Week Three Preschool BIBLE STORY The Christmas Story JESUS IS BORN LUKE 1:1-20 MEMORY VERSE For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son John 3:16 NIV MOVIE Veggietales: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas BOTTOM LINE Jesus is God s gift to me! 20 10 10 25 SOCIAL: Providing time for fun interaction. Christmas Cookies Taking Care of Baby Felt Nativity Scene WORSHIP: Inviting people to respond to God. Jesus, Savior! STORY: Communicating God s truth in engaging ways. Bottom Line Movie Snack : Creating a safe place to connect. Game or Craft Christmas Tree Christmas Story Pray WHAT YOU DO 1. Go to myfreedom.org/kidsleaders to do the following: 1. Read through preschool leader guide several times throughout the week to familiarize yourself with what to say, how long it should take, and the order of activities. 2. Watch the Bible story video. 3. Preview the worship songs and get familiar with the motions to help lead your preschoolers in worship. 2. Arrive on time to tag in briefly with the team, set up activity materials, and connect with early arrivers. 3. Teach kids about God s Word with energy! WHAT YOU NEED (provided for you) -play-doh -felt board -masking tape -cookie cutters -felt nativity pieces -Christmas story cards -play-doh tools -gift tin -crayons -cookie trays -Christmas star ornament -coloring pages -baby dolls -Week 3 DVD -candy canes -baby blankets -pretzel packs -drive time cards -baby bibs -mini waters - Star activity page -baby bottles -felt Christmas tree -diapers -felt Christmas star (1)
SOCIAL Christmas Cookies Welcome kids as they enter your room with energy! Use the social activities during the social time as an option for kids to do as they check in. CUE: Play Veggietales Christmas CD. -Place the play-doh, cookie cutters, and metal trays on the activity table. -Encourage kids to choose one color of play-doh to play with. -Allow 3-4 kids to be at the table at one time. -Encourage kids to make Christmas cookies using the tools provided. -When finished, have kids place their color of Play-Doh back in WHAT YOU SAY: Friends! It s Christmas at Freedom Kids! Let s pretend we are at the north pole and make some Christmas cookies with our friends! Will you help us? (Do activity.) Wow, these cookies look delicious. You are great bakers! 1 SOCIAL Taking Care of Baby -Place the baby dolls and accessories in an open area of the room. -Show kids how to take care of a baby. -Invite kids to take care of the babies by feeding them, changing them, swaddling, and rocking them. WHAT YOU SAY: -I have lots of babies here that need to be taken care of. Will you help me? We can use the blankets to keep them warm. We have diapers to change them. We even have bottles if they get hungry! (Do activity.) Today we will hear about a very special baby. He was born in a stable and one day would grow up to change the world! 2
SOCIAL Felt Nativity Scene -Set up the felt board in an area of the room. -Set out the felt nativity pieces. -Show kids how the felt pieces will stick to the felt board. -Invite kids to tell the Christmas story of baby Jesus being born. -Allow time for kids to demonstrate using the different pieces provided. WHAT YOU SAY: Look at what we get to play with this month! We can use these felt pieces to tell a story! You press the pieces onto the felt board and look! They stick! Will you help me tell a story? (Do activity.) Wow! You are great story tellers! Later today we ll hear one of the greatest stories of all time that has all of these people, animals, and stars in it! 3 WORSHIP LEADER: It s time to clean up! Let s hurry because I have a gift for you! Let s work together to clean up and when you are finished come sit with me! CUE: Clean Up Song (on DVD) at 8:35/10:05/11:35. Give kids a few minutes to clean up and sit near you; challenge them to finish before the song is over! Good morning friends! What a great day to be at Freedom Kids! What holiday is everyone excited for? Allow kids to respond. Christmas! Today we are going to pass our tin around but don t open it yet! When the tin comes to you, tell us your name and what you put on top of your Christmas tree. Pass the tin around the circle and let kids share. Great job friends! Are you ready to see what s inside? Open the tin. It s a star! Hold up the star. Friends! At Christmas we remember that God sent His son Jesus down to earth for us! When he was born, a very special star appeared in the sky! This star led the 3 wise men to where Jesus was born! The whole world started hearing the good news that Jesus was born for us! Jesus is God s gift to us! Repeat after me: Jesus (point up) is God s gift (hand out like a book) to me (point to yourself with thumbs)! Let s all stand and sing with our loudest voices to share this good news about Jesus with everyone! CUE: Jesus, Savior! music video. 4
