Salty Words

This is a salt shaker with real salt glued on the top! Glue sticks work wonders! :)

Daniel and the Lions Den

This is another adorable craft my three year old twins came home with. We have used the bag puppet to retell the story about 100 times since Sunday! :)

Habakkuk lesson and craft ideas

Here is a Habakkuk lesson:

What does it mean to be near something? It means you can reach out and touch it. It means you can feel it and know that it is there. Near is being close by to something.

God is always near to us.
God hears every word we say and knows every thought in our minds.

·If we want to be closer to God all we have to do is get closer to Him.

·Read James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

·Ask God to come to you and he will! What a wonderful and powerful promise from God to us.

Story

·God is always near to us. Even in the Old Testament God was near.

·In fact, in those days God actually talked to people.

·Those people were called prophets.

·What do you remember about prophets?

·Sing prophet song.

· There was a prophet named Habakkuk. The book in the Bible that he wrote for us is a conversation between him and God! Isn’t that cool?!?!

· Habakkuk had a lot of questions that he wanted to ask God.

· If you could ask God a question, what would it be?

· Let’s see what questions Habakkuk asked God.

· Read Habakkuk 1:1-4

· Hold up Questions chart.

· God was near to Habakkuk. He heard his questions and he answered them!

· How do we ask God questions today? (through prayer)

· Habakkuk got his answer by hearing God’s voice.

· How do we get our answers?

· We get our answers by praying more and reading the Bible by ourselves and with our families.

· ;Habakkuk stood on the watchtower and saw all the bad things that were happening in the city. It made him very sad and confused.

· But Habakkuk trusted God to take care of him and his people.

· Sometimes we see all the bad things that people do and we get sad and confused. But like Habakkuk, we need to trust God and listen for his answer.

· Read Habakkuk 2:1

God is near to us. He will hear our cries and our questions. And God will answer us, just like he answered Habakkuk.

Here are more craft ideas for Habakkuk:

· Kids draw a watchtower and glue a strip with verse 2:1 on it to the paper.

· Use sugar cubes to build a watchtower. Could glue it to paper and then glue on verse strip.

· Homework coupon – to pray with your family this week.

1. watchtower – build out of sugar cubes or cardboard blocks

2. WS with watchtower and verse Hab. 2:1. Also discuss looking for God and His ways, not mans as you stand guard. – Connect to Proverbs 18:10

3. Temple –Hab.2:20 – Sing song from song book – Mirror WS since we are God’s temple

4. Habakkuk talked directly to God. We can talk to God through prayer. Prayer FC lesson – door hanger or prayer journal

5. Based on Hab 2:2-3 – Create tablets (on a WS or out of fun foam) and write “God has a plan.” OR a verse on the tablets. Could also be a puzzle.

6. Make a bookmark about reading the Bible every day to prepare self for evil around us.

7. See Gal 6:7 lesson for WS

8. Hab. 2:4 – “Righteous will live by his faith.” – Faith song – Faith definition worksheet – See Romans 4 lessons for walk in faith of Abe WS

9.Discuss asking God questions. Make a list of the questions Habakkuk asked God. Then make a list of questions the kids would ask God. Could write them on butcher paper cut into a questions mark shape. Talk about how we talk to God today and we can ask Him all of our questions. Discuss how Habakkuk got his answers. Contrast with how we get our answers. Encourage prayer life and family Bible study time. Homework – coupon for family Bible reading and prayer time.

10. For the topic of “God is in contol.” – Make a spin-a-story paper plate craft titled “Times when God is in control.” Kids draw 4 times – sunshine for morning, moon for night, with friends, at dinner, at school, etc.

Zephaniah

Blanks say "God is the only judge."

Here is the lesson:

• Review “What is a Prophet?” poster
• Sing Prophet song
• Find prophet section in Bible
• Discuss who Zephaniah was. He preached to Judah
• Zephaniah wanted people to stop doing wrong and start doing the right things. He wanted them to return to God.
• Discuss a court room. Bring a picture of the courtroom
• Discuss a defendant, prosecutor, and judge and what each one does.
• Who decides who is right and wrong in the courtroom?
• What does it mean to judge something?
• Who decides right and wrong? God, parents
• How do our parents and other grown-ups determine right or wrong? They follow God’s rules
• Who is the ultimate judge who gets to decide right and wrong? God
• Does he surprise us with the rules? No, he tells us everything we need to know.
• God loves us and wants us to do right and good.
• He judges us based on the Bible.
• How do we know what rules God wants us to know and do? We read the Bible and do what it says. 
• Is God ever wrong in what He says is right? No!!
• What will God judge in us? Our lives, hearts, and actions.
• What happens on judgment day? Those who make decisions that make God happy and do what’s right will go to heaven. Those that make bad decisions will not.
• How can we be sure we are right when God judges us?  Obey the Bible, love God and Jesus, live holy lives
• What’s our reward for making good decisions? Heaven!!

