Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – 40 Relay
Materials: 80 plastic eggs, buckets or baskets
Form two teams with your children. Give each team 40 plastic eggs, and tell them they must get all their eggs to their bucket on the other side of the room, one at a time. However, they cannot use their hands to transport the egg. Once they get the egg to the bucket, they may pick it up and place it inside. The first team to get all their eggs in their bucket is the winner. Tell your children that Jesus was on the earth for 40 days after his resurrection before he ascended to heaven. Write the Life Point on the board and have everyone say it together.
Live It Out
Game – Something Disappeared
Materials: objects from your room
Instruct your children to closely examine the room and everything in it. Tell them to close their eyes so that you can remove one sizeable object from the room. After you remove it, instruct them to open their eyes and see if they can figure out what you removed. The child who correctly guesses what has been removed gets to remove the next object. Do this for multiple rounds. Afterward, bring the items back into the room. Write the Weekly Verse on the board and have everyone say it together. Tell your children that just as the items disappeared and were brought back, Jesus went to heaven and will return one day.
Craft – Ascension Cup
Materials: paper cup, paper, yarn, scissors, tape or glue, markers, cotton balls
Give your children the supplies for the craft. Instruct them to poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup and run the yarn through it. Next, have them draw and color a picture of Jesus. (Ensure the picture will fit inside of the cup.) Instruct them to cut out Jesus and attach him to the end of the yarn. Tell your children to write the Life Point and attach cotton balls to the cup (to represent clouds). Now, they should be able to pull the top of the yarn and pull Jesus up into the cup. Remind your children that Jesus will return one day!
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Secret Handshakes
Materials: no materials needed
Talk about ways people say hello or good-bye. What do people do? (wave, fist-bump, shake hands, hug, etc.) Group kids into pairs or threes. Each small group can come up with an elaborate way to say good-bye. They can shake hands, spin around, slap hands together, etc. in various combinations. After groups create their handshakes, they can show them to the rest of the group. Tell kids that they will hear a story today of what happened when Jesus told His disciples good-bye and returned to heaven.
Live It Out
Game – Keep It Up!
Materials: balloons
Before class, blow up as many balloons as the number of children you will have in class that day. In class, tell your children they will work together as one big team, and hand each child a balloon. Tell them they will have one minute to keep as many balloons in the air as possible. If a balloon hits the ground, it will be removed from the game. They cannot hold onto a balloon but must continually hit it into the air. Allow them to do several rounds to see if they can figure out how to work together. Afterward, have everyone say the Life Point together, and remind your children that while Jesus may have gone to heaven, Christians anxiously await His return to earth.
Craft – Jesus Will Be Back
Materials: construction paper, scissors, yarn, hole punch, markers, paper clipsHand out the supplies to your children. Instruct them to draw four clouds and a picture of Jesus on their construction paper. On each cloud, tell them to write one word of this sentence: JESUS WILL BE BACK. Tell them to cut out their clouds and drawing of Jesus. Instruct them to put a hole in the top of each figure and to lay out their yarn vertically on the table. Starting at the top, using the paper clips, have them attach the clouds to the yarn in order and then attach Jesus at the bottom of the yarn. Have everyone read the Weekly Verse together.
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