STORY Bible Story Great job, everyone! Who is God s gift to you? Jesus is God s gift to me! Let s look over at these schedule cards on our wall to find out what s next! Hmm let s see. We have played. Flip the play card over. We did our worship. Flip the worship card over. What s next? Pause. A Movie! Could I have one of my friends who is sitting quietly come stick our schedule star on the movie card? Pick a child to place the star on the movie card.great job! We will use our schedule this month to help us know what comes next! Now, who knows what extra special thing we are doing this month? Pause. We are at the movies! Yay! Today we are going to watch our last veggie tales movie called The Star of Christmas! Are you ready to watch?! Show me by wiggling your listening ears! Wiggle ears. Mouths are quiet. Finger over mouth. Let s put our special eyes on the screen. Point to eyes. CUE: Movie video. (30 minutes) Play the movie located on your DVD. About 15-20 minutes into the movie, pass out pretzel snack bags and water to each kid. Give kids with allergies a fruit snack pack. That was a great story! Christmas is about sharing the good news that God s Son, Jesus was born! Not about decorations and fancy shows. Is Christmas about decorations and presents? No! Christmas is about sharing the good news that Jesus was born for us because God loves us! Jesus (point up) is God s gift (hand out like a book) to me (point to yourself with thumbs)! Adjust the schedule star to find out what comes next. 5 Game Activity -Hold up the star and ask the children to follow it around the room. -Every 30 seconds, give the kids a new action to do while you follow. (Ex: rock baby Jesus, act like a sheep from the stable, shout, Jesus is born! Share the news! ) -Walk all around the room leading the children as you review this month s Bible story. -Continue as time and interest allow. WHAT YOU SAY: Today we are going to pretend to be the 3 wise men by following the star! Follow me and listen for directions. Here we go! Follow me and let s pretend to rock baby Jesus! Was baby Jesus born in a nice hotel or hospital like us? No! He was born in a stable with his Mom Mary, his Dad Joseph, and lots of animals. On that night a special star appeared in the sky. A group of men called shepherds came to visit Jesus! Follow me and let s sound like sheep. (Baa!) Shepherds took care of sheep. When they heard the good news, they were so happy that they went to tell everyone what happened! Another group of men called the wise men saw the special star in the sky. They began to follow the star to find Jesus! They each brought him a very special gift. Follow me and pretend to carry a gift for Jesus! The star led the wise men to hear the good news that Jesus had been born. Follow me and say, Jesus is born! Share the news! Say a few times. Great job! The star reminds us to share the good news that Jesus is born with out friends and family. That s what Christmas is all about. Adjust the schedule star to find out what comes next. 6
Christmas Tree -Have kids gather around the felt Christmas tree on the wall. -Explain how the star on our tree reminds us to share the good news of Jesus being born. -Select 1 kid to put up the felt star on top of the tree. -Allow kids to each come up and s. -Each time a lights is put up, encourage kids to say, Jesus is God s gift to me! WHAT YOU SAY: Do any of you put a star on top of your tree? The star reminds us of the star in the sky when Jesus was born. This star led the wise men to Jesus. The whole world was hearing about the good news that Jesus was born! When we look at the star on our tree, we can remember to share the good news that Jesus was born with our friends and family! The lights help us remember how much God loves us because God s love makes us feel bright and warm. The presents remind us of God s present to us, Jesus! Friends, each of us will have a turn to touch the star and say, Jesus is God s gift to me! Jesus is God s gift to me! Adjust the schedule star to find out what comes next. 7 Christmas Story -Using the story cards, read the Christmas story. -The words will be on the back of each card so that you can read while the kids see the pictures. -Each card will prompt kids to do certain actions that go along with the story to keep them moving. -Encourage kids to do the promptings when needed. WHAT YOU SAY: This time of year we get to talk about a very special story from the Bible. Hold up a Bible. It s the Christmas story! Are the stories from the Bible true? Yes! And today s story is extra extra special. Will you help me tell it? Let s all stand because I am going to need your help! (Read the story cards and prompt kids to do the action when asked.) Great job, everyone. Let s say our bottom line together! Jesus is God s gift to me! Adjust the schedule star to find out what comes next. 8
Pray WHAT YOU SAY: It s Prayer Group time. C mon friends! Follow me! (Lead group to specific area in the room.) Here we are! Let s sit down in 1, 2, 3! Sit down with me! Today we learned Christmas isn t about all about the decorations and shows. It s about celebrating Jesus and sharing the good news with our friends and family! God sent Jesus because He loves us SO much. When we see a star on top of a Christmas tree, we can remember to share the true meaning of Christmas. Let s pray and thank God for His wonderful gift. Would anyone like to pray and thank God for sending Jesus? Allow each kids that would like a turn to pray. Close with the prayer below. Dear God, thank you for sending your son Jesus to earth for us. We want to share this with everyone! Give us courage to share with our friends and family. We love you! In Jesus name, Amen. Adjust the schedule star to find out what comes next. 9 HOME Coloring Pages -Allow kids to spread out in the room and/or at the activity tables. -Give each kids a coloring page. -Point out the star on the paper. -Set out the crayons and allow kids to color during check out. -Greet parents at the door. -Give each parent at the door a Drive Time card to take home. -Give each kid a candy cane on their way out. WHAT YOU SAY: It s almost time to go home! Let s move our schedule star and see what s last! Pick a kid to move the schedule star to the last card Color. It looks like it s time to color while we wait to be checked out! Look at our coloring paper today! Let s count how many stars there are. Count the stars out loud together. The stars remind us to share the good news that Jesus is born with our friends and family! 10