Lesso 7 79 Crowds Welcome Jesus to Jerusalem Psalm 118:19-29; Matthew 21:1-11 Preschoolers like to sig ad clap their hads with ethusiasm. They ejoy stories that are excitig ad activities that are full of actio. Youg childre ca readily embrace the idea of a worship experiece that is joyful ad lively. Use this lesso to teach your 3- ad 4-year-olds to rejoice ad praise Jesus because he deserves our praise! LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP 1 Gettig Started about 5 mi. 2 Key Verse Activity about 10 mi. 3 Bible Exploratio about 15 mi. Welcome ad Celebrate Welcome each other, ad praise God through music. Circle of Praise Explore a variety of ways to praise Jesus. Puppy Poiters Tell Theo how people praise Jesus. Bible Time: Hosaa Praises Shout Hosaa! as the Bible passage is told. CD player Teacher Pack: CD Bible CD player, Theo puppet, praise music CD, tape Teacher Pack: CD Bible, gree copy paper, scissors Teacher Pack: Palm Brach patter Tape a CD of praise music to Theo s paw. Make copies of the Palm Brach patter o gree copy paper, ad cut out the palm braches. You ll eed oe brach for each child. Bible Poit We praise Jesus. Key Verse The life I live i the body, I live by faith i the So of God, who loved me ad gave himself for me (Galatias 2:20). Weavig Faith Ito Life Childre will praise Jesus. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter
80 LESSON WHAT CHILDREN DO SUPPLIES EASY PREP Ceter 1: Prepare the Way for Jesus Preted to prepare the road for the dokey that ll carry Jesus. My Bible Hugs, scissors, glue, small cloth scraps, palm braches from the Bible Time: Hosaa Praises activity Remove the Lesso 7 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Sip small pieces from a few of the palm braches. 4 Weavig Faith Ito Life about 20 mi. (Choose 2 ceters.) Ceter 2: Praise the Lord Sacks Ejoy a fu, praisig sack. Ceter 3: Hosaa Hop Walk the road to Jerusalem ad wave palm braches. graham crackers, apkis, soft cream cheese or frostig, plastic spoos, shakers of cady sprikles, atibacterial gel (optioal) maskig tape, palm braches from the Bible Time: Hosaa Praises activity Use maskig tape to create a road to Jerusalem o the floor. Ceter 4: Moder Palms Make pompoms, ad wave them to show excitemet for Jesus. oe 12x24-ich piece of gree tissue paper ad 1 plastic straw per child, stapler, scissors Daily Challeges Choose a Daily Challege to apply God s Word. My Bible Hugs 5 Lastig Impressios about 10 mi. Actio Prayer Walk the road to Jerusalem, ad sig a prayer to Jesus. Weavig Faith at Home Talk about how to share what they leared with their families. CD player, road from the Ceter 3: Hosaa Hop activity Teacher Pack: CD Sprig Quarter Lesso 7 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
81 Crowds Welcome Jesus to Jerusalem Psalm 118:19-29; Matthew 21:1-11 BIBLe BACKGROUND FOR LEADERS What Was He Thikig? I this passage, why did Jesus sed his disciples to borrow a dokey ad her colt without askig? Ad why would he tell them to respod, The Lord eeds them if questioed? Some have speculated that Jesus had arraged i advace to borrow the dokey. Others suggest that he likely kew the ower ad kew the dokey would be offered if eeded. Or, as God, he may have already kow how the ower would respod. Jesus obviously could t ride both aimals at the same time. Ridig o a colt fulfilled the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 ad demostrated Jesus humble spirit. The mother dokey likely walked alogside her colt, sice it would have bee typical for a dokey to accompay her colt wherever it was led. A Carpet of Cloaks (Matthew 27:22-26)! If the evets eded there, we would have little reaso to praise. But whe Jesus rose from the dead, he demostrated that he truly was God. The Jesus Coectio Jesus life, death, ad resurrectio made it possible for us to have eteral life through a relatioship with him. He is the reaso for our hope ad our happiess. Praise Jesus for everythig he is! Praisig Jesus is about more tha just thakig him it keeps us focused o his love for us. Jesus wats us to praise him publicly ad privately, so others see his love as well. What ca you persoally praise Jesus for? Praise him by writig dow four or five thigs he has doe for you, ad thak him. Share your praises with someoe else so that perso ca be blessed, too. You ca write your praises here. Jesus triumphal etry ito Jerusalem was the high poit of his earthly miistry. Military victors were ofte hoored with such a processio whe they retured from battle. People placig their cloaks as a carpet o the street was a act of hoor ad of submissio. The people also used cut palm braches as a victory celebratio for Jesus. These acts fulfilled other prophecies about Jesus. A Garmet of Praise The passage the people quoted as they shouted hosaa is Psalm 118:25-26, where the word hosaa is traslated Lord save us! Or it could be simply traslated Save! used as a expressio of praise. The crowd stirred up the city so dramatically that may asked who Jesus was. Yet five days later, a crowd i that same city demaded Jesus be crucified Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter
