July 16, 2017 Basic Truth: God made me. Key Question: Who can do what God wants you to do? Bottom Line: I can do what God wants me to do. Memory Verse: God made us to do good works. Ephesians 2:10, NCV Bible Story Focus: I can do what s right. Josiah (Young King) 2 Chronicles 34 Make It Fun 1. Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down is an activity that uses listening and gross motor skills to introduce today s Bible story. What You Need: Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down Activity Pages, white cardstock, and wall tape Before the Activity: Copy Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down onto the cardstock. Use the wall tape to secure the two signs to the walls on opposite sides of the room. During the Activity: Gather the children in an open area of the room. Point out the signs on the walls. Explain that you will read a scenario and if they think it is a good idea, they should move to the thumbs up sign. If they think it s a bad idea, they should move the thumbs down sign. After each choice, encourage them to come back to the center of the room as you read the next scenario. Before the Activity: Come and stand in the center of the room with me! I have a fun game for us to play together! During the Activity: Do you see the signs up on the wall? This one is a thumbs up sign. (Point.) And this one is a thumbs down sign. (Point.) I m going to give you some examples of good ideas and bad ideas. If you think it s a good idea, move to the thumbs up sign. If you think it s a bad idea, move to the thumbs down sign. Are you ready? (Pause.) Okay, here we go! Scenarios: Brushing your teeth (good idea/thumbs up) Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 1
Eating only candy all day long (bad idea/thumbs down) Playing nicely with your little brother (good idea/thumbs up) Screaming at your friend when you re mad (bad idea/thumbs down) Putting your toys away (good idea/thumbs up) Getting plenty of sleep (good idea/thumbs up) Pitching a fit when you re upset (bad idea/thumbs up) Saying you re sorry when you mess up (good idea/thumbs up) After the Activity: Wow! Great job, friends! You really know the difference between a good idea and a bad idea! You know how to do what s right. Today we re going to hear a Bible story about another kid just like you who did what was right. I can t wait for you to hear this story! 2. Building with Cups Building with Cups is an activity that teaches fine motor skills and teamwork while introducing today s Bible story. What You Need: 20-30 large plastic cups in any color Before the Activity: Place the cups in the activity area. During the Activity: Encourage the children to build with the cups. Challenge the children to build a large building or structure. After the Activity: Praise the children for working together as a team. Before the Activity: Let s work together and build something GREAT! I do not see any blocks, though. Hmmm. I know! Let s use these cups to build with! (Point to cups.) During the Activity: Stack the cups as high as you can! Let s make a very tall building! (Do activity.) After the Activity: You rock! That is a super cool building! Today in our Bible story we are going to talk about a king who built a special building too! I cannot wait to hear about this king! Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 2
Make It Real Small Group Time What You Need: Paperclip Memory Verse Card (from the Week One Activity Pages on the Website) in your Bible at Ephesians 2:10. Provide a journal and a fun-shaped pen for each small group. You will also need a hand stamp/stickers, Young Josiah cutout from the Activity Page, white paper, scissors, and a glue stick. Make enough copies of Young Josiah on white paper so when cut apart each small group journal has one picture. (Option: Pre-cut and glue the pictures in each journal on the page where you will be writing the children s prayer requests.) SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): I need my rockin small group to come sit with me! It s small group time! We ve talked a lot about kids who rock in the Bible. (Flip through journal and show the pictures.) First there was Jesus, then Samuel, then David, then Daniel and Miriam, and then today we heard a story about (hold up journal with Josiah picture or hold up the cutout of Josiah)... you got it! Our story today was about Josiah! Josiah rocked because He did what God wanted Him to do. All of these kids rocked because they did what God wanted them to do. You can do what God wants you to do too! Who can do what God wants you to do? CHILDREN and SGL: [Bottom Line] I can do what God wants me to do! SGL: And when you do what God wants you to do, you rock! SGL: The verse we ve been learning helps us remember that one of the things God wants us to do is good things. God made you and me to do good things. Stand up and let s say our verse together. I made sure to bring my hand stamp/stickers, because I know you ll want to say our verse by yourself. First we ll say it together. Here we go! (Open Bible to the verse and lay it down.) CHILDREN and SGL: God made (point both hands up) us to do (point to others and yourself) good works (thumbs up), Ephesians 2:10. (Open your hands like a book.) SGL: (Clap.) Awesome! You rocked that verse for sure! Now who s ready to say it by yourself? (Give each child the opportunity to say the verse on his own. Have your stickers/hand stamp ready to give when they say it.) Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 3
