Gadgets & Gizmos EE Small Group Lesson Plan June 03/04, 2017 Uniquely Wired >> Wonderfully Made SMALL GROUP LEADERS: THE CREATOR The Creation Story Part 1 Genesis 1:1-25 For all activities: divide into as many small groups as leadership and resources allow. Supplies: Each grade level has two buckets of small group supplies per service. Each bucket is prepped for 15 children. At the end of service, return all materials to the bucket. 4:00pm & 9:00am move prayer journal to the buckets for the following service. CONVERSATION STARTER No supplies needed Use the following prompts to facilitate discussion. Invite each child in the small group to share. What does it mean to be creative? Can you think of someone who is creative? Why do you think they are creative? What are some examples of things you have created? PRAYER Index cards, prayer journal, prayer box, pencils/ pens SMALL GROUP LEADER: You can choose to take the index cards home with you to pray over during the week or you can leave them. A coordinator will take all cards that are left to pray over during the week. 1
BASIC TRUTH I CAN TRUST GOD NO MATTER WHAT BOTTOM LINE GOD MADE EVERYTHING Divide children into small groups as leadership allows. (Prayer Journal) Invite each child in your small group to share a prayer request or Yay God!. Write the child s name and prayer/praise in the book. Invite children to pray for the members of their small group. After each child who wants to pray has had the opportunity, close in prayer. (Prayer Box) Give each child an index card and pencil/pen. Instruct children to write a Yay God! on one side of the index card and a prayer request on the opposite side. Collect the index cards and place in the prayer box. Invite children to pray for the members of their small group. After each child who wants to pray has had the opportunity, close in prayer. MEMORY VERSE How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. ~Psalm 139:14, NIrV AMAZING AND WONDERFUL Bible Lead the kids in creating a song or rap for the verse. You can piggy back the NIrV version on FIRST GRADE LEADER: Guide children to open the Bibles to the marked page. Point to the word Psalm at the top of the page as you say Psalm aloud. Then guide children to find the big number 139 (1-3-9) on the page. Explain that this is the chapter number. Finally, guide them to look under the big 139 for the little 14; this is the verse number. Tell them to leave their finger on the verse as you read the verse aloud. Then lead everyone to say the verse together. 2
MEMORY VERSE How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. ~ Psalm 139:14, NIrV... BIBLE STORY The Creator (Creation Story Part 1) Genesis 1:1-25 the tune Brother John : How you made me (How you made me) is a-mazing (is a-mazing) amazing and wonderful (amazing and wonderful) I praise you for that (I praise you for that Or the NIV version can be sung to Mary Had a Little Lamb : I praise you because I am because I am because I am I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God made you amazing and wonderful! One way you re amazing and wonderful is that you re creative. You can sing new songs, make new music, and dance new dances! You can be creative because God is creative, and He made you to be like Him. So remember: God made everything. He s creative and you re creative! 3
BASIC TRUTH I CAN TRUST GOD NO MATTER WHAT BOTTOM LINE GOD MADE EVERYTHING ACTIVITIES (Choose one or more as time allows) CHALLENGE CREATIONS Paper. Markers or crayons Give kids paper and markers. Challenge kids to draw objects using only one shape. For example, a cat using only circles, a flower using only squares, a bird using only triangles, a form of transportation using only diamonds, etc. I love how no two drawings are the same. But there is something all the drawings have in common; they are all very creative! You came up with your own way to use the shapes to create the objects. ALPHABET TILES Container, alphabet letters Instruct kids to sit in a circle. Kids pass a bag or container filled with alphabet tiles around the circle. When the bag is passed to them, they draw one alphabet tile and say, God made everything, even... and fill in the blank with something God made that starts with the letter on the tile they drew. 4
MEMORY VERSE How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. ~ Psalm 139:14, NIrV... BIBLE STORY The Creator (Creation Story Part 1) Genesis 1:1-25 Once they say something God made, they quickly return the tile to the bag/container and pass it to the kid sitting next to them, who then draws a tile and does the same thing. OPTIONAL: Set a timer at the start of each round. The kid holding the bag when the timer goes off is out. Continue playing until there is only one kid left. Be sure to set the timer to varying times each round so kids can t predict when it will buzz. Everything that is made can be traced back to God. Look at these alphabet tiles. Someone made the tiles by copying the letters on paper and cutting them apart for this game. But where did the paper come from? (wood, trees) Who grew the trees used to make the paper? (farmer, whoever planted the seeds) And where did the seeds come from? (Continue with the questions until there is no other answer but God.) Yes, God made everything. He made trees, rain, sun, dirt, seeds and ultimately, He is even responsible for the creation of these alphabet magnets. CREATION STATION In the Beginning, Creation Station, and Creation Station Pieces, zip-top bags Give each kid a Creation Station page and a set of pieces. Lead kids to sequentially place each piece on their Creation Station page as you engage them in a Bible story review, using the In the Beginning Activity Page as a guide. If some want to work ahead, let them do so as long as they don t confuse or disrupt the ones who are following along with your review. 5
