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1 U F A C L U M FO R PR E S C H O OLE R S I C U R R R S T I open my E P I M R S I O S N Editor in Chief Kristi Lemoine Copy Editor Wendi Zebell Illustrators & Graphic Designers Jodi Blackwell Jeff Gribble Julie Shefchunas Chief Creative Officer Reggie Joiner Chief Executive Officer Joel Manby eyes so i O F A Curriculum Writers Heather Maidens Vicki Noblitt Autumn Ward Chief Operating Officer Karen Odom Executive Director Sue Miller Creative Director Kendra Fleming that L O V I N G H E A V E N LY We want preschoolers to take a first look at who God is and understand... Technical and Web Support Hadley Brandt John Estes Howard Odom Partner Support Debbie Joiner Julie Kent wonder ful the wonder ful truths...psalm truths F A T H E R 1 119:18 made me me to Jesus loves wants God God be my friend ever for Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER S VERSION TM, Copyright 199, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws First Look. All rights reserved. STATEMENT OF FAITH USER AGREEMENT The rethink Group gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licens to tailor First Look TM materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we ve expressed in our Statement of Faith.

2 Key Question: Bottom Line: Memory Verse: Bible Story Focus: July 30, 2006 God loves me. t he wonderful What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Learn to do what is right. Isaiah 1:17, NIrV It won't always be easy to do the right thing. Daniel and the Lions Daniel 6:1-28 Here s an overview of what you ll be teaching 3s s this. Make It Fun (Choose one or all of these activities) Hungry Lion Lion Tails Time to Pray Make It True Introductory Sketch Bible Story Worship If you are choosing to lead Daniel's Pets during Make It Stick, post the Allergy Alert Poster (from the Activity Pages on the Web site). Be sure to list the foods you will be serving today. As parents bring their children to your room, call their attention to the sign. JULY / WEEK / 3s s Make It Stick (Choose as many of these activities as you like) Too Hard? Here, Kitty, Kitty Time's Up! Prayer Pictures Daniel's Pets (Bible story review) Make It Real Small Group Time Prayer Dismiss: Small Talk cards Overview: July 2006 Week

3 God loves me. Key Question: Bottom Line: Memory Verse: Bible Story Focus: t he wonderful What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Learn to do what is right. Isaiah 1:17, NIrV It won't always be easy to do the right thing. Daniel and the Lions Daniel 6:1-28 Makeitfun Introductory Activities 10 minutes Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as your 3-, 4-, or -year-olds arrive. Let one or two teachers lead activities in different areas of the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. JULY / WEEK / 3s s Hungry Lion Whatcha Do: Help kids make lion puppets. Give each child a copy of Lion Face and instruct them to cut out the face. Then help them glue the face onto the bottom of a bag. Show them how to put the tongue under the flap, which will be the mouth of the puppet. Then help them to glue strips of orange paper around the face to make a lion's mane. Keep the puppets to use during today's Bible story. Whatcha Say: In today's Bible story, Daniel got a little too close to some big, furry danger. Can you guess what the danger is? Roar! Lion Face (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) copied onto yellow cardstock or construction paper for each child Several pairs of children's scissors Glue Brown paper lunch sacks Strips of orange paper 1 Make It Fun: Introductory Activities

4 Lion Tails Whatcha Do: Before the activity: Place the Lion transparency on an overhead projector and trace the lion picture onto the piece of poster board. Cut out enough tail shapes for each child to have one. During the activity: Tape the poster board with the lion drawing to the wall at child's-eye level. Loosely blindfold the first child. (Don't force a blindfold on a child who does not want to wear it and be ready to remove it quickly if a child becomes upset.) Place a small piece of tape on one lion tail, hand it to the child, spin him in a circle a few times, and guide the child to place the tail on the lion. Let each child have a turn placing a tail on the lion. Whatcha Say: Our Bible story today is so exciting! Our friend Daniel, who we've been learning about this month, got very close to some real lions. How close did he get? Well, a lot closer than I would ever want to be! Let's how close you get to putting this tail on our pretend lion. Lion (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) copied onto a piece of transparency film An overhead projector A marker A piece of poster board Tails (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) copied onto cardstock so there's one tail for each child Scissors Tape Blindfold JULY / WEEK / 3s s 2 Make It Fun: Introductory Activities

