Space Academy: Under-5s Day 3 Daniel 3 Aim: to know that God is great and will look after us Bible story with action Daniel s friends Encourage the children to copy the actions suggested in brackets as you tell the story. King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge golden statue and ordered all the important people in the country to stand in front of it. (All stand up.) When you hear the music playing, he told them, you must bow down and worship the statue. The music played the trumpets, flutes and harps. (Mime playing instruments.) Everyone bowed down to worship the golden statue (bow) everyone except Daniel s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Stand up straight.) They said, We will only worship God. He will look after us. The king was very angry. (Shake fist.) I ll give you another chance, he shouted. When you hear the music playing, bow down and worship the statue or I ll throw you in the fire. The music played the trumpets, flutes and harps. (Mime playing instruments.) But the three friends did not bow down. (Stand up straight.) The king had Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fire. To his surprise the three friends were not hurt at all! They just walked around in the fire. (Walk on the spot.) The king got Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of the fire. God looked after you, he said. Now everyone must worship God. (Put hands together as though in prayer.) (Adapted from The Big Bible Storybook)
Bible story with puppets Friends in the fire What you need: finger puppets for Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and King Nebuchadnezzar from Day 1 Resource Sheet A Tell the children they will hear a story about three men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Say this rhythmically and encourage the children to repeat the names. Show the relevant puppets.) They will also hear about King Nebuchadnezzar. (Show the puppet.) Tell the story: King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made. It was huge! He said, Everyone must go and see the golden statue. Everyone obeyed, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Look at the golden statue made for King Nebuchadnezzar! someone called. Everyone looked, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Listen for the music! someone called. Everyone listened, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And when you hear the music, bow down and worship the statue. If you don t bow down you will be thrown into the fire! The music played and everyone bowed down... But not Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We can t bow down and worship a golden statue, they said. We only worship God. Some of the important people were angry. They went to King Nebuchadnezzar and said, When the music played, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not bow down to worship the statue. King Nebuchadnezzar was angry. He sent for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and told them, Bow down and worship the golden statue or you will be thrown into the fire. We can t, said Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. We only worship God. Then King Nebuchadnezzar got even angrier. He sent for some men. Make a huge fire, he ordered. Make it very, very hot! And throw these three into it! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not change their minds. They stuck together and stood up for God and they were thrown into the hot, hot fire. But they were not hurt at all. King Nebuchadnezzar was amazed. They didn t burn or even get hot! Get them out! ordered King Nebuchadnezzar. He said, I now believe that your God is stronger than a golden statue. Everyone must worship your God. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God had looked after them. Now everyone would know how great God is!
Prayer and praise Prayer chant with instruments What you need: a musical or percussion instrument Remind the children that the three friends in the Bible story would not bow down to the golden statue when they heard the music. They were standing up for God. Play the instrument for a few seconds and ask, Would the friends bow down? Encourage the children to say, No! Say that we could use the instrument to worship God, just like the three friends did. When the music plays, they could say, God, you are great! Hurray! Play the instrument as before. When it stops, shout, God, you are great! Hurray! Encourage the children to copy you. Do this three or four times. Conclude by saying that it s good to worship God. Golden statues can t look after people, but God can. Simple craft Making flame badges What you need: flame shapes about 8 cm high and separate circles of paper about 3 cm in radius with God is great in bold writing (see Day 3 Resource Sheet A); small pieces of fabric and/or paper in gold, yellow, orange or red; washable glue; glue spreaders; safety pins; sticky tape Print, copy or draw the flame shapes on white card. Make the circles on yellow or orange paper and cut them out. Give each child a flame shape and encourage them to glue small pieces of paper or fabric on the shape. Talk about how hot real flames are and how careful we need to be with fire.
Explain that in today s Bible story three friends were kept safe from fire when they stood up for God. When the flames are made, read the words on the circles. Ask the children why they think the friends stood up for God. It was because God is great! Complete the badges by gluing the words to the front of the badge and taping a safety pin on the back. Tell the children that they can wear their badges to show that God is great. Messy craft Fire hand prints What you need: trays of paint in red, yellow and orange, plain paper, cover-up and clean-up facilities Let the children place their hands into the paint and then place them onto the paper. They can each have their own piece of paper or work together on a large background sheet. The finished result should look like the fire into which the three friends in the Bible story were put. Remind the children that God was powerful enough to keep them safe even in the fire. Space Academy craft The sun What you need: a large circle of card; glue sticks; small pieces of paper or fabric in gold, silver, red, orange and yellow Make the sun to add to the Space Academy frieze started on Days 1 and 2. Let the children cover the circle of card with the pieces of paper. They can be overlapped. Remind the children that the sun is a hot ball of fire, but it is in space a long, long way from the earth. Glue the finished result centrally on the Space Academy frieze on the lower edge.
Activity Bible story picture What you need: for each child a copy of the Bible story picture from Day 3 Resource Sheet B, art and craft materials, glue sticks, pens and crayons Look at the picture of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and let the children decide who is who (there is no right or wrong answer). Describe the events briefly: the king made a statue and told everyone to bow down to it; these men did not. Let the children colour in the three friends standing up for God. If the children have not noticed them yet, point out the flame shapes in the background. Say that God protected the men from the fire. Colour the flames or cover them in small pieces of bright paper. Praise chant Say the chant through several times, encouraging the children to do the actions and join in as they learn the words. We know God is great. (Raise fist in the air.) You know and I know: (Point to others and self.) God is the greatest! (Raise fist.) Thank you, God, you re the champion! No one is better or greater than you are. You are our God! (Raise arms.)