Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Letter Puzzles
Materials: interlocking blocks (about 25), marker
Make seven stacks of three blocks. (If your blocks are large, use only two blocks in each stack.) Write one of these letters on the side of each stack; write the letter large, covering all three blocks in the stack: O, B, E, Y, G, O, D.
Break apart the stacks and lay the blocks on a table. Invite kids to assemble the blocks to make the letters. After all the stacks are correctly reassembled, challenge the kids to put the letters in order to create two words. Tell kids that they will learn more about obeying God in today’s session.
Live It Out
Game – True/False Relay
Materials: large pieces of paper, markers, tape
Tape a piece of paper to the wall for each team. Group kids into teams. Guide each team to stand in a line, one person behind the other. Give each team a marker. On your signal, guide the first player to pass the marker over his head to the second player; the second player passes the marker under, between his legs to the third player; continue passing over and under until the last player receives the marker. That player runs to the paper. Make a statement to the players about the Bible story. Players write T (true) or F (false) on the paper to show if the statement is true or false. Give a point to each team that writes the correct answer. The player runs back to his team, stands at the front of the line, and passes the marker over his head. Players pass over and under to the last person again to continue the relay. Say the Life Point to conclude the game.
Craft – Suncatcher
Materials: clear contact plastic (cut into 6-inch squares), tissue paper (various colors), permanent marker, scissors
Talk about the Bible story. Say the Life Point. Comment that God told the people what to do and they obeyed, even when they didn’t understand all that God was doing. Give kids pieces of contact plastic. They can remove the backing from the contact plastic and lay it, sticky side UP, on a table. Tell them to arrange pieces tissue paper on the sticky plastic, covering as much as they choose. When they have completed sticking tissue paper on the plastic, they can remove the backing from another piece of clear contact plastic and stick over their design. Tell kids to use a permanent marker to write the verse on the design. They can cut around the verse in whatever shape they choose. Tell kids to press the cut edges together to make sure the contact plastic seals. Suggest that kids can tape the suncatcher to a window as a reminder to always love and obey God.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Cup Stack Race
Materials: 56 cups, timer (optional)
Group the kids into two teams. Give each team 28 cups. Tell teams that they must stack the cups into a pyramid shape as quickly as possible. You could choose 1-3 kids to work from each team or allow as many kids as possible to work on the cup stack. On your signal, the teams start. The first team to complete the stack wins. Play the game a few times. For smaller groups, use only 28 cups and time how long the group takes to stack the cups. Then try to beat the time. Comment that in today’s Bible story, the people walked around a tall structure.
Live It Out
Game – Silent Order
Materials: paper, marker
Write the words of the verse on paper, one word per page. Create a set of words for each team. Group the kids into teams. Mix a team’s words and hand one word per child. Team members should hold their words facing their bodies. Tell the kids that their teams must put the words in order without speaking. On your signal, kids turn their words facing out; teams work together without speaking to put their words in order of the verse. When a team completes their verse, they hold the words over their heads to indicate they have finished. Review the story and talk about how the people obeyed God. As time permits, shuffle teams, hand out words, and play again.
Craft – 3D Reminder
Materials: paper, markers, straws, colored tape, yarn
Talk about the Bible story and the Life Point. Invite kids to use the materials to create reminders with the words of the Life Point. They can create any type of reminder they choose – a 3-D sculpture or a hanging reminder or another type of reminder. Encourage kids to think of ways that people can obey God each week. Ask kids to think about times it may be hard to understand what God is doing or says to do. Remind kids that God’s people obey Him even when they don’t understand everything.
Leave a Reply