Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Two Hands Up
Materials: beachball
Form kids into teams of two. Tell them to each link one arm with the other and use their free arms to keep the beachball in the air as they say “Tell about Jesus.” If a team misses and the ball falls to the floor, they should pick up the ball and start over. If you have a large number of kids, make more groups using other beachballs. Stop the game when each group has said the sentence three times. Tell the kids they will hear about some people who worked together to help others know about Jesus.
Live It Out
Game –Ball Over and Under
Materials: foam balls (one per team); paper squares and tape or self-stick notes; marker
Print the words of the Life Point on paper squares or self-stick notes, one word per square. Make a set of words for each team. Stick the words on a wall or table at one end of the game area.
Group kids into teams. Guide teams to stand in a line, one behind the other, facing toward the word cards. Give the first player of each team a ball. On your signal, the first players pass the ball over their heads to the next player; those players pass the ball under their legs to the third players; and so on. When the last player receives the ball, he runs to the word cards and takes the first word. He shows the word to a leader. If the word is correct, the player runs to the front of his team’s line and passes the ball over his head to start the relay again. If the word is incorrect, the player returns the word card to the wall and retrieves the correct word before passing the ball again. (The leader can tell the player the correct word if needed.) The first team to complete the Life Point is the winning team. Say the Life Point and talk about the Bible story.
Craft – Cross Collage
Materials: old maps, glue sticks, pages with a large outline of a cross (on per child)
Guide the kids to make a map cross collage by glueing bits of torn maps to their cross. As the kids work read aloud the weekly Bible verse, John 17:3, from the Bible. Talk about how Jesus loves all the people of the world.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Look and Learn
Materials: pictures of missionaries (on your phone or computer)
Show the class pictures of missionaries from around the world. Talk about what they are doing and some of the challenges they might face. Say that in today’s story the will hear about missionaries who worked together to help people know about Jesus.
Live It Out
Game – Partner Switch
Materials: none
Tell kids to move around the room. Say: “Freeze!” Kids should freeze in place. Read a review question. Say: “Think!” Wait a few seconds. Say: “Tell!” Kids should find a partner and tell the partner the answer to the question. Choose a pair to tell the answer to the group. Say: “Move!” and kids move around the room again. Keep playing the game to review the Bible story. Say the Life Point together.
Craft – Washer Necklace
Materials: Materials: large metal washers, thin-line permanent markers, baker’s twine or leather shoe lacesGive each kid a washer. Guide kids to print Love Jesus on the washers. They can also draw designs on their washers. Cut lengths of twine or lacing, about 3 feet per kid. Assist kids in folding the twine in half, inserting the folded end through the opening in the washer, and pulling the ends of the twine through the loop. Tie the ends to make a necklace. Talk about the Bible story and the Life Point.
Options: Use nail polish or stickers to decorate the washers. Use plastic lacing or yarn for the necklace.
Leave a Reply