Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Mary and Martha Tag
Materials: ropes or masking tape
Use ropes or tape to mark the middle of the game area and the two ends of the game area. Group the kids into two groups. Name one group “Mary” and the other group “Martha.” Lead teams to line up at the middle line, back to back, with Marys facing one direction and Marthas facing the other direction. Call: “Martha!” The Martha team should start running to get to the line at their end of the area. The Mary team should turn around and try to tag the other team. Any person tagged joins the other team. Regroup in the middle as before. Randomly alternate calling the team names. Tell kids they will hear about two women named Mary and Martha today.
Live It Out
Game – Plate Walk
Materials: plastic plates, permanent marker, music
Mark a star on the back of 2-4 plates. Lay plates faceup in a circle; include the starred plates. Make sure there are at least the same number of plates as kids. Play music and instruct kids to walk around the plates in a circle. Stop the music and each kid should stand beside a plate. Tell kids to look under their plates. Kids with a star can say the Life Point together. Play music and kids walk around the plate circle again. After a few rounds, ask the kids without stars to say the Life Point. Talk about things family members may need to do to get along.
Craft – Accordion Stand-up
Materials: heavyweight paper, colored tape, scissors, markers, glitter pens
Lead kids to cut 8 squares of paper, approximately 6 inches square. Tell them to write the letters of the phrase get alongon the squares. They can use decorative letters or add other embellishments around the letters. Show kids how to lay the letters side by side and use tape to connect the squares together. Fold on the tape accordion style and stand up the word. Talk about the Bible story and the ways that families today can work to get along. Say the Life Point and suggest kids write the Life Point on the back of their stand-ups.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – On-the-Spot Skits
Materials: box with a variety of everyday objects (phone, book, Bible, keys, wallet, deck of cards, pencil and paper, scissors, football, eyeglasses, etc.)
Group the kids into groups of two or three. Guide each small group to choose an object from the box. The group should use the object and act out a family situation. (Tell kids that the situation does not need to present a problem but it could.) Call on groups to act out their skits. Tell kids that they will talk about working with family members and get along with family members.
Live It Out
Game – Some Assembly Required
Materials: paper, scissors, markers
Write each review question on a piece of paper. Use a different colored marker for each question. Cut the questions into 5-6 pieces each. Mix the pieces and give the pieces to the kids. Challenge kids to assemble the review questions. When a question is reassembled, read the question for the group to answer. Talk about what happened with Martha, Mary, and Jesus. Say the Life Point. Lead kids to talk about times they had to work to get along with family members.
Craft – Fidget Box
Materials: small clear containers (one per kid), small river rocks, rice or birdseed, tape, thin-line markers
Give each preteen 2 rocks. Invite them to write key words from the Life Point (get along), one word per rock. Talk about the Life Point and the Bible story. Encourage kids to think of times they may had to work to get along with a family member. Ask kids if getting along is challenging or easy. Tell kids to choose a clear container and place their rocks in it. Then they can fill the container with rice. Help kids seal the lids with tape. Tell kids to place their fidget toys on their desks at home; they can move the containers around to see the words. Pray and ask God to help families get along and work together.
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