Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Follow the Path
Materials: tape, pompoms, straws (one per child)
Make several tape lines of several feet across the game area. If you have colored tape, create some lines that cross one another. Give each child a straw. Place a group of kids at each end of each tape line. Give the first child in each group a pompom. On your signal, the players will place the pompom on the tape line and kneel down to blow the pompoms with their straws. The players should continue to blow their pompoms down the length of the line. (If the pompom goes off the line, kids can blow it back onto the line. Or, if it goes a long way from the line, they can pick it up and move it back to the place where it went off.) When a player reaches the end of her line, a new child blows the pompom back down the tape line. Continue until all kids have had a turn. Comment that Paul traveled to Athens to tell about God.
Live It Out
Game – Tic-Tac-Toe Run
Materials: tape, 3 beanbags of 2 colors each
Use tape to create a tic-tac-toe grid at one end of the game area. Group the kids into teams. Ask Team 1 a question. If the question is answered correctly, a member can run down to the grid and place one of the team’s beanbags in a space. Then ask Team 2 a question. If, after all six beanbags are placed, there are not three in a row, a team member runs down and moves one of his team’s beanbags to a new spot (after answering a question). Continue until one team gets three in a row.
Craft – “One True God” Painting
Materials: boxes, paper (that fits in the boxes), tempera paint, bowls, marbles, spoons, large index cards, scissors, pencils, easy-release tape
Cut index cards into large letter G. Pour paint into bowls. Place marbles in each bowl. Help a kid lay a piece of paper into a box. He can tape a G in the middle of his paper. Lead him to scoop paint-covered marbles into the box. He can hold and move the box around to roll the painted marbles around the paper. As needed, he can drop the marbles back into the paint and back into his box to add more color. When the painting is complete, help him gently remove the G to reveal an unpainted space. In this area, he can write One True God. Talk about Paul preaching in Athens and how he told the people about the one true God.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Stick Puzzles
Materials: wide craft sticks, marker
Lay two craft sticks side by side so long edges are touching. Write the word Antioch on the sticks so that the letters extend across both sticks. Make additional pairs of sticks with words of other places Paul went, such as Lystra, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Cyprus, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and so forth. Make several puzzles. Repeat cities as you choose but use a different color marker for each set (so kids can tell the difference in pairs). Mix all the pairs of sticks. Place the sticks in a cup. Spill the sticks onto a table or the floor. On your signal, kids can find the pairs of sticks that go together and reassemble the words. When all the words are assembled (or time has run out), call the group together to read the names they formed. Tell kids that all of these places are where Paul went and told about Jesus. Point to Athens and tell kids that today’s Bible story tells about Paul’s visit there.
Live It Out
Game – Toss and Do
Materials: muffin pans, paper, scissors, marker, table tennis balls
Cut paper to fit in the cups of the muffin pan. Write one of these words on each circle: question, verse, Life Point. Place the paper circles in the muffin pan. Set the muffin pan near a wall. Lead kids to take turns tossing or bouncing a table tennis ball into the muffin pan. If the ball lands on question, ask a review question for the preteen to answer. If the ball lands on verse, help the group say the Bible verse. If the ball lands on Life Point, say the Life Point together.
Craft – Mars Hill Columns
Materials: paper, scissors, tape, markers
Distribute the paper. Guide preteens to cut their paper in half. Then cut one half in half again lengthwise. Cut the other half across the shorter width into 5-7 strips. (These are the columns.) Lead the kids to write 1-2 words of the Life Point on each column. Then, laying the longer strips horizontally and parallel, tape the ends of the columns to the longer strips. (This will resemble a Greek-columned building.) Talk about what Paul told the people in Athens about the one true God. Kids may want to write the Bible verse along the top of the building.
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