Lesson 4 God Loves US! 2 Kings 4:1 7 BIBLE TRUTH: God cares for all he made. MEMORY VERSE: God is love. 1 John 4:8 Step 1 (25 35 minutes) Welcome Time Options (10 15 minutes) Choose one of these activities to help children begin thinking about how God cares for all he made. Showtime: Growing Colors Get: BOZ s Show Me, Grow Me DVD, DVD player Play with a Purpose: Taking Care of Ourselves Get: dress-up box, toy hairbrushes, combs, mirrors, pretend food, small exercise equipment (jump ropes, hopscotch mat, etc.) Bible Time (15 20 minutes) Bible Story: God Loves Us! Get: Bible, praise bells for each child, jars placed throughout room, water pitchers, (optional) Storyteller Card: Unit 1, Lesson 4 Memory Verse Activity Get: praise bells Step 2 (20 25 minutes) Exploration Stations Choose one or more of these activities suitable for your time and your group. Bananas, Bubbles, and Busy Bodies: Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo Get: Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo cards (p. 39), raisins B-O-Zs and 1-2-3s: Fill the Jars Get: 3 small to medium-sized buckets or wastepaper baskets, paper scrunched tightly into balls (2 3 per child) Celebrate Colors and Shapes: Hearts of Love Get: heavy drawing paper (positioned horizontally) with God Loves Us! written at the top, cut-out heart shapes, paintbrushes, various colors of washable paints, small paint containers Imagination Station: God Loves Us! Bracelet Get: small plastic containers, letter beads, 6 piece of thin yarn per child Friends and Helpers: Well Wishes Cards Get: construction paper folded into a card, with Get Well Soon written on the front; glue sticks; cut-out hearts; crayons; fun, colorful stickers Grammie B. s Rocker: Read Aloud Get: picture books about hygiene, exercise, or nutrition EverydayFaith for Teachers As you read today s lesson in 2 Kings 4:1 7, put yourself in the widow s place. She had next to nothing and was running out of hope and time. (Perhaps you ve been in her shoes maybe you re there now!) But instead of giving up, she put faith in God s Word spoken through Elisha. She let go of the little she had Step 3 (5 10 minutes) Pray n Praise Get: praise bells, Sticker-Story Pages, crayons or markers, Show Me, Grow Me Praise Songs CD, CD player, BOZ bags, HomeLinks (p. 40), memory verse reminders Do Ahead Make praise bells by attaching 3 small bells to yarn, knotting together, and leaving 2 extra inches of yarn for shaking bells. Photocopy Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo cards (p. 39). Photocopy HomeLinks for Lesson 5 (p. 40), 1 per child. Cut 5 hearts from white paper (1 per child). Cut 3 sizes of heart shapes from construction paper (1 set per child). Cut 6 pieces of thin yarn per child (any color). Scrunch paper into balls (2 3 per child). Place jars (1 per child) throughout room; fill pitchers with enough water to exactly fill jars. Make BOZ bags (1 per child) by gluing BOZ clip art from the CD-ROM onto paper lunch sacks. and obeyed Elisha s instructions. Her combination of faith and obedience brought forth a miracle. God s waiting to do the same for you. Give what you have to him, and don t fear. Do what he says, and watch for his provision. He truly cares for all he has made! Unit 1, Lesson 4 33
Step 1 (25 35 minutes) God Loves Us! 2 Kings 4:1 7 Get: BOZ s Show Me, Grow Me DVD, DVD player, dress-up box, toy hairbrushes, combs, mirrors, pretend food, small exercise equipment (jump ropes, hopscotch mat, etc.), Bible, praise bells for each child, jars placed throughout room, water pitchers, (optional) Storyteller Card: Unit 1, Lesson 4 Welcome Time Options (10 15 minutes) Choose one activity and set it up before class. Children can play with minimal supervision while you greet parents. Welcome children and invite them to join the play. Showtime: It s showtime for BOZ! Let s watch for some colorful foods God gives us to keep our bodies healthy. Show clip 1, Growing Colors, from BOZ s Show Me, Grow Me DVD. Play with a Purpose: Taking Care of Ourselves. Have available dress-up box; toy hairbrushes, combs, mirrors, pretend food; and small exercise equipment. Discuss how God gives us good things to take care of us. How can we take care of our bodies? Time to Move Our Bible story is about how God takes care of us because he loves us. Let s show someone we care about them by giving them a big hug before we move to the story area. Gather the children for the Bible story. BOZ wants to join us for our story today, so as soon as we all have our listening ears on, he will come out. Pull the BOZ plush from behind your back when everyone is quiet. Use today s Storyteller Card if you prefer a hands-free teaching style. Bible Time Bible Basis: 2 Kings 4:1 7 Thank Jesus for your time with the children. Open your Bible to 2 Kings 4:1 7, and remind the children the Bible is God s Word to them. In the Bible, there is a story about a woman who had two sons. Everyone hold up two fingers. She was called a widow because her husband had died. She and her sons were in trouble because they had no money left. Pull out your pockets to show you have no money left. But because God cares for all he made, he sent a man named Elisha to help her. Have children say, Thank you, God, for sending people to help us. Elisha asked the widow if she had anything at all. She said, I have only a little oil. Have children use their fingers to show just a little. Demonstrate by holding your thumb and index finger together. Elisha told her to get as many empty jars as she could gather from her friends and neighbors. Tell the children there are jars all around the room that they need to find. Go get one jar and bring it back to our story area. Have the children put the jars on a nearby table. Once the widow had as many jars as she could find, Elisha told her to start 34 Unit 1, Lesson 4
