All Grades Nov 25 Thankfulness Bible Verse Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34) Teacher Enrichment This lesson falls the Sunday after Thanksgiving and explores thankfulness. The Bible contains so many scriptures that direct us to be thankful Chronicles, Colossians, the Psalms. The above Bible verse alone is repeated four times. It s easy to be full of thanksgiving when we are in a season of abundance. It gets trickier when we are facing difficulties and need. Yet it is in these hard times that we need thankfulness the most. In Thessalonians, the Bible encourages us to be thankful in all circumstances. As with the example of a donut, we must learn to see our ring of blessings, even when there is a hole in the middle. Even in the most difficult of seasons, we are alive and loved by God. What greater thing to be thankful for than that? In this lesson, children will begin to name their blessings. They will learn that all good things come from God and they should direct their thankfulness to God. Welcome Greet each child individually as they arrive. Introduce yourself by name. Encourage children to complete a Joy or Concern card if they have a particular joy or concern they would like to express or a Time or Talent offering card if they gave their time to God or used their talents to serve God or others during the previous week. If children bring monetary offering, they should keep it with them. Direct children to complete a Thankfulness Coloring Sheet or Word Search
Encourage conversation among the children and with you! Get to know the children in your group by asking about their week including activities and families. Introduce new children to each other and encourage friendships. Children s Worship The Children s Worship Leader will direct the class to leave their tables and sit in the carpet area. Encourage children to participate in Children s Worship and provide re-direction if necessary. Assist the Children s Worship leader with activities as needed. After the Small Group portion, the Children s Worship leader will lead additional large group activities. Encourage children to participate and assist as needed. Small Groups I Thank God For Booklets (K/1 st ) Explain to children they will be making a booklet. Each page will thank God for a different thing. They can choose which pages to include in their booklet. Page options are displayed on the back table with completed sample pages. Provide each child with a cover page. Then allow children to come to the page table and choose one page at a time to complete. If supplies are needed for a page, they are pre-portioned into baggies. Children may opt to complete as many or as few pages in the booklet as they desire (or can finish in the time allowed). Cover Color Add child s name Hands Trace child s hands Clouds Use Elmer s glue to glue cotton balls onto cloud Color
House Use tacky glue to glue popsicle sticks to outline house Add details if desired Church A set of colored, pre-cut shapes are provided Glue shapes in correct locations on the church Friends Draw their friends Rainbows Dabbers Thankfulness Baskets (2 nd /3 rd and 4 th /5 th ) Provide each child with five Thankfulness Cards and direct them to write down five things they are thankful for and why. Encourage children to be specific (e.g. Not just Friends, but My friend Susie because she always encourages me when I m struggling with math. ) Provide each child with a Thankfulness Basket cutout. Direct children to color, cutout and assemble their Thankfulness Basket and place the cards inside.
I Thank God For Booklet
I Thank God For Booklet
Thankfulness Basket