Bible Verse: Wash away all of the evil things I ve done. Make me pure from my sin. Psalm 51:2 Bible Point: Coloring Page: God forgave David s sins. God forgives me when I m sorry for doing wrong things. King David is Sorry. Resource: The Story for Little Ones, Chapter 12: David is Sorry
Bubble Fun Forgiveness What You Need: A large clear bowl containing bubble solution, a bubble wand, pencil, and a piece of paper. What You Do: At the start of the activity have the children guess how many bubbles could be blown from the solution and write their guesses on a piece of paper. Read the children s guesses aloud before the activity begins. Call three children to the table and hand each one a bubble wand. Help the other children form three counting sections. As the child comes forward to blow bubbles, have kids in the first section count the number of bubbles they see. Have an adult be the official counter. Give the other two children turns at blowing bubbles. Have the counting sections pick up counting where the previous group left off. Try to use up the solution, but if the activity seems to take too long, just make the point that the bubbles go on and on. Sometimes, even when we want to be good, we make mistakes. Instead of doing what is right, we make bad choices. When we make bad choices, we need to tell our sins to God and say we are sorry. He is always ready to forgive us when we are truly sorry. God is always ready to forgive us that is why he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us on the cross so we can be his friends forever. Remember the bubble solution on the table. Let s use the bubble solution to think about God s forgiveness. Ask the children how did the final number of bubbles compare to their guess? Tell the children that that s how it is with God s forgiveness. Sometimes we think he ll only forgive us 3 times or 10 times or 20 times. But the Bible says that God never runs out of forgiveness. God will forgive your mistakes, if you tell him you are sorry. God forgave David s mistakes. God forgives me when I m sorry for doing wrong things.
How Would You Feel If? What You Need: No Supplies Necessary What You Do: Tell the children that we are going to play a game where you will ask the children a bunch of questions and the children will answer the questions by smiling or laughing if they would be happy or by pretending to cry if they would be sad. How would you feel if your mom gave you a double ice-cream cone? How would you feel if your friend came over to play with you? How would you feel if your friend shared a favorite toy with you? How would you feel if your brother knocked over the tower you just built? How would you feel if your sister hugged you? How would you feel if your friend rushed to the playground swing so she could have it first? How would you feel if your brother shared his crackers with you? How would you feel if your friend got upset and pushed you down? How would you feel if the friend who pushed you said, I m sorry. Let s be friends.? Let s talk about how God feels. God feels happy when he sees us doing right things - sharing our toys and our treats, for example. He feels sad when he sees us doing wrong, such as grabbing things first, breaking other peoples things, or hurting them in any way. But you know what makes God really happy? When God sees that we ve done something wrong and then we come to him to say we are sorry, he is really excited! Just like we feel about that friend we talked about - the one who pushed and then said, I m sorry. Sometimes when other people say I m sorry to us, it s hard for us to forgive them. But when we say I m sorry to God, he is always ready to accept our apology. God will forgive your mistakes, if you tell him you are sorry.
A Tale of Two Kids What You Need: Toy Cards What You Do: Help kids form two groups. Hold up a few of the toy cards for the children to see. Distribute the toy cards, giving only the dog card to one group and all the rest of the toy cards to the other group. As you distribute the toy cards, a child may immediately point out the inequality. Explain to the children that no one is keeping the cards and that this must be the arrangement for the beginning of the story. Have the children spread the cards on the floor or table in front of them. Today you are going to hear a story that you and your group will act out. You ll need these toy cards to help you. Once upon a time there were two children. One was very rich and had lots of toys, lots of videos, and a huge swing set. She got to go on exciting vacations and have all the best treats. The other child came from a family with very little money. His family didn t go on big vacations and had only ordinary kinds of treats, but not very many of them. He only had one special toy, a little stuffed dog. But he loved his dog and took it everywhere. One day, the rich girl s mom came to her and said, Our church is having a toy drive. That means we re collecting toys to send to poor children far away. I want you to choose some of the toys you don t play with anymore. We ll give them to the toy drive. Well, the rich girl wasn t happy at all. She was not going to give away any of her toys. One day soon after this discussion, both of these children were playing at the same beach. The poor boy was having a great time! He hardly ever got to go to the beach. In fact, he was playing so hard that he lost track of the little stuffed dog. Well, the rich girl was getting bored and restless. So her eyes started to wander, Hmm she thought. That boy isn t playing with his stuffed dog. I II take it home and give it to my mom for the toy drive. I ve got so many toys, she ll never remember whether this dog was mine or not. And that s what happened. The rich girl stole the little stuffed dog and took it home. (Have the child with all the toys take the dog card from the other child.) How do you think the poor boy felt when he realized the stuffed dog was gone? Was it right for the rich girl to take a toy that didn t belong to her? This story is like the story that Nathan told King David to teach him a lesson. You see, King David was like the rich girl in this story. He didn t have toys or video games but he had a big home, lots of food and other entertainment. But Kind David wanted more. So he stole it from another man. God sent Nathan to tell David that God saw his sin. David really did feel sad about what he had done. He asked God to forgive him and God did.
Story Time What You Need: The book titled The Berenstain Bears, Forgiving Tree by Jan and Mike Berenstain. What You Do: Have the children cuddle up with you as you read The Berenstain Bears, The Forgiving Tree. At the end of the activity: Brother Bear was really mad at his cousin Fred, wasn t he? He didn t want to forgive his cousin for breaking his bike. Have you ever made a mistake, been really mad at a friend or done something wrong? (Pause for responses.) Every person in the whole wide world has made mistakes. Our Bible story today was about how God loves you and me and how he will forgive your mistakes, if you tell him you are sorry.
David s Crown What You Need: Paper crowns and markers. What You Do: Give each child a paper crown and let them decorate it. King David became King of God s great nation! As a king, David won many battles. With God s help, he defeated all the bad people in the area. Then the people in the kingdom lived in peace. King David was kind and brave and loved God with his whole heart. He took care of a boy who couldn t walk. David wrote many songs and poems to praise God. He made plans to build God a beautiful temple. King David did good things when he listened to God. However, King David also made a big mistake. When God showed him his mistake, King David was sorry. God forgave David s mistake and he will forgive your mistakes, if you tell him you are sorry. Let s make crown s to remind us that we can always tell God our mistakes and He will always forgive us!