for Leaders October to December 2017 Children and the Bible 4 Series 1 Moses the leader 5 Session 1 Living in the desert 7 Bible passage: Exodus 16:1 17:7 Session 2 Ten rules from God 12 Bible passage: Exodus 19:16 20:17 Session 3 Moses meets God 17 Bible passage: Exodus 33:7 23; 34:1 9,29 35 Session 4 A place to worship God 22 Bible passage: Exodus 35:20 36:7; 39:32 40:38 Session 5 God s love goes on and on and on 27 Bible passage: Psalm 136:1 9 Series 2 Stories of Jesus 32 Session 6 The story of the seeds 34 Bible passage: Matthew 13:1 23 Session 7 The story of the weeds 39 Bible passage: Matthew 13:24 30,36 43 Session 8 A tiny seed 44 Bible passage: Matthew 13:31 33 Session 9 Jesus and the children 49 Bible passage: Matthew 19:13 15 Series 3 Christmas people 54 Session 10 Mary 56 Bible passage: Luke 1:26 56 Session 11 Joseph 61 Bible passage: Luke 2:1 7 Session 12 The shepherds 66 Bible passage: Luke 2:8 21 Session 13 The wise men 71 Bible passage: Matthew 2:1 12 Songs and rhymes and Web resources for this issue 76 and 77 How to plan your session and Session planning template 78 and 79 Leading Bubbles children October to December 80 Syllabus preview January to March 2018 81 Light order form 82
Session 2 Ten rules from God How do we know how to live God s way? By staying close to him and following his rules. Young children cannot make the jump from a negative to understand what the positive alternative is they do not yet have the life experience to fill in the missing information, so this session looks at do rules, rather than don ts. To plan your session... Choose a selection of, Bible time and God and me activities to make your session fun and memorable. You may like to use the Session plan, on page 79, to help in your preparation. options... Making new rules Aim: to learn how rules help us know how to live You will need: Bubbles Big Sheet 2, puppets or play people, an example of a code of conduct and extended play ideas from the Web resources 1 If you already have a code of conduct or group rules for your group, remind the children about it and review the rules. Or take this opportunity to talk with the children about how we should act towards each other. If you do not already have one, work together to devise your own group code three or four simple rules that everyone can learn to follow. Display this in your room and refer to it regularly. 2 What other rules do we need? Chat about safety. Act out safe and unsafe situations with puppets or play people, such as crossing the road, using the bathroom, or on the stairs. 3 Give out the Big Sheets. See what rules Cara and Kris have made on the back. What new rules (sensible or fun) can the children make up? Let them create a poster by illustrating their rule in the space provided on the Big Sheet. Help them write the rule on the dotted line. Try keeping some of the rules in the group today! Imagining the mountain Aim: to imagine meeting God on the mountain You will need: sound effects from the Web resources (optional) 1 Help the children imagine being Moses: We are all going to pretend to be Moses. Let s go! Just like Moses, we look up, up, up to see the top of the mountain. That s where we are going to talk with God. But first we see something a flash of lightning and we hear a rumble of thunder! (Stamp on the floor, toot or use sound effects.) That reminds us that God is holy and powerful. Let s begin to climb the mountain. (Walk on the spot.) Up, up, up we go. It s getting steeper. Let s lift our feet higher and higher. We look up to see how far we have to climb, but there s thick smoke! (Wave arms to clear it.) And we begin to puff because the mountain s so steep. And we keep climbing until... we re right at the top! (Sound effects again.) And God is here to talk to us! 2 Spend a few minutes talking with God now, before you go back down the mountain. Aim To realise that God helps us to know how he wants us to live Bible passage Exodus 19:16 20:17 Pebble praise Activity time: 5 minutes Aim: to hear how God wants us to live You will need: largish smooth pebbles, list from Using Bubbles point 4 or Bible rules point 4, a decorated box strong enough to hold all the pebbles, a favourite worship song 1 Say or remind the children that God gave Moses ten good rules to live by. Do the children think God s people were glad to have these good rules? God wrote the rules on stones. 2 Give each child a pebble. (If you have fewer than ten children, give them more than one. With a large group, let several place their stones at the same time.) 3 Call a child s name and ask them to hold their pebble so everyone can see it. Read out the first rule from the list. (These are written as positive rules that are easier for young children to understand.) Ask the child to put their pebble in the box. Repeat for each rule. 4 Pick up the box and march together around the room with it, singing a song of praise. 12 Session 2 8 October Ten rules from God Exodus 19:16 20:17
