First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool

First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool February 26, 2017 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Key Question: Who loves you? Bottom Line: Jesus loves me. Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Story Focus: Jesus loves me no matter what. The Thankful Woman Luke 7:36-50 Make It Fun (Introductory Activities, 10 minutes) 1. Sweet and Stinky What You Need: Sweet and Stinky pictures What You Do: During the Activity: Show the children the activity pictures and ask them to separate them into sweet and stinky smelling piles. What You Say: During the Activity: I have a few different pictures here of things that smell! Can you help me sort them into sweet and stinky piles? After the Activity: Good sorting everyone. Today we re going to hear a story about a woman who used something sweet to say thank you to Jesus. Question of the Day: What is your favorite cartoon character and why? 2. Bible Story Read A Gift for Jesus pgs 423-426 in The Beginner s Bible. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 1

First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool Make It Stick (Application Activities, 15 minutes) 1. Heart Necklace What You Need: Heart Charm Activity Page, pony beads, yarn / string, masking tape What You Do: Before the Activity: Cut the string into 24-inch pieces. You need one piece of string per child. You will need one heart charm per child. Place the pony beads on the plates in the center of the table. Lay each piece of string on the table perpendicular to each chair and tape down the far end to the table, so that every seat has a piece of string. During the Activity: Point out the taped down string to the children. Explain that today you will be making heart necklaces for them to take home. Instruct the children to count out five pony beads and place them on the string. When finished, pass out a paper heart charm to each child to add to the string. Fold the heart tab over the string and tape it to the back of the heart. Then, encourage the children to add five more pony beads. Be prepared to pull the tape off and tie the two ends together to make a necklace as each child finishes. What You Say: Before the Activity: Today, I want us to make some heart charm necklaces to remind us of how much Jesus loves us! During the Activity: Do you see the string in front of your chair? (Point to string.) Great! Let s count out five pony beads and string them on. (Allow time for children to work.) Now, let s add our Jesus loves me charm next to the beads. And finally, add five more beads. As you finish, I ll come around and help you tie off your string to make a necklace! After the Activity: Wow! Your necklaces look great! I hope you will wear these and be reminded that Jesus loves you very much. His love for you is SO BIG! Who loves you? [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me. It says so right here on your heart! [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me. 2. Perfume for Jesus What You Need: Perfume Activity Page, tissue paper, glue stick What You Do: Before the Activity: Give each child a perfume activity page. Set out tissue paper in the center of the table. During the Activity: Allow each child to decorate their perfume bottle with tissue paper. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 2

First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool What You Say: During the Activity: That was a great story! Do you remember what the woman used to clean Jesus feet? That s right, a sweet smelling bottle of perfume. We re going to decorate our own bottle of perfume to help us remember the story. (help kids glue and decorate their perfume bottle.) After the Activity: Those perfume bottle are beautiful! Now you can take them home to remind you of our story. That Jesus loves us no matter what! Just like He loved the woman even though she made some bad decisions. 3. Books of the Bible What You Do: Review the books of the Bible, Matthew 2 Timothy, with the children. Practice saying them in funny voices (whispering, squeaking like a mouse, etc.), motor activity (jumping, marching, etc.), or with hand motions (clapping, chomping like an alligator, etc.). What You Say: OK, now we are going to learn the New Testament Books of the Bible. Do you know who we learn about in the New Testament? That s right! We learn about Jesus! Let s practice! Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy. Can you say it with me? Make It Real (Small Group Application & Prayer, 5 minutes) Make It Real is designed to help preschoolers understand how the Bottom Line applies to them. They ll discuss real -life experiences and share prayer requests. Small Group Time What You Need: Paperclip Memory Verse Card in your Bible at Ephesians 3:18. Provide a journal and a fun-shaped pen for each small group. SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): The woman in our Bible story today had made a lot of wrong choices. There were people who didn t want to be her friend anymore, but not Jesus. Jesus still loved her and wanted to be her friend. The woman was so thankful that Jesus had forgiven her and was still her friend that she washed His feet and put perfume on them. It was her way of saying thank you. We ve all done something wrong. It s wonderful knowing that our friend Jesus loves us with a love that is SO big He will keep loving us no matter what. Who loves you? CHILDREN and SGL: [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me! SGL: Yes, He does! And Jesus will never stop loving you because His love is SO big we can t even measure it! Remember what our verse says? (Open Bible to memory verse card.) Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 3

First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool SGL: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, Ephesians 3:18. (Lay Bible down.) Jesus love is SO big He can forgive us when we do wrong things. That s why we should be thankful like the woman in our story today. Let s say our verse with the motions one time and then anyone who wants to try and say it by yourself can give it a try. CHILDREN and SGL: How wide (hold arms out wide) and long (hold arms out vertically) and high (jump as high as you can) and deep (pretend to dig with a shovel) is the love (hug yourself) of Christ (point up), Ephesians 3:18. (Open hands like a book.) (Repeat several times.) (Give each child the opportunity to say the verse on his or her own. Have your stickers/hand stamp ready to give when they say it.) SGL: I am so proud of you! And the best part is that verse will help you always remember how big Jesus love is for you! It s SO big! Come sit with me now. It s time to write in our prayer journal. Today I want us to make a list of things we ve done that were wrong. When we re done with our list, I m going to do something special to it that I think will make you smile. First, I ll write everyone s name in our prayer journal. When I say your name, I want you to tell me one thing you ve done that was wrong and I ll write it beside your name. (Open prayer journal and hold your fun pen. 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.) SGL: Thank you for sharing your wrong things with me. Are you ready to see what I m going to do that will make you smile? Watch this! (Use a red marker to draw a big red heart over the list.) Jesus love for you is SO big He can forgive you when you do something wrong. He still loves you and wants to be your friend forever. Who wants to be your friend forever? CHILDREN and SGL: [Basic Truth] Jesus wants to be my friend forever. SGL: Yes, He does! And nothing will ever change that. Okay, let s pray. Would anyone like to pray before I pray? (Give each child who wants to pray the opportunity to do so.) Now I will pray. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 4

First Look Feb 26, 2017, Week 4 Small Group, Preschool Prayer SGL: Dear God, thank You for giving us Jesus. Thank You that He loves us and wants to be our friend forever. Thank You that there is nothing we can do that will make Jesus stop loving us. I pray that when we do things like (read the list the children made) we will always ask Jesus to forgive us and know that He still loves us. I pray my friends (name each child) will grow up with thankful hearts because Jesus loves them. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Get Ready to Dismiss (Think ORANGE) Place take-home creations and this month s Parent Cue in each child s paper bag. Greet parents at the door and tell them that this month preschoolers are learning that [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me Encourage parents to repeat the Bottom Line at home and help their child understand that [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me Encourage parents to use the activities found in Parent CUE to reinforce this month s Bottom Line: [Bottom Line] Jesus loves me AND this month s Memory Verse. Curriculum Materials for 3- through 5-year-olds 2015 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 5

Heart Charm Heart Necklace February Week 4 Copy onto white cardstock and cut out. One heart charm per child. CURRICULUM FOR 3- to 5- YEAR OLDS 2016 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com

Jesus loves me no matter what The Thankful Woman Luke 7:36-50