December 10 & 11, 2016 Week 2 - PDF Free Download

December 10 & 11, 2016 Week 2 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Key Question: Why is Jesus special? Bottom Line: Jesus is God s Son. Memory Verse: I bring you good news of great joy. Luke 2:10, NLV Bible Story Focus: everyone knew Jesus is God s Son. Jesus Born in a Stable Luke 2:1-7 Welcome Activity/Make It Fun Prepare the following activity as your children arrive. Let one or two teachers lead small groups of children in activities throughout the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. At this age not all children will participate, but most will want to be part of the fun. Welcome Activity - Craft Stick Sort Craft Stick Sort is an activity that teaches color recognition and sorting. What You Need: 15-20 red jumbo craft sticks and 15-20 green jumbo craft sticks What You Do: Before the Activity: Place all of the craft sticks in a pile in the middle of the play area. During the Activity: Encourage the children to sort the craft sticks into two piles: one pile for the red sticks and one pile for the green sticks. After the Activity: Introduce today s Bible story. What You Say: Before the Activity: Look at this big pile of red and green sticks! (Point.) The colors red and green remind me of our Countdown to Christmas! I love Christmas time! During the Activity: Let s work together and separate these sticks! We can make a pile of green sticks and a pile of red sticks. (Pick up a red stick and start a new pile.) Can you find red sticks and put them on top of this one? (Point.) (Pause.) Great job! (Pick up a green stick and start a new pile.) Now let s put all of the green sticks on top of this one! (Point.) (Finish activity.) Nice work! 2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.whatisorange.org 9

After the Activity: It s so much fun to count down the days to Christmas! In our story today, we re going to hear about the GREATEST gift that God gave us at the very first Christmas! Are you ready to find out what it is? Make It True Worship What You Need: CD player, this month s worship song, Away in a Manger 2016, downloaded from the Website, and the motions for the song LEADER: Good morning, everyone. Are you having fun getting ready for Christmas? I can t wait to celebrate Jesus birthday at the end of the month. Now tell me: Why is Jesus special? [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son. Great job! Let s sing. Lead children in singing Away in a Manger 2016. Wow! You are doing great with this song. It s so fun to sing together with you! Why is Jesus special? [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son. Bible Story What You Need: Bible and a baby doll wrapped in a blanket- (You will have several baby dolls in the large cabinet area.) STORYTELLER: Hello, friends! It s great to see you today. You know, I LOVE this time of year. All month long, we re waiting for something SUPER special! Remember, God sent us a special baby. What is His name? (Pause.) Yes! Jesus! [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son! Today I want to talk about His birth. It was pretty amazing! Today s TRUE story from the Bible starts with Mary and Joseph going all the way to Bethlehem, which is a long trip. They had to go because the king told everyone to go back to their hometowns so they could be counted. Remember, Mary was going to have a baby! And, now she had to go on a long trip! Oh, no. To get there, Mary probably rode a donkey. Everybody do your best donkey, okay? Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw! Whoa, we have a lot of fun donkeys here today. So Mary and Joseph were on their way to be Bethlehem to be counted. Let s see if we can count them. Count with me. (Point to the children as you count each one.) Great counting, friends! So, Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. Now something very special is about to 2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.whatisorange.org 10

happen. Mary is about to have a baby! And not just any baby (whisper) a very special baby boy named Jesus! Jesus is God s Son. But not everyone knew that! So when they got to Bethlehem, the town was full and there was no place for them to stay. They knocked on the first door. Everyone knock with me. (Pretend to knock.) But there was no room. They knocked on the next door. Knock with me. (Pretend to knock.) But there was no room there either. Let s knock on this door. (Pretend to knock.) There s no one there either! Finally, they knocked on an innkeeper s door. (Pretend to knock.) Yay, he answered! But he didn t have any room either. So, he told Mary and Joseph they could sleep in the stable outside. Ew! Does it smell bad in a stable? Probably! Do you know what kind of animals live in a stable? There are cows. Let me hear your best moo! MOO! Whoa, sounds like there s a whole herd in here. There are sheep in a stable. Give me your best baa! Baa! And there might have been a donkey there too. Let s hear your best hee-haw! Hee-haw! Wait. Wait. I think it s time. Do you hear that? It sounds like a baby. (Hold the baby doll.) Look! It s a baby! He s born! God s Son Jesus is born. Everyone whisper, Yay, when I say to. Ready? Go! (Whisper) Yay! The Bible said that Mary wrapped baby Jesus in cloth and laid Him in the manger. Wow! Baby Jesus was born a LONG time ago in a stable, and we celebrate that on Christmas day. We celebrate Jesus because Jesus is God s Son. So tell me: Why is Jesus special? CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son! STORYTELLER: That s right! When God sent us Jesus, He definitely gave us the best gift ever! And that is worth celebrating. Why is Jesus special? CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son! STORYTELLER: That s right. Let s thank God for this very special, precious gift! Heavenly Father, thank You SO much for sending Jesus, Your only Son, to us. He is the BEST gift ever. Thank You for the way You took care of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus on the night He was born. That s why we celebrate Christmas! We love You. Amen. 2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.whatisorange.org 11

