BABIES FEBRUARY Basic Truth: Hold or rock a baby and sing the following song to the tune of Are You Sleeping.

Transcription

1 BABIES FEBRUARY 2015 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Hold or rock a baby and sing the following song to the tune of Are You Sleeping. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. Yes, He does. Yes, He does. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves you. Yes, He does. Yes, He does. WORDS FOR BABY Baby, Jesus loves you so much. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. Isn t it great to know that Jesus loves you and He wants to be your friend forever? Curriculum Materials for Babies 2014 The rethinkgroup. All rights reserved.

2 Walkers/February 1/Week One Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus tells me God will always look for me. The Lost Sheep Luke 15:3-7 Table Time Have children color the coloring page. Rug Time If you want to, you can have children bring chairs to sit on in a circle on the rug. Bible Lesson What You Need: A Bible, a toy sheep, and a picture of a sheep. (Hide the sheep somewhere in your classroom. You will lead the children on a hunt for the little lost sheep as you tell the Bible lesson.) LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s lessons in it. And God s lessons are always TRUE! Today s lesson is one that our good friend Jesus told about a little lost sheep. (Show the picture of the sheep.) It looked something like this. Let s pretend we are the shepherds and we are looking for this little lost sheep. Come on! Help me find this sheep! (Begin leading the children around the room saying the chant below.) CHILDREN and LEADER: Little sheep, little sheep, I m looking for you. I love you! I love you! You know it s true! (Repeat several times as you walk around the room.) LEADER: (Slowly say as you are about to find the little lost sheep) Jesus said that when the shepherd found his little lost sheep he shouted (pick up the sheep), I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep! Say that with me. CHILDREN and LEADER: I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep! (Repeat several times as you jump up and down.) LEADER: Whew! Let s sit down. The shepherd was soooooo happy he found his little lost sheep that he told all of his friends and family.

3 LEADER: Guess what else Jesus said! Jesus said that He loves YOU even more than the shepherd loved his little lost sheep. It s true! Jesus loves you! Jesus loves you! Jesus loves YOU! So when I ask you: Who loves you? I want you to say, Jesus loves me! Let s try it. Who loves you? (Pause.) CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our friend. Thank You that He loves us sooooooo very much. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in the bucket while they are having Cheerios and go through finger play if one is provided. Dismiss Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

4 Walkers/February 8/Week Two Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus tells me God loves me no matter what. Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-24 Table Time Have children color the coloring page. Rug Time If you want to, you can have children bring chairs to sit on in a circle on the rug. Bible Lesson LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is a story our good friend Jesus told about a daddy and his son. This daddy loved his son very much. Give yourself a big hug like this. (Demonstrate hugging yourself.) Bigger! Come on! BIG HUG, because the daddy loved his son soooooo much! One day the son took a lot of his daddy s money and moved far, far away. This made the daddy very sad. Wave bye-bye like this and make a sad face. (Demonstrate waving with a sad face.) Bye-bye, son. Bye-bye. (Repeat a few times.) It didn t take long for the son to spend all of his daddy s money. No more money. All gone! Do this with me. (Demonstrate holding hands out like all gone. ) No more money. All gone. (Repeat a few times.) That s not good. He made some really bad choices, didn t he? The son really wanted to go back to his daddy s house. But he was worried his daddy wouldn t love him anymore because he had made such bad choices. He went back to his daddy s house and guess what happened when the daddy saw his son coming home? The daddy ran to his son shouting, My son is back! My son is back! Let s have a party! Do this with me. (Demonstrate pumping your arms in the air.) My son is back! My son is back! Let s have a party! (Repeat a few times.) The daddy loved his son even though he had made bad choices. The daddy loved his son no matter what. You know who loves YOU no matter what? Jesus loves you no matter what! (Clap hands.) Yay! Jesus loves you! Yay! Jesus loves you! Who loves you? (Pause.)

