Preschool: God Sent Jesus: Session 3—Jesus Was Born (December 15)

1s & 2s—Hear and See Jingle Bells

Bible Story: Jesus Was Born Luke 2:1-20
Life Point: Jesus was born as God planned.
Weekly Verse: Mary wrapped Jesus in cloth and laid Him in a manger. Luke 2:7

Materials: Teaching Picture 3, several clean plastic bottles, jingle bells, glue, narrow Christmas ribbon, Christmas confetti

• Place a few bells in each bottle with pieces of ribbon or confetti. Affix each lid with glue.
• Place the bottles on the floor with the teaching picture. Shake a bottle and sing a song about Jesus to get a child’s attention.
• Point to the picture and talk about the Bible story. Thank God that Jesus was born as God planned.

3–Pre-K—Make a Christmas Card

Bible Story: Jesus Was Born Luke 2:1-20
Life Point: Jesus was born as God planned.
Weekly Verse: Mary wrapped Jesus in cloth and laid Him in a manger. Luke 2:7

Materials: Teaching Picture 3, white cardstock, yellow raffia, glue sticks,  markers, labels printed with the Weekly Verse

• Cut the raffia into short pieces, like hay. Fold the cardstock in half to make cards. Print Merry Christmas on the front of each card.
• Give each child a card and a verse label. Encourage him to place the label on the front of the card. On the inside, guide each child to draw a picture of Baby Jesus in the center of the page. Then children can glue the raffia around the picture. 
• Talk about the Bible story as the children work on their cards. Comment that Mary laid Jesus in a manger filled with hay.

Kindergarten—Explore Christmas Pictures

Bible Story: Jesus Was Born Luke 2:1-20
Life Point: Jesus was born as God planned.
Weekly Verse: Mary wrapped Jesus in cloth and laid Him in a manger. Luke 2:7

Materials: Bible; Teaching Picture 3; several gift bags; pictures or Christmas cards depicting Christmas objects and scenes, such as Christmas tree, candles, manger scene, ornament, stocking, wreath (Avoid pictures or cards with fantasy characters.); felt-tip pen; white paper; crayons or washable markers

• Place the Bible in a gift bag and the teaching picture in another gift bag. Place the pictures in several other gift bags. Arrange the bags on a table or the floor.
• Guide kindergartners to remove pictures from the gift bags and sort them. They may choose to sort them in different ways; allow the kids to choose the way the pictures should be sorted.
• Help a child open the Bible to Luke 2. Tell the Bible story and say the Weekly Verse.
• Show the teaching picture and talk about Jesus’ birth.
• Encourage children to talk about their own Christmas sights—things they see at home or around their neighborhoods. Print their responses on a piece of paper. Review the list and encourage children to draw pictures of what they see at Christmas. They may want to sort their pictures into stacks with the other pictures and cards.