Monday, April 25, 2011

Baby Moses Craft

Before your lesson, make a sample craft from the patterns below, but do not glue Moses in the basket. Hold the basket and Moses visuals in your Bible until the story time. Also print the patterns for each child in your class.

During the lesson, ask the children to name people who help take care of them. Then say, "I’m glad God planned for people to care for us. Let’s listen quietly to a Bible story about a boy whose mother loved him very much. This is a true story from God's Word, the Bible." Hold your open Bible as you tell the story of baby Moses from Exodus 2:1-10. Hold up the baby Moses figure when you mention Moses. Hold up the basket when you mention how Jochebed made it. Then place Moses in the basket when you get to that point in the story. Open the basket (or have a a child open it) when you tell how Pharaoh's daughter found Moses in the basket.

After the story, give each child scissors, crayons, glue, and the activity sheets from below. Let each child color and cut out the basket and baby Moses. Show the children how to glue the basket pieces back to back and glue Moses in the basket. Help them fold down the basket lid. Point to the Bible verse on the basket as you say it, "Let us love one another" — John 4:7. Have the children say it with you. Talk about ways the children can show love to others. (being helpful, sharing, saying kind words, etc.)

(This activity is taken from Bible Foundations Downloadable Curriculum for Preschool. To download an entire Bible Foundations lesson for preschool, early elementary, or late elementary ages, visit our Bible Foundations Samples Page.)



Click on the image above to download the craft.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Mother's Day Craft: Bath Salts

Have your students prepare a special Mother's Day gift for their moms or grandmothers. Collect a small clear container with a lid for each child (such as a baby food jar or pimento jar or plastic muffin cup container). Cut a fabric circle larger than the lid for each child. Copy the sheet below onto heavy paper and cut out a circle for each child. Punch a hole at the top of each paper circle.

Cover the work area with newspapers. Bring a shirt box or box lid, a 10-inch ribbon, a rubber band, and a small scoop for each child. Also bring Epsom salts, (1 cup for each child), a sealable plastic bag for each child, and food coloring. Let each child print his name on the back of a directions circle. Give each child a small clear container with a lid and a plastic bag about a third full of Epsom salt (about 1 cup). Help the child put several drops of food coloring of his choice in the bag. Seal the bag and help the child knead it to spread the color throughout the salts.

Give each child a shirt box or lid to use as his work space. Place an empty clear container in the box. Then let each child scoop a small amount of the colored Epsom salt into his container. (The shirt box will catch the extra salts and you can recycle the salts for others to use.) Let the child trade salt colors with the other children until he has at least three or four layers of colored salt in his container. Add the lid and cover it with the fabric circle. Use a rubber band to hold the fabric in place. Tie a ribbon through the directions circle and then around the fabric to hold it in place. 

Make sure names are on the crafts. Say, This salt feels nice and soft in a bath. You can give this gift to your mother or to someone you love. When you are kind to your parents and family members, you are showing you love them. God is pleased when we show love to others.

Click the image above to download this fun craft.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Bible Game: Trust God's Word

Because people are not always trustworthy, it can be hard for children to understand that God always keeps His promises. Reinforce the absolute truth of God's Word to your students.

Hold an open Bible. Explain that this special book is God's Word and it is true. Say, "God always keeps His promises. People may try to keep their promises, but they are not always able to keep them. Often people break their promises. God is different. He always keeps His promises. What God says is always true. God's Words are found in the Bible, and they are true. Let's play a game to see how the words people say are not always trustworthy. We cannot always believe the words people say."

Think of some hard-to-say sentences such as:

1. Chester, the calico cat, chased chipmunks.

2. Susie sells seashells at the seashore.

3. There was a crooked man who went a crooked mile.

4. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.

5. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

6. Big baby beluga whales blow water from their blow-holes.

Have the children sit in a circle. Explain that you’re going to whisper a sentence to the first child. He will whisper it to the next child and on around the circle to the end. The last person will say aloud what was heard. The leader will read the original sentence. Usually the sentence will be quite changed along the way.

Move to a new child in the circle and repeat the game with a new sentence and a new end person. Do a new sentence as often as time allows.

After the game say, "This game shows that we can’t always trust what we hear. The only words we can always trust are God’s Word, the Bible. Have a child read a Bible verse aloud from the Bible. Explain that God's words are always true."

(This game is taken from Bible Foundations Downloadable Curriculum for Early Elementary. To download an entire Bible Foundations lesson for preschool, early elementary, or late elementary ages, visit our Bible Foundations Samples Page.)