BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K Unit 1. Working Hard COORDINATOR S PAGE SESSION 1 SESSION 2 SESSION 3 THE FIRST WORKERS HARD WORK GIVE VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED pictures of flowers or animals wooden blocks paper markers, crayons play dishes VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED Teaching Picture 2 (if available) watercolors paintbrushes cups of water paper animal puzzles VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED paper markers puzzles (including one about the tabernacle, if available) construction paper blocks music CD SESSION 4 SESSION 5 SESSION 6 WORK TOGETHER BUILD REST VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED paper plates scissors tape blue, purple, or red yarn beanbag blocks play coins music CD VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED beanbag paper markers different-size blocks blanket for tent books towel or small blanket VOLUNTEERS WILL NEED paper crayons, markers music CD blocks dolls, doll-care items toy dishes BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-1
VOLUNTEERS SUGGESTED SCHEDULE TEACHING TIPS Young children are becoming independent. Allow them to do as much as possible without your help. Provide a safe, fun, and happy environment for young children so they will want to come back to church and learn about Jesus. Restroom Break/Wash Hands (5 minutes) Enjoy a Snack (5 minutes) Group Time/Bible Story (10 15 minutes) Bible Learning Activities (35 minutes) Clean Up (5 minutes) Closing Activity (10 minutes) Dismiss (5 minutes) Make sure you have some positive oneon-one time with each child. REMINDERS Use a calm, quiet voice. Focus attention on the kids. Review parents instructions and medical information for each child. Release children to authorized adults only. Thank families for bringing their kids to church. 2-BTH.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 1 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE The First Workers Genesis 2:4-24 LIFE POINT God expects us to work. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus came to do God s work. LIFE VERSE Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK Thank the children for washing their hands after going to the restroom. Ask for two volunteers to distribute the plates and napkins. After giving out the snack, say a thank-you prayer. MOVE TO GROUP TIME Lead the children to pretend to walk on a weaving garden path as they go to group time. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY Open your Bible to Genesis 2 and tell the Bible story. God had created a beautiful world. He planted a lovely garden with trees and plants that gave food. A river ran through the garden to water all the plants and trees. God placed Adam, the man He created, in the garden. He told Adam to watch over the garden and care for it. God said, You may eat from any tree in the garden except for one tree in the middle of the garden. God brought every wild animal and every bird He had created to Adam. When Adam saw each kind of animal, he gave it a name. Adam named all the animals and the birds. He named the horses and cows, lions and crocodiles, rabbits and ostriches. God looked at everything He created but did not see a helper for Adam. God made Adam go to sleep. God took a rib from Adam and made it into a woman. God brought the woman to Adam. Adam called the woman Eve. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-3
SING TOGETHER Sing (tune The Farmer in the Dell ): Oh, God made the world. Yes, God made the world. God made my family, And He made the world. Repeat the song, replacing the last two lines with God planned for families, when He made the world. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Say the Life Verse Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7. Lead the children to say the verse with you, then turn to a friend and say the verse. Finish by asking the kids to turn toward you and say the verse one more time. PRAY Thank God for teaching us to work. Include volunteers who would also like to pray. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES As the kids work in each activity, mention that God expects us to work. Thank them for their efforts. A. Guess the picture. Locate pictures of flowers or animals. Place each picture faceup on the floor and cover it completely with wooden blocks. Guide the kids to remove one block at a time and try to guess the picture. As the picture is revealed, talk about the different kinds of plants and animals that God made. Remind the children that God made people, too, and told them to care for all that He made. B. Set the table. Lead the children to work together to set the table with plates, cups, forks, and spoons. Mention that the Bible tells us to work together. Encourage the kids to tell about their favorite ways to help at home. C. Draw animal pictures. Encourage the kids to draw pictures of their favorite animals. Offer available picture books or pictures to give them ideas. Talk about the Bible story as they work. Comment that one job God gave Adam was to name all the animals. D. Help at church. Explain that the kids can work together and help at church. Help each child choose a partner and give each set of partners a specific task to do, such as picking up scraps of paper from the floor and throwing them in the trash, stacking blocks correctly on the shelf, putting away items in the dramatic play area, and wiping the tables with a damp cloth. Comment that God made us able to work and gives us work to do. CLEAN UP Play music from a CD as the kids put away items from each activity. Mention that they are working together and it pleases God when we work together and help one another. PLAY I CAN WORK Describe work scenarios at home. (Your baby brother dropped his rattle. Your mom needs help carrying in the groceries. You are done playing with your toys.) The first child to call out I can work! tells how he can help. Continue with other scenarios. DISMISS Share a positive observation with parents about their child. Remind them to use the Kids Activity Page and One Conversation this week. 4-BTH SESSION 1.