First Look TM Curriculum for Preschoolers We want preschoolers to take a first look at who God is and understand... God made me. God loves me. Jesus wants to be my friend forever. December 29/30, 2012 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Key Question: Why is Jesus special? Bottom Line: Jesus is God s Son. Memory Verse: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. John 3:16, GNT Bible Story: The wise men come to see God s Son. The Wise Men Matthew 2:1-2,9-11 Here s an overview of what you ll be teaching in 2s this week. Make It Fun (Choose one or all of these activities) Star Search Present Stack Present Wrappers Make It True Worship Bible Story Make It Stick (Choose as many of these activities as you like) Present Pass Tell Me a Story (Bible story review) Star Jump Make a Star Dismiss Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ThinkOrange.com 1
December 29/30, 2012 Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Key Question: Why is Jesus special? Bottom Line: Jesus is God s Son. Memory Verse: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. John 3:16, GNT Bible Story: The wise men come to see God s Son. The Wise Men Matthew 2:1-2,9-11 Make It Fun Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as your 2-year-olds arrive. Let one or two teachers lead small groups of children in activities throughout the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. At this age not all children will participate, but most will want to be part of the fun. 1. Star Search What You Need: A large, laminated star cutout. What You Do: Play hide-and-seek with the star. What You Say: Star, star, where are you, star? Can you help me find the hiding star? Wow! Great job! (Repeat, having the kids close their eyes while you hide the star.) At the end of the activity: We are going to hear a really neat Bible story about a star today! Thanks for helping me find the missing star. 2. Present Stack What You Need: Three wrapped presents of different sizes. What You Do: Explore different ways to stack the presents. Count them as you stack. What You Say: Our Bible story is about the wise men who brought presents to Jesus. Let s count as we stack these presents. How many do we have? One, two, three presents! Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ThinkOrange.com 2
Make It True After children have participated in Make It Fun, encourage the kids to have fun singing and listening to the Bible story. When sharing the Bible story, guide kids to gather around on the floor. Some kids (especially the younger ones) may wander. That s okay. They re still listening and learning! Make It Stick Choose two or more of the following activities to help make the Bottom Line stick. Lead the activities with small groups of children. Encourage children to play on their own if they do not wish to take part in an activity. 1. Present Pass What You Need: A wrapped present What You Do: Sit in a circle and pass the present around as you recite the memory verse. What You Say: Everyone come sit down and let s make a big circle. (Do so.) Good job! See this present? (Hold up the present.) The wise men brought presents to Jesus, didn t they? But the biggest present of all is Jesus. God s present to us was His Son. Do you remember our memory verse for this month? Let s see if we can say it together as we pass this beautiful present around the circle. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, John 3:16. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, John 3:16. That was terrific! Let s say it one last time. God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, John 3:16. Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son. Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ThinkOrange.com 3
2. Tell Me a Story What You Need: A bag or basket, the star used in the Bible story, a Fisher- Price Little People boy, and three small wrapped boxes. What You Do: Place all the items in the bag or basket. Take turns pulling out the items and identifying them. Then retell the Bible story. Let children take turns helping you retell the story with the items from the basket or bag. What You Say: This bag is a little heavy. I wonder what could be in it! Would you help me take everything out? One at a time, reach in and show us what you have. (After a child retrieves an object) What do you think that is? Does it look like something we talked about in our Bible story today? (Pull everything out and lay it out on the floor or table.) Can you make a story with all the things you see here? I think we could tell the Bible story with all these things! What happened first in our story? That s right! A special group of men went to visit a special baby. They were the wise men. The wise men followed something bright and sparkly. What did they follow? They followed a star! The wise men followed a special star up in the sky. Why did the wise men want to follow a star? (Pause.) The wise men followed the bright star to find a special boy named Jesus. Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son. The wise men wanted to go see Jesus and take him something. What did the wise men want to take Jesus? (Pause.) Presents! That s right! The wise men took Jesus three very special presents one, two, three! The wise men gave presents to Jesus because He is special. Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son! Wow! You helped me tell the Bible story! What a fantastic job you did! Thank you for helping me tell the story. 3. Star Jump What You Need: the stars on the floor around the room What You Do: Have children jump to a star when the special word is called out. What You Say: We heard such a great story today. As I review the story, I want you to listen for me to say, star. When I say star, I want you to jump to a star. Ready? Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ThinkOrange.com 4
Today we learned about some men. What were they called? (Pause.) Were they called the wise guys? No! Wise stars? (Remind kids to find a star.) No! They were called the wise men! That s right! The wise men knew they needed to follow a star. (Kids jump to another star.) The star (kids jump to different stars) would help them find someone really special. The star (kids jump to different stars) would help them find Jesus! Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son. The star (kids jump to different stars) helped the wise men find Jesus. 4. Make a Star What You Need: Stars, Bible verse stickers, star stickers. What You Do: Help children stick star stickers all over their stars. Put a Bottom Line label on the back of each star. Punch a hole in the top of each star and thread a length of ribbon through it to make an ornament. What You Say: Our Bible story told us that some friends called wise men knew that if they followed a special star, they would find Jesus. Jesus is special. Do you know why Jesus is special? Jesus is God s Son. Let s make a star to take home to help us remember that the wise men followed a special star to find Jesus. Let s stick some star stickers on our star. Good job! Now put this label on the back. It says Jesus is God s Son. Can you say that with me? Jesus is God s Son. Great job! All we need to do now is write your name on the back of your star and then add a string so you can hang up your star at home. Why did we make a star? (Pause for answers,) Our stars remind us that Jesus is special. Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son. Why is Jesus special? Jesus is God s Son. Get Ready to Dismiss Set any take-home creations on the nursery counter where you or parents can get them easily. Curriculum Materials for 2-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ThinkOrange.com 5