Ready to use options... Using Bubbles Aim: to realise that God helps his people know how he wants them to live You will need: Bubbles Big Sheet 2 and Big Bonus Sheet A, The Big Bible Storybook (hardback, paperback or audio) or the story words from the Web resources 1 What sort of rules do you have in your group? Do you have to wear your shoes on your hands? Or put your coats on to sing? Of course not! We have rules to help us and keep us safe. And God s rules are the best. 2 Tell the story Rules from God from The Big Bible Storybook page 45 (or other source, as listed above). God said these rules were important. Look at the busy scene of God s people living together in the desert on the front of Big Sheet 2. Can the children find Moses? What is he carrying? Things were going wrong for God s people and God wanted them to have rules to show them how to live. 4 Study the picture carefully and discuss what the people are doing. When the people kept God s rules, things were a lot better for everyone. Can you find people who are keeping God s rules: Worship me. Think about what I want first. Smile when you say my name. Have one special day every week. Make your parents happy. Be kind to other people. Look after your family. Ask before you take anything that s not yours. Always tell the truth. Be glad for what God has given you. Let the children examine the scene and decide who they think is doing what: there are not specific right answers. 5 What about the other people? What are they doing? How could they start to follow God s rules? God and me Responsive prayer Activity time: 5 minutes Aim: to respond to God s loving rules You will need: the list of rules from Using Bubbles point 4 or Bible rules point 4 1 Teach the children to say rhythmically, Please, God, help us do everything you want us to. 2 Invite the children to talk to God about the rules he has made for us. 3 Read the first rule from the list. Pause for a moment and then say, God says, Please love me and love each other too. Let the children respond with the phrase they have practised. 4 Say the next rule, leave a pause and say your words again, encouraging the children to say their lines with you. Repeat this pattern until you have read all ten rules. (If the children start to get restless, say several rules together.) 5 After the prayer, sing a song about the way in which God wants us to keep his rules. Action rhyme Aim: to learn what God wants us to do 1 Teach the following action rhyme: This is what God says is right (Clap rhythmically.) Love our God with all our might. (Stretch arms upward; bring them down strongly.) This is how we all should be (Clap again.) Kind to friends and family. (Hands with palm upwards held together; then sweep around to either side.) This is what God says is right (Clap again.) Love our God with all our might. (Stretch arms upward; bring them down strongly.) 2 Say that one of the things God wants us to do is to look after each other. How might we do this? Perhaps by helping each other to play well, by helping if someone is hurt, or by sharing. 3 Think together about how you might be kind, worship God and show you love others. Then, after each topic, say the rhyme again. Session 2 8 October Ten rules from God Exodus 19:16 20:17 Ready to use 13
Options for children aged 3 to 5 years... Bible rules Aim: to discover how God told his people what he wanted them to do You will need: anything that can be used to make a mountain 1 Make a mountain from a chair covered in a cloth, a blanket or toy bricks. Sit the children in front of it. Remind them of Moses: he is leading God s people to the new land that God has promised them. They have come to a huge mountain 2 Use the first two fingers of one hand to walk along the floor to the base of the mountain. This will be Moses. 3 Tell the story, encouraging the children to join in with sound effects. Teach them to stop each time they see you moving your Moses fingers. Wow! Moses and God s people were standing near the mountain. They heard the boom of thunder. (Drum heels on the floor.) They saw lightning flash across the sky. (Blink rapidly.) Wow! they all said. The mountain was covered in thick white clouds and they heard a trumpet sounding. (All toot like a trumpet.) What an amazing place this is! they said. They were so afraid they began to shake. They knew that God was there. They heard God calling Moses to climb the mountain. (Walk your fingers up the mountain.) As he went, the people saw smoke and fire on the mountain. And then they couldn t see Moses any more. But Moses was quite safe. He stood on top of the mountain. Only God was with him. Listen, God said. I want my people to love me. God gave Moses ten good rules to show everyone what to do. The ten good rules were so important that God wrote them on two big flat stones. Carefully, Moses carried the stones down to the people. They were still afraid. But Moses said, God wants us to love him. He is our God and we are his people. Moses showed them two stones. Here are ten good rules to show us what God wants us to do. We must obey them. 4 Discuss what the children think God s rules were about. Read God s rules aloud. God says: Worship me. Think about what I want first. Smile when you say my name. Have one special day every week. Make your parents happy. Be kind to other people. Look after your family. Ask before you take anything that s not yours. Always tell the truth. Be glad for what God has given you. 5 Can you match any of the children s ideas to God s list? For example, hold hands when you cross the road might go with look after your family. God and me Bubbles TV Aim: to discover how God wants us to live You will need: large and individual cardboard televisions (from Session 1), long strips of paper, glue, copies of pictures from