Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Bible Book Sort
Materials: Books of the Bible flash cards (Lifeway, 9781430067078) or homemade cards of the books of the Bible; two bags
Label each bag with either New Testament or Old Testament. Place one bag at either end of a table. Mix the cards and scatter them facedown on the middle of the table. On your signal, a child will run to the table, pick a card, and move to drop the card in the appropriate bag. After she drops the card, the next child will run to the table. Continue until all cards are sorted or as time permits. Say the Bible verse and comment that this verse—the promise of the Savior—is in the Old Testament. That promise was fulfilled in the New Testament.
Live It Out
Game – Over and Under Ornament Run
Materials: nonbreakable ornaments (one per team); paper squares and tape or sticky notes; marker
Print the words of the Life Point
on paper squares or sticky notes, one word per square. Make a set of words for
each team. Stick the words on a wall or table at one end of the game area.
Group kids into teams. Guide teams to stand in a line, one behind the other,
facing toward the word cards. Give the first player of each team an ornament.
On your signal, the first players pass the ornament over their heads to the
next player; those players pass the ornament under their legs to the third
players; and so on. When the last player receives the ornament, he runs to the
word cards and takes the first word. He shows the word to a leader. If the word
is correct, the player runs to the front of his team’s line and passes the
ornament over his head to start the relay again. If the word is incorrect, the
player returns the word card to the wall and retrieves the correct word before
passing the ornament again. (The leader can tell the player the correct word if
needed.) The first team to complete the Life Point is the winning team. Talk
about God’s plan to send Jesus as our Savior. Say that Jesus’ birth fulfilled
what prophets said in the Old Testament.
Craft – Bible Story Figures
Materials: wide craft sticks, fine-point markers, paper, scissors, tape or glue, ziplock bags
Provide four craft sticks for each child. Tell kids that they can make Bible figures with their craft sticks. They can draw faces on one end of the sticks. They can cut paper into triangle shapes and tape or glue to the tops of the sticks for head-coverings for Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna. They can cut a paper oval and draw a face to be the baby; they can tape or glue the baby to the middle of the Mary craft stick to show her holding the baby. They may want to make more detailed clothing or other items for their figures. Talk about the Bible story as kids work. Group the kids into pairs; ask kids to use their figures to tell the story to their partners. Provide time for both partners to tell the story. Provide ziplock bags to hold a child’s set of craft stick figures. Suggest kids print the Life Verse on a piece of paper and tape it to the bag or insert it in the bag with the figures.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Make a J
Materials: cotton balls, straws (one per kid)
Scatter the cotton ball on a table. Give each person a straw. Tell kids to work together to blow the cotton balls into a J shape; they should not use their hands to move the cotton balls at all. Give the signal for kids to start. Stop after a minute to assess the progress. Let kids look at the table before beginning again. Give the signal to start again. When kids create a J shape, stop the game. Tell kids to name the baby in today’s story; it begins with a J. (Jesus)
Live It Out
Game – Life Point Hop
Materials: Construction paper, marker, tape
Print the words of the Life Point
on paper, one word per page. Print several other words from the story that are
not a part of the Life Point sentence. Mix all the words and tape them to the
floor in a grid pattern.
Say the Life Point with kids. Guide kids, one at a time, to hop on the words of
the Life Point in order. They should not hop on words not in the Life Point
statement. Say the words as a kid hops. If a kid hops on an incorrect word (or
on a word out of order), she stops, returns to the start end, waits for another
turn.
Craft – Time Capsule
Materials: small jar, plastic bottle, or ziplock bag for each child; various art materials (markers, crayons, paint, felt, scissors, glue, clay, chenille stems, and so forth)
Talk about the Bible story. Tell kids they can create a time capsule of Jesus’ birth. They can use the various art materials to create different objects related to Jesus’ birth. They can create 3-D items, draw pictures, or print words to add to the time capsules. Encourage volunteers to tell about the items they are creating for their time capsules. Help kids put their items into their own containers to create the time capsules. Lead kids to print (or glue) the Life Point to the outside of their time capsules. Suggest kids place the time capsules in their homes among the other decorations to remind them that God sent Jesus to fulfill prophecies in the Old Testament.
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