pouring her oil into them. We have pretend oil in pitchers that we can pour into our jars. Ask for volunteers to come up front, one at a time, and help you pour the oil into the jars. Every time the widow poured some oil, God would make more. She kept pouring and pouring and pouring until she finally ran out of jars to fill. Fill up all the jars, then show the children that there is no more oil left in the pitchers. When she finished pouring, Elisha told her to go and sell her oil. The money the widow made from selling the oil was enough to buy food and clothes for herself and her sons. God took good care of the widow and her sons because he cares for all he made. That means he will take care of you, too! Have children say, God will take care of me! Hand children praise bells and tell them to ring them, repeating after you: I praise you, God, for caring for all you made! Refresh n Review Have children repeat motions. There was a widow with no money. Pull out pockets. God sent Elisha to help. Bow and say, At your service. She borrowed jars from neighbors. Pretend to give each other jars. She poured and poured, filling jars with oil. Pretend to pour. She sold all her oil. Smile big! God cared for her. Cross arms over chest. Memory Verse Activity God is love. 1 John 4:8 Have children stand facing you and say the memory verse with motions: God Point up. is Make heart shape with index fingers, starting with top of heart, drawing shape outward to bottom. love. Cross arms over chest. Repeat memory verse with motions as a group. Have everyone shake praise bells while shouting the reference. Prayer End your Bible story time with a short prayer similar to this: Thank you, God, for taking good care of me and loving me. In Jesus name. Amen. Teacher Tip If you feel you may run out of time by having volunteers help you pour the water during the Bible story, just have everyone pretend they are pouring when you do. Bible Rhyme Use this rhyme for a transition time or as another way to reinforce the Bible story. Teach the words and actions one line at a time and have children repeat back to you. God cares for the birds in the sky, Flap your arms like wings. The fish in the sea, Put your palms together and weave them in and out like a swimming motion. The flowers and the trees, Put your hands over your head in a circle and bend to each side, like a tree in the wind. And especially me! Point to yourself. Time to Move Let s move to our Exploration Stations. Pretend you are carrying a jar to the widow in our Bible story. Carry your jar as you go to the stations. Unit 1, Lesson 4 35
Step 2 (20 25 minutes) Before class, choose one or more stations suitable for your children and your schedule. Set up the supplies you will need. As children explore, chat informally with them, using the discussion starters provided with each activity. Bananas, Bubbles, and Busy Bodies: Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo Get: Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo cards (p. 39), raisins Give every child a bingo card and raisins. God cares for all he made. He gives us good things so we can take care of ourselves. Let s answer questions about how to take care of our bodies. When you find the right picture on your card, put a raisin on top of it. Ask a question about each picture, such as, What do you use to brush your teeth? and What do you use to wash your hair? When the game is over, let everyone eat the raisins. What are other ways we can take care of ourselves? B-O-Zs and 1-2-3s: Fill the Jars Get: 3 small to medium-sized buckets or wastepaper baskets, paper scrunched tightly into balls (2 3 per child) Instruct children to line up five feet from baskets, with balls in front of them. Today we heard how God took care of a widow. God made sure she didn t run out of oil as long as she kept pouring it into jars. We re going to fill our jars by tossing paper balls into them. Then we ll see how many end up in each basket. Everyone takes turns tossing balls into baskets. When all balls are in, remove them from the baskets one at a time, having the children count with you. Celebrate Colors and Shapes: Hearts of Love Get: heavy drawing paper (positioned horizontally) with God Loves Us! written at the top, cut-out heart shapes, paintbrushes, various colors of washable paints, small paint containers Give each child a God Loves Us! paper and a set of heart cutouts. In our Bible story we learned that God loves us, and he shows his love by caring for us. You re going to make a picture filled with beautiful hearts to give to someone you care about and love. Help the children trace around their heart cutouts, placing them wherever they want on their papers. Instruct them to paint their hearts any color they want. What are some other ways we can show people we care about them? 36 Unit 1, Lesson 4