5 Time to Pray Lead this activity in the home living area. Whatcha Do: Guide children to act out the following scenarios of times when we normally pray: Before a meal Instruct children to cook food, set the table, and then pray. Before going to sleep or putting a baby to bed Instruct children to pretend to be mommies or daddies tucking children in and praying with them. When you find out a family member is sick or hurt Instruct children to answer the telephone and then pray for the person who they've just found out is sick. A toy telephone Baby dolls Baby beds Play food Plastic dishes God JULY / WEEK / 3s s Whatcha Say: At the start of the activity: God is always ready to listen to our prayers. We pray about anything, anytime and anywhere. Let's practice praying. At the end of the activity: We practiced praying before we ate our food. We practiced praying before going to bed. We even practiced praying for a sick person. In our Bible story today, Daniel prayed to God because he needed help. loves Godmademe me Jesus wants to be my friend forever 3 Make It Fun: Introductory Activities

6 God loves me. Key Question: Bottom Line: Memory Verse: Bible Story Focus: t he wonderful What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Learn to do what is right. Isaiah 1:17, NIrV It won't always be easy to do the right thing. Daniel and the Lions Daniel 6:1-28 Makeittrue Large Group 1 minutes After children have participated in Make It Fun, gather them for a large group time that includes an introductory sketch, a Bible story, and interactive worship. Choose an adult who relates well to preschoolers to tell the Introductory Sketch. If possible, use the same adult all year. To add variety, consider videotaping the sketch and playing the video during Make It True. A Worship Leader and live instruments are recommended. Encourage children to be active during worship by providing assorted percussion instruments and/or incorporating appropriate hand motions as described in the teaching instructions that follow. JULY / WEEK / 3s s Introductory Sketch HOST: You all are sitting so quietly today. Thank you for being ready to listen. When everyone is doing the right thing, like now, it's easy to do the right thing. But if everyone else were running around, dancing, and talking, it would be hard for you to sit quietly and be ready to listen. Sometimes it's hard to do the right thing. I remember one time when I was asked to do a hard thing. Here's what happened. My mom's friend was coming over for lunch. Mom was excited because her friend lived far away and they didn't get to each other No supplies needed. 4 Make It True: Large Group

7 often. My mom couldn't wait to sit with her friend and talk, talk, talk. That meant she wanted me to play with her friend's son, Josh. I had played with Josh before and had a lot of fun with him. We both really like playing in my sandbox. The last time he was over, we built a whole town out of sand! It had houses and roads and buildings. We even built a park. Then we drove cars and trucks all around the roads. It was fun! But now it was going to be a problem. My grandpa had just given me a brand new dump truck. That dump truck was a lot of fun to play with in the sandbox. The tires made neat marks in the sand. And when I shoveled a bunch of sand in the back of the truck, it was fun to push the truck to a far corner and dump all the sand out in a big heap. I didn't want to share my dump truck with Josh. I didn't want to share my dump truck with anyone. The more Mom talked about her friend and Josh coming, the more upset I became. Finally Mom sat me down and asked what was wrong. At first I didn't want to tell her because I knew sharing was the right thing to do. But when I did tell her, she hugged me and said that sometimes it isn't easy to do the right thing. We talked more about Josh and the sandbox and my new dump truck. Then my mom prayed with me. We prayed that God would help me do the right thing, even when it was hard. Our Bible story today is about Daniel. It wasn't easy for Daniel to do the right thing either. Listen closely so you find out what happened. A FIRST IMPRESSION JULY / WEEK / 3s s OF A LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER Make It True: Large Group

8 Bible Story STORYTELLER: (Hold up the Bible.) The Bible tells us about God. It tells us the right things to do. Today's Bible story is about a man named Daniel who did the right thing, even though it wasn't easy. I need your help with the story. Each time you hear me say the word 'lions,' I want you to hold up your lion puppets and growl. Okay? Daniel loved God more than anything, and spent a lot of time praying. But Daniel lived in Babylon where the people didn't pray to God. They sometimes prayed to gold statues or even to the king. Daniel knew this wasn't the right thing to do. The king made a rule. He said that for 30 days, the people in Babylon could only pray to him. If the people in Babylon didn't obey the king's rule, they would be thrown into a pit filled with lions (pause). I'm sure Daniel didn't want to be in a pit filled with hungry lions (pause), but Daniel still did the right thing. Three times a day he went to his room, got on his knees, and prayed to God. A Bible marked at Daniel 6 The lion puppets kids made during Hungry Lion in Make It Fun JULY / WEEK / 3s s When the king learned that Daniel was praying to God instead of to him, he was sad. Daniel was a good man, and the king didn't want to put him in a pit with hungry lions (pause). All day, until sundown, the king tried to figure out a way to get Daniel out of trouble, but nothing worked. So when evening came, Daniel was thrown to the lions (pause). The next morning the king ran to the lions' (pause) den. He was sure the hungry lions (pause) had killed Daniel during the night. When he got to the pit, he yelled for Daniel. And guess what. Daniel answered! Daniel said, 'God shut the mouths of the lions (pause) and kept me safe.' Daniel did the right thing, even though it wasn't easy. It won't always be easy for us to do the right thing either. But just like Daniel, we always need to do the right thing. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing even when it isn't easy. That's because God loves me. What does God want me to do? Can you say it with me? 6 Make It True: Large Group

