Wise Men Lesson At-A-Glance Scripture Reference Matthew 2:1-12 Lesson Focus All paths lead to Jesus. Bible Memory Verse And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel. Matthew 2:6 Gather (10 minutes) Arrival Activity Kids help each other follow a path of stars. Opening Conversation Kids review the previous week, build relationships, and learn the new Bible Memory Verse. Opening Prayer Kids pray under the stars to be led to Jesus. Activity Pages Spark Bibles, Spark Bible Stickers Pencils, large star shapes cut from scrap paper, scissors, marker, masking tape (optional) Paperboard, star-shaped hole punch or nail, flashlight Open the Bible (15 minutes) Wise Men Story Kids hear the story of the Wise Men s journey. Strange Dream Kids hear a contemporary story about a boy s dream. Four Out of Five Isn t Bad Kids use math skills to solve a word puzzle. Spark Bibles, Spark Bible Stickers, Spark Bibles, Flashlight Pencils Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress. Wise Men 29
Activate Faith (15 minutes) Lesson At-A-Glance Fun Facts Kids play a game show about some of the myths surrounding the Wise Men story. Popping People Kids create pop-up Epiphany cards. Construction paper, scissors, glue, markers, silver glitter (optional) Send (5 minutes) Closing Conversation Kids review the BMV and look at the Faith on the Go! options. Closing Prayer Kids pray to be lights that lead others on the path toward Christ. Family Pages Flashlight Visit www.sparksundayschool.org for more Spark content! Watch a short Lesson Prep Video that will prepare you and give you confidence to explore this Bible story with the kids you are leading. You will also find four downloadable resources for this lesson: an Activity Page, a Family Page, and two additional in-class activities. 30 Wise Men Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress.
Gather (10 minutes) Arrival Activity If some kids arrive earlier than others and you need a lesson-based activity, make copies of the downloadable Activity Page and set them out for kids to try. Prior to class, cut magazine pages, used office paper, or newspaper panels into large star shapes. Depending on the size of your class and room, cut twenty or more. A few extra are handy if some become ripped. Masking tape may be used to hold stars in place, but isn t necessary. Lay the stars in a line on the floor far enough apart so that kids are challenged to cross a space only stepping on them (like rocks in a pond). Use two or more lines for larger classes. Start a second line as additional kids arrive. Welcome to class! We re on a journey today. We re going to see if we can cross this land in front of us following the stars. To travel safely, you can only touch the stars, but kids can help each other cross, as long as they are on stars, too. Activity Pages Pencils Large star shapes cut from scrap paper Scissors Marker Masking tape (optional) Increase the difficulty of the game by spacing stars farther apart and removing some at different intervals. Opening Conversation Does anyone have any idea how many stars are in the sky? Accept all guesses. There are more stars than we can count, but just the stars that we can see from Earth number seventy sextillion. That s the same as seventy-thousand million million million or a seven followed by twenty-two zeros. That is a lot of stars! Scientists say that s about ten times more than all the grains of sand on the earth. It s hard to imagine, isn t it? Let kids comment on this. Spark Bibles Spark Bible Stickers Today we re going to explore the story of the Wise Men who followed a star to find Jesus. How do you think they knew which star to follow? Accept all answers. Have you ever been misled? As in, you thought you were doing the right thing or going the right place, but it turns out you weren t? Tell me about your week: one thing that led you down a good path and one thing that led you down a not-sogood path. For instance, maybe I studied hard for my math test and did well, but maybe I didn t do what I promised I would do at home so I got grounded. Your turn. Allow each kid to share about his or her week. Who was able to try a Faith on the Go! activity this past week? Tell us what you did. Allow some time for sharing. Who can tell me the Bible Memory Verse from last week? If kids remember the BMV, invite them to recite it for the group. Guide the kids to help them remember parts they don t. Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress. Wise Men 31