5 CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for giving us Jesus. He s the best friend EVER! Thank You that He loves us no matter what and will always be there for us, even when we do something wrong. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios and go through finger play if one is provided. Dismiss Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

6 First Look 2-year-olds, February 2015, Week 3 Walkers/February 15/Week Three Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus will help me. The Centurion Matthew 8:5-13 Table Time Have children color the coloring page. Rug Time If you want to, you can have children bring chairs to sit on in a circle on the rug. Bible Lesson What You Need: A Bible, Story Characters from the Activity Pages on the Website, white cardstock, tape, craft sticks, crayons or markers, play doh and scissors What You Do: Before the Story: Make one copy of Story Characters on white cardstock and cut out the characters. Tape each character to a craft stick. Make two small balls of play doh. LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is about a man called a centurion. That s like a special soldier. (Hold up centurion puppet and put it in a play doh ball and then stand it up on one side of you.) He needed our good friend Jesus (Hold up Jesus puppet and put it in a play doh ball and then stand it up on the opposite side of you from the centurion.) to help his sick friend (Hold up sick friend puppet and lay it down beside the centurion). The man knew his friend couldn t walk and was hurting really bad. He knew he needed help. Who do you think could help the centurion s friend? (Pause.) Yes, Jesus! The centurion had to get to Jesus and ask Him for help. He was so happy when he finally found Jesus. The centurion knew Jesus was so powerful that He could help the sick friend even though the friend was still at home. (Make the centurion walk to Jesus.) (As centurion) Jesus! Jesus! I need Your help! All You have to do is speak and You can make my friend walk again. Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2014 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 1

7 First Look 2-year-olds, February 2015, Week 3 Jesus was amazed at how much the man believed in Him. Jesus spoke and the sick friend was aaaaaaall better. (Stand up the sick friend puppet.) (Make the centurion walk back to his friend and then make them jump up and down.) The man and his friend were so happy! Yay, Jesus! Yay, Jesus! Jesus helped you! Jesus helped you! Jesus will help you, too, because He loves you. That s right! Jesus loves you! Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me. LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me. LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, everyone needs help. I need help and my friends here will need help, too. I pray we will always go to Jesus when we need help. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our good friend and for all the help He gives us. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios and go through finger play if one is provided. Dismiss Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard. Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2014 The rethink Group. All rights reserved. 2

8 Walkers/February 25/Week Four Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Mary and Martha Luke 10:38-42 Table Time Have children color the coloring page. Rug Time If you want to, you can have children bring chairs to sit on in a circle on the rug. Bible Lesson LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is about a time when our good friend Jesus went to visit some friends. What do you like to do with your friends? (Pause.) Do you like to play? (Pause.) Watch TV? (Pause.) Eat snacks? (Pause.) Friends like to spend time with friends! Well, Jesus went to see his good friends Mary and Martha. He wanted to spend time with them. When He went in the house, Mary and Martha were very busy getting everything ready. They were washing all the dishes and cooking yummy food. They wanted everything to be just right for their good friend Jesus because they loved Him. (Let s all pretend we are washing dishes with a pretend sponge.) Wash, wash, wash. Cook, cook, cook. When Mary saw Jesus, she STOPPED what she was doing (freeze your dish washing) and sat down with Jesus. She wanted to spend time with Jesus because she loved Him. But Martha didn t stop. (Begin washing your pretend dish again and encourage the children to wash theirs.) She was too busy to sit with Jesus. Wash, wash, wash. Cook, cook, cook. Finally, Martha got mad and she STOPPED what she was doing (freeze your dish washing) and went to talk to Jesus. She told Jesus to make Mary wash and cook too, but that s not what Jesus wanted. All He wanted was to spend time with Mary and Martha.

