Grades 1–3
Introductory Activity—Memorizing Movements
Materials: music player, song “Do Something” by Matthew West
Create teams of three to four kids depending on your class size. Instruct teams to make up movements that go along with the chorus of Matthew West’s song, “Do Something” or any other song that has to do with standing up for what is right. The movements can be a group routine or individual hand motions. Whatever each team likes! At the end, teams should perform their movements while the rest of the group cheers them on. Tell kids that today, they will be learning about making the choice to stand up for what is right.
Live It Out
Game — Weekly Verse Hopscotch
Materials: masking tape or chalk
Create an indoor hopscotch board using masking tape. Use chalk if your group is able to go outdoors. Practice saying the Weekly Verse with the kids. Focus on the last part that tells what God expects. As kids hop, they can say an abbreviated version of the verse: “act justly; love faithfulness; walk humbly with God.” Create nine squares, one for each word plus the reference. With each hop, kids should say the word. For younger kids, say the words with them as they hop. When everyone has a turn, recite the whole verse together. Tell kids this verse is talking about God wants us to behave and treat others.
Craft—Noisemakers
Materials: foam cup, rice, different colors of duct tape, scissors
Give each child two foam cups, rice, and set out different colored rolls of duct tape. Kids can fill one cup halfway with rice then stack the other cup on top of the first, top-to-top. Kids can cut a strip of duct tape and tape the two together to conjoin the two cups. They should continue decorating the cups by placing the duct tape in whatever patterns they prefer. Tell kids they can use these noisemakers as a reminder that though it wasn’t easy, Esther didn’t keep quiet about the injustice that her people were about to experience. She chose to stand up for what was right.
Tip: make sure there are adults to help kids cut and place duct tape safely.
Grades 4–6
Introductory Activity—Tongue Twister Lip Read
Materials: music, headphones
Choose two kids to play while everyone else watches. Have one kid put on headphones and play worship music on a high volume. The other kid should read off one of the following phrases:
• I love to see unique New York.
• Sally loves her seashells!
• A cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
• A loyal ruler will rarely worry.
The child with headphones should guess what the other said, and the kids speaking have to try to articulate their sentence with clarity—which will be hard as they are tongue twisters. Play with several kids. Gather kids together at the end and talk about how hard that activity was. Remind kids that some of those phrases were almost impossible to say, much less read on someone’s lips! Tell kids they will be learning about something else that’s really hard to do in this lesson: choosing to stand up for what’s right.
Live It Out
Game—Volley the Ball
Materials: masking tape, two balls
Tape a line dividing your space into two areas. Form two teams of kids and instruct them to stand on either side of the line. Give each team a ball. Choose a ball that is soft, bouncy, and won’t damage the area if a kid hits it outside of the designated space. Tell each side to keep their ball in the air while spelling the word Esther. No child should hit the ball twice in a row. If a balloon lands on the floor, the team should spell from the beginning. Keep track of how many times each team spells the word. Say the Life Point together.
Craft—Cardboard Tube Crown
Materials: small cardboard tubes, glitter glue, puff paint, scissors, markers
Show kids how to draw a zigzag pattern halfway up the tube, then give them scissors to cut it out. The bottom half of the roll should look like a small crown. Allow kids to decorate the crown with glitter glue and puff paint. Talk about the Bible story and say the Life Point while the kids work. Tell kids they can keep these crowns around to remind them of the story of Queen Esther.
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