Make Your Own Puppet Theater

To make a simple, inexpensive puppet theater, use a heavy cardboard carton about 24 x 18 x 15-inches deep, and cover it completely with plain paper, wallpaper, or self-stick plastic. The bottom of the box will be in four sections, and this is the front of your theater. Cut a scalloped edge along the top about two inches deep. Push the two side pieces in toward the center so they’re at an angle. You can cover these with flannel or felt so background pictures such as trees or tents will adhere.


Push in the bottom piece to strengthen the base. The top sections can be pushed in for extra strength also, if needed. From the back of the bottom section, cut a strip about 15 x 6-inches. This is large enough for the puppeteers’ hands to come through. 


For a backdrop, use a regular flannel board background — a desert scene, a street, a temple setting, etc. Simple background scenes can be painted on flannel, using tempera paint. Or use colored fabric or bulletin board scenes, or print scenes from the internet as your backdrop. Secure the backdrop with masking tape or colorful thick tape (to form a border) so it hangs straight. 


For the story action, set the stage on a high table that is covered with opaque cloth. The puppeteer can sit behind the table on a low stool and put his hands through the opening at the base. He should be low enough to see what the puppets are doing.

Bible Lesson: Wise & Foolish Builders

Here’s a fun lesson you can use to teach your students about the wise and foolish builders from Matthew 7:24-27. Say the following words as you have the children do the motions in parentheses. Hold your Bible open as you tell the story. Explain that this is a true story from God’s Word, the Bible.

Jesus told first about a wise man. This man built his house on solid rock. Then one night, a storm came up. The rain poured down. (Lead the children in rain motions. Have them rub their legs, snap, and pat their knees faster and faster to imitate the sound of rain and a growing storm.) The wind howled. (Have the children say, “oooo.”) The water outside began to rise. (Have the children slowly raise their hands.) But the man’s house was safe from the storm, because it was built on a rock.

Another man foolishly built his house on the sand. Then the storm came up. The rain poured down. (Lead the children in rain motions. Have them rub their legs, snap, and pat their knees faster and faster to imitate the sound of rain and a growing storm.) The wind howled. (Have the children say, “oooo.”) The water outside began to rise. (Have the children slowly raise their hands.) The flood washed away the sand under the house. The house groaned and creaked and then fell apart. Down it came with a great CRASH!

Jesus said, “People who hear what I say and obey Me are like the wise builder. When problems come, they will be safe. But people who hear Me without obeying what I say will be like the foolish man. When problems come, they will be like the man whose house fell down with a CRASH.”

(Sing the following words to the tune of THIS OLD MAN.)

This wise man, he built well

      (pretend to hammer);

He built well up on a rock;

      When the rains came down

And the floods came up

      (lower and raise hands),

This man’s house stood firm and strong

      (raise fists & make muscles with arms).

Foolish man, he built wrong

      (pretend to hammer);

He built wrong up on the sand;

      When the rains came down

And the floods came up

      (lower and raise hands),

This man’s house came tumbling down

      (fall down).

  

The Bible says that Jesus is like a solid Rock. (Read I Corinthians 10:4.) When we obey Jesus, we will be safe even when troubles come.

Fun Teaching Ideas for Your Bible Club

A Blooming Story
Here's a unique way for a story to unfold. Cut identical size circles, one for each element of your story plus one more. Use one circle as the center of a flower; glue an appropriate picture or print the title of the story on it. Use the other circles as flower petals. Attach them to the center with staples. Print or put a picture of each story element on the petals (one element or picture on each petal) so they are in order clockwise. Then, beginning with the last element of the story and working toward the first element of the story, fold all the petals behind the center of the flower. Now you are ready to tell the story. Introduce the story with the center of the flower. Fold each petal forward as each story element is told. When the story is finished, the flower will be in full bloom. 

Color Day
Help your Bible club students remember their lessons with this colorful idea. Design the lesson around a color featured in the lesson. (For example, blue can be used for a lesson about the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea,  Jonah and the big fish, or Jesus walking on the water.) On Blue Day (or whatever color you choose) everyone must wear something blue. (Have some blue ribbons or bandanas available for children who don't wear blue.) Snacks must be blue; perhaps blue jello with gummy worms or brownies with blue frosting. Everything you do must have something to do with blue. What do you do as a follow-up to a color day? Why, have black-and-white day, of course!

Party Tablecloth

Let your Bible club students design their own party tablecloth. Use a flat, white, twin-size bed sheet. Place newspapers under it to prevent the colors from bleeding onto the floor. Use fabric markers or fabric paint for drawing or writing. Use acrylic paint in a shallow pan for hand prints. Personalize the tablecloth with everyone's signature. You can use the tablecloth again and again throughout the year for special events or to add interest to your room. If you wish, choose a central theme or make the tablecloth for a special occasion.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a lesson visual!
When setting up visual displays in your Bible club room, don't limit yourself to bulletin boards. Other possible display areas include the classroom door, the sides of a desk, the sides of a file cabinet, or the back of a piano. You can use large cardboard boxes for movable stand-up room displays. You can even create sandwich boards for your students to wear. If you feel adventurous, use the ceiling or tape your visuals under a table, and have everyone lay on the floor for the lesson!

