Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Red Light, Green Light
Materials: none
Line up the kids at a starting point. The goal is to be the first onto reach the end point or the other side of the room. Assign one kid to be the leader. When the leader says “Green!” every player runs toward her. Yellow means kids can walk, but slowly, and as soon as the leader yells “red” every player has to stop immediately. If anyone moves, they have to go back to the starting point. Share with kids that to win this game, they had to practice obedience—following exactly what the leader said. That’s what they’ll learn in today’s Life Point: People show God’s love when they follow God’s plan.
Live It Out
Game – Verse Erase
Materials: dry erase board and marker
Write the weekly verse on a dry erase board. Help kids read the verse a few times out loud, then erase one or two words, reading it and filling in the missing word from memory. Continue until the entire verse is erased. Remind the kids how Samuel followed God’s plan for choosing a new king. Call on volunteers to say the verse from memory.
Craft – Make a Crown
Materials: yellow cardstock, white glue, craft jewels, coloring utensils, scissors
Using the yellow cardstock, tell kids cut out the shape of a crown and decorate it with jewels and coloring utensils. After the glue from the jewels has dried, help kids fit their crowns by attaching a paper strip to each side of the crown. Remind kids that Samuel obeyed God and followed God’s plan to anoint God’s choice as King. It might not have been what the world expected him to do, but His obedience showed people God’s love.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Pass the Verse
Materials: dry erase board and marker
Tell the kids to sit on the floor in a straight line. Play a gem to write the weekly verse. Whisper the first word of the verse into the first child’s ear and instruct her to pass the message down the line. When the last child hears the word, he should go to the board and write it on the board. He then goes to the front of the line. Continue saying the words and writing them on the board until the verse is complete. To make the game go faster, whisper two or three words at the same time. If your group is large, form two teams and let the teams compete to see who finishes first. Tell kids they will hear about someone who trusted God and followed His plan.
Live It Out
Game—Volley Balloon
Materials: masking tape, 2 balloons
Tape a line dividing your space into two areas. Form two teams of kids and instruct each team to stand on different sides of the line. Give each team a balloon. Tell each side to keep their balloon in the air while spelling the word follow. No child should hit the balloon twice in a row. If a balloon lands on the floor, the team should spell from the beginning. Keep track of how many times each team spells the word. Say the Life Point together. Remind kids that Samuel followed God’s plan for finding a new king.
Craft – Verse Banner
Materials: colored felt, permanent markers, scissors, yarn, liquid glue
Give each child a few pieces of colored felt and encourage them to cut hearts out of the felt. If needed, show them how to fold in half and cut hearts out of the center of the felt. Kids should cut out eight total hearts. They can write one of the words Trust in the Lord with all your heart on each heart, one word per heart. Guide kids to attach the back center of the hearts in order on a piece of yarn to make a banner with the beginning of the weekly verse across it. Kids can hang this up in their rooms, their lockers at school, or any place they will look often to remind them to trust God. Remind them that Samuel trusted God’s plan for finding a new king.
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