82 GETTING STARTED Welcome ad Celebrate CD player Teacher Pack CD: All the Childre Praise the Lord (track 2), His Great Love (Romas 5:8) (track 3) Welcome ad Celebrate Tip Cosistetly use the same sigal to aouce a trasitio to the ext activity. You could flip the lights off ad o, use a trai whistle, have a puppet rustlig iside a bag, or sig cleaup sogs. Keep it simple, cosistet, ad fu. As the childre arrive, greet each oe with a smile. Whe it s time to begi, use your sigal to gather the childre together i a circle. Lead childre i sigig All the Childre Praise the Lord (track 2 o the CD) to the tue of Yakee Doodle. Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. All the kids have come to church, (spread arms wide) Ad we re so glad to be here. (clap hads) All the kids have come to praise (raise hads toward heave) The Lord that we hold so dear. (clasp hads to chest) All the childre praise the Lord. (wave hads above head) All the childre praise him. (wave hads above head) All the childre praise the Lord. (wave hads above head) Now are t you glad you re here? (od head) (Repeat 2x.) Say: Are you glad to be here? Pause. I m glad, too, because we ca praise God together for his great love. That s somethig to sig about! Have kids stad ad sig His Great Love (Romas 5:8) (track 3 o the CD). Ecourage childre to follow the motios i paretheses. God loves us. (cross arms over chest) God set his So to die for us (raise both arms high ad lower them slowly) Because of his great love. (cross arms over chest ad sway) (Repeat.) His great love, (poit up) God showed his great big love (move hads side to side) By sedig Christ to die for us (lower arms ad march i place) While we were still siers. (Repeat.) (Repeat from the begiig.) Sprig Quarter Lesso 7 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
83 His great love. His great love. (poit up) His great love. (poit up) His Great Love (Romas 5:8) by Be Glover. 2005 Group Publishig, Ic. All rights reserved. Say: I love it whe WE PRAISE JESUS. He s so great ad I love tellig him that! 2 KEY VERSE ACTIVITY Circle of Praise Have the childre sit i a circle. Ope your Bible to Galatias 2:20, ad show childre the words. Circle of Praise Bible Say: Our Key Verse from the Bible says, The life I live i the body, I live by faith i the So of God, who loved me ad gave himself for me. That meas that whe we believe i Jesus he s a part of our lives. It meas that Jesus loved me ad gave himself for me. Let s say that together. Lead the childre i repeatig the simplified Key Verse with you: Jesus loved me ad gave himself for me (Galatias 2:20). Say: Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life for us! Before Jesus died for us, we could t live i heave because of all the wrog thigs we do. But he died so that we ca be forgive. That s great ews! Ad we ca praise Jesus for what he did i may ways. Some people clap their hads whe they hear good ews. Lead childre i clappig. Some shout whe they hear good ews. Lead childre i shoutig, I just love Jesus! Some people sig to Jesus like we sag earlier. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Why do people get excited about Jesus? What ways do you like to praise Jesus? Say: Our Key Verse says: Jesus loved me ad gave himself for me. That s defiitely somethig to get excited about! WE PRAISE JESUS to thak him for givig his life for us ad to show him how we excited we are. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter
84 3 BIBLE EXPLORATION Puppy Poiters CD player Theo puppet praise music CD tape Teacher Pack CD: Here, Theo (track 4) Puppy Poiters Easy Prep Tape a CD of praise music to Theo s paw. Puppy Poiters Say: Liste everyoe, Theo s comig! He has somethig to show us. Let s fid out what it is. Play Here, Theo (track 4 o the CD), ad brig out Theophilus the FaithRetriever. Theo: Hi, everybody! Teacher: Hello, Theo! It s so good to see you at church with us today. I see you ve brought a CD with you. Theo: A fried of mie gave me this CD ad I thought you d like it. Teacher: What kid of music is o it? Theo: It s music about Jesus. Teacher: The you were right! I really like sogs about Jesus I sig to praise Jesus all the time. Theo: Souds great would you show me? Teacher: I d love to Theo: (Cuts teacher off.) I m kid of shy about sigig. Teacher: You do t have to sig, Theo. We kow lots of ways to praise God. Frieds, what are other ways to praise God? (Allow time.) Frieds, let s tell Theo our Bible Poit. (Lead childre i sayig the Bible Poit for Theo: WE PRAISE JESUS.) Teacher: Praisig Jesus is somethig we ca do every day. We ca sig, pray, shout, ad clap our hads to celebrate Jesus love! Theo: That s so eat! Thaks so much for showig me how you praise Jesus! Teacher: Ad thaks for brigig this CD to me. Let s say goodbye to Theo. Ecourage the childre to wave or say goodbye to Theo. The put Theo away i a safe place for ext week s use. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What are some ways you praise Jesus? How ca you praise him this week? Say: We ca worship Jesus every day, whether or ot we have a CD to sig with. WE PRAISE JESUS i may differet ways. Sprig Quarter Lesso 7 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