Amos

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Here is the lesson:

· Tell the Amos story from Lynch book

· Discuss the letter

· Discuss what it means to seek something – look hard for something.

· Today we’re going to learn to seek God.

· Read Amos 5:14

· Amos talked about seeking God and returning to him

· What does it mean to seek good? Look for good things to do, look for the good things in people

· What does it mean to seek evil? Look to do things that are not good for us, that are against God

· How do we seek evil? Do things we know we’re not supposed to do.

· How do we seek good? Do what things we know God wants us to do.

· What kinds of things do evil people do? sins

· What kinds of things do good people do? obey

· What does Amos promise if we seek good? The Lord

· Do we seek God with our eyes?

· How do you think we seek God?

· Why do we want to seek God?

· Why do we want God with us?

· What kids of things do we do if the Lord is with us?

· Discuss: What kinds of things do we seek right now?

· Hand the kids funny glasses. Write on the legs of the glasses or attach a tag: “God seeing (or seeking) eyes.”

· Discuss/chart: What kinds of things are we seeking with our God seeing eyes?

· Add to “God is…” chart and book

Here are the crafts:

· Worksheet: glasses: “I am seeking good” or “I am seeking the Lord” written on the lenses

· Binoculars made out of toilet paper rolls. Above words written on the rolls.

· Make cotton ball die cut sheep. Have kids draw glasses on the sheep. Write on the back of sheep “I can seek God.” Glue cotton balls on the front.

· Eat figs together.

Here are other ideas for teaching Amos to kids:

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1. Have a big sheep butcher paper to record notes about Amos, the book.

2. Make cotton ball die-cut sheep. Write verse on the back. OR Create a scene with several sheep and a verse to glue on OR “Amos was a shepherd who obeyed God.”

3. Talk about how Amos was not a professional prophet, but he obeyed God. Discuss how Ralph is a professional preacher, but we all are supposed to teach others about God. Review Gospel FC. Homework – to share Jesus with one person this week.

4. Amos 1:11 – Compassion – define – definition WS – Discuss how can you be compassionate today? – What did the people do wrong back then? Brainstorm ways to show compassion. – Homework coupon “I will show compassion this week.” - Role play compassionate scenarios

5. Amos 2:7 – Take care of the poor and needy – Brainstorm and chart ways to help the needy – Tour pantry – Organize a coat drive or school supply drive for the church – Do a family service project, maybe clean out toys and donate to Impact, etc.

6. Amos 2:10 and 3:2f – God provides – Discuss all the ways God provided for Israel through the years (manna, Red Sea parts, Jesus, etc) – Then make a list of all the ways that God provides for us today. Make a headband that says “God will provide.”

7. Eat figs since Amos was a shepherd under the fig trees (Amos 6:14)

8. Righteousness – define – definition worksheet with sequins, etc. – Discuss the things we do in worship service and why we do each part (pray, sing, Lord’s Supper, sermon, offering). Explain that in OT the people offered sacrifices and they were just doing it without thinking – that upset God. And today if we go to “big church” and don’t think about what is happening then we upset Got too. List the things we should and should not do in worship service as a T-chart. Make sure to stress that God cares about our heart, not the ritual. (Amos 5:24)

9. Obey – Talk about how Amos obeyed God – obedience definition worksheet – List how you can obey God. Make a headband with a medallion that says, “I will obey God like Amos.”

Isaiah'c Call

Kids draw a self-portrait. Then glue on a black paper ball for the coal.
*This idea is from Holly* Thanks for sharing!
Here is the lesson:

· What is a prophet? Discuss definition poster

· Tell the kids that Isaiah had a vision in which God called him to be a messenger of His.

· Read 6:1-2. Then distribute paper to each kid. Read it again very slowly and have the kids draw what you read.

· Compare drawings and talk about how they are all similar and different.

· Read 6:3 - Have this verse printed on a sheet of paper. Discuss the meaning of “holy.” Why did the angels say holy? Who is holy? Why did they say it three times? Use vocabulary card

· Read 6:3 again – discuss “glory” - Use vocabulary card – connect to the miraculous signs of God – Name some things we see around us that show God’s glory (plants and their life cycle, love, sun, babies, etc.)

