Kindergarten-2nd March 19-20, 2016 Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 3:16 Connect Time (15 minutes): Five minutes after the service begins, split kids into groups and begin their activity. Palm Sunday Praise the king Make it a priority to pray with your team. Invite God to be with you or your team as you tell an exciting part of God s story today! Large Group (30 minutes): Begin 20 minutes after the service starts. Model what it looks like to be engaged in large group. Small Group (15 minutes): Keep kids in small groups until parents arrive. If you all have extra time at the end, you can review the video and songs together. As kids check out, ask them about their palm branches, and how it relates to Jesus as our king! Today is a celebration of Palm Sunday, which is when people recognized Jesus as the Rescuer they had been waiting for. He announces that he is the Rescuer by riding into Jerusalem as a king. The people got really, really excited and we should too!
GOAL: Connect Time is all about engaging kids in an activity that allows them to connect with each other right away while simultaneously piquing their curiosity for Large Group and preparing their minds for what they re going to hear. ACTIVITY Lay out two long pieces of tear-off paper on the floor (Each piece of paper should be long enough to go from one side of the room to the opposite side. Lay the two pieces of paper next to each other.) o You can leave the paper out for the next service instead of throwing it away. Divide kids into two teams. Tell kids that we re going to have a King competition! o Each kid will take turns walking to end of the special runway and then walk back to their team (have fun and describe the paper runways as a fancy red carpet that only a true king can walk down!) o To walk down the runway, each kid has to wear the crown while doing his or her most king-like walk. o Encourage kids to be as silly as they want (walking funny, skipping, etc.) If some kids are shy, let them walk in pairs! The only rule is that they can t run; they have to walk. If they run, they re out! o o The first team to get all the kids up and down the runways, wins. If you want, award kids for superlatives, like silliest, most kingly, most creative, etc. TALK ABOUT IT What does a king do? How would you act if you met a real king? Before you go to Large Group, you can ask kids how their week went. You can also remind kids of the expectations for Large Group behavior: (1) be kind, (2) listen when somebody speaks, and (3) follow the leader s instructions.
Goal: Kids will (1) retell the story of Palm Sunday and (2) celebrate that Jesus was the long awaited king. Why? Palm Sunday is an important part of the rescuer s story. It prepares us for the coming events of Easter. Tip: Today involves cutting as part of the craft. Make sure younger kids are careful with scissors, and help cut as needed. REVIEW THE STORY 1. In today s story, why did Jesus ride on a donkey? (He wanted to announce that he was the Rescuer King.) 2. What did the people in Jerusalem do as Jesus rode into town? (They laid down palm branches and coats, and shouted Hosanna or Hooray for the Rescuer! ) 3. Why were people shouting and laying down palm branches? (They believed that Jesus the Rescuer was here.) 4. Does anybody remember why Jesus started crying in this story? (Some people didn t want him to be treated like the Rescuer or the King that made him sad!) 5. What would you guys have done if you were in Jerusalem when Jesus rode in on a donkey? (If kids believe that Jesus is the Rescuer, encourage them to say they would have waved palm branches, laid down coats, or shouted Hooray for the Rescuer! ) MAKE IT PERSONAL Give each kid 1 wooden craft stick and 2 sheets of green paper. Set out scissors, glue sticks and markers. Tell kids that we re going to make palm branches using our hands! Show kids how to lay their hand on their paper, trace a line around it, and cut out the hand shape. (It s okay if kids can t cut out all the individual fingers. They may need a little help!) Encourage kids to cut 2 or 3 hand shapes out of their green paper (or as many hand shapes as they can fit on the paper.) Glue them together (as shown in the picture on the next page). Glue the group of hands onto the craft stick. Then play Simon Says using the palm branches! Here are some examples of what to do (Say Simon Says before the following actions, but remember not to say it a few times): (Continued on next page.)
2 Wave your palm branches around! Lay down your branch on the ground. Say, Jesus is king! Pick up your palm branches. Lift your branches in the air. Wave your branches while twirling around! Hand/Palm Branch Example: Extra Time? Give kids a coloring page. After that, let kids use play dough to create a scene of today s story! Have kids make a donkey, Jesus, the city, palm branches and a crowd of people!