Primary humor

Ordinary things out of place are funny to primaries. Mix things up during your Bible club meetings. Do things backwards. For primaries, silly is fun. When you plant a seed, don't use a flower pot (that's too ordinary); plant your seeds in an old tennis shoe. Keep your Bible story visuals under your hat or ball cap. Let the students erase the memory verse on your whiteboard using squirt guns filled with water (one word at a time), then say the verse from memory. Those are things your students will talk about!

This week, shape the future
Most people only talk about making the world a better place, but you are doing something about it! By serving as a Bible club leader, teacher, or helper, you are impacting the lives of children. In a series of experiments on the moral development of children, a significant discovery was made: children who are enrolled in Sunday school showed significantly better conduct in the areas of honesty, cooperation, persistence, and inhibition of undesirable behavior! How important is this week's lesson? You are making this world a better place. You are shaping the future!

Keep it concrete
Your Bible club students are making tremendous intellectual progress. By elementary school they can manipulate data mentally, come to some logical conclusions, and define, compare, and contrast things. But they still do not understand symbolism. After touring the defense plant where her daddy worked, one first grader resisted when told it was time to go home. She cried, "But I haven't seen where Daddy makes the money yet!" When teaching elementary school children, say what you mean and mean what you say. Always teach them in literal, concrete terms.

Storytelling Tips

By Barbara Mills

Everyone loves a story. Children move to the edge of their chairs when they hear, “Let’s have a story.” Use this method of teaching to reach young hearts with Christ’s love. It’s your responsibility to become the best storyteller you can.

Note that we said storyteller. Reading stories to children is an art in itself to be discussed later. First we’ll concentrate on the techniques of telling the story.

A GOOD BEGINNING

Prepare your introduction carefully. Begin your story smoothly. If you fumble through your first few statements, you’ll become frustrated and may lose your train of thought. If you stammer to a stop and have to start over you’ll want to leave the room and never return! Never memorize a story word for word. But if it makes you feel more comfortable, memorize the first few lines for a snappy opening.

An introduction with interest-catching appeal will capture your listeners from the first word. “Mac had been Peter’s dog for as long as Peter could remember, and they were real pals.” Doesn’t that sound like a lot more fun than ‘Peter had a dog named Mac?” Use your imagination and knowledge of the group to make your introduction sparkle.

PROCEED TO CLIMAX, CONCLUSION

Progress naturally from the introduction, building to the climax or most exciting or interesting portion of the story. Then finish the story with a brief conclusion. Don’t attempt to delay the conclusion, for once the climax of the story has been reached, listeners’ interest drops. A story is a unique teaching tool. Most contain a moral or teach a lesson. Let the story do it! Don’t attempt to tack on your own “sermonette” on the end of the story. Weave the moral into the plot in such a way that your hearers can’t miss it as you tell your story. When you’ve finished telling the story, stop!

BE NATURAL

Being yourself is important. Thorough preparation and practice will lead to naturalness in storytelling. You’ll probably feel most comfortable if you sit in a circle or semi-circle with your listeners. It suggests intimacy with the group and conversation at their level. If you must stand, due to a large group, stand naturally and relaxed. Never hide behind a podium.

A LITTLE ACTION, PLEASE

Use gestures such as the shrug of the shoulders, a raised hand, a finger over the lips to indicate quietness. But don’t force or overuse them. And by all means, use facial expression. Raise your eyebrow, smile, frown, show enthusiasm. Try to portray the feelings of the story characters.

Some storytellers show pictures while telling their stories. This is fine, but don’t show 27 pictures during a four-minute story! Have several attractive illustrations to use at the appropriate times. Display them so all can see, then put them aside.

Place your hands quietly in your lap when you aren’t holding a picture or gesturing. Avoid the “gymnastics” of too many hand motions. They only draw attention to yourself. Beware of distracting habits, such as playing with a string of beads or a button on a jacket. Remember, you are the means to help your listeners SEE the story in their minds. The less they see of you, the better! Thorough practice, perhaps in front of a mirror, will help you know where and when to use gestures effectively. If well used, they can add life to the story. If overused, they can distract and spoil the story.

LISTEN TO YOURSELF

Your voice tells the story. Use your natural voice. By all means avoid a whiny, monotonous, or honeyed tone. Practice to develop variety in inflection. Let your voice reflect wonder, strength, sadness, etc. Imitate noises and sounds indicated in the story, such as “Buzzzz — was the sound Kate kept hearing outside her bedroom window.” Practice these sounds beforehand so they resemble the natural sounds. Pause to impress or to increase suspense. Work on projecting your voice. Record your own voice — it may surprise you!

Use dialog or direct discourse frequently to bring your characters to life. Make them speak to your hearers , rather than always telling your hearers what the characters say. “Hi, Mom!” is much more realistic than, “Jerry greeted his mother when she entered the room.” Change the voice to indicate the different characters. Use action verbs and colorful adjectives to tell your story. Never use words your listeners may not know.

If you suddenly discover that you’ve left out an important point, don’t try to correct it by saying … “Oh, I forgot to say…” Continue on, and if it is an integral part, weave it in. But don’t interrupt your story to apologize for your goof!

When you’re telling a Bible story, hold your Bible so all can see it. This especially impresses little children with the fact that your story is from God’s Word.

“Let’s have a story.” Do your students’ eyes brighten at the sound of those words? Use these helps to make story-time an exciting high point in your class.