Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – I Can See the Light
Materials: color changing LED flashlight
Instruct your kids to close their eyes while facing you. Tell them you will turn your flashlight on to a specific color. When you tell them, they are to open their eyes and close them again as quickly as possible. Next, have them tell you what color the flashlight was shining. Do this several times. Afterwards, explain that God had promised a man named Simeon that he would get to see the Savior, and when Simeon met Jesus, it didn’t take long for him to recognize that God had honored his promise. Have everyone read the Weekly Verse together.
Live It Out
Game – What Am I?
Materials: white board, dry erase marker
Form two teams with your kids. Remind the kids that Simeon recognized Jesus as the Messiah as soon as he say the baby. Tell the kids you will draw a simple picture, one line at a time. After each line, you will give the teams an opportunity to guess what the picture is. If no one correctly recognizes the picture, you will draw another line. After you have drawn several pictures, the team with the most points wins. Afterwards, have everyone say the Life Point together.
Possible pictures you can draw: Cat, church building, chair, the sun, car
Craft – Waiting Goggles
Materials: crayons or colored pencils, small paper cups, rubber bands, scissors
Give each child two small paper cups and crayons. Instruct them to draw a picture of one thing they have had to wait for on each cup. As they’re drawing their pictures, go around to each child and punch out the bottoms of each cup using scissors. After they have drawn their pictures, instruct kids to attach the two cups together using a rubber band, so that they are side by side like goggles. As they look through their Waiting Goggles, explain to them that waiting means we must look to the future to remember that what we’re waiting for will be worth the wait. Have everyone say the Life Point, and explain how Simeon knew that it had been worth the wait for him to finally see the Savior God had promised.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Jingle Bells
Materials: box, wrapping paper, jingle bells
Before class, place several small jingle bells inside of a box. Wrap the box like a Christmas present. As your kids arrive to class, tell them to shake the box and guess how many bells are in the box. After everyone has guessed, open the box so everyone can see who guessed the closest. Explain that they couldn’t really know how many bells were in the box until they saw how many there were with their eyes. Write the Weekly Verse on the board and have everyone say it together. Explain that no one was sure how God would honor His promise to send a Savior until they saw Jesus with their own eyes.
Live It Out
Game – Crazy 8s
Materials: no materials needed
Tell your kids they will compete to see who can complete the Crazy 8s the fastest. The Crazy 8s are: Eight snaps, eight frog jumps, eight jumping jacks, eight wall push-ups, and eight high fives. Time each child who wants to compete, and the child that takes the least amount of time is the winner! Explain to your kids that in Jesus’ society, his parents had to wait eight days before dedicating him to the Lord. The day that Mary and Joseph were at the temple to dedicate Jesus to the Lord is when Simeon met Jesus and said Luke 2:30. Have everyone say the Weekly Verse together.
Craft – Pictures of Waiting
Materials: paper, colored pencils or crayonsHand out a piece of paper and crayons to your kids. Tell them that most people do not like having to wait for something they are looking forward to. Be prepared to share with your kids something you do not like waiting for. Instruct them to draw and color a scene of what they hate having to wait for. Encourage them to make their pictures as detailed as possible. Afterwards, ask for volunteers to show their pictures to the other kids and share what they do not like waiting for. Connect the activity to the Bible story by explaining that Simeon had to wait on God to honor his promise that he would get to meet the Savior.
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