First Look TM Curriculum for Preschoolers

First Look TM Curriculum for Preschoolers We want preschoolers to take a first look at who God is and understand... God made me. God loves me. Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Editor in Chief: Kathy Hill Copy Editor: Wendi Zebell Curriculum Writer: Autumn Ward Illustrators: Jodi Blackwell Graphic Designer: Elloa Davis FL Creative Team: Sue Miller, Lois Pallansch, Kathy Hill, Kendra Fleming, Autumn Ward, Ashley Hiers, Donna High Chief Executive Officer: Reggie Joiner Chief Operating Officer: Reggie Goodin Executive Director: Sue Miller Technical and Web Support: Hadley Brandt Partner Support: Deb Springer Scripture marked NIrV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader s Version, Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other nonsubscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work is a direct violation of US copyright laws. 2011 First Look. All rights reserved. STATEMENT OF FAITH USER AGREEMENT The rethink Group, Inc. gladly grants permission to churches, schools, and other licensees to tailor First Look TM materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences, and physical environment needs. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including Bible stories, learning activities, scripts, and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we ve expressed in our Statement of Faith.

February 5, 2012 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Key Question: How do you love God? Bottom Line: Love God with all your heart. Memory Verse: Love... God with all your heart. Matthew 22:37, NIrV Bible Story: Jesus did what God wanted Him to do. Teaching in the Temple Luke 2:41-50 Make It Fun (Introductory Activities, 10 minutes) Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as your 3-, 4-, or 5-year-olds arrive. Let one or two teachers lead activities in different areas of the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. 1. Miss Polly Wolly What You Need: A fun hat, glasses, a scarf anything a fun character would wear. What You Do: Play a fun game of Polly Wolly Says. This is the same as Simon Says, only Polly Wolly is much more fun. She tells the kids to make fun and silly movements. Continue playing as long as the children are interested. (Option: Allow the older children to take turns being Polly Wolly.) During the activity: We have a special friend that is going to play a fun game with us today. Her name is (put on the accessories) Polly Wolly. (Change your voice.) Hi, boys and girls! Would you like to play a game with me? (Pause.) Yippee! Then stand up and put on your best listening ears, because I am going to tell you how to play. When I say, Polly Wolly says..., then I want you to do exactly what I say. If I tell you to do something, but I DON T say, Polly Wolly says, then DON T do it. Got it? Let s practice a few times before we start playing. After the activity: I had fun playing with you all today. It s time for me to go bye-bye. See you later, alligator! (Take off the accessories and go back to your normal voice.) You did a great job doing what Polly Wolly wanted you to do. Yay for you! (Clap.) Guess what? (Pause briefly.) Jesus did what God wanted Him to do in our Bible story today. Yay for Jesus! (Clap.) 2. Who s Missing? What You Need: No supplies are needed. What You Do: Sit in a circle with the children. Tell them to take a good look at all their friends. You may even want to name each child before you play. Ask the children to

close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, you or another SGL will choose a child to stand out of sight. When you say, Open, the children must look around and try to guess who s missing. During the activity: Come here, everyone! We re going to play a game! Let s make a circle and sit down. There we go. Now, before we begin, I want you to tell me how many friends we have in our circle? Let s count them together. (Do so.) Wow! We have (insert the number) friends! Now let s all close our eyes really tightly. No peeking! (Choose one child to stand out of sight.) When I say, Open, I want you to open your eyes. Okay, open! Take a good look around. One of our friends is not here anymore. Who s missing? (Continue playing as long as the children are interested. Make sure everyone gets a turn to be the missing friend.) At the end of the activity: Guess who s missing in our Bible story today. (Pause.) Our friend, Jesus! It s true! Jesus family looked and looked all around. They FINALLY found Him! I wonder where He was and what He was doing. 3. On the Move What You Need: Small toy cars, wooden blocks, and small toy trains and train tracks. (Option: Instead of blocks and train tracks, use blue tape to make roads and tracks all over the floor.) What You Do: Sit with the children and play with the cars and trains. Make roads and train tracks. Pretend to go to different places. Talk about what you will do when you get where you re going. During the activity: I like going places, don t you? Let s pretend we re going to the grocery store. What will we do when we get to the grocery store? (Pause.) Sure! We can buy some yummy food! Now let s pretend we are going to the park. What will we do when we get to the park? (Pause.) Fun! Those are some really fun things. (Continue playing with the children as long as they are interested. Pretend to go to all kinds of places like a toy store, to visit family members, the zoo, the library, the beach, etc. Talk about what you will do when you get there.) At the end of the activity: Whew! That was fun! We traveled all over the place. In our Bible story today, Jesus traveled with His family to a place called Jerusalem. I can t wait to find out what He did when He got there. Make It True (Large Group, 15 minutes)