I am super proud of you! I want you to always remember that God made you to do good things, like when Josiah read what God said and then did it. That was the right thing to do. Everything God tells us to do in the Bible is the right thing. Let s make a list of things God tells us to do in our journal and then when we pray we can ask God to help us do them. One, two, three, come sit with me! (Open the prayer journal to the page with the Young Josiah or prepare to glue it on the page where you will be writing with your fun pen.) (Point to picture of Josiah.) Let s make our list of right things to do under this picture of Josiah since he did the right thing. When I say your name, tell me one thing God tells us to do and I ll write it in our prayer journal. (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.) This is such a great list! Would anyone like to pray before I pray? (Give each child who wants to pray the opportunity to do so.) Now I will pray. Prayer SGL: Dear God, thank You for giving us the Bible so we know what s right. I pray that (name each child) will learn to listen to what You say and then do it. Give them courage to be who You made them to be and to do what s right. Thank you for another day with these kids who rock. We love You. In Jesus name, amen. Make It Stick 1. Josiah Does the Right Thing Josiah Does the Right Thing is an activity that challenges children to listen and follow instructions to review today s Bible story. What You Need: No supplies needed Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 4
During the Activity: Retell the Bible story using the script below. Encourage the children to give a thumbs up when Josiah does the right thing. Before the Activity: Okay, friends, as I retell today s Bible story, I want you to give me a thumbs up when Josiah does the right thing. Are you ready? During the Activity Page: When Josiah was just eight years old, he became the king! When you re a king, you can go anywhere you want and do anything you want, because you re the boss. Josiah could have eaten junk food all day or told all the kids in his kingdom to bring him their toys. But he didn t do that! Josiah wanted to follow God! (Thumbs up.) Josiah did good things for the people in his kingdom. He tore down all the bad statues and rebuilt the giant temple where people went to honor God. (Thumbs up.) AND he read the Bible, God s Word, and promised to do everything God wanted him to do. (Thumbs up.) Josiah was a great king! He chose to listen to God and do the right thing. (Thumbs up.) After the Activity: Josiah was only eight years old, but he still chose to listen to God and do the right thing. Why? Because KIDS ROCK! You rock because God made you to do the right thing. Who can do what God wants you to do? [Bottom Line] I can do what God wants me to do. 2. If I Were King If I Were King is an activity that allows the children to brainstorm a key element in today s Bible story. What You Need: King Activity Page, white cardstock, permanent marker, and crayons Before the Activity: Copy the Activity Page onto the cardstock. During the Activity: Ask the children to use the crayons to draw what they would do if they were a king. After the children have finished their drawing, use the marker to write what the children said they have drawn. After the Activity: Share each child s drawing with the rest of class. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 5
Before the Activity: In our story today, we heard about a kid just a little older than you who was a king! WOW! Kids rock! During the Activity: (Give each child an Activity Page.) What would you do if YOU were king? (Pause.) Great answers! Use the crayons to draw what you would do if you were a king on your page! (Do activity.) Great job! I am going to come around and write what your awesome picture is about! (Pause.) Now let s see what all of our friends would do if they were king! (Finish activity.) After the Activity: You all had such amazing answers! You would do great things just like Josiah. Josiah did what s right by doing what God wanted him to do! You can too! Kids rock! Who can do what God wants you to do? [Bottom Line] I can do what God wants me to do! Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 6