Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Telephone
Materials: no materials needed
Line your kids up in a straight line. Inform them you will tell the child at the end of the line a special phrase. Each child must whisper the phrase to the next person in line until it reaches the other end. The child at the other end of the line must say the message she heard to the class, so everyone can hear if the message she received was the one originally given. Allow the kids to rotate and do this several times. Afterwards, tell your kids that God gave a message about a Savior to prophets many years before Jesus was born. The prophets told the people about Jesus and this message was passed down for many years until Jesus was born.
Possible phrases: “Jesus is the promised Messiah.” “God is going to send us a wonderful savior.” “The savior’s name will be Immanuel.”
Live It Out
Game – Blank Filler
Materials: white board, dry erase marker
Write the Weekly Verse on the board but replace five words with a blank. Form two teams with your kids, and tell them they will compete to fill in the blanks. You will read the verse and when you come to a blank, you will give them four options to correctly fill the blank. The team that guesses the correct word first wins a point. The team with the most points at the end wins. When all the blanks have been filled, read the entire verse together as a class.
Craft – Prophecy Christmas Decorations
Materials: construction paper, scissors, colored pencils or crayons, hole punch, ribbon
Give each child two pieces of paper and crayons. Instruct them to draw a total of nine large circles on the two pieces of paper. On top of the circles, instruct them to draw a small rectangle, which makes these circles become Christmas ornaments. On each circle, have them write a portion of Isaiah 9:6. Next, have them decorate each ornament with crayons. Help them cut out each ornament and hole punch each ornament in the rectangle on the top. Next, string the ornaments in order along the ribbon. At the end of the craft, remind the kids of today’s Life Point.
Circle 1 – FOR A CHILD WILL BE BORN FOR US,
Circle 2 – A SON WILL BE GIVEN TO US,
Circle 3 – AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ON HIS SHOULDERS.
Circle 4 – HE WILL BE NAMED
Circle 5 – WONDERFUL COUNSELOR
Circle 6 – MIGHTY GOD
Circle 7 – ETERNAL FATHER
Circle 8 – PRINCE OF PEACE.
Circle 9 – ISAIAH 9:6
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Make a Prediction
Materials: slips of paper, pencils
Give a slip of paper and a pencil to each child. Instruct them to write down a prediction of one thing that will happen before the end of class. As each child finishes writing down their predictions, take his prediction. Tell your kids that you will read the predictions out loud at the end of class to see if anyone correctly predicted what would happen. Explain that several prophets made predications, called prophecies, about a promised Savior many years before Jesus was born.
After you read the prophecies at the end of class, be sure to point out how difficult it is to predict what is going to happen a few minutes in advance, much less hundreds of years in advance! That’s why we know these prophets were speaking for God, because their prophecies all came true.
Live It Out
Game – Sign Wars
Materials: paper, pencils
Give a pencil and piece of paper to each child. Tell them that you will name a street sign and they will draw the sign you mention. The child who shows you their drawing first with the correct sign gets a point. The child who has the most points at the end of the activity wins. Have everyone read the Weekly Verse out loud. Explain that Jesus being born was the sign that God was honoring His promise to send a savior.
Possible signs to mention: Stop, Yield, Do Not Enter, Speed Limit, Exit, Deer Crossing
Craft – Prophecy Proclamation
Materials: 11-by-17-inch paper, crayons or colored pencils, brown yarnWrite the Weekly Verse on the white board. Give every child a piece of paper and colored pencils. Instruct them to write the Weekly Verse in large letters on the paper in landscape orientation. Tell them they can decorate the page if they would like. Next, instruct them to roll up the paper from both sides so that it looks like a scroll. Give kids a piece of yarn to tie up their scroll. Instruct them to go home, unroll the scroll, and proclaim the prophecy of Jesus to their family. Have everyone say the Weekly Verse together.
Leave a Reply