Joseph and His Brothers

Joseph and His Brothers Bible Story Genesis 37 Teacher Challenge and Me Joseph s story is much bigger than a pretty coat. When dreams came to him that predicted his family would bow to him, Joseph believed those dreams came from God. Those dreams nurtured a faith that helped him hang on through many dark days! God used confusing and hard circumstances to place Joseph where he needed to be. But Joseph didn t focus on himself; he looked outward to help, to create situations where others would survive, shine and be blessed. He was willing to let God be in charge of making the dreams into reality. What dreams or plans for the future do you have that you believe God has given you? How will you prepare yourself today for those dreams to be fulfilled tomorrow? To see God s dream for each of our lives unfold, we must do the same: Focus on living for Him today in this situation, in this moment! Prepare to live today, the only day you have fully for Him. He will bring the dream to reality! Teacher s Planning 1. Choose which centers you will provide and the order in which children will participate in them. For tips on schedule planning, see page 9. 2. Plan who will lead each center, making sure to have one adult for approximately every six children. For staffing tips and ideas, see page 12. 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide 345

Play to Learn Active Game Center: Travelling Socks Bible, two or three socks, masking tape; optional trash can. Prepare Roll socks into balls. Use masking tape to make a 12-inch (30.5-cm) square on the floor in an open area of the room. (Note: Remove masking tape immediately after activity.) and Me 1. Children stand in a line several feet from the masking-tape square. Give the first child in line a sock. 2. Child names a place he or she goes, and then tosses the sock into the square. (Optional: Child tosses sock into trash can.) Continue until each child has had a turn or as time and interest allow. Talk About In today s Bible story, Joseph went on a trip to find his older brothers. Let s play a game where we name the different places we go. Sean, where is a place you go? God is with you when you visit your aunt and uncle! The Bible says, you wherever you go. That means God is with us when we go to the store. God is with us when we go to school. God is with us wherever we go! For Younger Children Children may need your help to verbalize the places they go. Claire, do you go to the store with your mom? God is with you at the store. For Older Children Children toss socks in a variety of ways (tossing over the head, between the legs, standing on one leg, etc.). 346 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide

Play to Learn Art Center: Coat of Many Colors Bible, newspaper, good quality paper towels, scissors, watercolor paints, paintbrushes, shallow containers. Prepare Cover tables with newspaper. For each child, cut a section of paper towel into a coat shape (see sketch). Fill shallow containers with water and place on tables. and Me Give each child a paper-towel coat. Children use watercolor paints to paint paper-towel coats. Talk About In today s Bible story, Joseph s father gave him a special coat to wear. Let s use watercolor paints to make these papertowel coats colorful! Joseph s father gave him the special coat to show that he loved Joseph. Madison, one way God shows His love for us is by making food grow. What kind of food is your favorite? The Bible says, The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. This verse means God is with us all the time, at every place we go! Pray briefly, Thank You, God, for being with us wherever we go. For Younger Children Instead of using watercolor paints, children use markers. For Older Children Children make patterns of stripes or circles on their paper-towel coats. 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide 347

Play to Learn Construction Center: Train Tracks Bible, several large cardboard boxes, craft knife, blocks. Prepare Use craft knife to cut flaps from tops and bottoms of boxes, leaving sides intact. and Me 1. Children place blocks along two parallel lines, forming train tracks (see sketch). Children make train tracks wide enough to walk between. The train tracks can be straight, curved or made into a large circle. 2. Children form a line inside the train tracks. Give each child a box. Children stand inside box, holding it up and walking to form the car of a train. Talk About In today s Bible story, Joseph walked a long way to see his brothers. In Bible times, people usually walked when they went on a trip. What are some ways people travel today? Some people travel to different cities by train. Let s build some train tracks with our blocks and pretend to go on a trip! Emma, where would you like to go on our trip? When you go to your friend Hannah s house, God is with you! Michael, where did your family go on vacation? God was with you and your family when you went to the beach. The Bible says, you wherever you go. I m glad God is always with me. God is with you wherever you go, too! Pray briefly, Thank You, God, for being with us wherever we go. For Younger Children Outline train tracks using masking tape. Children place blocks on masking-tape lines to form train tracks. (Note: Remove masking tape immediately after activity.) Children place large boxes on tracks as tunnels. For Older Children Children line up and take turns being the engine, directing where the train will go. 348 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide

Play to Learn Dramatic Play Center: Dressing Up Bible, colorful dress-up clothes and fabric (scarves, towels, strips of fabric). Children dress up using colorful dress-up clothes and fabric. Children drape scarves or other materials over heads and around shoulders. and Me Talk About In our Bible story today, Joseph s father gave him a beautiful coat. Joseph s father gave him the coat to show Joseph how much he loved Joseph. Let s dress up in these colorful fabrics. Joseph wore his beautiful coat when he went walking to find his brothers. Where can we pretend to go now? Let s get dressed in these colorful clothes and fabrics and pretend to go to a party! The Bible says, The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. God is with you wherever you go. God loves you! Pray briefly, Dear God, thank You for being with us wherever we go. We love You! For Younger Children Children play with dolls, dressing dolls in fabric, scarves and doll clothing. For Older Children Children use toy cameras to pretend to take pictures of each other. 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide 349