· Read 6:4-5 – Why is Isaiah sad? What does “Woe” mean?

· Discuss unclean lips – define as saying mean things or bad words or impure words. Make a chart of things that are pure and unpure to say. Then discuss what happens when you say pure things – what happens when you say unpure things.

· Read Isaiah 6:6-7 = What does that mean? (If possible, bring in tongs and a coal-like rock. Touch the kids lips with it as an example. Could also have the coal-like rock as a symbol for them to take home to say pure things.)

· Read 6:8 – God asked Isaish to be a messenger for him to talk to the people. Does God want us to be messengers for him today? How can we do that? Missionary blurb and connect that we are all missionaries each day for Christ.

· Isaiah had to listen for God. God talked to Isaiah when He called him to be his prophet for the nation, but God also talked to Isaiah often. Isaiah had to learn to listen for God.

· Review Questions –

o Who was Isaiah?

o Who talked to Isaiah?

o What is a prophet?

o Why did God choose Isaiah to be his messenger?

o Act out the angel touching Isaiah’s lips with the coal.

o What does God want us to tell people today?

o What would you do if you heard God’s voice?

o Give 5 reasons for Isaiah to follow God’s command

o How would you react to hearing God’s voice?

o How would someone today react to seeing a vision of heaven like Isaiah saw?

o How would God get you attention today?

o Do you agree with Isaiah being scared?

Here are the crafts:

· Handwork = WS with big lips on it – Kids write the nice things they should say to others. Could glue small rock on the paper.

· Handwork = Badge “I will say pure things.” With lips stamped on it.

· Handwork = Send a note to our missionaries

· Handwork = Headband –“I will listen for God.” And glue big paper ears to it.

Prayer Song and Craft

My three year old twins did this in class on Wednesday. CUTE song!

"I Will Say my Prayers"
Tune: Row, Row, Row your Boat

I will say my prayers
Each and every day
I will always talk to God
And He hears what I say.

Now sure the source...

What is a Prophet? bulletin board

This is the bulletin board we have up in our classroom right now. We are in the middle of a 2 quarter study of the major and minor prophets. There will be many more prophet posts to come!

The prophet is a man that I enlarged on the opaque machine. They are so "old-school", but using an opaque machine makes my heart happy. They remind me of my college days and making oodles of bulletin board sets.

The cards by the man say...
What is a prophet?

A messenger of God

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What Prophets Do

· Tell the people what God said

· Warn leaders

· Tell people to follow God

· Explain the bad things that were happening

· Tell good things that were going to happen

Then the map...I also made it using the opaque machine and my trusty chalks. A side-note about chalks...always have a can of cheap aerosol hairspray handy. When you are done, spray it and the chalk will not rub off. However do not spray too much in an enclosed area or your tear-ducts can get clogged and you'll get what seems like pink-eye. Unfortunately I know this from personal experience! :)

Back to the map - the yellow is Israel and the orange is Judah. During our first lesson about prophets, we added a card that labeled each Kingdom and another card that listed the prophets to that kingdom. The kids used orange and yellow crayons to color a kid-sized map that they are keeping in their Prophets Notebook.

I also wrote a song about prophets. Enjoy!

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Prophet Song

Tune: Lord’s Army

What is a pro-phet?

A mes-sen-ger of G-o-d

Talking to the pe-eople

Asking for rep-ent-ance

What is a pro-phet?

A mes-sen-ger of God.

Who are some of the prophets?

Zeph-a-niah, Daniel and Jonah

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea

Micah and Hab-ba-kuk

They were all messengers of God.

Daniel in the Lions Den Craft

Aren't these adorable??? My three year old twins came home with them on Sunday morning and have not stopped re-enacting Daniel 6 all week! :)

To make: Draw a lion face in the middle of a paper plate. Cut out eye holes. Glue tongue depressor onto back. Let the kids glue on pre-cut yarn for the mane.

Enjoy!

Teaching Prayer

This year we decided to approach the topic of teaching kids to pray a little different than we have in the past. Our year with these first graders began in September and we have been tackling a new aspect each Sunday and then re-inforcing it on Wednesday night.

On Sunday we ask the kids a question about prayer and record their responses on a piece of copy paper. Then on Wednesday night, they illustrate on the 1/2 sheets of paper the answer to Sunday's question.
Questions taught on Sundays...
Who can pray?
Who can you pray for?
Where can you pray?
When can you pray?
How do you start a prayer?
How do you end a prayer?
Why do you pray?
Who can you pray with?

