Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Four Corners
Materials: signs with Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; tape
Choose a kid to be It. Tell him to stand in the middle of the room with his eyes covered. Guide other kids to move around the room and stand near one of the signs while It counts to 10. Then It calls out one of the Gospels and a movement (hop, clap, jump, turn around). The kids in the named corner make that movement. Then It begins to count again and kids move again. Change It after 3 rounds. Tell kids that they will hear a story today that is in all four Gospels. This story tells why Jesus came to earth.
Live It Out
Game – Pass the Bag
Materials: paper strips, marker, gift bag, timer
Print review questions on paper
squares, one question per strip. Fold the strips and drop them in the gift bag.
Guide kids to sit in a circle. Set the timer for 15 seconds. Tell kids to pass
the bag as quickly as they can. When the timer sounds, the kid holding the bag
should pull out a review question. Read the question and lead the group to
answer it. Reset the timer and pass the bag again Continue playing until all
review questions are answered. Say the Life Point.
Craft – Bead Cross
Materials: chenille craft stems, pony beads, paper strips, hole punch, pencils
Give a kid two chenille stems and
tell her to form a cross with the stems. Lead her to slide beads on to fill out
the cross. When she adds the beads she wants, help her bend the end into a
circle to keep the beads from sliding off.
Help kids print the words of the Life Point on small strips of paper. Punch a
hole in one end of the paper and slide it onto the cross. Add one more bead and
bend the end. Talk about the Bible story.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Emotions
Materials: paper plates, markers, pencil
On the back of each paper plate,
print an emotion or feeling: excited, depressed, exhausted, frustrated,
worried, confused, frightened, disgusted, joyful, upset, angry. Make enough
plates for every kid to have one.
Guide kids to grab a plate and a marker. Tell kids to read the words (silently)
on the backs of the plates. Tell them to hold the plates in front of their faces
(like a mask) and draw a face that represents the emotion word. They should
draw while holding the plates up in front of their faces. Ask kids to display
their faces, one at a time, and the group can guess what emotion or feeling is
illustrated. Tell kids that people felt many different emotions in today’s
Bible story.
Live It Out
Game – Cube Stack
Materials: wide craft sticks (one per kid), 6 numbered cubes, timer
Group the kids into two teams. Hand the 6 cubes to a team member on Team 1. Set the timer for 30 seconds. Guide the kid to hold the craft stick in her mouth and stack the cubes on the stick, one on the other. She can try to stack and hold the cubes until the timer sounds. When the timer sounds, tell her to take whatever cubes are on her stick and roll them. Add up the numbers. Ask the team a review question. If they answer correctly, the team is awarded the number of points she rolled. Repeat with Team 2. Alternate teams until all questions have been answered. Total the points for each team. Talk about the Life Point and God’s plan for salvation.
Craft – Hanging Life Point
Materials: paper plates, scissors, hole punches, yarn, markers Review the Bible story. Talk about the Life Point. Tell kids that it is important to remember that Jesus took the punishment for people’s sins. Lead a kid to cut paper plates into pieces. He can punch a hole in the top and bottom of each piece and use lengths of yarn to tie the pieces together; leave space between each word as you tie them together. Tie a length of yarn in the top hole for a hanger. Tell kids to hang their hangers from the ceiling in their rooms. When they look at the hanger, they can be reminded of what Jesus did for people.
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