Let s take a look at today s Bible Memory Verse. Distribute Spark Bibles and help kids find Matthew 2:6 on page 1059 in the Spark Bible. Go around the circle having each kid read one word. Read the verse this way several times, starting slowly and getting a little faster with each reading. Once the group can recite the verse without looking at the Bible, ask a couple of volunteers to recite the entire verse. Encourage kids to put I Memorized It stickers in their Bibles. Opening Prayer Prior to this activity, using a small nail or similar item, push holes into paperboard (such as a cereal box). A star-shaped hole punch, if available, is a great option to create star shapes. The larger and brighter the flashlight for this prayer, the better. Dim the lights in your classroom. Hold the paperboard with the holes over a bright flashlight. Paperboard Star-shaped hole punch or nail Flashlight During this prayer, I m going to invite you to lay back and look at the ceiling and imagine what the sky looked like two thousand years ago before any human lights made the stars more difficult to see. Let us pray: God of the heavens and Earth, you guided the Wise Men to follow the star that led to Jesus. Pause. Guide us this day. Pause. May all of our paths lead to you. Pause. Amen. Open the Bible (15 minutes) Wise Men Story Hand out leaflets. Let s open our Bibles to Matthew 2:1-12. This story starts on page 1058 in the Spark Bible. Invite kids to stick their leaflet in the Bibles as a place holder. Who knows what a nativity scene or crèche is? (It displays the people and animals present in the story of Jesus birth.) Nativity scenes can be found in many sizes around Christmastime outside of churches, in people s yards, in homes, and on Christmas cards. Can you think of who or what might be displayed in a nativity scene? (baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, animals, shepherds, angels, the Wise Men) Spark Bibles Spark Bible Stickers Flashlight The Wise Men are often displayed bringing three gifts to the baby Jesus the very night of his birth. But we re going to learn from our Bibles today that their journey took a long time and they didn t meet Jesus until he was a bit older. 32 Wise Men Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress.
I m going to ask one volunteer to read this story. I m going to turn off the lights, and as we hear the story, you can follow the light just like the Wise Men did. Dim the lights. Invite the volunteer to read the story. Slowly move the flashlight around your space. Have fun with it, sometimes changing it quickly. Turn the lights back on and invite kids to be seated. Read and discuss the I Wonder statements on the first page of the leaflet. Strange Dream Invite kids to read Strange Dream on the first page of the leaflet. Have you ever heard about someone having an experience like Isaac had? What would you do if God sent you a message through a dream? Would you tell anyone? What the Wise Men did dropping everything to follow a star probably seemed a little weird to other people. Why would or wouldn t you do something weird to follow Jesus? Four Out of Five Isn t Bad Challenge kids to do the math activity on the second page of the Leaflet. Assist kids as needed with the math problems. Once kids have solved the math problem row, they should look at the key code to decide which letter goes in each box. Answer Key SIGHT SMELL TOUCH HEARING Spark Bibles Pencils 75-3 14 x 2 84 / 2 5 x 9 20 + 20 + 9 72 28 42 45 49 S I G H T 60 + 12 4 x 4 6 x 6 70 / 2 30 + 5 72 16 36 35 35 S M E L L 7 x 7 7 x 3 7 x 1 9 x 9 15 + 15 + 15 49 21 7 81 56 T O U C H 15 X 3 6 + 30 60-4 60 / 2 30-4 + 2 12 + 12 2 + 40 45 36 56 30 28 24 42 H E A R I N G Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress. Wise Men 33
