Grades 1–6: Trusting God — Session 2: Hannah Prayed (February 9)

Grades 1-3

Introductory Activity – How We Communicate

Materials: pencil, stone, megaphone, flashlight, scissors, whistle

Show each item in turn to the kids. Ask: “How can you use this to communicate with someone? Think of as many different ways as you can.” Tell kids to discuss their ideas with partners nearby. Then call for answers. Think of different ways that people communicate. List some other tools that kids use to communicate with others. Say: “Today we will talk about ways we communicate with God.”

Live It Out

Game – End Zone

Materials: tape, cone or large beanbag, numbered cube

Use tape to create a track from one end of the game area to the other; mark off 21 spaces on the track. (The track does not need to be across the whole area and spaces only need to be large enough for the cone or beanbag.) Place the cone or beanbag in the middle space of the track. Group the kids into two teams and assign each team one end of the track. Ask a question  to Team 1. If the team answers correctly, they roll the cube and move the cone down the track toward their end. Then ask Team 2 a question. They move the cone toward their end. Continue to play until one team gets the cube in its end zone (last space) or off the track at their end. Talk about how people today can trust God to hear their prayers.

Craft – Paper Chain

Materials: paper strips, glue or stapler with staples, markers

Each child will need several paper strips. Invite kids to think of people or things they can pray for and list each one on a paper strip. After a child completes his list, lead him to use the strips to create a paper chain. He can glue or staple the ends of a strip to make a circle; the word should be on the outside of the strip. Show him how to thread another strip through the circle and then attach the ends of that strip to make another link. He can chain together all his prayer items. Suggest kids use their prayer chains as they pray this week. Comment they can add more links in their chain at home if they choose. Pray together, thanking God that He hears our prayers.

Grades 4-6

Introductory Activity – Balloon Letters

Materials: balloons, markers, small pieces of paper, Bibles

On pieces of paper, print these things (letter on one side and reference on the other side): P-Philippians 4:6; R-Romans 12:12; A-Acts 2:42; Y-Proverbs 15:8; E-Ezra 8:23; R-Romans 8:26. Print other random letters on the other pieces of paper (and no biblical reference). Put all the letters in balloons, one per balloon, and inflate.
Lead kids to spread throughout the space. Scatter the balloons in the space. Tell kids to search through the balloons to find the letters of the word prayer. Tell kids not to pop the balloons but look into the balloons to see the letters on the paper. As they find the six balloons with the appropriate letters, put those to one side. Ask a preteen to look up each of the verses and read it aloud. After each verse, ask kids: “What does this verse teach us about prayer?” Tell kids that today they will be learning that people can trust God will hear their prayers.

Live It Out

Game – Trade to Spell

Materials: letter tiles (for pray), timer or music

Gather letter tiles for pray. You will need one tile per kid. To make these, cut heavy paper into squares and print a letter on each square. Repeat the Life Point together. Give a letter tile to each kid. Set a timer for 1 minute or play music. During the time or music, kids should move among each other, trading letters. Everyone should have only 1 letter at a time. When timer sounds or you stop the music, kids freeze. Say: “Go!” Kids must work to get into groups of 4 to spell the word; for example, if a child has p, he must find 3 kids, one each with r, a, y. When a group of four has formed, the group says the Life Point aloud. Start the timer or music again to continue the game.

Craft – Prayer Clips

Materials: wooden clothespins, markers, felt, construction paper, scissors, glue, magnet strips

Guide a preteen to color the clothespin with markers. She can cut out simple shapes from felt or paper and glue to the clothespin. Tell her to cut a piece of magnet strip and attach to the back of the clothespin. She can list people for whom she could pray on a piece of paper and clip the paper in the clothespin. Tell kids to place their clips in a place to remind them to pray for others. They can clip prayer requests on the clips to remember people to pray for. Tell kids they can trust God will hear their prayers.