October 27th/28th 1.4 Pre-K Lesson Plan Noah and the Ark Bible Passage: Genesis 6 9 Story Point: God punished sin but chose to rescue Noah and his family. Key Passage: All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:16b Big Picture Question: Who is God? God is our Creator and King. INTRODUCE THE STORY TEACH THE STORY EXPERIENCE THE STORY (15-20 Minutes) (10-15 Minutes) (20-25 Minutes)
The BIBLE Story Noah and the Ark Genesis 6-9 Adam and Eve had many children and grandchildren. One day, God looked at all the people on earth and saw that they were choosing to sin. Every person s thoughts were evil, and God was sad that He made people. God decided to send a flood to destroy all the creatures on the earth and to clean up the world. God showed favor to a man named Noah. Noah was a righteous man; he followed God. God warned Noah about the flood. He told Noah to make an ark to save himself, his family, and all kinds of animals. God told Noah exactly how to make the ark. God said that He would make an agreement, or covenant, with Noah and his family. Noah did everything that God commanded. When the ark was finished, God told Noah to go inside. Noah went inside with his family and the animals, and God shut the door. Rain came for 40 days and 40 nights, and water rose from the ground. Noah was 600 years old when this happened. Now the ark floated on top of the water. The water rose higher and higher until all of the mountains were covered. Every living thing on the earth died; only Noah and those with him survived. Finally, the rain stopped and the water started to go down. Noah waited inside the ark until the ground was dry. Then God told Noah to bring all the people and animals out of the ark. So Noah did. Noah built an altar and gave an offering to the Lord. God promised Noah that He would never completely flood the earth again. God told Noah and his family to spread out over the earth and fill it with people. God placed a rainbow in the sky as a special sign of the covenant He made with Noah. Every time Noah and his family saw the rainbow, they would know God remembered the promise He made with all the living creatures on earth. Christ Connection: God rescued Noah and his family from the flood. The story of Noah points ahead to a greater rescue. God s Son, Jesus the only perfectly righteous One came to take the punishment for our sin. By trusting in Him, we are saved from the punishment our sin deserves. 2
INTRODUCE the Story WELCOME TIME: Set out some toys for the children to play with as they come in. Have one leader stand by the door with the clipboard to greet children by name and welcome their parents as they arrive. Allow the children to play with toys until 5 minutes after the beginning of the service, then have them sit at the table to complete today s Activity Page. ACTIVITY PAGE: Invite preschoolers to draw a line connecting the boy animal to the girl animal of the same kind. SAY Remember that God made many kinds of animals. In today s Bible story, God planned to send a big flood, but God had a plan to rescue one family and some of all the animals He made. ACTIVITY: Find the Branches Print the Olive Branch printable and cut apart the olive branch pictures. Hide the branches around the room and invite the kids to search for them. Once kids find all the branches, re hide them and play again as time allows. SAY When the waters had begun to dry up, Noah sent out birds to find dry land. A dove returned with an olive branch, so Noah knew that the water had gone down enough for trees to poke through. Seven days later, Noah sent out a dove that did not return at all, so Noah knew it had found a place to make a home, and the earth was dry enough to leave the ark. WORSHIP: While the children finish playing or coloring, get the worship DVD ready. Choose 3 or 4 songs to sing today. SAY It s large group time! Come sit on the rug with us! We re going to sing some fun songs together that worship God! Why do we sing to God? (Answer: To honor Him with our worship!) TEACH the Story TRANSITION TO THE STORY: To gain the attention of all the preschoolers to move them to Bible study, flip off the lights or clap a simple rhythm for the children to copy. Place a bookmark at Genesis 6-9 in your Bible. Invite a preschooler to open it. Reverently display the open Bible. SAY What book is this? The Bible! Whose words are in the Bible? God s! Is the whole Bible true? Yes! Today s story comes from Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. Point to the Bible story picture. Remind children that all the stories in the Bible fit together to tell an even bigger story. The Bible tells us the big story of how God rescues sinners through His Son, Jesus. 3
TELL THE BIBLE STORY: Show the Bible Story Video and then recap the Bible story by reading the words below. SAY God sent a flood to punish the world for sin, but God rescued Noah and his family. Later, there was an even greater rescue! Jesus came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He saves us from the punishment for our sin. PRACTICE THE KEY PASSAGE: Cut out the Key Passage Marker and place it at Colossians 1:16. Invite a volunteer to come up and open your Bible to the key passage. Read the key passage aloud. Practice the motions you created for the verse. SAY Our key passage tells us that all things have been created through Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He saves us from the punishment for our sin. MISSIONS MOMENT: SAY God rescues people from sin today by the gospel, and He uses us to tell the gospel to others. We can share the gospel wherever we live. Missionaries often do this in places that are not their home, like the Rigney family living in London, England. This is a map of London. We can support the Rigney family by praying they will meet and share the gospel with the many people living here. Let s pray for the people of London, England. PRAY TO CLOSE: SAY Why do we pray? (Answer: To open our hearts to God and talk to Him!) Ask the group if anyone has any prayer requests and pray together as a group. If there are a lot of children, break into smaller groups and have leaders pray for the children s requests. EXPERIENCE the Story ACTIVITY 1: Make a Rainbow Print a copy of the Cloud printable for each child. Have several strips of colored paper for the kids to glue to the cloud. Have them glue cotton balls to the cloud. SAY God sent a flood to punish the world for sin, but God rescued Noah and his family. God promised Noah that He would never again send a flood to cover the whole earth. God put a rainbow in the clouds to be a reminder of His promise. Later, there was an even greater rescue! Jesus came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He saves us from the punishment for our sin. ACTIVITY 2: Animal Matching Game Match the animals hiding behind the ark pieces SAY God rescued Noah and his family from the flood. God rescued every kind of animal He made too. Later, there was an even greater rescue! Jesus came to save people from sin. When we trust in Jesus, He saves us from the punishment for our sin. 4
SNACK AND REVIEW: Gather preschoolers for snack time and have them wipe their hands with a sanitizing wipe. Pray, thanking God for the snack. Pray, thanking God for the snack. Serve multi-colored fruit-flavored O-shaped cereal for snack. Point out the rainbow of colors. Talk about how God rescued Noah and his family. God put a rainbow in the clouds to be a reminder of His promise to never again send a flood to cover the entire earth. Show the Bible story picture as you ask the following questions. Retell parts of the Bible story as needed. 1. How did God feel about people doing mean things and thinking bad thoughts? ( He was very sad. ) 2. What did God tell Noah to build? ( an ark a really big boat ) 3. Who closed the door to the ark? ( God ) 4. Who all stayed on the ark during the flood? ( Noah, his family, and every kind of animal ) 5. What did Noah do to thank God for rescuing them? ( gave an offering ) 6. Who is God? God is our Creator and King. TRANSITION AND DISMISSAL: When children finish their snack, preschoolers may color the Bible story coloring page, play a simple game to practice the key passage or big picture question, or sing another song together. CHECKOUT PROCEDURE: As parents begin to arrive, open the door and have one leader stand just outside the classroom door with the attendance sheet. Take the parent s security sticker and call loudly for the child to come. While you wait for the child to come, tell the parents something that their child enjoyed doing or did well during the service and distribute the preschool big picture cards for families. Before you let the child leave the classroom, look to see that the parent and child security codes match and remove the sticker from the child s shirt as they leave. Note: If a parent lost their security sticker, send them to the check-in desk for approval; never allow a child to go to a parent unless they have the security sticker. 5