We can listen to God and thank God. Bible Verse

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God Lesson 2 Bible Point We can listen to God and thank God. Bible Verse I listen carefully to what God is saying (adapted from Psalm 85:8). Growing Closer to Jesus Children will n thank God for meeting basic needs such as food and shelter, n hear how Hannah thanked God for Samuel, n teach Whiskers how to be thankful, and n thank God for others in the class. Teacher Enrichment Bible Basis n Hannah gives Samuel back to God. 1 Samuel 1:21 2:2 Hannah s prayer and God s answer to it warn us of an important truth: If we make a vow to God, we must be ready to fulfill it. Hannah vowed that if God gave her a son she would give him fully to the service of the Lord. When Samuel was born, Hannah lived up to her vow. As soon as Samuel was old enough to live without his mother (sometime after he was about 3 years old), she took him to Eli at the tabernacle and gave him to the service of the Lord. Samuel grew up there, no doubt performing simple tasks for Eli. Prayer Read 2 Peter 3:13. Is there anything you could promise God that s greater than his promises to you? Pray: Dear God, thank you for the incredible promises you have made to me. One that I m especially thankful for is Before the Lesson n Collect the necessary items for the activities you plan to use, referring to the Classroom Supplies and Learning Lab Supplies listed on the chart. n Make photocopies of the Today I Learned handout (at the end of this lesson) to send home with your c hildren. n Pray for the children in your class and for God s direction as you teach the lesson. 27

Lesson 2 This Lesson at a Glance Welcome Time Let s Get Started Direct children to one or more of the optional activities until everyone arrives. What Children Will Do Classroom Supplies Learning Lab Supplies Welcome! Receive name tags, and be greeted by the teacher. Option 1: Thanks for Water Thank God for water, and demonstrate things they can do with water. Option 2: Block Thanks Build block houses, and thank God for homes to live in. Option 3: Food for Thanks Prepare a fruit snack. Praying Hands Name Tags (p. 23), scissors, marker, safety pins or tape Shallow tub, water, plastic boats and animals Blocks Bowl, fresh fruit, wet wipes Bible Story Time Pick-Up Time Sing a song as they pick up toys and gather for Bible Story Time. Setting the Stage Thank God for things they see inside and outside. CD player Inside-Outside Thanks handout (p. 38), scissors, tape Bible Song and Prayer Time Sing a song, bring out the Bible, and pray together. Bible, CD player Hear and Tell the Bible Story Hear how Hannah gave Samuel back to God. Bible, CD player Bible Skills Do the Bible Story Play a game to thank God for friends. Closing Be Thankful Teach Whiskers to be thankful. Bowl of sliced fruit prepared earlier Musical Fruit Sing a song of thanks, and then enjoy a snack. Bowl of sliced fruit, wet wipes, disposable bowls, plastic spoons, CD player *See the end of this lesson for extra-time ideas and supplies. 28

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God Welcome Time Supplies: Praying Hands Name Tags (p. 23), scissors, marker, safety pins or tape Bend down and make eye contact with children as they arrive. Greet each child individually with an enthusiastic smile. Thank each child for coming to class today. As children arrive, ask them how they put last week s lesson into practice. Use questions such as When did you practice being a good listener this week? and Tell me about a time you talked to God this week. Say: Today we re going to learn that we can listen to God and thank God. Hand out the praying hands name tags children made during Lesson 1, and help them attach the name tags to their clothing. If some of the name tags were damaged or if children weren t in class that week, have them make new name tags using the photocopiable name tag patterns. Direct children to the Let s Get Started activities you ve set up. It s important to say the Bible Point just as it s written in each activity. Repeating the Bible Point again and again will help children remember it and apply it to their lives. Let s Get Started Set up one or more of the following activities for children to do as they arrive. After you greet each child, invite him or her to choose an activity. Circulate among the children to offer help as needed and direct children s conversations toward today s lesson. Ask questions such as What kinds of things are you thankful for? or What do you do to show you re thankful? n Option 1: Thanks for Water Supplies: shallow tub, water, plastic boats and animals Set out a tub of lukewarm water. Let children play with plastic boats and animals in the water. As they play, encourage them to show you all the things they can do with water. For example, they might give the animals a bath or dip the animals faces in the water as if the animals are drinking. Explain that today they ll be learning that we can listen to God and thank God. Have children pause from their play to thank God for water. Encourage them to tell you other things they re thankful for. Remind them to thank God for those things, too. n Option 2: Block Thanks Supplies: blocks Form groups of two or three and give each group some blocks. Have children work together to build a house out of their blocks. When all the groups have built their houses, talk about how houses keep us safe and warm. Lead children in thanking God for their houses. Explain that today they ll be learning that we can listen to God and thank God. 29