9 LEADER: Jesus wanted to spend time with His good friends Mary and Martha because He loved them. Jesus wants to spend time with you and be your friend forever, too! Why? (Pause.) Because Jesus loves you! Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves you! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves you! LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our friend forever. Thank You that He wants to spend time with us. Help us learn to not be too busy to spend time with Him. Nothing is more important than our good friend Jesus. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios and go through finger play if one is provided. Dismiss Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

10 Explorers/February 1/Week One Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus tells me God will always look for me. The Lost Sheep Luke 15:3-7 Table Time Place bin with play do with cookie cutters on the table. Ask one or two Helpers to guide the children in creatively playing with the play do while Lead Teacher greets parents/kids at the door. Clean Up Transition Start singing the Clean Up Song with the children as you clean up and move to the area rug. (If you don t know the tune, you can make one up it really doesn t matter!) Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share. While the children are on the area rug, direct the Helpers to prepare the tables for Cheerios and then join the children on the area rug with the role of helping kids engage. Transition into Bible Time with Katie the Kangaroo puppet. Have Katie greet each child by name and then sing together: This Is The Day". This is the day. (repeat) That the Lord has made. (repeat) We will rejoice. (repeat) And be glad in Him. (repeat) This is the day. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. And be glad in Him. Repeat beginning (with echo refrain) again. Rug Time What s Missing? What You Need: A plastic container, plastic animals (one must be a sheep) What You Say: Before the activity: Come sit with me. I have a fun game for us to play. We ll need to be good investigators and use our eyes and our brains to play this game.

11 During the activity: Okay, look in the container and tell me what you see. (Pause.) Very good! There are some animals in the container. Tell me what each of these animals is. (Take the sheep out of the container and hide it in your lap or behind your back without the children seeing you do it.) Now look in the container this time. Is there anything missing? (Pause.) What s missing? (Pause.) That s right! The sheep was missing! Great job! (Repeat as many times as desired, removing different animals.) At the end of the activity: You did a great job using your eyes and your brain power to figure out which animal was missing! In our Bible lesson today, we are going to hear about a missing sheep! Bible Lesson What You Need: A Bible, a toy sheep, and a picture of a sheep. (Hide the sheep somewhere in your classroom. You will lead the children on a hunt for the little lost sheep as you tell the Bible lesson.) LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s lessons in it. And God s lessons are always TRUE! Today s lesson is one that our good friend Jesus told about a little lost sheep. (Show the picture of the sheep.) It looked something like this. Let s pretend we are the shepherds and we are looking for this little lost sheep. Come on! Help me find this sheep! (Begin leading the children around the room saying the chant below.) CHILDREN and LEADER: Little sheep, little sheep, I m looking for you. I love you! I love you! You know it s true! (Repeat several times as you walk around the room.) LEADER: (Slowly say as you are about to find the little lost sheep) Jesus said that when the shepherd found his little lost sheep he shouted (pick up the sheep), I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep! Say that with me. CHILDREN and LEADER: I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep! (Repeat several times as you jump up and down.) LEADER: Whew! Let s sit down. The shepherd was soooooo happy he found his little lost sheep that he told all of his friends and family.

12 LEADER: Guess what else Jesus said! Jesus said that He loves YOU even more than the shepherd loved his little lost sheep. It s true! Jesus loves you! Jesus loves you! Jesus loves YOU! So when I ask you: Who loves you? I want you to say, Jesus loves me! Let s try it. Who loves you? (Pause.) CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our friend. Thank You that He loves us sooooooo very much. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios. Free Choice/Craft (open the curtain) Call over small groups of children to do the activity at a table. Children not doing the activity have free play. Not all children need to do the activity. The Lost Sheep What You Need: Heart from the Activity Pages found on the Website, red cardstock, scissors, glue sticks, cotton balls, and a marker What You Say: Before the activity: In our Bible lesson today, we heard a lesson that our good friend Jesus told about a little lost sheep. (Hold up one of the cotton balls.)