Make It Stick-(Craft) The following activity is designed to help make the Bottom Line stick. Craft/Activity Handprint Stable Handprint Stable is an activity that creates a keepsake of the Bible story for the children to take home. What You Need: Stable Background and Nativity Scene Activity Pages, light blue cardstock, white paper, brown paint, spongebrushes, glue sticks, yellow star stickers, and scissors What You Do: Before the Activity: Copy the Stable Background Activity Page onto the blue paper and set aside. Copy the Nativity Scene Activity Page onto the white paper. ***Attention Craft Team- Please, cut out each scene along the dotted lines. Each child will need one scene. During the Activity: Give each child a Stable Background page. Using the spongebrush and the brown paint, paint one of the child s hands. Be sure to leave an unpainted oval shape on the palm. Press the painted hand onto the Stable Background page above the words. Glue the Nativity Scene onto the unpainted oval shape. Place the star sticker on top of the middle finger of the handprint. After the Activity: Set aside to dry. What You Say: Before the Activity: I LOVED our story today! I m so glad God gave us Jesus! During the Activity: We are going to make a special picture of our story today to take home with us. (Do handprint.) You re doing a great job! Now we can put Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus on your handprint. Your handprint is the stable! (Glue on Nativity Scene. ) Now we need a star on the top! (Help the children place the star sticker.) Perfect! After the Activity: Now we have a beautiful picture to help us remember our story! God gave us Jesus the best gift ever! Why is Jesus special? [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son! 2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.whatisorange.org 12

Dismissal Set any take-home creations where you or parents can get them easily. Greet parents at the door and tell them that this month preschoolers are learning that [Bottom Line] Jesus loves everyone. Encourage parents to repeat the Bottom Line at home and help their child understand that [Bottom Line] Jesus loves everyone. Dismissal Activity- Animal Verse Animal Verse is an activity that teaches the memory verse through repetition and fun sounds and movements. What You Need: No supplies needed What You Do: Before the Activity: Have the children stand in a circle. During the Activity: Challenge the children to say the memory verse while acting like the following animals: monkey, tiger, cow, and chicken. After the Activity: Say the Bottom Line together. What You Say: Before the Activity: Do you remember our memory verse for this month? (Pause.) Great! Let s say it all together! I bring you good news of great joy, Luke 2:10. During the Activity: Good job! Since we had animals in our Bible story today, let s be silly and say our verse while acting like animals! First, let s be monkeys! (Place one hand on your stomach and one hand on the top of your head.) Ooh-ooh. Okay monkeys, let s say our Memory Verse. I bring you good news of great joy, Luke 2:10. Awesome! Now let s be tigers. (Get down on all fours.) Roar! I bring you good news of great joy, Luke 2:10. Now let s be cows. (Stay on all fours.) Moooo. I bring you good news of great joy, Luke 2:10. Awesome! (Stand up.) Now we can be chickens! (Place hands under your arms and flap them like wings.) Bawk-bawk! I bring you good news of great joy, Luke 2:10. It s so much fun to pretend to be animals! After the Activity: Our verse tells us that God gave us the GREATEST gift: JESUS! He is the best giver ever! Why is Jesus special? [Bottom Line] Jesus is God s Son! 2011 Orange. All rights reserved. www.whatisorange.org 13