Well Wishes Cards Friends and Helpers: Get: construction paper folded into a card, with Get Well Soon written on the front; glue sticks; cut-out hearts; crayons; fun, colorful stickers Imagination Station: God Loves Us! Bracelet Get: small plastic containers, letter beads, 6 piece of thin yarn per child Spread beads on the table and help children find each letter in their names. God knows your name and loves you very much! Instruct children to string yarn through beads. Talk about how God takes care of each of us. Put their bracelets on, tying ends in a bow. When you re not wearing your bracelet, put it in the jar (container) to remind you how God took care of the widow by filling her jars with oil. We learned God cares for all he made. We can care for sick people by making them cards. Do you know anyone who s sick? Let s make cards to let them know God loves them. Instruct children to color the heart then glue it onto the right side of the opened card. Help them write their name below it. Draw a picture on the inside of the card or decorate with stickers. Let children know the cards will go to sick people in the church, or they can give them to a sick person they know. How else can we care for the sick? Grammie B. s Rocker: Read Aloud Get: picture books about hygiene, exercise, or nutrition Add an intergenerational element to your preschool classroom; invite someone from your church family or community to come and read a storybook or preschooler s Bible to the children. Today, read stories about hygiene, exercise, or nutrition. Time to Move God cares for all he made. Let s show God we care about the things he gives us by cleaning them up. After stations are cleaned up, have children sit in small groups. Unit 1, Lesson 4 37
Step 3 (5 10 minutes) Pray n Praise Get: praise bells, Sticker-Story Pages, crayons or markers, Show Me, Grow Me Praise Songs CD, CD player Gather your group in a circle and lead them in a discussion about God s love for us and the way he takes care of everything he has made. Talk about the wonderful things God has done for us and given us because he loves us so much. Discuss how we can show that same love and care for other people. Give everyone a chance to talk. Give each child a Sticker-Story Page and the heart and jar stickers. Let the children color their pages and add the stickers. If you have extra time, invite children to find partners and read today s story to each other. Lead children in this simple prayer of thanksgiving that BOZ, Drew, and Gracie often pray. Then invite children to add their own prayers: Thank you, God, as this time ends, For my family and my friends. Taking time to sit and pray, Thank you, God, for this great day. Finish your prayer time with any prayer requests the children have. Let s stand now and finish our worship time by praising God with our praise bells. Play You re Our Wonderful God from the Show Me, Grow Me Praise Songs CD while children dance and shake their praise bells to the music. To Send Home: Get: BOZ bags, HomeLinks (p. 40), memory verse reminder from the CD-ROM (Unit 1, Lessons 3 and 4) Pack each child s BOZ bag with the HomeLink for parents to pre-teach their children for next week, a memory verse reminder, the Sticker-Story Page, and any completed projects from the Exploration Stations. 38 Unit 1, Lesson 4
Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo David C. Cook. This page may be reproduced for use with BOZ s Teach Me, Show Me, Grow Me Preschool Curriculum Unit 1, Lesson 4 39
H MELINK Unit 1, Lesson 4: God Loves Us! Bible Truth: God cares for all he made. Memory Verse: God is love. 1 John 4:8 Scripture Reference: 2 Kings 4:1 7 Bible Story: This week, take the lead in teaching your preschooler about how God took care of a widow who had no money. Read 2 Kings 4:1 7 in your own Bible. Then tell the story to your child using a preschool Bible. In this story, God sent Elisha the prophet to tell the widow to fill as many jars as possible with the little oil she had. God multiplied her oil until she had no more jars to fill. She used the money from selling the oil to buy food and clothes for herself and her sons. Let your child know that God loves us very much and will always take care of us. Partner with us! Use this page to talk to your child about what we ll be learning in class next week. Bedtime Prayer: Thank you, God, as this day ends, For my family and my friends. Taking time to sit and pray, Thank you, God, for this great day. Family Activity: Loving My Neighbor Talk with your child about something you can do together to show some friends or neighbors that God cares about them. Maybe you could bake cookies, walk their dog, or make a card. After you and your