After children have participated in Make It Fun, gather them for a large group time that includes interactive worship, introductory sketch and Bible story. Worship (We have CDs of the music as well as lyrics and motions in the CRC.) What You Need: The memory verse is Matthew 22:37. You will need a CD player and this month s worship song, This Is How, the song Good, Good Friend, and the motions for the songs. WORSHIP LEADER: I am so glad you re here today! Clap your hands if you re ready to sing to God and tell Him how much you love Him. (Clap and look around.) Awesome! This month we will be learning how to love God. You [Bottom Line] love God with all your heart. That s how you love God! Several times today you ll hear me ask, How do you love God? When you hear me ask that, I want you to say, [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. Let s practice. How do you love God? CHILDREN and WORSHIP LEADER: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart! WORSHIP LEADER: Good job! Now let s stand up and sing to God, telling Him we love Him with ALL our heart! Lead children in singing This Is How, this month s worship song. WORSHIP LEADER: Wow! That was great! God loves to hear you sing to Him. God also loves to hear you say new Bible verses. Let me read our new Bible verse. It says, Love... God with all your heart, Matthew 22:37. Let s learn this verse together so we can show God we love Him. Watch me say it and do the motions, and then you can do it with me! Love (hug yourself) God (point up with both index fingers) with all (stretch your arms out wide to each side) your heart (put both hands on your chest over your heart). Now you say it with me! CHILDREN and WORSHIP LEADER: Love (hug yourself) God (point up with both index fingers) with all (stretch your arms out wide to each side) your heart (put both hands on your chest over your heart). WORSHIP LEADER: Great job, everybody! This is such a great verse to learn because it reminds us to [Bottom Line] love God with all your heart. How do you love God? CHILDREN and WORSHIP LEADER: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart! WORSHIP LEADER: God wants to teach us other ways to love Him, too. That s why God gave us Jesus. Jesus loves God and wants to teach us how to love God. Now that is a good, good friend! Jesus wants to be your friend forever, and [Basic Truth] Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Who wants to be your friend forever?

CHILDREN and WORSHIP LEADER: [Basic Truth] Jesus wants to be my friend forever. WORSHIP LEADER: Let s sing a song about our good, good friend, Jesus! Lead children in singing Good, Good Friend. WORSHIP LEADER: Yay! Whoo-hoo! I am so glad [Basic Truth] Jesus wants to be my friend forever! Well, it s time for me to go. I ll be back next time! Bye! Introductory Sketch (You can choose to do this part of the lesson or not.) What You Need: A box with a lid (decorated with hearts) and small pieces of paper. What You Do: The box contains small pieces of blank paper from which the Host will read ideas about how to show love. HOST: Hi, friends! Guess what? It s February! It s the month of love (give yourself a big hug and build with excitement), of hugs and kisses, boxes of chocolate, stuffed animals, flowers, and Valentine s Day cards! There are so many different ways to show people we love them! Raise your hand if you love someone. (Look around with excitement.) Why, look at the hands! We all love someone! I ve been thinking about all the people I love, and there are a LOT of them. I really want to show them all how much I love them, but there s just one problem. I m all out of ideas. So do you want to see what I did? (Pause for kids responses, then get your box and place it in the center of the storytelling area.) I brought this. Ta-da! It s a Love Box! It has lots of ideas on how to show people love. I ve been waiting until we were all together to try it out. Would you like to try out my box? (Pause for responses.) Cool! Here we go! (Using big motions, reach into the box and pick a piece of paper.) Well, good golly! Would you look at that? It worked! Let me see what the piece of paper says. It says, Sing a song to show your love. Hmm... I guess I could sing a song! (Clear your throat and get ready to sing the words I love you over and over to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. ) La, la, la, la. Okay. I m ready. Love you, love you, love you, love. Love you, love you, love you, love. I love you, yes I do. I love you, yes I do. Love you, love you, love you, love.