9 KIDS and STORYTELLER: God wants me to do the right thing. STORYTELLER: That's right. When it isn't easy to do the right thing, we remember the story of Daniel and the lions (pause). PRAYER STORYTELLER: Let's close our eyes and talk to God. (Pause as children close their eyes and bow their heads.) Dear God, Daniel did the right thing even when he knew he'd be put in a pit with hungry lions. I know You want me to do the right thing, too, because You love me. Help me to do the right thing, even when it isn't easy. Amen. Learn to do what is isaiah right. 1:17 JULY / WEEK / 3s s Worship WORSHIP LEADER: What a good Bible story. Even when it wasn't easy, Daniel did the right thing. And the next morning when the king checked on Daniel, what did he find? (Pause.) Daniel was safe! That's because God closed the lions' mouths. God do anything! Let's worship God because He is big and strong and powerful. Let's worship God and tell Him we love Him! Lead the kids to sing Hey God, track 9, from the CD UpStreet Kids: Hey God! Use the following motions: Hey Punch your fist in the sky with each 'hey.' Love you Hug yourself. Need you Nod your head 'yes.' You 't do Shake your head 'no.' See me through Hold your hand over your eyes like a visor. Hey, God Punch your fist in the sky. A NIrV Bible marked at Isaiah 1:17 A CD player The CD UpStreet Kids: Hey God! A guitar (optional) Also, use this month's original worship song, which you download from the Web site, during this segment or whenever you like this month. 7 Make It True: Large Group

10 WORSHIP LEADER: Do you remember our Bible verse? (Open your Bible to Isaiah 1:17.) It says, 'Learn to do what is right.' Let's do the motions we learned as we say our Bible verse together. Lead kids to say the verse while doing the motions below. Learn (point to temple) to do what is right (give two thumbs-up), Isaiah 1:17 (put your palms together in front of you, and then open them as if opening a book). WORSHIP LEADER: What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. God will help me when I do the right thing because God loves me. Can you say that with me? KIDS and WORSHIP LEADER: God loves me. WORSHIP LEADER: Let's sing a song we learned a few s ago that will help us remember our Bible verse. Lead children to sing the following words to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Sing the chorus several times, if you choose. Learn, learn, learn what's right (tap temple with forefinger). Do it every day (nod head yes ). Happily, happily, happily, happily (point to smile with both forefingers) Doing things God's way (point upward). God loves me Godmademe JULY / WEEK / 3s s WORSHIP LEADER: God wants me to do the right thing, even when it isn't easy, because God loves me. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Can you say that with me? KIDS and WORSHIP LEADER: thing. Jesus wants to be my friend God wants me to do the forever right WORSHIP LEADER: Thank you for worshiping God with me today. Now it's time to listen to (say teacher's name) so we'll know what we get to do next. 8 Make It True: Large Group

11 God loves me. Key Question: Bottom Line: Memory Verse: Bible Story Focus: t he wonderful What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Learn to do what is right. Isaiah 1:17, NIrV It won't always be easy to do the right thing. Daniel and the Lions Daniel 6:1-28 Make itstick Application Activities 3 minutes JULY / WEEK / 3s s These activities are designed to help preschoolers understand and remember today's Bible story and Bottom Line. Offer as many of the following activities as your time, facilities, resources, and leadership allow. You may want to lead one activity at a time. Or offer two activities at once and allow half of the kids to participate in each, then switch groups and repeat the activities. Too Hard? Whatcha Do: Lead the kids in activities that are a little difficult and challenging for them. Give assistance as needed. Whatcha Say: At the start of the activity: Daniel had a hard thing to do in our Bible story today. He had to keep praying to God even though he knew he'd be thrown into the lions' pit for doing it. That's hard! I have some hard things for us to do. They're not as hard as what Daniel had to do, but they might be a challenge. Let's if we do them. Hard to Do (from the Activity Ages on the Web site) copied onto white paper At the end of the activity: Doing the right thing won't always be easy. Sometimes it will be very hard. God wants me to do the right thing even when 9 Make It Stick: Application Activities