child have blessed them, let them know you simply wanted to show you care and that God loves them! David C. Cook. This page may be reproduced for use with BOZ s Teach Me, Show Me, Grow Me Preschool Curriculum H MELINK Unit 1, Lesson 4: God Loves Us! Bible Truth: God cares for all he made. Memory Verse: God is love. 1 John 4:8 Scripture Reference: 2 Kings 4:1 7 Bible Story: This week, take the lead in teaching your preschooler about how God took care of a widow who had no money. Read 2 Kings 4:1 7 in your own Bible. Then tell the story to your child using a preschool Bible. In this story, God sent Elisha the prophet to tell the widow to fill as many jars as possible with the little oil she had. God multiplied her oil until she had no more jars to fill. She used the money from selling the oil to buy food and clothes for herself and her sons. Let your child know that God loves us very much and will always take care of us. Partner with us! Use this page to talk to your child about what we ll be learning in class next week. Bedtime Prayer: Thank you, God, as this day ends, For my family and my friends. Taking time to sit and pray, Thank you, God, for this great day. Family Activity: Loving My Neighbor Talk with your child about something you can do together to show some friends or neighbors that God cares about them. Maybe you could bake cookies, walk their dog, or make a card. After you and your child have blessed them, let them know you simply wanted to show you care and that God loves them! David C. Cook. This page may be reproduced for use with BOZ s Teach Me, Show Me, Grow Me Preschool Curriculum
Unit 1: Lesson 4 God cares for all he has made. He loves us very much.
God Loves Us! 2 Kings 4:1 7 Bible Truth: God cares for all he made. There was a widow who had two sons. She and her sons were in trouble because they had no money. But because God cares for all he made, he sent a man named Elisha to help her. The woman told Elisha that she didn t have money but she had a little oil. He told her to find empty jars and pour her oil into them. As she did, God kept making more oil. The woman kept pouring and pouring the oil until all the jars were full! When she finished pouring, Elisha told her to go sell her oil. The money the widow made was enough to buy food and clothes for herself and her sons. God took good care of the widow and her sons because he cares for all he made. God takes care of you, too!
Unit 1: Lesson 4
Unit 1: Lesson 4
Unit 1 Lesson 4 God Loves us! Bible Truth: God cares for all he made. Welcome Time Options Showtime: Clip 1 Growing Colors from BOZ s Show Me, Grow Me DVD. Play with a Purpose: Play with toy hairbrushes, combs, mirrors, pretend food, and small exercise equipment (jump ropes, hopscotch mat, etc.). God gives us good things to take care of us. Bible Time (story outline on back) Exploration Stations Bananas, Bubbles, and Busy Bodies: Play bingo with Scrubbly Bubbly Bingo cards from page 39 and raisins. God gives us good ways to take care of ourselves. B-O-Zs and 1-2-3s: Toss paper balls into buckets as a reminder of how God took care of the widow by filling her empty containers with oil. Celebrate Colors and Shapes: Trace heart cutouts on a page that says God Loves Us! Then paint the hearts. Imagination Station: Make a bracelet that spells your name with letter beads. God cares for you! Friends and Helpers: Make Get Well Soon cards and decorate with cut-out hearts, stickers, and drawings. Give to someone sick to show you care. Grammie B. s Rocker: Read picture books about hygiene, exercise, or nutrition. Pray n Praise 1. Group circle talking points: God cares for everything he made and he loves us very much. He showed care for the widow in the story by making enough oil for her to sell. How does he care for you? 2. Prayer. 3. Sticker-Story Pages: heart and jar stickers. Unit 1: Our Wonderful God
Bible Time Story Outline 2 Kings 4:1 7 Story mode is interactive with props (praise bells, jars placed throughout room, water pitchers). There was a widow who had two sons. She and her sons were in trouble because they had no money left. But God cares for all he made, so he sent a man named Elisha to help her. Elisha asked her if she had anything. She said, Only a little oil. Elisha told her to get as many empty jars as she could from her friends and neighbors. Children gather jars from around the room. Elisha told her to start pouring oil into the jars. Volunteers pour oil (water) from pitchers into jars. Every time the widow poured some oil, God would make more. She kept pouring until she ran out of jars. Fill up jars. Show no oil left in pitchers. When she finished pouring, Elisha told her to go sell her oil. The money she made was enough to buy food and clothes for herself and her sons. God cared for the widow because he cares for all he made. Have children ring praise bells, repeating after you: I praise you, God, for caring for all you made! Memory Verse God is love. 1 John 4:8 Say verse as a group using hand motions with each word. Then shake praise bells. Prayer Thank you, God, for taking good care of me and loving me. In Jesus name. Amen.