Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Follow the Instructions
Materials: paper, pencils, crayons
Give each child paper and a pencil. Guide kids to sit down near the crayons. Ask children to follow your instructions and draw or write what you say. Use these instructions or create your own.
-Draw a large rectangle in the top left corner.
-Draw a triangle in the bottom right corner.
-Write the letter Y in the triangle with a black crayon.
-Color the triangle purple.
-Draw a large circle in the middle of the paper.
-Write the letter O in the rectangle.
-Draw a smiley face in the circle.
-Color the circle yellow.
-Color the rectangle green.
-Draw a diamond in the top right corner.
-Write the letter B in the diamond.
-Draw an oval in the bottom left corner.
-Color the diamond red.
-Write the letter E in the oval.
-Color the oval blue.
-Write your name beside the face; use your favorite color.
Lead kids to read the letters from top left to top right to bottom left to bottom right. Ask what the word is. Tell kids that today they will think about obeying God.
Live It Out
Game – Tabletop Gameboard
Materials: sticky notes, 2 game pieces, numbered cube
Lead kids to make a gameboard with sticky notes. They can create a trail design on a tabletop. After the gameboard is complete, group kids into 2 teams. Alternate asking review questions. Teams can roll the cube and move a game piece on the trail after correctly answering a question. After a team completes the trail game, lead kids to rearrange the notes into a new game formation. Shuffle teams and play again. Talk about the choices Gideon made and what happened as Gideon chose to obey God. Say the Life Point.
Craft – Gel Bag Game
Materials: quart size freezer ziplock bags, hair gel (from the dollar store), craft foam, scissors, permanent markers, wide transparent tape, food coloring or glitter (optional)
Tell kids to print the words of the Life Point on foam using permanent markers. Tell them to leave space around each word because they will cut the words apart. Lead kids to cut around each of the words. Help a child squeeze a generous amount of hair gel into a ziplock bag. If desired, add food coloring or glitter. Seal the bag and mix the gel with the food coloring and glitter. Guide a child to reopen his bag and add the word pieces. Close the bag and remove as much air as possible before sealing it. Add tape over the bag’s opening to seal it completely. Challenge kids to move the pieces around in the gel bags to put the Life Point in order. Talk about the Bible story. Encourage kids to think about how people can obey God today.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Grab Bag Puzzle
Materials: paper, marker, scissors, large gift bag, masking tape, numbered cube
Write the Life Point in large letters on a piece of paper and cut the paper into 8-12 pieces. (Use wavy lines to make pieces distinctive shapes.) Put all the pieces in a bag. Place the bag on one end of game area, and make tape start line at other end of area.
Gather the kids at the start line. Roll a numbered cube; tell that number of kids to walk down to the bag and remove a puzzle piece. The kids return with the pieces and work to assemble the puzzle so far. After a couple of minutes, roll the cube and send more kids to get additional puzzle pieces. When the puzzle is assembled, read the Life Point together. Return pieces to bag and play again (as time allows). Tell kids that today they will learn about obeying God.
For larger groups of kids, print the Life Point on several different colors of paper and cut all the paper into pieces. Place all pieces in same bag. Kids can work together to sort and assemble all the puzzles as pieces are retrieved.
Live It Out
Game – Verse Back and Forth
Materials: beach ball (one per team)
Display the Bible Verse and say it together. Practice the verse several times. Group the kids into two (or more) teams. Lead each team to stand in a small circle. Tell kids that the teams will gently bat the ball back and forth across the team circle. As each person taps the ball, the team will say a word of the verse. The team should keep batting the ball up and saying the words of the verse until the entire verse is said. If the team misses or drops the ball, they must start at the beginning of the verse as they restart the ball. The team who can complete the verse first without any misses wins. Talk about the Bible story. Discuss what happened when Gideon obeyed God. Talk about how people can obey God now. Repeat the game with teams saying words of the Life Point instead of the verse.
Craft – “O” Flyer
Materials: paper plates (2 per preteen), scissors, markers, clear packing tape
Distribute plates to the kids, 2 for each. Tell kids to cut the centers from the plates, making an O shape. Lead them to print the Life Point along the edge on the back of one of their plates. They can draw designs on the backs of both plates, too. Guide kids to lay the rings on the table and cover both plates with lengths of packing tape. As they finish, tell them to flip over the rings and cover the other sides, too. After covering the sides of the plates, tell the kids to hold the plates together, back sides facing out. Help them tape the plates together around the edges to make a “saucer” flyer. As time permits, allow them to practice tossing the flyers to see how far they will travel. Talk about obeying God. Tell kids that the flyers can help them remember that people can choose to obey God.
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