page 16 (colour version available with the Web resources), The Big Bible Storybook 1 Help the children to cut out the pictures from page 16 and stick them in the right order on long strips of paper. Feed the paper through the slits in the side of their individual television boxes to make this session s programme on Bubbles TV. 2 Then add a soundtrack : the story of Exodus 19:16 20:17 in your own words or use The Big Bible Storybook. Act as the television announcer and say that the programme will show us how God wants us to live. As you tell the story, move the pictures through the television. At the end announce: That story showed how God told Moses how he wanted people to live. God wants us to live his way too. 3 Have fun showing and watching Ten rules from God with as many repeats as you wish! 4 Enjoy using the box television as a way of reinforcing the events of the story and sharing it with each other. Encourage the children to retell the story to each other, using their own Bubbles TV sets. Bible reading Help children to take their first steps into Bible reading with Tiddlywinks: My Little Orange Book, which includes this Bible story. ISBN 978 1 85999 717 8 Rules from God is in The Big Bible Storybook, available from Scripture Union. ISBNs hardback 978 184427 228 0, paperback 978 1 78506 190 5, audio 978 1 84427 379 9 14 Session 2 8 October Ten rules from God Exodus 19:16 20:17 3 to 5 years
Options for children aged under 3 years... Bible story Aim: to hear that God helps us know how he wants us to live You will need: The Big Bible Storybook (hardback, paperback or audio), Big Bonus Sheet A or the story words from the Web resources 1 Tell the story Rules from God from The Big Bible Storybook page 45 (or other source, as listed above). 2 Help the children to enter the Bible story more fully by telling it again, this time involving them in the action, for example, miming the climb up and down the mountain, and acting out some of Moses other actions. 3 Explain that God s ten good rules help us to love him and to live happily together. When we are kind to each other, then God is pleased. 4 Sing the song below slowly to the tune Three blind mice. Encourage the children to copy the actions as follows: ten hold up ten fingers good thumbs up rules palms down, fingers stretched out. Practise this and give the children plenty of time to work out what to do with their fingers. Ten good rules, Ten good rules. God gives to us, (Point upward and then at one another.) God gives to us. He wants us all to live his way, (Walk on the spot.) To worship him, to sing and pray, (Raise arms.) And love each other every day. (Cross arms over chest.) Ten good rules. 5 Which rules were listed in the rhyme? God wants us to live his way. God wants us to love (worship, sing and pray to) him. God wants us to love each other. Say that these are good rules! We make God happy when we love him and love each other. God and me Keeping the rules Activity time: 5 minutes Aim: to keep some of God s loving rules You will need: a favourite praise song, musical instruments (optional) 1 Keep some of the rules now. Start by worshipping God : that s one rule. Sing a praise song that the children already know and enjoy; march around the room with musical instruments or clapping for God; give a loud shout of God is good! or Praise God! Talk to God about what you have been doing in your group today. 2 What other rules can you obey together? Give a few real-life situations, for example, when we help (maybe by putting our toys away), we are keeping God s rules. After each simple example, let the children jump and shout, Hurray, we can keep God s rules! Include ideas from the children as well as some of these examples: when we ask before we take someone else s toys; when we say thank you to God for what he s given us; when we sing and shout to praise God; when we care for everyone in our family; when we are kind to others. Free play Activity time: no time limit Aim: to see that we can do things the way God wants us to You will need: a variety of activities that your group enjoys, including games where there are a few basic rules 1 Set up several activities for children to choose around the room, such as drawing, dressing up, table games, puzzles, vehicles, building bricks. 2 Allow the children to play freely. Monitor the situation closely and note when you see children playing fairly, kindly and well. Comment informally, saying what you have seen, perhaps saying, Amy, that s just the kind of thing that God wants us to do, or Timothy, you were doing that God s way. If something negative happens, put it right but don t go beyond that: it would be unfair and possibly harmful to the children involved to comment that they weren t doing things God s way. Aim to encourage and reinforce the positive actions and intentions. 3 At the end of the time, praise the children for the times when they did what God wants us to do. Tip for Leaders: Play is the way in which young children learn. activities are all focused on the Bible story and the aim of the session. Play at any time within a Bubbles session. for Leaders Session 2 8 October Ten rules from God Exodus 19:16 20:17 under 3 years 15
Photocopiable resource... for Leaders October to December 2017 Session 2 Scripture Union 2017 16 Session 2 8 October Ten rules from God Exodus 19:16 20:17 Photocopiable resource