13 During the activity: One night a shepherd that s someone who takes care of sheep was out in the field with his sheep when he saw that one was missing! Oh no! The shepherd loved his sheep and started looking for him. Maybe he said, Little sheep, little sheep, I m looking for you. I love you! I love you! Say that with me. Little sheep, little sheep, I m looking for you. I love you! I love you! Jesus said that when the shepherd found his little lost sheep he shouted (pick up a cotton ball), I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep! Can you say that with me? I found it! I found it! I found my little lost sheep. The shepherd was soooooo happy he found his little lost sheep that he told all of his friends and family. Yay! I want you all to have a little sheep to take home to remember our lesson today, but first we need to glue him to this heart. (Pass a heart cutout to each child and help them glue one cotton ball to their heart.) Super job! This little heart tells us that Jesus loves us. Jesus loves us more than the shepherd loved his little lost sheep. (Write child s name on the back and set aside to send home.) At the end of the activity: It s true! Jesus loves you! Jesus loves YOU! So when I ask you, Who loves you? I want you to say, Jesus loves me! Let s try it. Who loves you? (Pause.) Jesus loves me! Dismiss Set any take-home creations where parents can get them easily. Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

14 Explorers/February 8/Week Two Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus tells me God loves me no matter what. Prodigal Son Luke 15:11-24 Table Time Place bin with stamps and white cardstock on the table. Ask one or two Helpers to guide the children in creatively playing with the stamps while Lead Teacher greets parents/kids at the door. Clean Up Transition Start singing the Clean Up Song with the children as you clean up and move to the area rug. (If you don t know the tune, you can make one up it really doesn t matter!) Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share. While the children are on the area rug, direct the Helpers to prepare the tables for Cheerios and then join the children on the area rug with the role of helping kids engage. Transition into Bible Time with Katie the Kangaroo puppet. Have Katie greet each child by name and then sing together: This Is The Day". This is the day. (repeat) That the Lord has made. (repeat) We will rejoice. (repeat) And be glad in Him. (repeat) This is the day. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. And be glad in Him. Repeat beginning (with echo refrain) again. Rug Time Heart Target What You Need: Painter s tape and beanbags. Before the activity: Make medium-sized heart outlines on the floor with painter s tape in different areas of the room. What You Say: Before the activity: Friends! I have a fun game for us to play! Do you see all the hearts on the floor? (Pause.) We are going to take turns tossing the beanbags inside the hearts.

15 During the activity: Grab a beanbag and give it a toss. (Pause.) Super! Toss it at another heart. (Continue until all the children have had a chance to toss.) Great job! At the end of the activity: Help me pick up all the beanbags and then go find a seat in a heart. (Pause.) Hearts make me think of love! Today s Bible lesson is about love! I can t wait for you to hear it! Give yourself a great big hug. (Demonstrate.) Yay for love! Bible Lesson LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is a story our good friend Jesus told about a daddy and his son. This daddy loved his son very much. Give yourself a big hug like this. (Demonstrate hugging yourself.) Bigger! Come on! BIG HUG, because the daddy loved his son soooooo much! One day the son took a lot of his daddy s money and moved far, far away. This made the daddy very sad. Wave bye-bye like this and make a sad face. (Demonstrate waving with a sad face.) Bye-bye, son. Bye-bye. (Repeat a few times.) It didn t take long for the son to spend all of his daddy s money. No more money. All gone! Do this with me. (Demonstrate holding hands out like all gone. ) No more money. All gone. (Repeat a few times.) That s not good. He made some really bad choices, didn t he? The son really wanted to go back to his daddy s house. But he was worried his daddy wouldn t love him anymore because he had made such bad choices. He went back to his daddy s house and guess what happened when the daddy saw his son coming home? The daddy ran to his son shouting, My son is back! My son is back! Let s have a party! Do this with me. (Demonstrate pumping your arms in the air.) My son is back! My son is back! Let s have a party! (Repeat a few times.) The daddy loved his son even though he had made bad choices. The daddy loved his son no matter what. You know who loves YOU no matter what? Jesus loves you no matter what! (Clap hands.) Yay! Jesus loves you! Yay! Jesus loves you! Who loves you? (Pause.) CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me!