Lesson 2 If you choose not to do Option 3, you ll need to provide another healthy snack for children to eat later in the lesson. n Option 3: Food for Thanks Supplies: bowl, fresh fruit, wet wipes Before class, cut a variety of fresh fruit into bite-sized chunks. Have children clean their hands with wet wipes or at a nearby sink. Invite children to help you mix the cut fruit in a bowl. If you like, have an adult supervise children as they peel and cut bananas with plastic knives and add these to the fruit mixture. Explain that you ll be sharing the fruit snack with the class later in the lesson. As you work, have children tell you about their favorite fruit. Remind them that God made the fruit and all the food we eat. Tell them that we can listen to God and thank God for all the beautiful and nutritious food he s given us. When everyone has arrived and you re ready to move on to Bible Story Time, encourage the children to finish what they re doing and get ready to clean up. n Pick-Up Time Supplies: CD player Lead children in singing Come Along With Me with the track 2 CD (track 2) to the tune of Come and Go With Me. Encourage children to sing along as they help clean up the room. You ll be using this song each week to alert children to start picking up. At first, they may need a little encouragement. But after a few weeks, picking up and singing along will become a familiar routine. Come along with me and pick up all our things, Pick up all our things, Pick up all our things. Come along with me and pick up all our things So our room will be clean. (Repeat 2x.) Bible Story Time n Setting the Stage Supplies: Inside-Outside Thanks handout (p. 38), scissors, tape Before class, photocopy the Inside-Outside Thanks handout and cut the page in half as indicated. Post the indoor and outdoor scenes in different areas of your classroom. Make sure to post the pictures at children s eye level. Tell children that when they hear you clap your hands two times, they re to stop what they re doing and clap their hands two times. Practice this signal a few times. Encourage children to respond quickly so you ll have time for all the fun activities you ve planned. 30

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God Ask: What did you make or do when you came to class today? (Played with water; built a house with blocks; made a fruit snack to share.) Say: Some of you showed what you can do with water, some of you built houses with blocks, and some of you made a special fruit snack that we ll get to share later. You were all discovering things we can be thankful for. Today we re learning that we can listen to God and thank God. Think about our Bible story from last week. What was Hannah thankful for? (Samuel; God answered her prayer; God gave her a baby.) Hannah was thankful that God gave her a baby boy. God gives us good things, too. Let s thank God for some of those things now. I m going to say some things we can be thankful for. If I say something that you d find outside, go to the outside picture. Can you point to the outside picture right now? Pause for children to point to the picture of the outdoor scene, and then continue: If I say something that you d find inside, go to the inside picture. Does everybody see the inside picture? Point to the inside picture, and then continue: When everyone is standing by the picture, we ll thank God together. Read the following items, one at a time. Pause after you read each one to allow time for children to go to the right picture. After all the children have assembled near the picture for each item, lead them in saying, Thank you, God, for [name of item]. your bed your toys the swing set trees food to eat your family Say: We have a lot of things to be thankful for. God likes it when we thank him for the good things he gives us. Let s bring out our Bible now and hear how Hannah thanked God for her baby boy. Children may disagree whether some items, such as families and food to eat, are found inside or outside. That s OK. Point out that families can eat and play together both inside and outside. Let children stand by the picture of their choice as you thank God for these things. n Bible Song and prayer Time SupplieS: Bible, CD player Say: Now it s time to choose a Bible person to bring tracks 3 & 4 me the Bible marked with today s Bible story. As we sing our Bible song, we ll pass around our special Bible. The person who s holding the Bible when the music stops will be our Bible person today. Lead children in singing I m So Glad for the Bible with the CD (track 3) to the tune of Give Me Oil in My Lamp. As you sing, pass around the special Bible. 31

Lesson 2 I m so glad for the Bible, Keep me learnin, learnin, learnin. I m so glad for God s book today. I m so glad for the Bible, Keep me learnin, learnin, learnin Keep me learnin all about his way. Let me hear bout God s love Keep me learnin, learnin, learnin. Let me hear bout God s love for me. Let me hear bout God s love Keep me learnin, learnin, learnin. Let s shine the light for all to see. (Repeat first verse.) When the music stops, invite the child who s holding the Bible to bring it to you. Stamp the child s hand with the listening stamp and thank him or her for bringing you the Bible. Then stamp the other children s hands. Return the listening stamp and ink pad to the Learning Lab. Say: I m thankful for [name of child who brought the Bible], and I m thankful for everyone in our class today. I m glad we re learning that we can listen to God and thank God. Let s thank God together for all our friends in this class. Lead children in singing I m So Glad We re Together with the CD (track 4) to the tune of Give Me Oil in My Lamp. I m so glad we re together. Keep us prayin, prayin, prayin. I m so glad we re all here today. I m so glad we re together. Keep us prayin, prayin, prayin Prayin for each other every day. Lead children in folding their hands and bowing their heads as you continue to sing. Thank you, Lord, for each one. Keep me thankful, thankful, thankful. Thank you for everyone who s here. Thank you, Lord, for each one. Keep me thankful, thankful, thankful Thankful for our friends both far and near. 32

