First Look TM Curriculum for Preschoolers - 3 s room September 10, 2017 Bible Story Focus: When God is with me, I can be strong. Esther Esther 2:2 8:17 Memory Verse: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid... for the LORD your God goes with you. Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV Key Question: Who is always with you? Bottom Line: God is always with me. Basic Truth: God loves me. Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (s, 15 minutes) Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as your children arrive. Let one or two teachers lead small groups of children in activities throughout the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. At this age not all children will participate, but most will want to be part of the fun. 1. Move That Rock What You Need: Large piece of butcher paper (brown, black, or gray) and floor tape BINS: Crumple the butcher paper into a large ball to look like a rock. Before the Activity: Use the tape to make a line on the floor in the activity area. Place the rock about 8-10 feet from the line. There is a rock that needs to be moved! (Point.) I know you are all SUPER strong! During the Activity: Please pick up the rock and move it all the way to this line. (Point.) Let s see how strong you are! Challenge the children to pick up the rock and carry it to the line. Be sure each child has a turn to carry the rock to the line. After the Activity: WOW! You are SUPER strong! You are SUPER KIDS! We are going to hear a Bible story today about someone who was strong too! I cannot wait to hear our TRUE story from the Bible! Transition Idea: Move to Bible story time by showing off your muscles while you walk. Say, Whew! Those rocks were heavy. You are so strong! You are super strong! Today we are going to hear a story about someone else who was super strong. Let s walk to Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 1
Large Group while showing our arm muscles like this! (Demonstrate flexing arm muscles.) 2. Crown Match Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts What You Need: Crown Match Activity Pages, wall tape Before the Activity: Hang one of each pair of crowns on the wall and place the others on the floor or table. Let s play a game! During the Activity: There are crowns on the wall. (Point to one crown.) Look at this one. Now look at the crowns on the floor. (Point to crowns on the floor.) Do you see one on the floor that looks EXACTLY like this one? (Pause.) YES! Great job! You made a match! (Hang the matching crowns on the wall.) Let s try another one! (Continue with activity.) After the Activity: Great job matching the crowns! Crowns are what kings and queens wear. I bet there will be a king and queen in our Bible story today! Let s see! Transition Idea: Move to Bible story time by pretending to hold a crown on your head. Say, Crowns are so pretty! Kings and queens wear crowns. Today in our story we are going to hear about someone who wears a crown! Let s walk to Large Group while pretending to hold a crown on our head like this. (Demonstrate by using your hands to make a triangle shape and hold it above your head.) Large Group: If you d like, you may take your 3 year olds to the large group room to participate in singing. When that is done, the large group leader will dismiss you back to your room to teach the memory verse and present the story to your individual class. Memory Verse/ Story: Communicating God s Truth What You Need: Bible, Bible Story pictures LEADER: Good morning, friends! I m so excited to see you this morning. It s Super Kids month, and we are going to learn how we can all learn to be super when we trust the God who is always with us. When I ask you this very important question, Who is always with you? you say, [Bottom Line] God is always with me. Let s try it. Who is always with you? Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 2
CHILDREN and LEADER: [Bottom Line] God is always with me. LEADER: That s right! [Bottom Line] God is always with me. Remember, our memory verse tells us that because God is with us we can be strong and brave like Super Kids. Are you ready to do it with me? (Pause.) Let s do it! Be strong (put right forearm and wrist out in front of you, similar to Wonder Woman) and courageous! (Put left forearm and wrist out in front of you and hit wrists together.) Do not be afraid... (wind up in a crazy karate chop pose and chop down on the word afraid ), for the Lord (point your right hand up) your God (point your left hand up) goes with you (put both hands on hips in a strong pose), Deuteronomy 31:6 (hold out hands like a book). Let s do it again. CHILDREN and LEADER: Be strong (put right forearm and wrist out in front of you, similar to Wonder Woman) and courageous! (Put left forearm and wrist out in front of you and hit wrists together.) Do not be afraid... (wind up in a crazy karate chop pose and chop down on the word afraid ), for the Lord (point your right hand up) your God (point your left hand up) goes with you (put both hands on hips in a strong pose), Deuteronomy 31:6 (hold out hands like a book). (Repeat several times.) LEADER: Way to go. You are awesome. Great job! LEADER: (Hold Bible open.) Our story today is about a girl named Esther. Can you say hi to Esther? (Pause.) Esther s story is right here in the Bible, which means it s a true story that happened a long time ago. If you want to hear Esther s story, when I count to three, yell, Tell me a story! Ready? One, two, three! CHILDREN and LEADER: TELL ME A STORY! LEADER: Wow! That was loud! I will tell you a story! Esther s story doesn t begin with Esther. It begins with a king. This king was looking all over his kingdom for the most beautiful girl so he could make her his queen. He had his people search high. (Place hand over eyes and look up high.) Look WAY up high with me. (Pause.) He had his people search low. (Place hand over eyes and look down.) Look WAY down low with me. (Pause.) Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 3