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 2 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE Hard Work Genesis 6:9 8:19 LIFE POINT God shows people what to do. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus followed through with God s plan. LIFE VERSE Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK Instruct the children to wash their hands before eating the snack. Thank God for the snack and for His plan for us. MOVE TO GROUP TIME Mention that today s story has animals in it. Invite the children to move to group time like their favorite animal. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY With your Bible open to Genesis 6, tell the story. Noah was a good man who loved God. One day God spoke to Noah. God said, I will send a flood to cover the whole earth. Build an ark of wood. Make the ark with three levels of rooms on the inside. Cover the ark with pitch inside and out. Noah worked hard to build the ark just as God told him. God said, Bring two of every kind of animal and bird onto the ark. Take every kind of food for your family and for the animals. Noah and his family and all of the animals entered the ark, and God shut the door. The rain began to fall. The ark floated on the water. Noah, his family, and all of the animals were safe inside the ark. The water continued to rise until it covered the mountains. The water covered the earth for many days. Finally the waters began to go down. At last, the ark came to rest on a mountain. When the earth was dry, Noah and his family and all of the animals came out of the ark. Noah had worked hard to care for his family and the animals while God took care of them on the ark. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-5
SING TOGETHER To the tune Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush sing: God decided to flood the earth, Flood the earth, flood the earth. God decided to flood the earth And start all over again. He told Noah to build a boat, Build a boat, build a boat. He told Noah to build a boat To keep family and animals in. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Lead the kids to say the Life Verse Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7 as they pretend to walk up a ramp (like on the ark). PRAY Pray, thanking God for His plan for people and animals. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES As the kids work at each activity, mention that God had a plan for Noah and He has a plan for us, too. A. Paint arks. Provide watercolors, paintbrushes, water in small cups, and paper. Display the Teaching Picture (if available). Invite the children to paint the ark as you tell the Bible story. B. Play a game. Guide the kids to form a circle with one child standing in the center of the circle. Lead them to clap hands and sing (tune The Farmer in the Dell ): Noah s in the ark; Noah s in the ark. Noah and his family are safe within the ark. Choose another child to join Noah in the center of the circle and make an animal sound. The kids then clap and sing about that animal: Pigs are in the ark; pigs are in the ark. Pigs and all the animals are safe within the ark. Continue in this fashion, singing about other animals that Noah cared for on the ark. C. Work animal puzzles. Remove the puzzle pieces and place them on the table beside the frames. As the kids work the puzzles, tell the Bible story. D. Go on an indoor treasure hunt. Think of several items in the room that could represent something used by Noah in the ark, such as a dinner plate, a small bowl to give water to an animal, a broom, a toy hammer, and perhaps a blanket or a pillow. Mention the Life Verse and talk about some of the things that God told Noah to do. Describe an item for the kids to find. Challenge them to tell how Noah and his family could have used the item in the ark. CLEAN UP Walk around and assign tasks to each child. Play music as the kids straighten the room. PLAY A DESCRIBING GAME Describe different animals for the boys and girls to guess. Pray together, thanking God for the animals and that we can help care for them. DISMISS Greet family members at the door, giving them today s Kids Activity Page. Remind each family to use the One Conversation this week. 6-BTH SESSION 2.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 3 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE Give Luke 21:1-4 LIFE POINT We show love for God when we give. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus gave everything for us. LIFE VERSE Be happy when you give. 2 Corinthians 9:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK Enlist the help of two or more volunteers to clean up after the snack. Affirm them for giving some of their time to help at church. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY With your Bible open to Luke 21, tell the Bible story. One day Jesus was teaching His disciples and the people in the temple. Many people came to the temple to worship God. People would bring money to the temple as an offering. Jesus watched the wealthy people drop their money into the special temple collection containers. It made a loud noise as it dropped into the collection container. He also saw a poor widow drop in two small coins. They hardly made any noise as they dropped into the container. Jesus said, This woman has given the most money of all. The wealthy people gave only the extra money they had. She gave all she had. MOVE TO GROUP TIME Lead the children to slowly walk backward to group time. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-7
