First Look Starfish and Dolphins, July, Week 1 Small Group

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1 July 1, 2018 Bible Story Focus: I can take God s Word with me wherever I go. God s Word Is With Me Psalm 119:11 Memory Verse: I have hidden your word in my heart. Psalm 119:11, NIV Key Question: What is with you wherever you go? Bottom Line: God s Word is with me wherever I go. Basic Truth: God made me. God loves me. Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction 1. Global Pass Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler s natural desire to move to help them learn What You Need: An inflatable globe During the Activity: Gather the children in an open area of the room. Allow children to practice tossing the globe back and forth. Once they ve mastered that, encourage them to tap the globe and try to keep it in the air. Then pass the globe around the circle. Each time a child holds the globe, say, God s Word is with [child s name] wherever he/she goes! Before the Activity: Have you ever seen a globe like this one? (Hold up.) We live right here. (Point to where you live on the globe.) Did you know that God s Word is with us wherever we go even if we travel all the way over here? (Point to another continent.) Let s toss our globe back and forth! During the Activity: Great job! Now let s see if we can tap the globe and keep it in the air. Remember, no running. We don t want any friends to get hurt! After the Activity: That was SUPER fun! Will you please toss the globe back to me? (Pause until the globe is passed to you.) Now, I want us to take turns passing the globe to one another like this. (Toss the ball to the child on your left.) God s Word is with [child s name] wherever he/she goes. Let s keep passing the globe around the circle as we repeat that phrase. (Repeat with each child.) Great job passing the globe! In our Bible story today, we re going to hear how God s Word is with us wherever we go. Super fun! Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 1

2 Transition: Move to Worship and Story by pointing to a child and saying, God s Word is with [child s name] wherever you go. 2. In the Heart Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts What You Need: Several large heart-shaped cookie cutters, pom-poms, and preschoolsized tweezers Before the Activity: Place the cookie cutters and the pom-poms on the table or the floor in the activity area. During the Activity: Give the children the tweezers. Encourage the children to use the tweezers to pick up the pom-poms and place them inside the cookie cutters. Continue the activity until all of the cookie cutters are filled. Before the Activity: I see empty hearts on the table! (Point.) Let s fill them up! During the Activity: Use the tweezers to pick up the pom-poms and place them inside the hearts. (Demonstrate.) Let s see how many we can get inside of each heart! (Do activity.) After the Activity: Great job! Now the pom-poms will be with the heart wherever it goes! Today we are going to hear about something that is always with us too: God s Word. Let s get ready to hear our TRUE story from the Bible! Transition: Move to Worship and Story by taking a few steps with the children and saying, God s Word is here with us. Then take a few more steps and say, God s Word is with us here too! Continue as you walk to the story area. Journal and Prayer Pray to God Prayer Activity Made to Reflect: An activity that encourages personal application and prayer What You Need: Memory Verse Card paper clipped in your Bible at Psalm 119:11, journal, fun-shaped pen, Globe Symbol Sticker Activity Page, and Avery #22816 labels or equivalent Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 2

3 SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): It s time! Follow me wherever I go! I m going this way. (Pause.) Now I m going this way. Follow me wherever I go! (Lead the children around the room and then finally to your spot.) We made it! Thank you for following me. Let s sit down and talk about today s Bible story. One, two, three, sit down with me! (Open the Bible and hold it for the children to see.) Our Bible story today was about how we can take God s Word with us wherever we go. God s Words are in the Bible. (Hold up the Bible.) This is a Bible. Can you say, Bible, with me? CHILREN and SGL: Bible! SGL: When we read the Bible and practice saying God s words, these special words go inside our heart and we can remember them anytime we want. That s how we take God s Word with us wherever we go. So, when I ask you: What is with you wherever you go, I want you to say, [Bottom Line] God s Word is with me wherever I go. Let s try that. What is with you wherever you go? CHILDREN and SGL: [Bottom Line] God s Word is with me wherever I go. SGL: Yes! God s Word is with [child s name] wherever he/she goes. (Say this with each child s name as you touch the top of his/her head.) Now who s ready to practice saying some of God s Word? (Pause.) I am! And I have the perfect Bible verse for us to say together. (Turn the pages of your Bible to the Memory Verse Card.) It says: I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands), Psalm 119:11. (Hold out hands like a book.) (Close Bible and lay it down.) Let s stand up and say that together with the motions. Just say what I say and do what I do. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 3

