Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity—Freeze Dance
Materials: Music and speaker
Pick out some worship music and play so that kids can dance around to the music. Tell kids that when you stop the song randomly, they should freeze. After playing as many songs as time allows, gather kids together and remind them that like this activity required listening and paying attention to the music, today’s Bible story is about the importance of listening to Jesus’ teachings.
Live It Out
Game—Egg Carton Review
Materials: Empty egg cartons, marbles or small balls
Create two teams of kids and line them up as if they were about to do a relay race. Place an egg carton a few feet in front of each team. Take turns asking each team a review question. After a student answers a question correctly, he should toss a marble or small ball to the egg carton. If he makes it in, his team gets a point. Remind the kids that Jesus taught that learning about Him is important. The group with the most points wins!
Craft—Accordion Verse
Materials: Colored 4-by-6-inch index cards, markers, wide clear tape
Supply each child with at least 10 index cards. Tell kids to write the words and reference of John 5:25 on the cards, with several words on each card. Make sure kids either have a Bible to copy from or print the Weekly Verse on paper or a white board. Help them line up the card in the correct order right to left, leaving a little space between each strip. Tape all the strips together by putting a piece of tape to each side of two strips. Kids can then fold up the verse like an accordion. If time allows, kids can decorate the top of the cards. Tell kids to keep the verses in their pockets. A kid can use it to memorize the verse.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity—End to Beginning
Create a circle of kids and allow one kid to volunteer to start. This child may say any word he chooses. The next person in the circle should listen to the word the previous person said, then come up with a word that starts with the letter they ended on. One sequence might be: dog … gopher … ride … excellent … television, and so forth. Go around the circle as much as time allows. Then gather kids together and remind them that like this activity requires listening and paying attention. Say that today’s Bible story is about the importance of listening to Jesus’ teachings.
Live It Out
Game—Verse Shuffle
Materials: Index cards, ziplock bags, writing utensil
Write each word of the weekly verse on an index card. Shuffle the cards and place them in a ziplock bag. Make at least two sets of these (or three to four for larger groups). Create teams of kids and challenge them to put the verse in order. Time kids to see which group can do it fastest, and play a few times so that kids can get more and more familiar with the verse. At the end, ask if anyone can recite the verse from memory.
Craft—Make a Hidden Passage
Materials: White construction paper, white crayons, watercolors, paintbrushes, cups of water
Challenge kids to write the Unit Verse in white crayons on a white sheet of copy paper. After they have written it down, they can paint all over the paper with watercolors. The paint will reveal the white crayon, making the Unit Verse appear like a hidden message. Encourage kids to take their paintings home with them and use it to memorize the verse. Remind them that everything Jesus taught and did came from God.
Leave a Reply