SING TOGETHER To the tune Row, Row, Row Your Boat sing: I can give to God; I can give to God. I can give to God; I can give to God. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Refer to your Bible and say the Life Verse Be happy when you give. 2 Corinthians 9:7. Lead the children to say the verse sitting down, standing up, and hopping in place. PRAY Pray, thanking God for opportunities to give. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES As the kids work on the activities, emphasize that we show love for God when we give. A. Draw happy/sad faces. Draw a pair of eyes on a sheet of paper, making one for each child. Invite the children to add a face to each pair of eyes. Talk about how they can make their faces happy or sad. Tell the Bible story as they work. Mention that it pleases God when we give with a happy attitude. B. Work puzzles. Provide assorted puzzles for the kids to work. If available, include a puzzle that shows the tabernacle. Tell the Bible story as the children work the puzzles. Mention that some people give at church by providing puzzles for children to work. C. Play a listening game. Locate items in the room that you can use to make sounds familiar to the children, such as tapping blocks together, crumpling paper, flipping pages in a book, and bouncing a beanbag. If available, you could also use a set of keys and coins in a change purse. Seat the kids facing in the opposite direction, and use one of the items to make a sound for them to guess. Talk about the sound the widow s offering made when she dropped it in the offering box. D. Build a church. Invite the kids to work together to use blocks to build a church. As they work, encourage them to talk about the different things we do at church. Talk about the Bible story and ask why we give money at church. Help them to understand different ways money can be used at church. Comment that we show love to God when we give. CLEAN UP Play music from a CD as the kids clean the room. Walk around the room and help where needed. PLAY A WHISPER GAME Seat the kids in a circle. Whisper to a child something people do at church; she whispers it in the next child s ear and so on until it reaches the last child in the circle. Ask that child to repeat the activity aloud; then he can whisper something else we do at church in the next child s ear and continue play. Look for opportunities to comment on different things we do at church. Mention that we show love to God when we give. DISMISS Instruct the children to gather their sweaters or jackets and any artwork to take home. Remind the parents to use the One Conversation this week for family Bible study. 8-BTH SESSION 3.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 4 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE Work Together Exodus 35:4-35 LIFE POINT God wants people to work together. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus wants people to work together. LIFE VERSE Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK Assign helper jobs. Ask for a volunteer to pray, thanking God for the snack. Remark that the people in the Bible story worked together to build the tabernacle. Ask how they can work together today. MOVE TO GROUP TIME Comment that the people brought many things to build the tabernacle. Guide the children to pretend to carry wood or cloth as they move to group time. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY Open your Bible to Exodus 35 and tell the children to listen for ways the people worked together. God spoke to Moses, I want you to build a tabernacle where My people can worship Me. Take an offering from all the people. Tell them what to bring to build the tabernacle. Moses spoke to the people. We must bring an offering to help build the tabernacle. Moses told the people what to bring. The people listened to Moses and brought all kinds of gold and silver jewelry, gemstones, colorful yarn, fine linen, animal skins, wood, oil, and spices. Every part of the offering was important for building the tabernacle. God chose special men, Bezalel and Oholiab. These men were able to work with all the yarn, linen, animal skins, wood, gold and silver, and gemstones. They would design and make everything for the tabernacle. They were also able to teach others how to do the work. God had a good and perfect plan for building His tabernacle. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-9
SING TOGETHER To the tune Are You Sleeping? sing: We are building. We are building, The tabernacle, the tabernacle. We are bringing gifts, And they will make it special. We all give. We all give. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Say the Life Verse Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7. Invite the children to repeat the Life Verse with you. As you say it again, pretend to hammer or sew. Talk about what you are doing. Remark that the people were happy to build the tabernacle and they worked with their friends. Ask for volunteers to say the verse again. PRAY Thank God that we can work with our friends at church. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES As you see the children working together with a good attitude, affirm them. Mention that it pleases God when we do this. A. Weave yarn. Cut eight notches around the outside edge of a paper plate. (Think of cutting a notch at North, South, East, and West and another notch between each of the four points.) Give each child a notched plate and a long strip of blue, purple, or red yarn. Hook one end of the string through a notch and tape it to the back of the plate. Show the kids how to weave the yarn from one notch to another. Invite them to go in any direction back and forth, up and down, and so forth. Talk about the Bible story as they work. Mention that some people brought gifts of blue, purple, and red thread. B. Play a game. Lead the kids to arrange their chairs in a circle. Tell them to pretend that the beanbag is a hot potato and that they should pass it quickly around the circle while you play music. When the music stops, ask the child with the beanbag to name one way that kids can work together at church (stacking blocks, putting away materials, listening to the