16 LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for giving us Jesus. He s the best friend EVER! Thank You that He loves us no matter what and will always be there for us, even when we do something wrong. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios. Free Choice/Craft (open the curtain) Call over small groups of children to do the activity at a table. Children not doing the activity have free play. Not all children need to do the activity. Open Arms What You Need: Face from the Activity Pages found on the Web site, white cardstock, large blue construction paper, white construction paper, pencil, scissors, crayons, and glue sticks What You Do: Before the activity: Copy Face on cardstock and cut out. Cut blue construction paper in thirds lengthwise. Fold white construction paper in half. During the activity: Retell the Bible story as you trace each child s hand on the folded paper and cut out. (Cut while folded to get two hands.) Help children glue the face to the middle of a strip of construction paper. Glue hands to either end of the strip. Let children color their faces. Fold the strips in and write their names. What You Say: Before the activity: In our lesson today we heard about a son who left home with a lot of money and this made his daddy very sad. The son went and spent all his money and was afraid to go home. He was afraid that his daddy would be mad. But the daddy wasn t mad. He was glad that his son came home! He was so happy he ran out to meet him with his arms wide open. Today we are going to make a person that has arms that stretch out wide to give hugs.

17 During the activity: First, you can all color your heads. Now, these are going to be your arms. (Hold up the blue paper strips.) First thing we need to do is rub some glue on the middle of your arms. (Pause.) Great, now add your head to it like this. (Demonstrate by gluing the head to the middle of the blue strip.) Super! The next thing we ll need to do is glue a hand on each end of the blue arm. Glue one hand on one side and the other hand on the other side. (Pause.) Ta-da! At the end of the activity: Look at all the people! You did such a great job! The daddy loved his son so much, but did you know that Jesus loves us even more than that? (Pause.) He does! Jesus loves me and Jesus loves you. Who loves you? (Pause.) Jesus loves me. Dismiss Set any take-home creations where parents can get them easily. Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

18 Explorers/February 15/Week Three Memory Verse: How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18, NIV Bible Lesson: Jesus will help me. The Centurion Matthew 8:5-13 Table Time Place stickers and paper on the table. Ask one or two Helpers to guide the children in creatively playing with the stickers while Lead Teacher greets parents/kids at the door. Clean Up Transition Start singing the Clean Up Song with the children as you clean up and move to the area rug. (If you don t know the tune, you can make one up it really doesn t matter!) Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share. While the children are on the area rug, direct the Helpers to prepare the tables for Cheerios and then join the children on the area rug with the role of helping kids engage. Transition into Bible Time with Katie the Kangaroo puppet. Have Katie greet each child by name and then sing together: This Is The Day". This is the day. (repeat) That the Lord has made. (repeat) We will rejoice. (repeat) And be glad in Him. (repeat) This is the day. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. And be glad in Him. Rug Time Roll Ball, Roll Call What You Need: A ball Repeat beginning (with echo refrain) again. What You Say: Before the activity: Hey, friends! Come sit with me on the floor and we ll touch our feet together. I need you to help me so the ball doesn t roll away. During the activity: We are going to roll the ball back and forth to each other. When the ball comes to you I want you to say your name and then roll it to someone else. Make sure we keep our feet close to each other so the ball doesn t roll away. Ready? (Pause.) Great! (Roll the ball and help direct it so everyone gets a turn. Repeat as many times as desired.)

