Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Hot Seat
Materials: chair
Place a chair at the front of the room. Choose a volunteer to sit in the chair (the “hot seat”). Ask the child a question, such as “What is your favorite meal?” or “What do you like to do at school?” After she answers, she can choose another volunteer to take the hot seat. Continue for several turns. Tell kids that they will hear a Bible story about a man that asked Jesus a question.
Live It Out
Game – Racing Review
Materials: yardstick, clothespins (1 per team), numbered cube, marker
Print a different number on each
clothespin. Clip the clothespins to the end of the yardstick.
Group kids into teams. Ask a review question to Team 1. If the team answers
correctly, lead a player to roll the cube and move the team’s clothespin that
many inches along the yardstick. Ask a review question to Team 2. Continue the
game until a team’s clothespin reaches the end of the yardstick. Say the Bible
verse.
Craft – Footprint Reminder
Pencils, paper, markers, scissors
Talk about the Bible story and discuss ways kids can obey God’s rules at home, at school, and in the community. Help a child stand on a piece of paper and trace around his shoe with a pencil. He can cut out the shape. Lead him to draw or write how to follow God’s rules. He can write the Bible Verse on the other side of his footprint shape. Suggest kids place the footprint shape in their Bibles as reminders to choose to follow God’s rules.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Build Sentences
Materials: magnetic poetry set or random words printed on paper slips
Scatter the words on a table. Challenge kids to create sentences using the words. They can make serious or silly sentences with the words they find. Tell kids that God gave rules or commandments so people would know what to do. Say that Jesus talked about those rules in today’s Bible story.
Live It Out
Game – Bed Sheet Ball Toss
Materials: two flat sheets, table tennis balls
Group kids into two groups and give each group a sheet. Tell each group to stand in a circle (rectangle) and hold the sides of their sheet. They should hold the sheet fairly taut. The two groups should stand near one another. Place a table tennis ball on one of the sheets. Tell the group to work together to pop the sheet and send the ball over to the other group. The second group tries to catch the ball with their sheet. Give a point for each successful toss and catch. When a group misses the ball, ask a review question. Award an additional five points for a correct answer to the question. Challenge the kids to reach a score of 50 points. Add additional balls and toss more than one at a time. Award points for the number of balls that land on the other group’s sheet. (Don’t add back any missed balls until all the balls have been missed.) Say the Life Point together.
Craft – God First Magnet
Materials: construction paper or heavyweight paper, scissors, permanent markers, other art supplies, adhesive magnets
Invite the kids to make magnets to remind them to put God first. Suggest kids cut their paper to resemble a number 1; then they can print a message like Choose God first. Tell kids can use the art materials to decorate their magnets. (Encourage kids to use their own ideas for creating the magnets, too.) Talk about the Bible story. Tell kids that Jesus told the man to sell what he had because the man did not put God first. Say the Life Point. Attach an adhesive magnet to the back of each completed magnet design.
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