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God n Hear and Tell the Bible Story Supplies: Bible, CD player Open the Bible to 1 Samuel 1 2, and show it to the track 7 children. Say: Our Bible story comes from the Bible, God s special book. Our Bible Big Book shows us pictures of our Bible story. Today we ll listen to our story on the CD. First we ll hear what happened to Hannah in our story last week. Then we ll hear what Hannah did after Samuel was born. Listen carefully to hear how Hannah showed God she was thankful. Play the Thankful Hannah segment from the CD (track 7). As you listen, show children the corresponding pictures from the Bible Big Book: Samuel. You can follow along with the text on the back cover of the Bible Big Book and turn the pages as indicated. You ll be using pages 1 to 4 for today s Bible story. After the segment, stop the CD, and set the Bible Big Book aside. Ask: What did Hannah do to show God she was thankful? (She brought Samuel to the priest; she sang a song to God; she worshipped God.) What can we do to show God we re thankful? (Say thank you to God; pray; come to church; sing songs.) Say: We can listen to God and thank God, just as Hannah did. A little while ago, we thanked God by singing a song. Now let s try another way of thanking God. n Do the Bible Story Supplies: none Have children sit in a circle. Then say: The Bible tells us that Hannah was thankful that God had given her Samuel. We know from the Bible that we can listen to God and thank God, too. We have so much to be thankful for! Let s play a thankful game to show God how much we re thankful. Here s how we ll do it. Stand up and pick up the maraca. Walk around the circle and shake the maraca to this chant: Bring in a box of thank you notes. Talk about times you might send a thank you note to someone. Ask the children if they can think of other ways to tell someone thank you. Help children sign their names to thank you notes and let them take these to a parent or friend. Bible Skills I thank God. Oh yes, I do. I thank God. How about you? I thank God. Oh yes, I do. I thank God, [child s name], for you! Then run around the circle while the child chases you. When you get back to the child s empty spot, sit down and hand the child the maraca so that he or she can do the chant and choose the next child. Remind the children that they can t choose someone who has already been chosen until everyone has had a turn. 33

Lesson 2 When everyone has had a turn, put away the maraca and say: We have so much to be thankful for. I m thankful for each one of you friends that I have in this class, and I m thankful that God gave us Jesus to be our forever friend. Let s thank God for Jesus and for our friendships right now! Pray: Dear God, I m so thankful for everyone in this class. I m thankful for [name each child], and I m thankful that you gave us Jesus as our very best friend of all. Thank you that you listen to us. In Jesus name, amen. Say: All of this running around and chasing is making me hungry. I think it s time for us to have our snack. Maybe our friend Whiskers would like to share it with us. Let s wait quietly for him to come out. Closing n Be Thankful SupplieS: bowl of sliced fruit prepared in Option 3 Bring out Whiskers the Mouse and the fruit snack children prepared earlier, and go through the following script. When you finish, put Whiskers away. Children can enjoy the snack as part of the next activity. Teacher: Good morning, Whiskers. Your friends have a special treat they d like to share with you. Whiskers: Oh, goody! Gimme, gimme, gimme! Teacher: Well, if you want some, you ll have to ask nicely. Whiskers: Sorry, I m just really hungry. Can I have it now please? Teacher: All right. Your friends have fixed a bowl full of the wonderful fruit that God made. You may have one serving of fruit. (Offer the bowl.) Whiskers: Just one? I want more! One isn t enough! I thought I was going to get a lot! Teacher: Whiskers, some people in the world don t have much food at all. Don t you think you should be thankful for the fruit instead of complaining because you want more? Whiskers: Well, I guess so. But I still don t see why I can t have a lot. Teacher: Children, I think we need to tell Whiskers what we re learning today about being thankful. Let s tell him how Hannah was thankful for Samuel. (Lead children in telling Whiskers how Hannah thanked God for Samuel. Help them teach Whiskers that we can listen to God and thank God.) 34