Love you, love you, I love you. (Looking at the Love Box) Looks like my new Love Box really does have some great ideas. Bible Story What You Need: A Bible. STORYTELLER: I m so glad you re here today because I have a story to tell you. It s a true story about someone I love very much. His name is Jesus, and His story is right here in the Bible. That s how I know it s a true story, because all the stories in the Bible are true. (Open your Bible.) Now, in this story, Jesus is only 12 years old. He s still a kid like you. He s a big kid, but still a kid. Jesus and His family had been on a long trip to a city named Jerusalem. Raise your hand if you ve ever been on a trip with your family? (Pause.) Cool! All of Jesus family went on this trip aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and of course Jesus parents. They had a special time together, and then it was time to go back home. Stand up with me! Let s pretend we are walking back home with Jesus and His family. Here we go! Walk, walk. walk. Now let s take BIG steps. (Bring your knees up high.) Walk, walk, walk. Now let s take little steps. (Walk on your tiptoes.) Walk, walk, walk. Let s go back to BIG steps. (Bring your knees up high.) Walk, walk, walk. And little steps again. (Walk on your tiptoes.) Walk, walk, walk. Good job. Sit down so we can hear the rest of our story. (Pause.) While they were walking home, Jesus parents looked around and didn t see Him anywhere. So, they began to look for Him. (Walk to different parts of your story area like you are going from one person to the next. Let the panic in your voice build until you find Jesus.) Jesus? Jesus? Hey, is Jesus with you? No? You thought He was with me? Let s go ask His uncle. Hey, uncle! Is Jesus with you? No? You thought He was with His grandparents? Hey, grandparents! Is Jesus with you? No? You thought He was with His mom? Oh, no! We left Jesus back in the city! We ve got to go back! This time the family didn t walk. They ran! They ran all the way back to the city! Stand up! We need to run back to the city! (Run in place for a minute. When you stop, act like you are out of breath.) Whew! We made it. You can sit down. (Pause.) Now, when Jesus family got back to the city, everyone began looking for Him. They looked this way. Look this way with me! (Put your hand above your eyes and look in one direction.) They looked that way. Look

that way with me! (With your hand still above your eyes, look in the opposite direction.) They FINALLY found Jesus! Yay! (Clap.) Guess what He was doing. Jesus was doing what God wanted Him to do. He was sitting in the temple, which is like a church, talking to people about God! All the people who heard what Jesus was saying were amazed! You see, Jesus loves God with all His heart. Because Jesus loves God with all His heart, He does what God wants Him to do. Doing what God wants Him to do is one of the ways Jesus shows God that He loves Him. On this trip, God wanted Jesus to talk to people about Him. Yes, Jesus did what God wanted Him to do and THEN He went back home with His family. Do you know that YOU can love God like Jesus did? It s true! You can! You can love God with all your heart, too! How do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. How do you love God? CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. STORYTELLER: Again! How do you love God? CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. STORYTELLER: You got it! Let s pray. God, we love You. Help us to do what You want us to do so we can love You with ALL our heart. Thank You for sending Jesus to teach us how to love You. Amen. Make It Stick (Application Activities, 35 minutes) These activities are designed to help preschoolers understand and remember today s Bible story and Bottom Line. Offer as many of the following activities as your time, facilities, resources, and leadership allow. You may want to lead one activity at a time. Or offer two activities at once and allow half the kids to participate in each, then switch groups and repeat the activities. 1. Heart Pieces What You Need: Heart Puzzle and Empty Heart (both from the Activity Pages), white cardstock, red cardstock, small plastic bags, glue sticks, and scissors. What You Do: Before the activity: Make a copy of Heart Puzzle on red cardstock for each child and a copy of Empty Heart on white cardstock for each child. For the younger children, precut the puzzle pieces and place the pieces in a baggie. Allow the older children to cut the puzzle pieces themselves.