1 In anticipation of Easter next week, today is about focusing on the celebratory nature of Palm Sunday. Here s our video for Palm Sunday. Watch it beforehand to help you prepare for Large Group. God s Story / Palm Sunday: https://vimeo.com/59691514 *Click to play intro music WELCOME Hi everybody! Welcome to Kids Club. It s so great to see you all here. Did you have fun acting like kings in Connect Time? (Let kids respond.) You all could definitely be royalty! How do you think a king should act? (Let kids respond.) Great answers. Do you think kings should have a crown? (Click to show crown image and let kids respond.) Okay, do you think kings should have lots of servants and people to do things for them? (Click to show servant image and let kids respond.) How do you think a king should get around places? Would they have a fancy car? (Click to show car image and let kids respond.) Kings DO usually have all those cool things! But today, we re talking about a king who didn t have any of that! Do you know who it is? (Let kids respond, Jesus! ) Yep, you re right! Jesus is a king, but he s way different than any other king! He didn t have a golden crown, or lots of servants, or a car. JESUS ANNOUNCES HE IS KING Remember, people had been waiting for their king, Jesus, to come for a long, LONG time. They were so excited for him to finally rescue them. One day, he arrived in a big city called Jerusalem. Can you all say Jerusalem? (Let kids respond.) It was a really important day, because the Big Rescue was getting closer and closer. And it was time for Jesus to tell everybody that he was not the same as any other man He was the King who would rescue everyone! So Jesus planned to make an announcement that would let the WHOLE city of Jerusalem know he that was the Rescuer. Today, we have lots of ways to make announcements (Click to show slide with images of TV and newspaper and internet.) We can put a message on TV or in the newspaper, or the internet! We can shout it REALLY LOUD! (Use your hands to cup your mouth and talk through
the mic really loudly.) We can even have it flown across the sky (Click to show picture of plane with message.) Did Jesus have any of that stuff back then? (Let kids respond, No. ) So how do you think Jesus announced that he was the Rescuer? Any guesses? Turn and tell a friend what you think. (Let kids tell a friend, then let 1-3 kids share out loud.) Let s see if you re right! To announce that he was the Rescuer, Jesus did something kind of surprising to us! He chose to ride into town on a donkey. He wanted to come into town like a king would. The thing is, back then, kings usually rode a horse into town and all the people would get excited. Jesus chose a donkey instead. It showed he was a SERVANT King, someone who would help and serve others. PEOPLE TREAT JESUS AS KING Let s find out what happened when he arrived in town on that donkey. We re going to watch a video about Palm Sunday. As you watch, see if you can figure out what people did when they saw Jesus ride into town on a donkey. Let s see if they treated him as a king Video: God s Story: Palm Sunday So what did people do when they saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? (Let a few kids share out loud.) Yes, they laid down their coats and put palm branches on the ground. They wanted Jesus to ride on something other than just plain old dirt. It s kind of like how you all walked across the special runway in Connect Time! Let s see what those palm branches looked like. (Click to show palm branch image.) Then the people SHOUTED! They were praising the king, which means they were telling Jesus they thought he was great. They said, Hosanna to the Son of David which is like saying Hooray for the Rescuer! Let s say that together: Hooray for the Rescuer! Ready? 1-2-3 (Let kids say: Hooray for the Rescuer! ) I think we can do a little louder than that! (Repeat with kids again.) Awesome job. PEOPLE BELIEVED JESUS WAS KING When people laid down palm branches and coats, and shouted praises do you think most of the people believed Jesus was the Rescuer King? (Let kids say, Yes! ) Yes they did! Except for a few people, they sure did! (This statement references the scene in the video no need to elaborate. Focus on the celebratory nature of Palm Sunday.) Does anybody think they know now why we call it Palm Sunday? (Let kids respond.) Yes, because it s the day Jesus announced that he is the KING. And the people celebrated him with palm branches. It was a parade and a party for Jesus! RESPONSE TIME We ve been learning a verse for the past several weeks. It says that Jesus is our Rescuer, and he came to save us from all the wrong things in the world. It s John 3:16-17. Let s all read it together:
SLIDE: John 3:16-17 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. He sent his son to save the world through him. Now let s do some motions to go along with that first part! (Lead kids in acting out the following): God so loved the world (cross your arms against your chest) that he gave his one and only son (hold up one finger, then point up) Anyone who believes in him (hold your hands in front of you) will not die (shake head no ) but will have eternal life (hold your arms up in a cross position) Good job guys! When we believe that Jesus rescued us, it means we believe that we ll get to be close to him forever. Let s all bow our head and close our eyes. (Let kids respond.) In your head, go ahead and tell Jesus how thankful you are that he came to rescue us, and that he s our king. You can tell him anything you want! (Give kids 30 seconds of silence, than pray for the group out loud.) PRAY Dear God. You are the best king we could ever ask for. We re so excited that you came to earth to rescue us. We praise you! Aaaa-men! WORSHIP Remember, Jesus LOVES it when we treat him like our King! So let s tell Jesus we love him by singing to him now. This first song is all about announcing God s love on the radio! Music Video: Jesus Loves Me Music Video: All Our Hope *Dismiss kids to small groups
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Per group: 2 pieces of tear-off paper (approx. 10 feet long each), 2 crowns (OT: IN-25/943) Per kid: coloring page, 1 wooden craft stick (OT: IN-57/1008), 2 sheets of green paper Per group: markers, glue sticks, scissors No supplies needed 1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website) 2. Image: Crown 3. Image: Servants 4. Image: Car 5. Image: Tv/internet/newspaper (put three separate images one slide) 6. Image: Plane with message 7. Video: God s Story / Palm Sunday (https://vimeo.com/59691514) 8. Image: Palm branches 9. Slide: John 3:16-17 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. God did not send his son into the world to judge the world. He sent his son to save the world through him. 10. Music Video: Jesus Loves Me (motions) ( https://vimeo.com/44164426) 11. Music Video: All Our Hope (https://vimeo.com/99668247) Tell me about Palm Sunday. How did Jesus arrive in Jerusalem?