Listen to Learn Genesis 37 Bible, Bible Story 14 pictures from God s Story for Me Poster Pack #2, Preschool Music #2 DVD or CD and player, ball. Greet Each Other Ask children to take turns saying their name and a number between 1 and 5. Other children clap (or jump, or turn around) that number of times. and Me Tell the Story Open your Bible to Genesis 37. Tell the story using the pictured motions (keywords in bold) or show Bible Story 14 pictures. What color is your favorite shirt or dress? Listen to hear about a boy who was given a very special coat! Our Bible tells about a boy named Joseph. Joseph had 11 brothers. Joseph and his brothers took care of the family s sheep and watched to make sure no sheep got lost. Joseph s father was named Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph the best of all his sons. To show that he loved Joseph, Jacob gave him a beautiful coat. But the beautiful coat made his brothers angry! One day, after caring for the sheep with his brothers, Joseph told his father that his brothers were NOT doing a good job. This made Joseph s brothers angrier! Later Joseph told his family about two dreams that he had. Both dreams were about his family bowing to Joseph. It sounded like Joseph would be their leader. The dreams made his brothers REALLY angry! Not long after this, Joseph s brothers took the sheep out to find new grass. They had been gone for a long time. Jacob sent Joseph to find out how they were. Joseph walked and walked. He looked for his brothers. Joseph s brothers saw him coming a long way off. The brothers remembered how angry they were at Joseph. They made a plan to take Joseph s coat and KILL Joseph! But the oldest brother said, n t kill him. Just throw him in this deep hole in the ground. And that s just what the brothers did. Then the brothers noticed some traders coming. (Traders are people who buy and sell things.) One brother said, Let s SELL Joseph. These traders will take him far, far away. So the brothers sold Joseph to the traders. Joseph was taken to Egypt, far from his home. He was sold as a slave. (A slave is a person who is owned by someone else.) Joseph must have been very sad. But even though he was far from home, God was with him. 350 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide

Talk About the Story What mean thing did Joseph s brothers do to him? (Threw Joseph in a hole. Sold Joseph to traders.) Joseph s brothers were MEAN to Joseph! But God was with Joseph. God is with us wherever we go, too. Where do you like to go with your family? God is with you wherever you go! Sing to God Let s sing a song that reminds us that God is with us. Lead children in singing God with You (on DVD or track 12 on CD). When you go to bed at night, who is with you? God is! When you go to school, who is with you? God is with you everywhere you go! Hear and Say Holding your Bible open to Joshua 1:9, say verse aloud. I m glad God is with me wherever I go. God is with you everywhere you go, too! Lead children in repeating the Bible verse several times. As the children are repeating the verse with you, point to one or more children. You and Option: Lead children in clapping in a variety of ways (in front, to the side, down low, etc.) while saying the verse. the children say the name of every child pointed at instead of the word you each time. The Lord your God is with Sarah and Jessica wherever Sarah and Jessica go. Continue naming each child. Pray to God Lead children in prayer. Dear God, thank You for always being with us, everywhere we go. In Jesus name, amen. Praise to God Children stand at one side of classroom. In our Bible story today, God was with Joseph, and God promises to be with us, too. I m glad that God is with us wherever we go. Let s walk across the room in different ways. Lead children in walking back and forth across the room in a variety of ways: slowly, jumping, hopping, skipping, sliding, etc. Children repeat God is with me as they walk. 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide 351

Talk to Learn Bible Story Activity Pages Center A copy of Activity 14 from The Big Book of Bible Story Activity Pages #2 for yourself and each child, scissors, crayons or markers; optional cotton balls, glue. you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 Name Bible Story Activity 14 Lead children to complete pages following the instructions. (Optional: Children glue cotton balls to sheep.) Use the conversation suggestions as children complete their pages and retell the story. Preschool Puzzle Center X X Scene 4 Who was with Joseph everywhere he went? Where do you like to go? God is always with you. Teacher cuts and prefolds page. Child colors scenes. fold fold Scene 1 X X Copies of Bible Story Puzzle 40, Bible Verse Puzzle 40 and/or Challenge Puzzle 40 from The Big Book of Preschool Puzzles #2 for each child; pencils, crayons or markers. 63 Scene 2 Teacher assists child in taping scenes at X s (see sketch on back of this page) to make a picture square. Child moves picture square to review story. Scene 3 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to the original purchaser only. The Big Book of Bible Story Activity Pages #2 Children complete the puzzles and color pages. Use the conversation suggestions on the pages. Read-Aloud Story Center A copy of Story Picture 40 from The Big Book of Read- Aloud Stories #2 for yourself and each child, crayons or markers. Read the story and distribute pictures. Use the conversation suggestions as children complete their pages. 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. The Big Book of Read-Aloud Stories #2 you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 Count the cows. Color the rainbow. Color the picture. 85 Story Picture 40 352 2010 Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted to original purchaser only. Growing with God Leader s Guide