Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Finding Jonah
Materials: no materials needed
Take your children to a large indoor space. Tell your children that one child will be Jonah and will hide somewhere in the indoor area. After he hides, tell the others to look for him. The first child to find him will be Jonah for the next round. Tell your children that they will hear about Jonah who tried to run away from God, but God knew exactly where he was the entire time. Say the Life Point for today.
Live It Out
Game – Jonah’s Obstacle Course
Materials: various items
Using items in your classroom, set up a simple obstacle course that includes obstacles to go over, around, and under. Tell your children they are Jonah, and they are attempting to get away from God’s call as fast as possible by going through the obstacle course. Time each child as they go through the course, and the fastest person to make it through is the winner! Explain that even though Jonah was running away from Him, God knew exactly where he was the entire time. Remind the kids of today’s Life Point.
Craft – Fish Bowl Paper Plates
Materials: paper plates, crayons, markers
Give all your children a paper plate, crayons, and markers. Tell your children their paper plate is a fish bowl and they are to decorate it with items that go in fish bowls, plus many fish. Instruct them to draw Jonah praying in the belly of one of the fish. Afterward, tell your children that God could hear Jonah’s prayer from inside the fish. Say the Life Point together.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Nineveh Dash
Materials: traffic cone
Take your children outside or to a large indoor space. Form two teams with the kids and tell them they will compete in a relay race. Place a traffic cone a distance away from the teams, and tell the teams that each team member will go to the cone and return as fast as possible. The first person will run, the second person will run sideways, the third will run backward, the fourth will skip, then that process will be repeated until everyone has had a turn. The team that finishes first wins! Afterward, explain that Jonah first disobeyed God’s instructions, but after God confronted his sin, he then obeyed and went to Nineveh as fast as he could. Say the Weekly Verse together.
Live It Out
Game – Under the Sea Hunt
Materials: pictures of fish
Before class, print off multiple pictures of fish from the internet and cut them out. In your classroom, hide the fish all throughout your room. During class, form several equal-sized teams with your children. Inform them that you have hidden fish all over the room, and the team that finds the most will be the winner. Give the teams several minutes to find as many fish as possible. Afterward, explain that God knew exactly where Jonah was and He sent a fish to to save him from drowning and to help him consider his sin of running away. Say the Life Point together.
Craft – Message in a Bottle
Materials: clean plastic bottles, paper, pencils
Give one bottle, a piece of paper, and a pencil to each of your children. Explain that when people get stranded at sea, they sometimes attempt to send a message in a bottle so that when someone finds it, they can send help. Instruct your children to pretend they are Jonah stranded at sea. Tell them to write a message to put in their bottle that talks about these topics:
• The instruction God gave them
• Their response to God’s instruction
• What has happened since
• What they wish they would’ve done differently
Have everyone write the Weekly Verse at the bottom of their message. When your children are finished, allow several volunteers the opportunity to read their messages. After reading, direct the children to put their messages in their bottles.
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