets again. What happened next? (The nets were full of fish.)

4. Why do you think Simon and the others were amazed? (They knew that fish wouldn't just suddenly swim into nets on their own- Jesus made it happen.)

5. Simon told Jesus to leave. Why do you think He did that? (He was embarrassed that He had done so many things, knowing that Jesus was sinless.) Sometimes we try to hide from God when we make mistakes. That's why a lot of people stop coming to church. They know they are doing bad things but don't want to stop doing them.

6. Did Simon want to stop sinning and follow Jesus (Yes!) Jesus told them that they would be fishing for people from then on.

7. What does that mean? Fishing for people? (Telling others about Jesus... Just like we catch fish and put them in a net, we tell people about Jesus and they start coming to church.

That's pretty awesome. What Jesus did was so amazing that the three guys decided to leave everything and start following Him. We don't have to leave our families to follow Jesus; we can tell others about Him at school, home, you can tell your cousins, friends, and kids on the playground. Jesus wants us to tell others about Him, so they can be followers just like us! 

Luke 5:1-11 One day Jesus was preaching when he noticed three men washing their fishing nets beside their empty boats. Jesus asked the boat's owner, Simon, if He could stand in the boat to talk to the crowd so everyone could see him better. Simon let Him, and when He was finished preaching he told Simon to go out where it was deeper so they could catch some fish. 

But Simon replied, "We worked all night long and didn't catch anything! But if you say so, then I'll lower the nets down again." This time when they lifted the nets, they were so full of fish they began to tear! Simon shouted for help from his friends, James and John, and soon both boats were filled with fish. 

When Simon realized what Jesus had done, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Lord, please leave me! I'm too much of a sinner to be around you!" He couldn't believe how many fish he had caught. His friends were amazed, too.

But Jesus said, "Don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people!" As soon as they got back to shore, Simon, James, and John left everything and followed Jesus. 

Week 3: Jan 19

Our theme for January is "Who is Jesus and Why Does it Matter?" 

*Since we got off track this is actually Week 3

Week 2- John the Baptist: Who is He and Why Did He Baptize Jesus? (Mark 1:1-11)

Our church practices baptizing by submersion, so this is something students already know a bit about. The goal for this lesson is for kids to see Jesus' friend/cousin, John, to baptize Jesus and let them see that Jesus sometimes did things as an example of what we should do, and baptizing is one of them. If we love Jesus, we should be proud to stand in front of our family and friends and let them know. 

For this lesson, I'll start by asking kids what is a baptism, and try to pull out a basic definition from their responses. It should be something like, "It's when the pastor dips you in the water to show everyone that you have Jesus in your heart." I like to keep the words simple, so kids will have a basic knowledge to grow on when they get older. Sometimes the kids have specific questions about it, but I don't go into too much detail. 

Then, I'm going to read the text (paraphrased and stuck in my Bible):
John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. He lived in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Everyone wanted to see John. He wore clothes made of camel hair and he ate locusts and wild honey. When they came to him and listened to him speak, they realized that what he said was true: if you have God in your heart, you should show everyone! Lots of people confessed their sins, and John baptized them in the Jordan River. 

Who was John? (Jesus' cousin)
Why did people want to see him? (He lived in the wild and wore weird things.)
When people listened to John, what did they do? (Understand the need of baptism; many were baptized)

One day Jesus came to visit John, and told him that He wanted to be baptized, to be an example for others. When John brought Jesus' head out of the water, he saw the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit came to Jesus, like a dove. And Jesus heard a voice from heaven. It said, "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy." 

What did Jesus ask John to do? (baptize Him)
Did Jesus need to be baptized? (No, He had no sins to repent)
Why do you think Jesus asked to be baptized? (to be an example for us)
What happened when Jesus was baptized? (The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove)

Jesus was first beginning His ministry at this point. He hadn't even picked out His apostles. 

Did John make the right choice by baptizing Jesus? 
Why do you think God wanted the Holy Spirit to be with Jesus?

As a craftivity, I'm going to have my kids make a 3-D dove. I'll start by letting them draw the outline of a bird on half-sheet of white card stock. Then they'll cut them out, and also cut a little slit horizontal on the birds back. Then we'll take a sheet of white copy paper and fold it like a fan. I'll show them how to stick the fan through the slit and their bird will have wings. Then they can draw an eye on each side.

I'll tell my students that this bird should remind them that God is always watching us, and just like He was proud of Jesus for being baptized, He wants us to repent of our sins and ask Him into our hearts. 

*Edit to Add- After thinking about this, I think I'm just going to have students watercolor the bottom half of a sheet of card stock, then draw John and Jesus standing in the water. Students can add a dove above Jesus' head if desired. This puts the emphasis back on Jesus, where it should be! 