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God Teacher: We need to be thankful for what God has given us. Boys and girls, can you tell Whiskers some of the things you re thankful for? (Let children respond, and then continue.) Whiskers: I guess we do have a lot to be thankful for. I ll try to remember to think about those things and thank God for them. I m going to go home right now and thank God for that yummy snack you shared with me. I ll see you next time! Goodbye! Permission to photocopy this script from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum Preschool granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539. HandsOnBible.com n Musical Fruit SupplieS: bowl of sliced fruit, wet wipes, disposable bowls, plastic spoons, CD player Say: We can listen to God and thank God. We ve thanked track 6 God for many things today. Now let s sing a song to thank God for our snack. Lead children in singing Thank You, God, for Everything to the tune of London Bridge. (This song is not on the CD.) Thank you, God, for everything, Everything, everything. Thank you, God, for everything. Thanks for fruit. Say: Our Bible verse says, I listen carefully to what God is saying (adapted from Psalm 85:8). Last week we learned a song to help us remember this. We can listen to this song while we have our snack. Play Listen (Psalm 85:8) on the CD (track 6) while you continue as indicated below. Children can sing along if they like, or they can just listen to the song. I listen carefully to what the Lord is saying. I want to hear him talk to me, And I want to obey him. I will listen with my ears. I will listen with my heart. I will listen as I grow Because I know God loves me. (Repeat.) Have children clean their hands with wet wipes or at a nearby sink. Distribute disposable bowls and plastic spoons, and then pass around the bowl of fruit. Have children share something they re thankful for as they serve themselves some fruit. Let children enjoy the snack, and then close with a prayer similar to this one: Dear God, thank you for all the good things you give us. We also thank you for this class where we can come and learn more about you. In Jesus name, amen. 35

Lesson 2 Want even more activity ideas for this lesson? Check out HandsOnBible.com/tips. Growing closer to Jesus extends beyond the classroom. Photocopy the Today I Learned handout (at the end of this lesson) for this week, and send it home with the children. Encourage parents to use the handout to plan meaningful family activities to reinforce this week s topic. 36

Hannah Gives Samuel Back to God n Lively Learning: We Can Listen track 5 For Extra Time If you have a long class time or want to add additional elements to your lesson, try one of the following activities. On separate sheets of newsprint, draw a simple ear, a simple mouth, and a simple Bible. Tape the pictures to the wall in different parts of your room. Lead children in singing We Can Listen with the CD (track 5) to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. The words to We Can Listen are on page 20. Encourage children to listen to the words of the song carefully. Repeat the song and have children go to the ear picture each time they hear the words listen or ears. Have them go to the mouth picture each time they hear the word talk. Have them go to the Bible picture each time they hear God s Word. Remind children that we can listen to God and thank God. n Make to Take: Family Wheels Before class, draw lines on paper plates to divide them into four sections. Then cut out one section of each plate. You ll need one cut-out plate for each child in your class. Each child will also need a whole plate. Set out crayons, and give each child two paper plates. Help children draw lines on their plates to divide the plates into four sections as shown at left. Then have children draw one of the following pictures in each section: their family, a food their family likes to eat, an activity their family likes to do, and a place their family likes to go. When children finish drawing their pictures, help each one place a cut-out plate on top of the drawing plate and then fasten the two plates together with a paper fastener. Encourage them to share their pictures with each other and tell each other about the things they ve drawn. As they re sharing their pictures, remind them that we can listen to God and thank God for our families and all the good things he s given us. n Treat to Eat: Cones of Plenty Have children clean their hands with wet wipes or at a nearby sink. Set out a bowl of berries and give each child an empty sugar cone and a napkin. Have children put berries in their cones until the cones are completely full. As children eat the berries from their cones, talk about how God fills our lives with good things. Remind children that we can listen to God and thank God for all the good things he gives us. n Story Picture: Thankful Hannah Before class, pick a handful of leaves. Give each child a copy of the Today I Learned handout. Set out the leaves and show children how to place them under the picture of Hannah s robe and then color the robe to create a textured rubbing. While children are waiting for leaves, have them color Hannah s face. As children work, review how Hannah thanked God for Samuel. 37

Inside-Outside PatternsThanks Photocopy and cut out loosely. 38 Permission to photocopy this page from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum Preschool granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539. HandsOnBible.com

We can listen to God and thank God. Help me learn this: I listen carefully to what God is saying (adapted from Psalm 85:8). Ask me: n What did Hannah thank God for? n What are you thankful for? n What can our family do to thank God for the good things he s given us? Family Fun Lesson 2 Today your child learned that WE CAN LISTEN TO GOD AND THANK GOD. Children heard how Hannah thanked God for Samuel. They talked about things they were thankful for. n Get out the family photo album and look at pictures of each family member. Thank God for each person in your family. n Go on a thankful prayer walk through your neighborhood. As you pass each house, thank God for the family that lives there. You can also thank God for the plants and animals he has created for us to enjoy. Hannah Sings Because She Is Thankful (1 Samuel 1:21 2:2) Permission to photocopy this handout from Group s Hands-On Bible Curriculum Preschool granted for local church use. Copyright Group Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 481, Loveland, CO 80539. HandsOnBible.com 39