Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Toss and Spell
Materials: beach ball (one per team)
Group the kids into two (or more) teams. Lead each team to stand in a small circle. Tell kids that the teams will gently bat the ball back and forth across the team circle. As each person hits the ball, the team will say a letter to spell Jesus’ name. The team should keep batting the ball up and saying letters. When the name is spelled, the next team member can start the name again. Challenge the teams to spell Jesus’ name as many times as they can without dropping the ball. If the team misses or drops the ball, they must start the count over. Tell kids they will learn something that Jesus said about the Scriptures.
Alternate Idea: Use only one beach ball and play the game with the entire group.
Live It Out
Game – Find a Seat
Materials: chairs, one per child; words of the today’s verse (or the Unit Verse) printed on cards; basket; tape; music
Arrange all the chairs in a circle, facing out, except one chair. Place the last chair near a wall. On this chair, place the basket of verse cards and the tape. Ask kids to make a circle around the chairs. Play music and encourage kids to walk in a circle around the chairs. Stop the music. All the kids should try to find a chair. The kid without a chair moves to the basket and pulls out a card. Tape the card to the wall. As you pull more cards, ask the child to place the card where it belongs in the verse. After you finish the verse, read it together. Talk about the Bible story and the Life Point. Remove the cards from the wall and play the game again if time allows.
Craft – Jesus Name Bottles
Materials: small clear plastic water/drink bottles with lids (one per kid), shredded paper or paper confetti, index cards cut into 1-by-1-inch squares, gel pens or thin-line markers
Before the session, make sure the bottles are clean and dry. Distribute the bottles. Guide kids to fill their bottles with shredded paper or paper confetti (about half or two-thirds full). Tell kids to print the letters of Jesus’ name on the small squares, one letter per square. They can add these letter squares to their bottles. (Kids may want to add additional letters or duplicates of the letters in Jesus’ name.) Talk about the Bible story and say the Life Point as kids work. Help kids understand that Jesus read the prophet’s words from the Scriptures and told the people that the words were fulfilled in Him. As kids finish their bottles, tell them to put lids on the bottles. Tell kids to shake and move the bottles and find the letters to spell Jesus’ name. Trade bottles to find the letters in a friend’s bottle. Tell kids to challenge family members to find all the letters.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – J Formation
Materials: cotton balls, straws (one per kid), timer
Scatter the cotton balls on a table. Distribute straws. Tell kids to work together to blow the cotton balls into a J shape; they should not use their hands to move the cotton balls at all. They must use all the cotton balls to make the letter. Give the signal for kids to start. Stop after one minute to assess the progress. Let kids study the table and discuss strategies before beginning again. Give the signal to start again. When kids create a J shape, stop the game. Tell kids to name who they think is the key person in today’s story; name begins with a J. (Jesus) As time allows, scatter the cotton balls again and try to form other letters.
Live It Out
Game – Team Bowling
Materials: 6 large plastic bottles, 6 foam balls, masking tape
Use masking tape to create the borders of the game area; tape a line through the middle of the game area. Set up 3 plastic bottles, in a triangle formation, at either end of the game area.
Group the kids into 2 teams and assign a team to each side of the game area. Give each team 3 balls. Guide kids to spread throughout the space. On your signal, teams roll balls and try to knock down the other team’s pins. Teams should work to protect their own pins, too. After a few minutes, call teams to stop. All balls and kids should stop. Ask a review question. If a team gets the question correct, they can roll a ball toward the other team’s pins while the team remains still. Restart the general game. When a team knocks down all the other team’s pins, award 5 points. Say the Life Point. Reset all pins and begin again. If you have a large group of kids, play with four teams. Create four sections in the game area; use 12 bottles and 12 balls. Arrange the pins in each corner.
Craft – Dotted Reminder
Materials: white paper, construction paper, tempera paint in various colors, pencils with erasers, cotton swabs, scissors, thin-line markers, painters tape
Lead preteens to draw and cut out an open Bible shape on the construction paper. The shape should be no larger than half the side of the white paper. Tell kids to use a loop of tape to attach the open Bible shape to a piece of white paper. Guide kids to make dots all over the white paper and around the shape. They can dip a pencil (eraser end) into paint and make dots, use the cotton swaps to dip into the paint to make dots, or use their fingertips to make dots. Encourage them to dot all over the white paper, making patterns or designs if they choose. When they finish with the dots, tell kids to remove the shape carefully, revealing the white area underneath. They can use markers to print the Life Point or Bible verse in the white space. As they work, talk about the Bible story. Emphasize that Jesus taught that He is the Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.
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