Now that the kids have a grasp on those topics, we are going to start introducing different methods of prayer. In November, we will introduce "The Cube." Each side of a cube is labeled with a different group of people - family, friends, military, government, church and sick people. You roll "The Cube" and think of a specific person for the category you rolled.

Ten Plagues Booklet

I found this booklet in the church workroom and shrunk it to be a smaller size booklet. It was a HUGE hit with the kids and parents. These photos are of the booklet that my 2 year old colored.Each page the kids did something to add to the picture. On page one, they wrote "NO!" in the speech bubble. On page 2, they colored the water red. It would have been neat to glue on sand...maybe next time! :)
Page 3 - Color the frogs.
Page 4 - Use glue stick then glue salt to the the gnats everywhere.
Page 5 - The flies wings are pre-drawn. Kids do a fingerprint in between the wings.
Page 6 - Glue cow upside down under odor marks. I used a mini notepad from the teacher store. You could also use a die-cut of a cow.
Page 7 - Boils - they were supposed to draw red dots. Jacob like green lines better! :)
Page 8 - Hail - Tear little pieces of blue paper and glue on to the be hail.
Page 9 - draw locusts. This was hard. I would draw on locusts or have a bug stamp for the kids to do.
Page 10 - color black
Page 11 - draw tear drops

Ten Commandment Craft

Start saving your Altoid containers today! This craft was super easy and lots of fun for the kids to open, read and close a million times! :)

The Ten Commandments are on die-cut tags. The words are printed off the computer onto gray/silver labels. The top of the Altoid tin is a regular label that the teacher pre-wrote before class.

This would be really good for a memory work tool too.

The Wise Man Built his house...

How easy and cute is this?!?!??!

Joseph's sack of Grain

To make: Buy brown lunch sacks...one per student. Fill with popped popcorn. Before class, spray paint cups silver. (We used an 8 oz. plastic cup in this class...I may try to find small flutes or small Dixie cups because this cup seemed a little big for the bag) Kids tie bag closed with black yarn. Then they can search through the bag for the silver cup. The black thing on the bag is a die-cut of a wheat stalk that was die-cut on adhesive-backed felt. Money is from party store.

Samson's Hair

This was SO fun to make and so silly to wear!!!

To make Samson's hair, you need one sentence strip and 2 9x12 sheets of black construction paper per child. Staple sentence strip to fit your head. Then cut slits up the black paper leaving about 1 inch solid at the top. The more slits you cut the more hair Samson will have. After you are done cutting the slits to make hair, staple the black to the sentence strip. Staple in the 1 ince border at the top of the black and make sure that the bended part of the staple is on the outside so that it will not get caught in the kids real hair. Leave about 1/3 of the sentence open at the front for face to show thru.

WARNING - Do not let kids cut Samson's hair!!!

Personal Sized Daniel and the Lion's Den

To make this personal-sized Daniel and the Lion's Den, start saving your cocoa cans today!

Use fun foam and die-cut angel, man, clothes and hair. Use adhesive backed brown fun foam to cut out "stone" to go on top of the lid to "seal the den."
On the inside of the cocoa can, have 2 adhesive-backed yellow fun foam lions die-cut. Kids stick one lion on each side of the cocoa can.
Kids tell story with the fun foam figures. Copy a song or brief story to keep in the can.
Seriously, how cute is this!!! :)

PIllars of Fire/Cloud

These stick puppets are TOO cute and easy! Cut out 2 clouds from card stock per child. One one cloud, glue cotton balls to God as a pillar of clouds.
On the other cloud, glue torn red, orange and yellow tissue paper or crepe paper to be God as a Pillar of Fire.

Then tape a tongue depressor to the back of the Fire and glue the Cloud onto the back of the fire.

Pillar of Fire/Cloud craft

These stick puppets are TOO cute and easy! Cut out 2 clouds from card stock per child. One one cloud, glue cotton balls to God as a pillar of clouds.
On the other cloud, glue torn red, orange and yellow tissue paper or crepe paper to be God as a Pillar of Fire.

Then tape a tongue depressor to the back of the Fire and glue the Cloud onto the back of the fire.

Day one...God made light!
This sun can be used for various stories... Joshua and the day the sun stood still or Day One or many more!

To make, cut triangles off edge of paper plate before class. Kids tear yellow crepe paper into small pieces then glue on the paper plate. Glue tongue depressor on the back.