teacher, etc.). Remind the kids that God wants people to work together. C. Build shapes together. Challenge the kids to use several blocks pushed together to make a giant shape (triangle, square, rectangle, circle). Remark that the things the people brought came in all shapes. Tell the Bible story. D. Sort play coins. Try to bring play coins to class. Lead the children to sort the coins. Tell the Bible story as they work. Mention that when people build a worship building today, people often give money to help toward the cost of the building. CLEAN UP Thank the kids as they clean the room. Walk around the room and give specific assignments to children who have not found something to put away or straighten. FIND SHAPES IN THE ROOM Describe a shape you see in the room. Tell the children what shape it is and what color it is. Challenge them to find the item. Continue with other shapes. DISMISS As parents arrive, tell a positive experience their child had today. Distribute the Kids Activity Page. 10-BTH SESSION 4.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 5 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE Build Exodus 36 39 LIFE POINT People can give and help to do God s work. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus gave to help others. LIFE VERSE Be happy when you give. 2 Corinthians 9:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK Remind the children that they can help work at church, too. Assign tasks such as distributing napkins and passing out the snack. MOVE TO GROUP TIME As the kids move to group time, encourage them to pretend they are carrying gold, jewelry, fabric, heavy wood, or other gifts to build the tabernacle. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY Open your Bible to Exodus 36; tell the Bible story. Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and the other workers to get everything the people had brought to build the tabernacle. The people continued to bring offerings. The workers said to Moses, The people are bringing too much. We have enough to build the tent church. So Moses told the people to stop bringing their offerings. The workers began to build the tabernacle. First they made 10 curtains from linen with blue, purple, and red yarn. The curtains were joined with gold clasps. The workers made a tent from animal skins. The tent was joined together with clasps of bronze. The tabernacle was built from planks of wood joined together with pegs. Bezalel built a wooden box that was covered with gold. It was called the ark of the covenant. He formed poles so the priests could carry the ark. The stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written were in the ark. The workers built tables and altars. They made lamps and utensils. They made special clothes for the tabernacle priests to wear. Moses looked at everything the workers had made. The workers made everything just as God had said. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-11
SING TOGETHER Sing to the tune The Farmer in the Dell : Be happy when you give; Be happy when you give. God loves it when you give. Be happy when you give. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Say the Life Verse. Toss a beanbag to a child and ask him to repeat it after you. He can toss it to another child and so forth. Be sure each child gets a turn. PRAY Thank God that we can give and work at church. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES As the kids work on the activities, mention that people can give and help do God s work. A. Play a drawing game. Invite the kids to draw pictures by following your directions. If you say Simon says draw, they draw what you say. It doesn t matter where on the paper, how big or how small, or what color. If you don t say Simon says, the kids do not draw what you say. Comment that Moses told the people how God wanted them to build the tabernacle. Mention that the people were happy to bring gifts for the tabernacle work. B. Measure with blocks. Invite the kids to measure items in the room using differentsize blocks. They can measure tabletops, chair heights, furniture in the dramatic play area, and so forth. Make a chart and record how many of each block is needed as the kids measure the various items. Remind them that the people had to make many measurements as they worked to build the tabernacle. C. Read books in a tent. Remove chairs from a table and cover the table with a blanket, if available. Invite the kids to look at books in the tent. Offer to read one or more books. Talk about the Bible story and mention that Moses and the people lived in tents and that the tabernacle they built was where they worshiped God. Remind the children of the Life Verse. D. Play a what s missing game. Locate five or six items such as the Bible, an offering envelope, a Teaching Picture, a Life Verse printed on a strip of paper, and a rhythm instrument. Explain how we can use these items to give, learn, and help at church. Lay the items on the table, and guide the kids to look at them carefully. Cover the items with a towel or small blanket; then ask the kids to close their eyes as you remove one item along with the blanket. Encourage the children to guess which item is missing. CLEAN UP Remind the kids that we are helping do God s work when we clean up the room. Point out things that need to be cleaned up and work with the kids to put things away. PLAY A DO WHAT I DO GAME Invite the children to take turns leading others to pretend to do specific work activities. They can play out activities workers did in the tabernacle, such as sewing curtains, hammering nails, and sawing boards. Or they may play out things workers do at church today, such as preaching, leading music, playing the piano, typing, and sweeping. DISMISS Let parents know how much you enjoyed having their child at church today. Give each child a copy of the Kids Activity Page and any other take-home items. Call attention to the One Conversation. 12-BTH SESSION 5.
