Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Postcard Puzzles
Materials: large picture postcards of different places, scissors
Cut each postcard into 2-3 pieces. Distribute the puzzle pieces. Tell kids to find the others who have pieces to the same puzzle and assemble the puzzles. Tell groups to look at their assembled pictures and talk about what kind of place it is. Tell kids to trade pieces with others. Trade again and trade again. Then repeat the game, telling kids to find and assemble the puzzles. Repeat as time allows. Tell kids that the Bible story is about a man who traveled to a place far from his home.
Live It Out
Game – Life-Sized Gameboard
Materials: construction paper, tape, large numbered cube
On several pieces of paper, draw a star. Mix the star pieces with the blank pieces. Use all the paper to create a gameboard path across the room. Tape the paper to the floor. (You could do this ahead of time or involve the kids in creating the gameboard.)
Group kids into teams and lead each team to choose one player to be the “game piece.” Tell game pieces to stand at the start of the gameboard path. Team 1 rolls the numbered cube and the game piece moves that number of spaces. If the game piece lands on a starred space, the team can answer a review question from the Bible story. If the team gets the answer correct, the game piece can move ahead 1 space. Continue until a game piece reaches the end of the path. To lengthen the game, start a new game piece for each team when the first game piece reaches the end.
Craft – Rock Reminders
Materials: maps (from old atlases or printed from online), medium-sized smooth rocks, glue in cups, water, paintbrushes, scissors, markers, large index cards
Talk about the Bible story. Read today’s Bible verse and talk about God’s promise to Jacob. Guide kids to choose rocks. They can cut or tear pieces and strips of the maps. Tell kids to paint glue onto their rocks and wrap map pieces onto the rocks. When the rocks are covered, they can paint glue over the map pieces on the rocks to stick and seal the pieces on the rocks. Say the Life Point and state that God is with the kids no matter where they travel in the world (or even space). Tell kids that they can use the map-covered rocks as reminders that God is always with them. Suggest kids print the Bible verse or Life Point on index cards to use as a base for their reminders.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Country Scrabble
Materials: alphabet tiles (one set per team), paper, pencils
Group the kids into teams or play as one group. Tell kids to use the tiles to spell the names of countries. They should try to make as many names as possible. Give the signal to start. Choose players to write down the names of the countries as they are spelled. Then the tiles can be used again to spell a different name. Call time. Note how many country names were spelled. If you played in teams, compare the lists and find out how many unique country names were made. Tell kids that today they will learn about someone who traveled to another country, far from home.
Teaching Tips: If you do not have alphabet tiles, print letters on index cards for kids to use. (Include all the letters and multiple cards with vowels and frequently used consonants.) Make the game more challenging by imposing some limits, such as using tiles only once, crisscross tiles like a crossword, etc.
Live It Out
Game – Four in a Row
Materials: 4 plastic plates each of 2 different colors, tape
Create a large 4-by-5-square grid on the floor with tape. Group kids into two teams; assign a color of plate to each team. Ask Team 1 a review question. If the question is answered correctly, a player can toss one of the team plates (like a flying disk) onto the grid. Repeat with Team 2. Continue alternating asking questions and tossing plates until a team has four of its color in a row. If a team has tossed all plates without having four in a row, they retrieve one plate after the next correct answer and toss that one.
Craft – Reminder “Pillow”
Materials: index cards (2 per kid), hole punches, markers, colored tape, scissors, yarn of different colors or colorful shoelaces, large cotton balls
Talk about the Bible story. Lead kids to discuss Jacob’s dream and what God promised in the dream. Distribute pairs of cards to kids. Tell the kids to stack their cards and punch holes around all four sides of the cards; try to keep the holes evenly spaced and not too far apart. Guide kids to print the Life Point on one card and the Bible verse on the other card. They can use the colored tape and markers to add designs around the words as they choose. Tell kids to stack their cards back to back (words facing out on both sides) and align the holes. Tell them to tie one end of a length of yarn through the holes in one corner of the cards. Then they can sew the yarn around the cards on three sides. Before sewing the fourth side, tell kids to put cotton balls inside between the two cards. Suggest they use enough to make the cards a little puffy like a pillow but not too full or puffy. They can sew the fourth side closed and tie of the yarn end.
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