12 o pen my it's hard. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. So the next time you need to do the right thing and you think it's just too hard, remember Daniel's story and do the right thing. Here, Kitty, Kitty Whatcha Do: Before the activity: Cut the brown bumps apart. Cut the yellow chenille wire into 3-inch strips. Bend one end of a yellow chenille strip around the middle of a brown bump and twist the yellow strip to itself to hold it in place. Bend the ends of the brown bump toward each other and twist them together to make a lion's tail. Make one tail for each child. During the activity: Give each child two 1-inch yellow pom-poms to glue together to make a lion's body. Next, give each child four 1 2-inch yellow pom-poms to glue onto the body for feet. After the body and feet are done, hot glue a tail to one end of each lion's body and set it aside to dry. While the tail is drying, give each child a glitter pompom, two 1 4-inch yellow pom-poms, two craft eyes, one 1 2-inch yellow pom-pom, and one 1 8-inch brown pom-pom to make the lion's face. Instruct them to glue the 1 4-inch yellow pom-poms onto the glitter pom-pom to make ears. Next, glue the two craft eyes below the ears. Glue the 1 2-inch yellow pom-pom in the middle of the face right below the eyes to make a snout. Next, take the 1 8- inch brown pom-pom and glue it on top of the yellow one you just glued below the eyes to make the nose. Then glue the head to the lion's body. Brown bump chenille wire Yellow chenille wire 1-inch yellow pom-poms (two per child) 1 2-inch yellow pom-poms (five per child) 1 4-inch yellow pom-poms (two per child) 1-inch yellow glitter pompoms (one per child) 1 8-inch brown or beige pom-poms (one per child) 7mm wiggly eyes Craft glue Scissors Ruler Hot glue gun and glue sticks JULY / WEEK / 3s s Whatcha Say: At the start of the activity: Lions are powerful animals. People call the lion the 'king of the jungle' because it's so 10 Make It Stick: Application Activities

13 o pen my fierce. In Daniel's story, we get to just how powerful God is. Think about it with me. God was able to make the lions keep their mouths shut. They didn't hurt Daniel at all. God kept them from hurting Daniel. Daniel did what was right, even when it was hard. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Time's Up! Whatcha Do: Let children take turns playing Keep Away with a beanbag. Instruct two children to stand opposite of one another with another child standing in the middle. Let the two children on each end toss the beanbag to one another while keeping it away from the child in the middle. Set the timer for one minute and urge kids to try to keep the beanbag away from the child in the middle for the full time. When the timer goes off, switch players and set the timer for another round. Whatcha Say: Time ran out for King Darius in our Bible story today, didn't it? He had until the sun went down to save his friend Daniel, but time ran out and there was nothing he could do. The problem all started when the king's helpers wanted to get Daniel in trouble. They came up with a plan to throw Daniel in with the lions. The king's helpers got him to make a rule saying that people could only pray to him. Daniel knew that praying to anyone but God was wrong, so he did the right thing and prayed to God like he had always done. It wasn't easy for Daniel to do the right thing, but he did it. God wants me to do the right thing, too. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. A beanbag A timer JULY / WEEK / 3s s 11 Make It Stick: Application Activities

14 Prayer Pictures Whatcha Do: Before the activity: Glue the four scenes from Prayer Scenes to one piece of poster board and the four scenes from Prayer Talk to the other piece of poster board to make two large game boards. During the activity: Let kids take turns tossing the two beanbags onto the two game boards and then praying. Where the beanbag lands on Prayer Scenes will determine what the child prays for. Where the other beanbag lands on Prayer Talk will determine how the child prays (you'll need to read these aloud for the kids). For example, if a child tosses one beanbag on the outdoor scene of Prayer Scenes and the other beanbag on the thank-you picture from Prayer Talk, then that child will thank God for something that's outside. Whatcha Say: One of the things Daniel did right in our Bible story today was pray to God. After Daniel was thrown in with the lions, he didn't give up; he began praying to God. God wants me to pray to Him, too, because He loves me. Praying to God is the right thing to do. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. We're going to play a game that will help us learn how to pray to God. Prayer Scenes (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) copied onto white paper and cut apart Prayer Talk (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) copied onto white paper and cut apart Two pieces of poster board Glue Two beanbags JULY / WEEK / 3s s 12 Make It Stick: Application Activities