BONUS TEACHING HOUR for 3s Pre-K UNIT 1. SESSION 6 Room Your teaching partner(s) Thank you for serving! DATE OF USE Rest Exodus 31 LIFE POINT God said to rest after working. CHRIST FOCUS Jesus gives us rest. LIFE VERSE Work together with a good attitude. Ephesians 6:7 BIBLE FUN ACTIVITIES SNACK After the kids use the restroom, remind them to wash their hands before eating snack. Invite a volunteer to pray and thank God for the snack. MOVE TO GROUP TIME As the children finish eating, direct them to throw away their trash and move to a chair in the grouptime area. TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE STORY Open your Bible to Exodus 31; tell the Bible story. God had spoken to Moses and had given him the special rules for all of the people to follow. God had told Moses His plans to make a special place to worship Him. God told Moses that He had chosen two special men to help build the tabernacle. Then God spoke to Moses again. Tell the people that they must have a day of rest. This day of rest will help other people know that My people are special. God told Moses that the day of rest was to be a holy day. People could work on six days, but the seventh day would be a day of rest. God said, The day of rest is to be kept by My people and all the families that come after them. It is a special sign between Me and them. This is because I made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. After God spoke to Moses, God gave him two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 3s PRE-K BTH-13
SING TOGETHER Sing to the tune London Bridge : First we work and then we rest, Then we rest, then we rest. First we work and then we rest, Because God said to. SAY THE LIFE VERSE Open the Bible and show the kids where the Life Verse is found. Read the verse and ask the kids to repeat it after you two times. PRAY Thank God for work to do and for rest after work. BIBLE-LEARNING ACTIVITIES Observe that the kids are working as you walk around and check each activity. A. Scribble to music. Play a variety of songs with different tempos and beats from a music CD, and guide the kids to scribble with crayons or markers as they listen to the music. Encourage them to make scribble marks in time with the music. Point out how the scribble marks change depending on the music. Ask the kids which type of music they would like to hear when they are working and when they are resting. Mention the Life Verse. B. Build block towers. Organize the kids into groups of two or three. Give each group a collection of blocks. Encourage the kids to work together to build a tower with their blocks. Then invite the kids to sit in a circle and rest. Talk about things they like to do when they rest. Tell the Bible story. C. Play a game. Guide the kids to sit in a circle on the floor with one child standing on the outside of the circle. When you say rest time, everyone bows their heads and closes their eyes. The child outside the circle tiptoes around the circle, taps one child on the shoulder, and says work time. That child jumps up and tiptoes after the first child, trying to tap him before he reaches the open place in the circle. If he taps the first child, he gets to return to his place in the circle. If not, he takes the first child s place outside the circle. D. Play nighttime. Invite the kids to pretend it is nighttime at home. Talk about things families do together in the evenings. Some of them may want to feed the babies (dolls) and get them ready for bed. Others may prefer to prepare the evening meal. Mention that God said to rest after working six days. CLEAN UP Tell the children that now it is time to work. To the tune London Bridge sing: First we work and then we rest, Then we rest, then we rest. First we work and then we rest. We rest on Sunday. PLAY A REST-TIME GAME Challenge the kids to think of some of their favorite rest-time activities (looking at books, working puzzles, taking a walk, playing a game). Invite them to play follow-the-leader with the leader going through the motions of his favorite activity. For example, a child could get down on his knees, pretend to dump puzzle pieces on the floor, and start putting them in one by one. Other children will follow the leader s actions. DISMISS Greet parents at the door. Remind the parents to use the One Conversation for family Bible study. 14-BTH SESSION 6.