We went outside for a big-area activity with this lesson.
Set up a cone labeling each area (You may want to use a map of Israel during Jesus' time to get an accurate-ish idea of where to set the areas in relation to each other)
-Nazareth
-Jericho
-Bethlehem
-Jerusalem
-Capernaum
-Bethany
Read part 12 of The Big Picture Story Bible, "Many Silent Years" and explain how the census works today and how it worked back then.
Take the kiddos outside and set up cones labeling different areas of Israel. I have about 25 kids, so I had 6 cities. You can always set up more if necessary.
I color-coded each one of my cities to help the younger ones out, so blue=Nazareth, green= Jerusalem, etc. Have students go to a city of their choice to begin the activity.
We are in the ancient city of Israel and the city you're in now is where you live. Our country was taken over many years ago and we're now part of the Roman Empire. Our government leader, Caesar Augustus, has declared that everyone must go to their home city to be counted for the census.
Hand out cards {mine were actually colored balls} that list what city each person must return to. Give students about 30 seconds to reach their destination. Mix the cards up and repeat, giving only 10 seconds. {My kiddos didn't need an actual challenge, they really enjoyed traveling, but read below if you're up for more adventure.}
If you want to make the game into a challenge, lay out hula hoops at each "city." Only the first 3 citizens to reach their home city are allowed to stay, the others must leave the game. Continue playing, only allowing 2 to stay, and then once more with only the 1st person. Lastly, have the remaining players all rush from their current location to Bethlehem. The first person will be the winner.
Describe how Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth, where they lived, to Bethlehem, where Joseph's family was from. Talk about the distance and how with other travelers on the road it was a very long and at-times-confusing journey for many people.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
September 6: God's Promise Remains
Last week the students destroyed their beautiful artwork to symbolize God destroying the temple Solomon built for Him before turning his heart away. We kept the pieces in a ziploc bag for today.
Read part 11 of The Big Picture Story Bible "God's Promise Remains."
Have multiple copies of enlarged cards for each character- Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel- and also a poster for each action- "raise the Temple and give the people new hearts," "a forever King would come from David's family," "the people would return home in 70 years," and "prayed for God's promise to come true."
Students will work in small groups to match each prophet with what they said. Then go over together.
After many years and God's people finally were able to come back to God's special place, they were very sorry for disobeying Him for so long. The city and the temple had been destroyed and they had to work hard at repairing their mess.
Hand out puzzle pieces from last week along with a slightly larger sheet of construction paper and glue.
Just as God's people rebuilt Solomon's temple, you are going to rebuild your artwork today. It will take some hard work and a lot of time, but when you are done it will be cause for celebration!
After giving students time to work, have them review their final project. Does it look like it did before? How is it different? Is it better or worse? Why?
The pictures will look similar, but not identical, to their picture from last week. Students may note that their are missing pieces, open spaces, torn edges or rough spots. I had a quick mini-lesson about how this is similar to when we sin, also. Even though we say we're sorry and we try to fix our mistakes, we can't take away hurt or pain we've caused someone else. Saying hurtful things to someone can't be undone, just as the temple couldn't go back to it's original condition. Only God can fix what's been broken and make it like new, we can apologize for our mistakes and try to fix our problems, but our relationships with those we've hurt will never be "like new."
"The old men cried because they remembered Solomon's beautiful temple and knew that Israel could never completely rebuild God's place. They cried because they still longed for God's forever king to come."
Read part 11 of The Big Picture Story Bible "God's Promise Remains."
Have multiple copies of enlarged cards for each character- Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel- and also a poster for each action- "raise the Temple and give the people new hearts," "a forever King would come from David's family," "the people would return home in 70 years," and "prayed for God's promise to come true."
Students will work in small groups to match each prophet with what they said. Then go over together.
After many years and God's people finally were able to come back to God's special place, they were very sorry for disobeying Him for so long. The city and the temple had been destroyed and they had to work hard at repairing their mess.
Hand out puzzle pieces from last week along with a slightly larger sheet of construction paper and glue.
Just as God's people rebuilt Solomon's temple, you are going to rebuild your artwork today. It will take some hard work and a lot of time, but when you are done it will be cause for celebration!
After giving students time to work, have them review their final project. Does it look like it did before? How is it different? Is it better or worse? Why?
The pictures will look similar, but not identical, to their picture from last week. Students may note that their are missing pieces, open spaces, torn edges or rough spots. I had a quick mini-lesson about how this is similar to when we sin, also. Even though we say we're sorry and we try to fix our mistakes, we can't take away hurt or pain we've caused someone else. Saying hurtful things to someone can't be undone, just as the temple couldn't go back to it's original condition. Only God can fix what's been broken and make it like new, we can apologize for our mistakes and try to fix our problems, but our relationships with those we've hurt will never be "like new."