Here are some of the results: (I did go back and write "Jesus was Baptized by John" at the top of each child's paper with a black marker after taking pictures. I thought the plain white needed a little something)

Week 2: Jan 12

Our theme for January is "Who is Jesus and Why Does it Matter?" 

*Since we got off track this was actually our Week 2 lesson

Week 1- Jesus as a Kid (Luke 2:41-52)

The first week in the new year is a great time for self-reflection. Most kids in school will have to write their own resolution when they get back in their classrooms, so I like to do something a little different at church. A lot of families make their resolution to get back in church so I generally try to find something fairly simple that can be done with any number of students (we have usually between 25-35 kids each week, but New Years' often brings in 40+).

This year I'm going to focus on what Jesus was like when He was a kid, compared to what they are like today. I'll put my kids in groups by tables and give each a piece of big chart paper. They will brainstorm characteristics kids have, and characteristics Jesus has. After about 8 minutes, I'll collect all papers (probably 3-4 since our tables are large) and hang them for the kids to see. 

Then we'll read through the thoughts together. I'll hand out a venn diagram copied on regular white paper for the kids to fill out as I fill out a large version on the wall. We'll talk about how we are different from Jesus, and how we are the same. The kids should understand that Jesus was fully God but also fully human, and He probably enjoyed a lot of the things they do today (running outside, playing with friends, etc.) For the kids that can't write, I'll let them draw a picture of themselves in the first circle, a picture of Jesus in the last, and something that they have in common in the middle. 

Here is a sketch I made, but it will be a bit neater for the kids. If you've never used a venn diagram before, you can see how the bubbles overlap with similarities, and differences are on either side. 

Here is the one I made for my kids. I used ScrappinDoodle's awesome border graphic and a font by Khrys Bosland.

Here are a few of my kiddos' charts... I always set out crayons when we're writing for the kids who finish fast and the littles who draw pictures instead.

Week 1: Jan 5

Our theme for January is "Who is Jesus and Why Does it Matter?" 

Week 1- Jesus as a Kid (Luke 2:41-52)

Bad weather sometimes affects our schedule. When we miss church, I have to decide whether to make up that week's lesson or just skip it and move on. One way to help out with this is to allow open blocks in your schedule to make up any lessons you may have missed. I like to do this by leaving secular holidays unplanned.

January Lessons

Our theme for January is "Who is Jesus and Why Does it Matter?" 

Week 1- Jesus as a Kid (Luke 2:41-52)
Week 2- John the Baptist: Who is He and Why Did He Baptize Jesus? (Luke 3:1-20, Mark 1:9-11)
Week 3- Jesus Faced Temptation, Just Like Us (Matt. 4:1-11)
Week 4- Jesus' First Disciples: Why We Are Called (Luke 5:1-11, 9:1-9)

Now my room might sound fancy as I mention hanging things and having tables, but it's really just the fellowship hall in the downstairs part of my church. I keep the tables arranged the same each week so kids will know what to expect, and tape things onto the walls using painter's tape as necessary. I don't keep anything there from week to week, except with special permission! No matter what size your space is, you can make it work. If you have technology, or even a whiteboard, then I'm jealous! 

I usually have between 25-35 kids each week, ranging in ages from 2-12. I let the middle-schoolers take turns fixing snack, but age 13 is the cutoff when students are expected to begin staying upstairs with their parents for the sermon. 

What I Do

To keep a mobile record of our Children's Church, I will be posting lessons and other kid-activities throughout the year. Some people think running a successful Kids Program is easy (usually those who have never taken part in one), other think it's extremely difficult (those who scoot along the outskirts of the program) and some people have never even thought about it. I love it (and wish I could make it a full-time job!) because a lot of preparation leaves for little problems! 

I also try to plan out my lessons at least 6 months (to a year) at a time to ensure all of Jesus' teachings are being taught, not just the "easy" stories. When I plan, I create a spreadsheet of all of the dates, lessons, and location of the story in the Bible for quick reference. It's also important to decide how you're going to choose lessons. A few years ago I ran across Calvary Curriculum (which has since been tremendously updated with activities and coloring pages) that had a list of New Testament Bible lessons. I didn't use the activities, but I use the list pretty much every year to make sure I'm not leaving out any bit of Jesus' message. I generally spend a year on New Testament, then 3-6 months on Old Testament stories. 

Here is a snapshot of my lesson book cover in 2008:

I have a supply closet at church with lots of crafty things to make teaching my little ones a bit less stressful. I also have a great church family that offers a nice budget for purchasing things my kiddos need for hands-on-learning. Most of my supplies come from orientaltrading.com and are inexpensive. Other things I pick up at Walmart, A.C. Moore's, or from around the house. 

When creating a supply closet, it's essential to become an organized hoarder. Keep all donations, label things clearly, and remember what you have so you won't have to buy it again. Like I said before, planning is key.