19 At the end of the activity: I enjoyed rolling the ball with you today, friends. You really helped me keep the ball inside our play area. In our Bible lesson we ll hear how Jesus helped someone. Bible Lesson What You Need: A Bible, Story Characters from the Activity Pages on the Website, white cardstock, tape, craft sticks, crayons or markers, play doh and scissors What You Do: Before the Story: Make one copy of Story Characters on white cardstock and cut out the characters. Tape each character to a craft stick. Make two small balls of play doh. LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is about a man called a centurion. That s like a special soldier. (Hold up centurion puppet and put it in a play doh ball and then stand it up on one side of you.) He needed our good friend Jesus (Hold up Jesus puppet and put it in a play doh ball and then stand it up on the opposite side of you from the centurion.) to help his sick friend (Hold up sick friend puppet and lay it down beside the centurion). The man knew his friend couldn t walk and was hurting really bad. He knew he needed help. Who do you think could help the centurion s friend? (Pause.) Yes, Jesus! The centurion had to get to Jesus and ask Him for help. He was so happy when he finally found Jesus. The centurion knew Jesus was so powerful that He could help the sick friend even though the friend was still at home. (Make the centurion walk to Jesus.) (As centurion) Jesus! Jesus! I need Your help! All You have to do is speak and You can make my friend walk again. Jesus was amazed at how much the man believed in Him. Jesus spoke and the sick friend was aaaaaaall better. (Stand up the sick friend puppet.) (Make the centurion walk back to his friend and then make them jump up and down.) The man and his friend were so happy! Yay, Jesus! Yay, Jesus! Jesus helped you! Jesus helped you! LEADER: Jesus will help you, too, because He loves you. That s right! Jesus loves you! Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me.

20 LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves me. LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, everyone needs help. I need help and my friends here will need help, too. I pray we will always go to Jesus when we need help. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our good friend and for all the help He gives us. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios. Free Choice/Craft (open the curtain) Call over small groups of children to do the activity at a table. Children not doing the activity have free play. Not all children need to do the activity. Dress the Centurion What You Need: Centurion and Gear from the Activity Pages on the Website, cardstock, copy paper, scissors, crayons, heart stickers, glue sticks, and a marker What You Say: Before the activity: What a great Bible lesson we heard today! In our lesson today we heard about a man who needed our good friend Jesus to help his sick friend. During the activity: The man knew his friend couldn t walk and was hurting really bad. He had to get to Jesus and ask Him for help. He was so happy when he finally found Jesus. He told Jesus, I need your help! All You have to do is speak and You can make my friend walk again. Jesus was amazed at how much the man believed in Him. Jesus spoke and the sick friend was aaaaaaall better! The man and his friend were so happy! Yay, Jesus! Yay, Jesus! Jesus helped you! Jesus helped you! Let s make a picture of the centurion. (Give each child the centurion and accessories.)

21 LEADER: Glue a helmet and sword on your picture and then you can color whatever you want. The centurion loved his friend and he believed Jesus. Let s add this heart sticker to your centurion. (Pause.) Super! At the end of the activity: Jesus helped the centurion s friend and made him all better. Jesus will help you, too, because He loves you. That s right! Jesus loves you! Who loves you? (Pause.) Jesus loves me! Say it again! Who loves you? Jesus loves me! Dismiss Set any take-home creations where parents can get them easily. Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.

22 Explorers/Week 25/Week Four Table Time Place bin with dot markers and paper on the table. Ask one or two Helpers to guide the children in creatively playing with the dot markers while Lead Teacher greets parents/kids at the door. Clean Up Transition Start singing the Clean Up Song with the children as you clean up and move to the area rug. (If you don t know the tune, you can make one up it really doesn t matter!) Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do their share. While the children are on the area rug, direct the Helpers to prepare the tables for Cheerios and then join the children on the area rug with the role of helping kids engage. Transition into Bible Time with Katie the Kangaroo puppet. Have Katie greet each child by name and then sing together: This Is The Day". This is the day. (repeat) That the Lord has made. (repeat) We will rejoice. (repeat) And be glad in Him. (repeat) This is the day. That the Lord has made. We will rejoice. And be glad in Him. Repeat beginning (with echo refrain) again. Rug Time Go, Slow, Stop What You Need: Toy cars, toy animals, and a bucket Before the activity: Hey, friends! I want you to pick a car or an animal from the bucket. We are going to play a listening game. During the activity: In this game there are three important words to listen to. Go that means you should move your car or animal. Slow that means you should slow down. And stop well, that means stop. Let s get going. (Alternate your directions as long as there is interest.) What great listeners! Come put your animal or car back in the bucket and sit with me on the floor. At the end of the activity: Sometimes it s hard to slow down and stop, isn t it? We are going to hear how Jesus wanted his friends Mary and Martha to slow down and stop what they were doing in our Bible lesson today.