"The old men cried because they remembered Solomon's beautiful temple and knew that Israel could never completely rebuild God's place. They cried because they still longed for God's forever king to come."
Saturday, August 29, 2015
August 30: Another Very Sad Day
Hand out temple pictures from last week (have copies of a fancy temple available for students who weren't here) and review the story of Solomon building a special temple to honor God. Review how God was keeping all of His promises to Abraham; He made him into a great nation, he gave Israel the land, and now He was bringing God's blessing to other people on the earth.
Unfortunately, though, this story doesn't have a happy ending. Read part 10 of The Big Picture Story Bible, "Another Very Sad Day."
Even though Solomon loved God, he wasn't happy with obeying Him. Just like many others we've learned about, Solomon wanted to be happy on earth, even if it meant not listening to God's word.
Hand out scissors. (At this point some of my older kids were getting a little antsy.)
God told Solomon that his kingdom would be torn apart because they didn't obey Him. (At this point, my kids who figured it out started shaking their heads and saying, "No!" "Don't make me do what we're about to do!")
Solomon worked very hard on his temple. But he turned away from God. God's people turned away from God. They disobeyed God's word and rejected God as their king. God no longer wanted a huge temple for people to worship at if they weren't worshipping Him.... so He had it destroyed.
Last week we made beautiful temples to remind us of the beautiful temple Solomon built to honor God. But because His people did not honor Him, it was destroyed. Using your scissors, cut up your temple and destroy the beautiful artwork you created last week. (At this point my kiddos are like "WHAT!!!! I WORKED SO HARD ON THIS!!!" One of my boys even refused to do it- He said he honored God all week long and didn't think his deserved to be destroyed!)
We put the pieces in a ziploc bag to save for another week.
Review with the kiddos why God's temple was destroyed. Be sure to go over each of these points:
-God will punish sin. He punished His people back then, and there are still consequences for sinful behaviors today.
-God's people need a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. We're too weak on our own and fall into the same trap as Solomon; we're selfish and don't want to live for God.
-Only God is the true God, idols are worthless. Just like King Ahab trying to make his fake god light a fire on an altar, when we put our faith into things of this world it's not going to work!
-God blesses those who follow His word. God answered Elijah's prayer, even though He was upset with the people as a whole. Sometimes it may seem easier to go along with what others are doing, even if it's wrong, but God knows! God knew exactly who was following Him and who was not.
Unfortunately, though, this story doesn't have a happy ending. Read part 10 of The Big Picture Story Bible, "Another Very Sad Day."
Even though Solomon loved God, he wasn't happy with obeying Him. Just like many others we've learned about, Solomon wanted to be happy on earth, even if it meant not listening to God's word.
Hand out scissors. (At this point some of my older kids were getting a little antsy.)
God told Solomon that his kingdom would be torn apart because they didn't obey Him. (At this point, my kids who figured it out started shaking their heads and saying, "No!" "Don't make me do what we're about to do!")
Solomon worked very hard on his temple. But he turned away from God. God's people turned away from God. They disobeyed God's word and rejected God as their king. God no longer wanted a huge temple for people to worship at if they weren't worshipping Him.... so He had it destroyed.
Last week we made beautiful temples to remind us of the beautiful temple Solomon built to honor God. But because His people did not honor Him, it was destroyed. Using your scissors, cut up your temple and destroy the beautiful artwork you created last week. (At this point my kiddos are like "WHAT!!!! I WORKED SO HARD ON THIS!!!" One of my boys even refused to do it- He said he honored God all week long and didn't think his deserved to be destroyed!)
We put the pieces in a ziploc bag to save for another week.
Review with the kiddos why God's temple was destroyed. Be sure to go over each of these points:
-God will punish sin. He punished His people back then, and there are still consequences for sinful behaviors today.
-God's people need a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. We're too weak on our own and fall into the same trap as Solomon; we're selfish and don't want to live for God.
-Only God is the true God, idols are worthless. Just like King Ahab trying to make his fake god light a fire on an altar, when we put our faith into things of this world it's not going to work!
-God blesses those who follow His word. God answered Elijah's prayer, even though He was upset with the people as a whole. Sometimes it may seem easier to go along with what others are doing, even if it's wrong, but God knows! God knew exactly who was following Him and who was not.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
August 23: God's Blessings Grow
Ask students to describe a really fancy house- keep notes on chart paper for reference. Encourage ideas of grandeur, shiny, gold-encrusted things; things they've seen on TV or movies but likely don't have at their houses.