BASIC TRUTH I CAN TRUST GOD NO MATTER WHAT BOTTOM LINE GOD MADE EVERYTHING Hand out zip-top bags. Tell kids to put their pieces in the bags. Encourage kids to take their Creation Station pages and pieces home and use them to tell the creation story to their family and friends. God made everything. He made the heavens and the earth; He made light; He made the sky; He made the land and sea; He made all the plants and flowers and trees; He made the sun, moon, and stars; He made all the animals that swim and all the animals that fly; and He made all the animals that move on the ground! God made everything! He is SO creative! And you know what? God also made YOU, and He made you to be like Him in some very special ways. One special way God made you to be like Him is that He made you to be creative. You can make things that have never been made before and create things that have never been created before. You can create by writing stories, painting pictures, making up games, solving problems, baking cookies, and SO many other ways. How are you creative? Do you like to draw? Or build things? Or make up songs? Or dance? Or play an instrument? Or bake? Or make up games? Or pretend? (Invite kids to vote for ways they are creative.) I bet you like to do those things because our great and amazing and loving God made YOU to be creative, just like He is! So remember: God made everything, and He made YOU to be creative. GOD MADE THAT Poster board, paper, pencils/pens, Bibles, a die On the poster board, write the heading, In the beginning God created... Below the heading write, Day 1. Ask kids, What did God create on Day 1? (light) and write the answer on the whiteboard. If 6
MEMORY VERSE How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. ~ Psalm 139:14, NIrV... BIBLE STORY The Creator (Creation Story Part 1) Genesis 1:1-25 kids need prompting, look up Genesis 1:3-5. Repeat for the other days of creation. Day 1: light (Genesis 1:3-5) Day 2: sky (Genesis 1:6-8) Day 3: land, plants, seas (Genesis 1:9-13) Day 4: sun and moon; greater and lesser lights (Genesis 1:14-19) Day 5: sea creatures, birds (Genesis 1:20-23) Day 6: animals (Genesis 1:24-25) Give kids paper and pencils. Select one of the days by rolling a die. Give kids one minute to make a list of things related to what God created on that day. Be sure to challenge kids to be creative with their lists and come up with as many unique items as possible. For example: If you rolled a 3, kids could write: flowers, corn, dirt, grass, maple trees, etc. If you rolled a 1, kids could list items that produce light: lamps, flashlights, matches, etc. Similar to the game Scattergories, if there are any duplicate items, kids mark those off of their lists. Any item that appears only on one kid s list counts as a point. You can skip days two and four, as there aren t enough unique items to play the game. The kid with the most points at the end is the winner. WHAT YOU SAY: WOW! You came up with a ton of things God made, and that was only the beginning. God made everything! It would be impossible to list everything God made; we would be here forever if we tried. God certainly is creative and the cool thing is He made you in His image, so He blessed each of you with the ability to be creative. Imagine what you could do because you re made in God s image. Maybe you will be an inventor, or an artist, or an engineer. Maybe you will write poems or encourag- 7
BASIC TRUTH I CAN TRUST GOD NO MATTER WHAT BOTTOM LINE GOD MADE EVERYTHING ing notes to people. There are so many possibilities, and all because you have a creative God who loves you so much He made you in His image. [Make It Personal] (Share with the group one of your favorite things God made. Maybe it is the ocean or a mountain. Maybe it is the stars or snow. Explain why it is one of your favorite creations.) PRAY AND DISMISS God made SO many amazing things! He is so creative! God made you to be creative, too. You can t make the sun, moon, stars, plants, and animals, but you CAN create by drawing or painting or building or singing or cooking or pretending or solving puzzles. You can also use the creativity God gave you to help others and show them how much God loves them. So this week, here s the thing to remember: God made everything, and He made you creative! Lead kids in prayer, thanking God for the creative world He made. Also thank Him that we can be creative because He s creative. Give each child a GodTime card. Pass out Parent Cue cards as adults arrive to pick up. Remind kids of today s Bottom Line and encourage them to tell their parent their favorite thing God made. 8