During the activity: Instruct the children to assemble the red puzzle pieces inside the white Empty Heart Activity Page. When you see that a child has all the pieces in the right place, lead him or her to say, [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. Then let them do the puzzle again. When they are finished playing with the heart puzzle, assist them in gluing the pieces in place. At the start of the activity: (Hold up a piece of the puzzle.) This is a piece of a heart puzzle. Do you think this is ALL of the heart? No. This is just one piece. (Hold up two pieces.) What about now? Do you think this is all of the heart? No, it still isn t ALL of the heart. Let s see if we can get ALL of these hearts back together. During the activity: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. At the end of the activity: So, tell me, how do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart! 2. Memory Match What You Need: Game Cards (from the Activity Pages), white cardstock, and scissors. What You Do: Before the activity: Make two copies of Game Cards on white cardstock. Cut the cards apart. During the activity: Mix all the game cards up and place them facedown to play a traditional game of memory match. You and the children will take turns turning two cards over at a time. If they don t match, turn them back over. If they do match, briefly review what the cards mean and set them aside. Once all of the matches have been made, mix the cards up, lay them facedown, and play again! At the start of the activity: This game is so much fun! Let s play! During the activity: (Below are suggestions for what to say with each card.) This friend is doing what God wants by sharing. This friend is doing what God wants by helping. The Bible teaches us how to love God with all our heart. This friend is doing what God wants by talking to Him. This friend is doing what God wants by showing love. At the end of the activity: If we want to love God with all our heart, we will do what He wants us to do. Do you remember some things from our game that God wants us to do? (Pause.) Yes, those are all great things to do! [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart! How do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart.

3. Looking for Jesus What You Need: Hidden Jesus (from the Activity Pages), white cardstock, crayons, and a sheet of smiley face stickers. What You Do: Before the activity: Make a copy of Hidden Jesus on white cardstock for each child. During the activity: Give each child a copy of the Activity Page and some crayons. Briefly talk about how Jesus family looked for Him everywhere. Ask questions like, Where did they find Jesus? What was He doing? Instruct the children to look for Jesus in their picture. When they find Him, give each child a smiley face sticker to place beside Jesus. Then instruct kids to color the rest of the picture. During the activity: This is a picture of Jerusalem. Can you say Jerusalem? (Pause.) Good job! That is a really hard word to say. Who was in Jerusalem in our story today? (Pause.) That s right! Jesus and His family went to the city of Jerusalem for a visit. Later, when Jesus family was walking home, they couldn t find Jesus anywhere! They quickly went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. Look at your picture. Can you find Jesus in your picture? (As the children find Jesus, give them a smiley face sticker to put beside Him.) Jesus family finally found Him, and that made them so happy. Do you know what Jesus was doing when His family found Him? He was sitting with the Bible teachers listening and asking questions. God wanted Jesus to be there so He could help the people understand the true story of God. Now that we know where Jesus is in our picture, let s use these crayons to add a little color. At the end of the activity: Jesus did what God wanted Him to do because He loves God with all His heart. Doing what God wants you to do is one way to show God you love Him with all your heart. How do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. 4. Stop and Go What You Need: Two large craft sticks, a large red die-cut heart, a large green die-cut heart, tape. What You Do: Before the activity: Tape each heart cutout to a large craft stick. During the activity: Line the children up along one wall. Stand at the opposite wall with the green and red heart cutouts. Tell the children that green means go and red means stop. Explain that when you hold up the green heart, the children can walk toward you. However, when you hold up the red heart, they must stop. Each time they stop, lead them in repeating the Bible verse together. If you hold up the red heart two times in a