Review with kiddos that God had promised Abraham three basic things: 1. His family would become a great nation 2. God would give them a special place to live and 3. God would make them a blessing to all the people on the earth.
A few weeks ago God began giving Abraham his great nation. Last week God gave them a special place to live. This week we're talking about how God continued to bless His people.
Read Part 9 of The Big Picture Story Bible "God's Blessings Grow." Discuss how King David {remind them of the kid-David we've talked about previously and explain this is him all grown up!} wanted to build God a special house, but God wanted David's son, Solomon, to build it instead.
Go back to your brainstorm list and explain that students will be drawing the temple Solomon built for God. Read over a few specifics and have kids discuss why he made it so fancy. Encourage students to take their time and use the whole sheet of paper to show details.
Make sure students put their names on their temples- we'll need them next week!
Review with kiddos that God had promised Abraham three basic things: 1. His family would become a great nation 2. God would give them a special place to live and 3. God would make them a blessing to all the people on the earth.
A few weeks ago God began giving Abraham his great nation. Last week God gave them a special place to live. This week we're talking about how God continued to bless His people.
Read Part 9 of The Big Picture Story Bible "God's Blessings Grow." Discuss how King David {remind them of the kid-David we've talked about previously and explain this is him all grown up!} wanted to build God a special house, but God wanted David's son, Solomon, to build it instead.
Go back to your brainstorm list and explain that students will be drawing the temple Solomon built for God. Read over a few specifics and have kids discuss why he made it so fancy. Encourage students to take their time and use the whole sheet of paper to show details.
Make sure students put their names on their temples- we'll need them next week!
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Saturday, August 1, 2015
August 2: God's People Become Great
Last week we learned that Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, actually saved Abraham's entire family. Joseph was in charge of the food during a great famine, when there was no food available for those who hadn't saved up.
Joseph invited his brothers and their families to live with him in Egypt. Let's read what happens next.
Read part 6 of The Big Picture Story Bible about Jacob's family of 70 moving to Egypt, and how over the course of 400 years the Egyptians began hating them.
Why did the promised family go down to Egypt?
What does this story add to what we know about God's promise? (God had promised Abraham that his family would be God's People and they would live in God's place. God wants to bless all the people).
While part of the promise is being held up, that God's people keep growing bigger and bigger, they did not yet have their own land. They became slaves in Egypt and were forced to work for the evil Pharaoh.
How did God take care of His people? What job did He give Moses? Did the Pharaoh listen?
What did God do to make Pharaoh listen to His word?
We read today about 9 of the plagues God sent on the people of Egypt: God made the river turn to blood, the entire land swarmed with frogs, the dust turned into gnats, God made the houses full of flies, the animals of Egypt got sick and died, and the people got painful sores on their bodies. Then, God made hail fall from the sky, locusts covered the ground, and then darkness spread out over the land.
Students will make a booklet outlining the plagues, then predict what will finally happen to help His people escape.
Can you imagine watching those things happen!? Would you rather be an Egyptian, or one of God's people?
Many people respect Moses for listening to God. Sometimes God calls us to do things and we might feel nervous or afraid, but if we trust in Him like God's people trusted in Him back then, we can be sure everything will turn out favorably. God loves us and wants to bless us, just like He wanted to bless His people long ago. We are all God's people!
Joseph invited his brothers and their families to live with him in Egypt. Let's read what happens next.
Read part 6 of The Big Picture Story Bible about Jacob's family of 70 moving to Egypt, and how over the course of 400 years the Egyptians began hating them.
Why did the promised family go down to Egypt?
What does this story add to what we know about God's promise? (God had promised Abraham that his family would be God's People and they would live in God's place. God wants to bless all the people).
While part of the promise is being held up, that God's people keep growing bigger and bigger, they did not yet have their own land. They became slaves in Egypt and were forced to work for the evil Pharaoh.
How did God take care of His people? What job did He give Moses? Did the Pharaoh listen?
What did God do to make Pharaoh listen to His word?
We read today about 9 of the plagues God sent on the people of Egypt: God made the river turn to blood, the entire land swarmed with frogs, the dust turned into gnats, God made the houses full of flies, the animals of Egypt got sick and died, and the people got painful sores on their bodies. Then, God made hail fall from the sky, locusts covered the ground, and then darkness spread out over the land.
Students will make a booklet outlining the plagues, then predict what will finally happen to help His people escape.
Can you imagine watching those things happen!? Would you rather be an Egyptian, or one of God's people?
Many people respect Moses for listening to God. Sometimes God calls us to do things and we might feel nervous or afraid, but if we trust in Him like God's people trusted in Him back then, we can be sure everything will turn out favorably. God loves us and wants to bless us, just like He wanted to bless His people long ago. We are all God's people!
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