Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – If You Have
No supplies needed.
Gather kids in the middle of the meeting space. Say: “Today we are going to talk about a family. Let’s think about our families. If you have a brother, touch something red. If you have no sisters, touch something blue. If you have only older brothers and sisters (you are the youngest), touch something white.” Continue to call out various family configurations. Here are other ideas: all sisters, only one sister, no brothers or sisters, a brother or sister in high school, a brother or sister who is a baby, both a brother and a sister. (Be sensitive to children with complicated family relationships.) Tell the kids they will hear a story today about a family with 12 brothers.
Live It Out
Game – Ball Toss
Materials: foam ball or paper wad ball
Guide kids to sit in a circle. Toss the ball to a child. Ask her to tell one way to show love and care to family members. Then she can toss the ball to another child. Continue listening to ideas and tossing the ball. The kids should not toss to someone who has already had a turn to answer. Make sure all kids receive the ball. The last child can toss the ball to you. Tell kids that you are going to toss the ball again, in the same order. Toss the ball to the same first child, she tosses to the same next child, and so on. Toss the ball in the same circuit again, repeating the Life Point as you toss it; encourage kids to speed up their tossing. Challenge kids to toss the ball in reverse order as you repeat the Life Point again.
Craft – Family Frame
Materials: paper plates, scissors, foam stickers, markers, other art materials
Distribute the paper plates. Guide kids to cut the centers from the plates, leaving the outside edge intact. They can use the materials to decorate the paper plate frame. Talk about the Life Point as kids work. Suggest they add the Bible Verse to their frames. Tell kids they can tape a family picture to the frame; this could be a photograph or a drawing of the family. Pray and ask God to be with the kids’ families and help them show love and care for one another.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Make 12
Materials: playing cards (only the numbered cards including the ace) or sets of index cards numbered 1-10
Give each kid a card. Tell kids to spread out over the area. Say: “Make 12!” Kids should scramble to find other kids with numbers to make the total of 12. They can use as many different cards as they need to get to 12 (but the total should not be more than 12). Say: “Split!” and kids can spread out again. Tell kids to make 12 again and they scramble to group up. But they cannot group with the same kids they were with previously. After a couple of rounds, tell kids to trade cards with someone before spreading out again. Tell kids that they will hear a story about 12 brothers.
Live It Out
Game – Team Bowling
Materials: bottles (3 per team), tennis balls (3 per team)
Use masking tape to create the borders of the game area; tape a center line through the middle of the area. Set up 3 plastic bottles (in triangle formation) at each end playing area. Group the kids into 2 teams. Teams spread out through their designated sides of the game area. Give each team 3 balls. Tell teams that on your signal, they should roll the balls and try to knock down the other team’s pins while protecting their own pins. Say: “Go!” Teams can play the game. Call: “Stop!” All balls and kids should stop. Ask a review question. If a team gets the question correct, they can roll a ball toward the other team’s pins while the team remains still. Say: “Go!” and general game continues. When a team knocks down all the other team’s pins, award 5 points. Say the Life Point. Reset all pins and begin again.
If you have a large group of kids, create four teams and create four squares in the game area. Put team’s pins in each corner. (You will need 12 bottles and 12 balls.)
Craft – Heart Mobile
Materials: paper plates, heavyweight paper, scissors, yarn, hole punches, markers, heart stencils (optional)
Talk about the Bible story and the Life Point. Challenge kids to name ways they can show love to family members. Cut paper plates in half. Give each preteen one-half of a plate. Invite kids to print the Life Point on their plate halves. They can cut heart shapes from heavyweight paper. On each heart, kids should write a way to show love. Lead each person to make at least four hearts. Help punch holes in the tops of the hearts and along the straight edge of the plate. Kids can use yarn to tie the hearts to the plate to make mobiles. They can also punch a hole in the top of the plates and add yarn for a hanger.
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