85 Bible Time: Hosaa Praises Have kids sit i a circle. Ope your Bible to Matthew 21, ad show the childre the words. Tell childre that the Bible is God s special book. Give each child a paper palm brach. Say: I the Bible today, people praised Jesus. Let s hear how. The people were excited; a parade was comig! This was t just ay parade the celebratio was for Jesus! Jesus rode ito Jerusalem o a dokey. As Jesus passed by, the people shouted Hosaa! ad they waved palm braches. Lead childre to jump up ad wave their palm braches ad the sit back dow. Say: May of the people kew that Jesus was a very special perso. They thought he was special because he did so may good thigs. They d bee waitig a log time for him to come. The people took off their coats ad spread them o the groud for the dokey to walk o. Ad they shouted Hosaa! as they waved their palm braches. Have childre jump up ad wave the palms ad the sit back dow. Say: Someoe asked, Who is that? The people aswered, This is Jesus, who comes i the ame of the Lord. Hosaa! Have childre jump up ad wave the palms ad the sit back dow. Bible Time: Hosaa Praises Bible gree copy paper scissors Teacher Pack Palm Brach patter Bible Time: Hosaa Praises Easy Prep Make copies of the Palm Brach patter o gree copy paper, ad cut out the palm braches. You ll eed oe brach for each child. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What do you thik about the parade for Jesus? How could you praise Jesus if he was i a parade i our tow today? Say: The parade we heard about i the Bible today was oe of the most special parades ever. The people celebrated ad praised Jesus because he is God. WE PRAISE JESUS, too, to show him we kow how special he is. 4 WEAVING FAITH INTO LIFE Choose at least two of the learig ceters to help reiforce today s Bible lesso. Gather the eeded materials, ad put the supplies i a out-of-sight area util you re ready for them. Allow the childre to choose which ceter they d like to explore first. The circulate amog the childre as they create ad explore. Ecourage them to make coectios betwee their activities ad the Bible by askig them the questios icluded with each ceter s descriptio. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter
86 CENTER 1: Prepare the Way for Jesus Ceter 1: Prepare the Way for Jesus My Bible Hugs scissors glue small cloth scraps palm braches from the Bible Time: Hosaa Praises activity Give each child a My Bible Hugs page. Say: Whe people heard Jesus was comig, they were very excited. They laid their coats i the road for his dokey to walk o. Ecourage kids to prepare the road i the picture for Jesus ad the dokey to walk dow by gluig cloth scraps to it. The say: The people also waved palm braches as he passed by ad they praised him! Have kids glue the palm brach pieces to the side of the road, as well. The people shouted Hosaa! as Jesus passed by. Lead childre i this discussio. Ceter 1: Prepare the Way for Jesus Easy Prep Ask: What ca you say to Jesus to show him you love him? What ca you do to show Jesus you love him? Remove the Lesso 7 pages from each My Bible Hugs studet book, ad write childre s ames o them. Sip small pieces from a few of the palm braches. Ceter 2: Praise the Lord Sacks graham crackers apkis soft cream cheese or frostig plastic spoos shakers of cady sprikles atibacterial gel (optioal)! ALLERGY ALERT Say: The people kew that Jesus was very special, so they celebrated ad praised him by layig their coats ad palm braches i the road for his dokey to walk o. They also shouted praises to him. WE PRAISE JESUS, too, by sigig to him, tellig him i prayer that we love him, ad i may other ways. CENTER 2: Praise the Lord Sacks Have childre clea their hads ad the sit dow for the sack. Give each child a graham cracker o a apki. The set out soft cream cheese ad plastic spoos, ad let kids spread the cream cheese o their crackers. Say: Oe way people celebrate is by throwig cofetti. Let s decorate our crackers with cady cofetti. Let kids have fu decoratig their crackers with cady sprikles. The ask a child to thak God for the sack before childre ejoy their sack. As kids eat, review all the ways the people praised Jesus i the Bible. Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: Thik of all the ways the people praised Jesus, ad explai which is your favorite way. What are some thigs people i our church do to praise God? Sprig Quarter Lesso 7 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