4 CHILDREN and SGL: I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands), Psalm 119:11. (Hold out hands like a book.) (Repeat the verse with motions a few times.) SGL: I am so proud of you! (Give each child a high-five.) The more we practice saying those words, the more we will remember them. We will have God s Word in our heart and it will go with us wherever we go. What is with you wherever you go? CHILDREN and SGL: [Bottom Line] God s Word is with me wherever I go. SGL: You got it! (Give two thumbs up.) Sit back down with me so we can write in our prayer journal. (Hold journal, fun-shaped pen, and Globe Symbol Sticker. ) Today we are adding this sticker to our prayer journal. (Hold up Globe Symbol Sticker. ) This world sticker reminds us that we can take God s Word with us wherever we go in the whole, wide world. (Place the sticker in the journal.) Let s make a list under this world sticker of some of the places we go. We go to the park, beach, mountains, grandparents house, store, doctor, so many places! When I say your name, tell me one place you go and I ll write it down. We can use our list when we pray. (Write each child s name and what they say beside their name. Remember to print the words they say so the children can recognize their names and the letters.) Thank you! This is a great list of places. Let s pray and thank God that His Word is with us wherever we go. Would anyone like to pray before I pray? (Give each child who wants to pray the opportunity to do so.) Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 4

5 Prayer SGL: Dear God, Your words are so special. They help us know how You made everything, how much You love us, and that Jesus wants to be our friend forever. Thank You for making a way for Your words to go with us wherever we go, like when we go to (read the list the children made). Please help us read and say your words so we will always have them in our heart. We love You, God! In Jesus name, amen. Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect 1. Memory Verse with Motions Hear from God Memory Verse Review Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler s natural desire to move to help them learn What You Need: No supplies needed Before the Activity: Say the memory verse and do the following motions in front of the children: I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands). Psalm 119:11 (Hold out hands like a book.) During the Activity: Say the verse again with the motions and invite the children to do it with you. Repeat several times. Before the Activity: I am going to say our new memory verse today. Everyone watch me! I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands), Psalm 119:11. (Hold out hands like a book.) During the Activity: Now let's do it all together. Are you ready? I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands), Psalm 119:11. (Hold out hands like a book.) After the Activity: Good job, friends! Our memory verse tells us that God s Word is with us wherever we go. What is with you wherever you go? [Bottom Line] God s Word is with me wherever I go! Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 5

6 2. I Can Help Live for God Application Activity Made to Think: An advanced activity specifically designed for older preschoolers What You Need: Find the Food Activity Pages, white copy paper, white cardstock, scissors, crayons, and markers Before the Activity: Make copies of Find the Food on white copy paper. Each child will need one copy of Activity Page. During the Activity: Give each child a copy of Find the Food. Talk through the food key on the page together. Next, encourage them to find those food items hidden in the large picture on the page. Tell them to circle the food items with a marker when they find them and then color the picture with crayons. Before the Activity: I want you to look at this picture with me. Do you see this box with the food in it? (Point to the food key.) What kinds of foods do you see? (Name each food item together.) These same food items are hidden somewhere in your big picture. I want you to find all of the food hidden in the picture. When you find them, circle them with your marker. Then you can color in the picture with the crayons. After the Activity: You did it! You found all of the hidden food! And your pictures look so colorful. Great job! (High fives for everyone.) The new Bible verse we are learning talks about something else that is hidden. Let s say our Bible verse together and see if you hear what is hidden. Just say what I say and do what I do. I have hidden (thumbs to chest) your word (both hands point up) in my heart (cover heart with hands), Psalm 119:11. (Hold out hands like a book.) Great job! Again! (Repeat the verse with motions.) God s Word is hidden in our hearts! That is SO cool! When we learn Bible verses they stay with us wherever we go. So tell me: What is with you wherever you go? [Bottom Line] God s Word is with me wherever I go! Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2018 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 6