23 Bible Lesson LEADER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! It s Bible time! Yay for Bible time! Our lesson comes from this very special book the Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) LEADER: Can you say, Bible? CHILDREN and LEADER: Bible! LEADER: We love the Bible because it has God s stories in it. And God s stories are always TRUE! Today s lesson is about a time when our good friend Jesus went to visit some friends. What do you like to do with your friends? (Pause.) Do you like to play? (Pause.) Watch TV? (Pause.) Eat snacks? (Pause.) Friends like to spend time with friends! Well, Jesus went to see his good friends Mary and Martha. He wanted to spend time with them. When He went in the house, Mary and Martha were very busy getting everything ready. They were washing all the dishes and cooking yummy food. They wanted everything to be just right for their good friend Jesus because they loved Him. (Let s all pretend we are washing dishes with a pretend sponge.) Wash, wash, wash. Cook, cook, cook. When Mary saw Jesus, she STOPPED what she was doing (freeze your dish washing) and sat down with Jesus. She wanted to spend time with Jesus because she loved Him. But Martha didn t stop. (Begin washing your pretend dish again and encourage the children to wash theirs.) She was too busy to sit with Jesus. Wash, wash, wash. Cook, cook, cook. Finally, Martha got mad and she STOPPED what she was doing (freeze your dish washing) and went to talk to Jesus. She told Jesus to make Mary wash and cook too, but that s not what Jesus wanted. All He wanted was to spend time with Mary and Martha. LEADER: Jesus wanted to spend time with His good friends Mary and Martha because He loved them. Jesus wants to spend time with you and be your friend forever, too! Why? (Pause.) Because Jesus loves you! Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves you! LEADER: Who loves you? CHILDREN and LEADER: Jesus loves you! LEADER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now let s put our hands together, close our eyes, and talk to God. God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our friend forever. Thank You that He wants to spend time with us. Help us learn to not be too busy to spend time with Him. Nothing is more important than our good friend Jesus. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen.

24 Music and Motion Choose two or three songs to sing signal which song you ll sing by showing the children the associated picture (words on back). The B-I-B-L-E (with Bibles) This Little Light of Mine (finger play) The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock (finger play) Jesus Loves Me (instruments) Rejoice in the Lord Always (marching with scarves) Snack/Review Back at the tables have children wipe their hands with wipes and then fold their hands, close eyes and recite: God is great, God is good. Now we thank Him for our food. Amen. Read books in bucket while they are having Cheerios. Free Choice/Craft (open the curtain) Call over small groups of children to do the activity at a table. Children not doing the activity have free play. Not all children need to do the activity. Jesus Loves What You Need: Jesus Loves from the Activity Pages found on the Website, copy paper, heart stickers, and a marker What You Say: Before the activity: I love hearing lessons about Jesus. Today we heard about two of Jesus friends, Mary and Martha. They loved Jesus and Jesus loved them. Jesus loves you and me too. During the activity: Jesus loves us so much! Let s fill up the heart on your paper with these stickers. (Pause.) Fantastic! At the end of the activity: Jesus wanted to spend time with His good friends Mary and Martha because He loved them. Jesus wants to spend time with you and be your friend forever, too! Who loves you? (Pause.) Jesus loves me! Dismiss Set any take-home creations where parents can get them easily. Greet parents at the door. Remove child s FastPass sticker and place it on the clipboard.