87 Say: Celebratig someoe or somethig ca be a lot of fu. Ad people like to do it i differet ways. Whe WE PRAISE JESUS, we ca do it i differet ways, ad we ca have fu while doig it! CENTER 3: Hosaa Hop Ecourage childre to take turs trottig or gallopig dow the road. Each time they go dow the road, have them do somethig differet, for example: walkig backward, hoppig, or skippig. While oe child is takig a tur goig dow the road, have the rest of the kids lie up beside the road with palm braches. Have kids wave their palm braches ad shout Hosaa! Lead childre i this discussio. Ask: What was this game like for you? Tell about somethig that you like to do more tha aythig i the world. Whe you re doig that thig, what could you do to praise Jesus? Ceter 3: Hosaa Hop maskig tape palm braches from the Bible Time: Hosaa Praises activity Ceter 3: Hosaa Hop Easy Prep Use maskig tape to create a road to Jerusalem o the floor. Say: Jesus is God, ad he loves us so much. WE PRAISE JESUS to show him we love him ad believe i him. CENTER 4: Moder Palms Give each child a piece of gree tissue paper. Have kids fold the paper i half. The have them fold the paper i half agai. Help each child slide a plastic straw iside the fold, leavig about three iches of the straw showig below the paper. (The straw will ot reach to the top of the folded paper.) Use a stapler to attach the paper aroud the straw. Staple it all the way up to the top of the fold. Use the scissors to cut the tissue ito strips, like a pompom. The say: The people praised Jesus with palm braches. Today, people wave thigs to show excitemet, too like cheerleaders at a game. Shake your pompom to show you re excited about Jesus. Allow time. Jesus is happy whe we praise him. Let s shake our pompoms we made as we chat praise to him! Ceter 4: Moder Palms oe 12x24-ich piece of gree tissue paper ad 1 plastic straw per child stapler scissors Chat the followig verse: Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter
88 Hallelujah, hallelujah. Christ is kig! Christ is kig! Let s sig hosaa, Let s sig hosaa. Christ is kig! Christ is kig! Say: WE PRAISE JESUS. We ca sig, jump, clap our hads, wave palm braches, ad do may other thigs to show Jesus how special we thik he is! 5 LASTING IMPRESSIONS Daily Challeges My Bible Hugs Daily Challeges After the childre have cleaed up their ceters, brig everyoe back to a circle area o the floor. Review the lesso activities ad the Bible Poit, ad the ecourage the childre to share what they remember about what they leared from the Bible today. Also use this time to challege kids i their faith. Ecourage them to choose a Daily Challege for applyig today s lesso to their lives this week. Use this challege for ecouragig your childre s growig relatioships with Jesus. Say: Today we leared that WE PRAISE JESUS. I would like each of you to choose a way that you ca praise Jesus this week. Read the three Daily Challege ideas for childre to choose from: Ask your mom or dad to take you o a walk. Each time you see somethig you like, praise Jesus ad thak him for makig it. Make up ew actios to your favorite sog about Jesus. Show your family the ew actios, ad ask them to sig with you. Whe you put o your clothes this week, remember that the people i the Bible laid their coats o the groud to praise Jesus. Sig a quick sog or say a little prayer to praise Jesus. Have kids each whisper i your ear or tell you which idea they ve chose, ad the circle it o each child s My Bible Hugs page. Make sure you tell kids the challege you choose. Your commitmet will ispire childre ad will give them a opportuity to see God at work i your life as well as i theirs! Sprig Quarter Lesso 7 Preschool/Ages 3 & 4
89 Actio Prayer Lie kids up at the start of the road from the Hosaa Hop activity. Have kids joi you i sigig the prayer Praise, Praise, Praise You, Lord (track 6 o the CD) to the tue of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Ecourage childre to walk dow the road as they sig a prayer of praise to their Lord Jesus. Praise, praise, praise you, Lord. How woderful you are! Ad we wat to give you praise. We pray i Jesus ame. (Repeat.) Actio Prayer CD player road from the Ceter 3: Hosaa Hop activity Teacher Pack CD: Praise, Praise, Praise You, Lord (track 6) Say: WE PRAISE JESUS because he s our God. Let s praise him this week as ofte as we ca! Weavig Faith at Home Have childre take home their My Bible Hugs pages whether they worked o them or ot. Have the childre tell their parets the challege they committed to i the Daily Challeges activity. Ecourage the parets to help their kids fulfill this commitmet throughout the week. By workig together ad focusig o the same goals, you ad parets ca help childre weave faith ito their lives! Talk to your Director about emailig the FREE FamilyCoect to all your church s families. Available at group.com/digital. Preschool/Ages 3 & 4 Lesso 7 Sprig Quarter