15 Daniel's Pets Whatcha Do: Before the activity: Microwave the mini sausage halves and place them in a plastic bowl so they cool a little. Use the masking tape to mark off a section in the room to be the lion pit. Make it large enough for all the kids to fit inside the space. During the activity: Let kids re-enact the story of Daniel after he is thrown in with the lions. Place the children in the taped off area and tell them they are the pretend lions in the lions' den. Explain that you will pretend to be Daniel. Give each child a napkin and a plate of four mini sausage halves. Tell them they begin eating. Explain that whenever you step in the lions' den, they are to quit eating and close their mouths, just as the lions did with Daniel in the Bible story. Whenever you leave the lions' den, they begin eating again. Be sure to list the foods you will be serving today on the Allergy Alert Poster (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) and post it at the door to your room. Mini smoked sausages cut in half lengthwise (or any other snack you choose) A plastic bowl Paper plates Napkins Masking tape Option: Provide a biblical robe for Daniel. JULY / WEEK / 3s s Whatcha Say: At the start of the activity: Daniel did the right thing in our Bible story today, even though he knew he would be thrown into a pit with hungry lions. The king's evil helpers put Daniel down in that pit and waited for the lions to eat him up. But that didn't happen. What happened when Daniel was put in the pit with the lions? (Pause for responses.) Isn't it amazing that God shut the lions' mouths when Daniel was thrown into that pit? The lions didn't even put a scratch on Daniel. Let's act out the story of Daniel and the lions. I'll be Daniel, and you all be the lions. I have a yummy snack for you, but every time I enter your pretend pit, you have to do like the lions in our Bible story and shut your mouths. At the end of the activity: It wasn't easy for Daniel to do the right thing, but he still did it. It won't always be easy for us to do the right thing either, but God still wants us to do the right thing. What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. 13 Make It Stick: Application Activities

16 God loves me. Key Question: Bottom Line: Memory Verse: Bible Story Focus: t he wonderful What does God want me to do? God wants me to do the right thing. Learn to do what is right. Isaiah 1:17, NIrV It won't always be easy to do the right thing. Daniel and the Lions Daniel 6:1-28 Make It Real is designed to help preschoolers understand how the Bottom Line applies to them. They'll discuss real-life experiences and share prayer requests. Make itreal SMALL GROUP minutes JULY / WEEK / 3s s Divide kids into small groups of about five to eight children with each leader. Ideally, assign the same small group leader to the same group of preschoolers for the entire year. small group time SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): Today we heard about Daniel. Even when it wasn't easy, Daniel still did the right thing. Who tell me what we learned about Daniel today? (Let children re-tell the Bible story. Give them hints as needed.) Was it easy or hard for Daniel to do the right thing? (Pause.) Let's think about some hard things we have to do. Is it sometimes hard for you to share? (Encourage conversation. Then help kids think of other things that are hard, such as obeying or listening.) God wants me to do the right thing. Is it always easy to do the right thing? (Pause.) No. It wasn't easy for Daniel, and it isn't easy for us. But God wants me to do the right thing because God loves me. Use a bookmark or sticky note to mark Isaiah 1:17 in a NIrV Bible. Highlight or underline the verse. Provide a journal and a fun-shaped pen for each small group. Let's write in our journal the hard things we have to do. Then, in a few minutes, we ask God to help us do the right things, even 14 Make It Real: Small Group

17 when they're hard. Who remembers the hard things we have to do? (As kids repeat the answers just discussed, write them in the journal.) Let's look for our Bible verse and say it together. (Do so.) The Bible says we're to 'learn to do what is right.' That's what this symbol reminds me to do (point out the symbol you put in the journal earlier this month) the right thing. Even when it isn't easy, we still need to do the right thing. prayer SGL: Let's pray together. God hears our prayers. We talk to God anytime. Let's ask God to help us do the right things, even when they aren't easy. Ask kids to bow their heads and close their eyes. Instruct them to pray silently while you pray aloud. JULY / WEEK / 3s s get ready to dismiss Set any takehome creations where you or parents get them easily. Greet parents at the door and give them a copy of Small Talk. Encourage parents to use Small Talk throughout the as they continue helping their child understand that God wants me to do the right thing. If a parent did not receive a magnet yet this month, explain that this month preschoolers are learning that God wants me to do the right thing. Point out this month's memory verse and the symbol. Encourage parents to put the magnet on their refrigerator so they it often and reinforce their child's learning at home during the month. Copy this 's Small Talk onto cardstock and cut the cards apart. Make copies of July Magnet (from the Activity Pages on the Web site) available for parents who did not receive one earlier this month. 1 Make It Real: Small Group