When kids have completed the puzzle, invite them to do Look It up! on the second page of the leaflet using their Spark Bibles and the leaflet. The maps are found in the orange section in the back of the Spark Bible. Give kids this additional information: Persia is modern-day Iran. To get there from Jerusalem, you would have to travel east through Jordan, Iraq or Saudi Arabia, Arab Shia, and then Iran. The distance is approximately 1,000 miles or 1,609 kilometers. How far could you travel a day on foot or camel? Depending on many variables, a healthy person could walk 20 30 miles (32 48 km) a day. A camel caravan could probably go farther, depending on how much weight in supplies they were carrying, the weather, and so on. Practice the BMV with kids. Matthew 2:6 is found on page 1059 of the Spark Bible. Activate Faith (15 minutes) Fun Facts Everyone silently read the Fun Facts on the third page of your leaflet. When everyone is done, invite kids to stand. Today we re going to play a silent game show. I m going to read a statement. If you think it is true, jump up and down. If you think it is false, sway quickly from side to side without moving your feet. Let s practice that! If it s true... Kids jump up and down. If it s false... Kids sway from side to side. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. True or false: There were exactly three Wise Men. (False. No one knows for sure.) True or false: Frankincense and myrrh are the names of the people who work in the church office. (False. They were two of the gifts the Wise Men carried.) True or false: The Wise Men met Jesus the same time the shepherds did. (False. It would have taken them at least a few months to get to Jesus, but maybe much longer.) True or false: Frankincense and myrrh are smelly! (True. Some people like the smell, though.) True or false: A kid could easily walk 30 miles in one day. (False. That is a very long way for even an adult to walk.) True or false: The Wise Men were professors. (False. No one knows for sure, but they may have been astrologers.) True or false: The Wise Men might have ridden camels to Bethlehem. (True. Camels travel well in that terrain and can carry many supplies.) 34 Wise Men Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress.
8. 9. True or false: The Wise Men weren t Jewish like Jesus. (True. The Wise Men came from the East and were not a part of the Jewish community.) The Wise Men gave Jesus a camel for his first birthday. (False. At least, not that we know about from the Bible!) Popping People Direct kids to Popping People on the third page of the leaflet. Have kids cut out the Wise Men from the leaflet. Using the directions below, help kids create 3-D cards with an outline of the Wise Men in transit. Help kids follow the cutting directions exactly. When the cards are complete, invite kids to brainstorm an Epiphany message. Fold two pieces of construction paper in half. One piece will be the outside of the card; one piece will be the inside. On the inner card, make four short, parallel cuts along the fold line. The cuts should be in two pairs. Construction paper Scissors Glue Markers Silver glitter (optional) Fold over the flaps that were formed by the cuts. Unfold the folds you just made and open up the card. Push up the flaps made by the cuts. These hold the image of the Wise Men. Close the card so that the flaps are inside the card. Cut out the Wise Men from the leaflet. Make sure that they will fit inside the card when it is closed. Glue them to the flaps. Close the card. Glue the other folded piece of construction paper onto the outside of the card. Make sure you don t glue the place where the cut outs are. Add an Epiphany message and decorate with glitter glue or markers. Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress. Wise Men 35
36 Wise Men Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress.
Send (5 minutes) Closing Conversation It s almost time to go. Who can summarize what we learned today? Encourage two or three volunteers to share what they learned about the Wise Men visiting Jesus. Who are the stars that lead us to Jesus today? Encourage kids to name people who help them find Jesus. How can you be a star that leads people to Jesus? Turn to Faith on the Go! on the last page of the leaflet. Buddy up with the person next to you and talk about which one of these you are going to try to do this week. If you have time, invite kids to report what their buddy said to the rest of the group. Closing Prayer Dim the lights for the closing prayer. God, you gave the Wise Men a star to lead them to the Christ child. May all of these kids be lights to the world that others may know of you and follow the path to Jesus, too. Thank you, God, for... (Shine the light in the faces of all kids one at a time, saying each kid s name as the flashlight lands on him or her.) May you bless them and keep them as they continue on their journey down the path that leads to you. Amen. Family Pages Flashlight Be sure to send a leaflet and a Family Page home with each kid. Grades 3-4 Classroom Leader Guide. Spark Sunday School 2010 Augsburg Fortress. Wise Men 37