He had his people look all around! (Place hand over eyes and look all around.) Look ALL around with me. (Pause.) The king had his people search and search until they found just the right girl to be his queen. Can you guess which girl was just the right girl? (Pause.) YES! It was Esther! The king chose Esther to be his queen. Now, not long after the king married Esther and she became queen, a man named Haman who worked for the king tried to do a very bad thing. He told the king he should hurt a whole group of people God s people! When Esther found out about the bad thing Haman was trying to do, she knew she had to do something fast. The people Haman was trying to hurt were her family and friends! And they loved God! Okay, Esther knew she could not let Haman do this very bad thing, but going to the king to ask for his help would be scary! She knew she might get in trouble for going to see the king without being invited, but Esther loved God with all of her heart. She knew He would help make her STRONG, and that s when Esther became SUPER Esther! Esther asked the king if he would eat dinner with her. The king said he would. This was Esther s chance! While they were eating dinner, Esther was STRONG enough to tell the king all about Haman s mean plan to hurt her family and friends and she asked the king help them. And can you guess what the king said? (Pause.) The king said YES! The king helped keep Esther s family and friends safe! Esther knew that God was always with her, and He would make her strong. That is what made her SUPER STRONG, which is why I like to call her Esther the Strong. And you know what? (Pause.) God is with you, just like He was with Esther, and He can make YOU a super strong kid too! Did you like Esther s story? If you did, when I ask, Who is always with you? I want you to say, [Bottom Line] God is always with me! Ready? Who is always with you? CHILDREN and LEADER: [Bottom Line] God is always with me! LEADER: Who is always with you? Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 4
CHILDREN and LEADER: [Bottom Line] God is always with me! LEADER: Okay, Super Kids, let s pray to God, who is always with us, and then go to our small groups. Dear God, thank You for always being with us. Thank You for loving us and helping us be strong. Thank You for people like Esther who teach us that we can be SUPER STRONG, because You are always there to help us. I pray each person in this room will always remember that You love them and want to help them be SUPER STRONG. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (9:25-9:45/ 11:10-11:30) Choose two or more of the following activities to help make the Bottom Line stick. When you have completed selected activities, children may play in the room and have a snack. There are additional toys/ activities in the cabinet in the room to use if needed towards the end of the service! Encourage children to play on their own if they do not wish to take part in an activity. 1. Crown Verse Hear from God Memory Verse Review What You Need: A crown for each child (Note: These can be toy crowns, crowns from fast food restaurants, or homemade crowns. If you are choosing to make your own crowns, you can use bulletin board border, cardboard, or cardstock.) Before the Activity: Give each child a crown to wear. We talked about Esther today. She was a QUEEN! During the Activity: Let s pretend that we are Queen Esther and wear a crown. (Put on crowns.) Perfect! Now let s say our memory verse together. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid... for the LORD your God goes with you, Deuteronomy 31:6. Great job! (Repeat several times.) After the Activity: You all did an awesome job acting like Esther. Our memory verse tells us that we can be strong like Esther, because God is always with us! Who is always with you? [Bottom Line] God is always with me. 2. Esther Talk About God Bible Story Review Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 5
What You Need: Esther Picture Activity Page, purple fabric or crepe paper, gold washi tape, and glue sticks BINS: Cut the fabric or the crepe paper into small 1.5x1.5-inch pieces. Before the Activity: We talked about SUPER ESTHER today! During the Activity: Here is a picture of Esther. (Hold up.) Let s help make her look like the queen she was in our story today. We can use these pieces of fabric (hold up) to put on her dress. (Allow the children to work.) Great job! Now she needs her crown. We can use this (hold up washi tape) to make a crown on her head. (Finish activity.) After the Activity: The king wanted a wife. The people looked for a beautiful girl to become the queen. They found Esther. Esther became queen. There was a mean man who worked for the king who wanted to hurt God s people. Esther loved God and knew He was always with her. She knew that He wanted her to be strong. Esther asked the king to have dinner with her. The king said that he would. Esther was strong and went to the king. She asked the king to have dinner with her. She sat with the king and asked him to help God s people. The king said YES! YAY! Esther was SO STRONG! She knew that God was with her! You can be strong too, because God is always with you! Who is always with you? [Bottom Line] God is always with me. 3. Crown Toss Live for God Application Activity What You Need: Crown Toss Activity Page, floor tape, and 3 beanbags What You Do: Before the Activity: Copy the Crown Toss Activity Page onto the purple cardstock. Cut along the dotted lines. Tape the crown to the floor in the activity area. During the Activity: Have the children stand about five feet in front of the crown and try to throw the beanbags onto the crown. Give each child three tries. Be sure each child has a turn to toss the beanbags. Before the Activity: Look! There is a crown on the floor. (Point.) During the Activity: Let s see if we can toss these beanbags (hold up) onto the crown. Have the children stand about five feet in front of the crown and try to throw the Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 6
beanbags onto the crown. Give each child three tries. Be sure each child has a turn to toss the beanbags. After the Activity: Great job tossing the beanbags onto the crown! In our Bible story today, Esther wore a crown, because she was the queen. She was strong because she knew that God was always with her. God is always with us too! Who is always with you? [Bottom Line] God is always with me. Snack and Prayer Time Snacks (cheerios) in container on counter, small cups in drawer, ask the coach for a pitcher for water if kids are thirsty. Prayer: Dear God, thank you for TRUE stories in the Bible that remind us that you love us and you are ALWAYS with us! Help us to remember that you want to help us be SUPER STRONG! Thank you for this food. Amen. Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2017 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. www.thinkorange.com 7