row, then the children should say the memory verse two times in a row. At the start of the activity: Today we are going to play a fun game! I have in my hands two different colored heart shapes. I have a green heart and a red heart. When I hold up the green heart, I want you to walk toward me. When I hold up the red heart, I want you to stop walking. Do you think you can do that? (Pause.) Great. Let s try one time before we get started. (Hold up the green heart.) Okay, everyone. What color is my heart? (Pause.) Very good! Now you walk toward me. (Hold up the red heart.) Now what color is the heart? (Pause.) That s right. It s red. Now you need to stop walking. I think we are ready to play the game. Everyone go back to the start. During the activity: (Each time you hold up the red heart cutout) Love... God with all your heart, Matthew 22:37. At the end of the activity: You are very good at that game! I hope that Bible verse stays with you forever and that you always remember to [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. How do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. 5. Let Me Count the Ways What You Need: Heart Chain (from the Activity Pages), white cardstock, scissors, colored pencils, a hole punch, transparent tape, and yarn. (Option: Instead of using yarn, you can use ribbon, twist ties, kite string, pipe cleaner anything that can be threaded through a hole and the ends tied together for hanging.) What You Do: Before the activity: Make copies of the Heart Chain Activity Page on white cardstock. Cut approximately 10 hearts for each child. During the activity: Briefly discuss with the children some of the things God wants us to do, such as share, say sweet words, help others, talk to God, read the Bible, go to church, obey our moms and dads, love one another, put others first, etc. Next, instruct the children to draw pictures on the hearts of things that God wants us to do. Once the children are finished drawing, assist them in taping their hearts together, so the bottom of one heart is taped to the top of another, to make a vertical heart chain. Punch a hole in the top, center of the first heart in the chain. Thread a string through the hole and tie the ends. Encourage the children to hang their heart chain up when they get home as a reminder of ways we can do what God wants us to do. During the activity: Jesus did what God wanted Him to do because He loves God. We can do what God wants us to do, too, but what does God wants us to do? Hmm... let s think about that. As we think of things God wants us to do, let s draw a picture of it on one of these hearts.

At the end of the activity: Your heart chains look great! You can take them home and hang them up to remind you of some of the things God wants you to do. When you do what God wants you to do, you [Bottom Line] love God with all your heart. How do you love God? [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. Make It Real (Small Groups, 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. Divide kids into small groups of about five to eight children with each leader. Ideally, assign the same small group leader to the same group of preschoolers for the entire year. Small Group Time What You Need: The memory verse is Matthew 22:37. SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): What a great Bible story today! I always love stories about our good, good friend Jesus. Today Jesus taught you one way you can [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart. Do you remember what that was? (Pause.) Yes! Doing what God wants you to do is one way you can [Bottom Line] love God with all your heart. (Open your Bible to Matthew 22:37.) Our Bible verse this month says we should love... God with all your heart. Let s say that together with the motions. CHILDREN and SGL: Love (hug yourself) God (point up with both index fingers) with all (stretch your arms out wide to each side) your heart (put both hands on your chest over your heart), Matthew 22:37 (open your hands like a book). SGL: Let s say it again, but this time let s say it really quietly. CHILDREN and SGL: (Whispering) Love (hug yourself) God (point up with both index fingers) with all (stretch your arms out wide to each side) your heart (put both hands on your chest over your heart), Matthew 22:37 (open your hands like a book). SGL: Now let s say it really loudly. (Repeat.) SGL: Great job! Now let s think of some things God wants us to do and write them down. Then we can pray and ask God to help us do them. SGL: This is a great list of things God wants us to do. Let s pray together. Prayer

SGL: Dear God, we want to love You with all our hearts. Thank You for sending Jesus to teach us how to love You. Please help us to do what You want us to do. We want to (name things on list) because we love You. Amen. Get Ready to Dismiss Put any take-home creations in the bags and set them where you can get them easily. Greet parents at the door, take the matching stickers from the child and parent and give parents the bags. Personally give the February parent handouts to each parent, letting them know it includes the lessons their child will be learning this month along with ideas for simple activities they can use at home to reinforce this month s Bottom Line: [Bottom Line] Love God with all your heart.