Grades 1–6: Trusting God — Session 1: Deborah Led the People (February 2)

Grades 1-3

Introductory Activity – Do What I Say, Not What I Do

Materials: no materials needed.

Guide children to stand and face you. Tell kids to do whatever motion you say. Say a movement for kids to do but move in a different way. For example, say: “Clap your hands” while you march in place. If children march instead of clap, tell them to stand to one side. (They can move back to the middle after the next movement.) Continue to say one thing but do another. Tell kids that today they will learn about doing what God says.

Live It Out

Game – Target Practice

Materials: 3-5 large bowls, straws or cotton swabs, tape, marker

Make a tape line on the floor. Print point values on pieces of tape and tape inside or on the outside of the bowls. Set the bowls on the floor with higher point values further away from the tape line.
Guide kids to take turns standing at the line and tossing straws or swabs into the bowls. (Hold the straw/swab parallel to the floor and toss like a dart.) If a straw lands in a bowl, ask the child a review question. If the question is answered correctly, the group gets the points. Continue playing as time allows. To extend the game, challenge kids to say the Life Point or Bible verse to gain points instead of answering a question.

Craft – Bookmark

Materials: envelopes, scissors, decorative tape

Help a child cut the corner from an envelope; cut diagonally across the envelope about 1/2 inch from the corner. Lead the child to use decorative tape to cover both sides of the triangle bookmark. Make sure to leave the long end open. As kids work, say the Life Point. Talk about what kids have learned about God from Bible. Show kids how to slide the bookmark over the corner of a page to mark pages. Suggest kids use their bookmarks in their Bibles to mark where they are reading or to mark today’s Bible verse. Talk about the Bible story and who obeyed God.

Grades 4-6

Introductory Activity – This or That?

Materials: no materials needed

Guide kids to stand in a single file line in the middle of the room. Say: “We are going to play This or That? I will name two things. Step to the left if you choose the first option. Step to the right if you choose the second option.” Call out a variety of choices: Pizza or burger? Red or blue? Read fiction or read nonfiction? Play video games or play board games? Spend money or save money? When a kid reaches a wall (or outside boundary of your area), stop the game. Say: “We will be thinking and learning about choosing to trust God.”

Live It Out

Game – Bocce Review

Materials: three colors of paper (1-2 sheets each)

Wad one piece of a color of paper to make a small paper ball. Use two sheets of the other two colors to make bigger paper balls. Group the kids into two teams. Give each team one of the larger balls. Toss the small ball into the game area. This is the target. Ask Team 1 a review question. Award 2 points if the answer is correct. If the answer is incorrect, ask Team 2. After a team answers a question correctly, a player tosses the team’s ball and tries to land as close as possible to the target ball. Then a player from the other team tosses the team’s ball, too. Whichever team is closer to the target ball wins 2 points. Gather the balls. Toss the target ball again to start the next round. Continue until you have reviewed the Bible story. Say the Life Point and talk about times people may struggle with trusting or obeying God.

Craft – Shield

Materials: cardboard or poster board, silver duct tape, scissors, permanent markers

Lead kids to cut the cardboard or poster board into shield shapes. They can cut lengths of duct tape and cover the entire front surface of the shield, folding edges over to the back. Talk about the Bible story and how Deborah and Barak led the army to drive out the army of Sisera. Invite kids to use permanent markers to print the Life Point on their shields. (If you choose, tape a large rubber band vertically to the back of the shield for a handle.) Pray and ask God to help kids trust and obey Him.