On Your Marks: Under-5s Day 3 Jesus reveals himself as the Son of God Mark 9: 2 7 Listen to the Story Bible Action Rhyme No equipment 1 Stand together in a circle, making sure the children can all see the person leading the rhyme. Ask the children to join in by copying the actions of the leader. The actions are indicated in the brackets at the end of each line. Jesus took three friends up a big hill to pray. (Walk.) All of them were tired; they d had a busy day. (Yawn.) The three tired friends fell fast asleep at prayer. (Head on hands.) Jesus prayed alone. His father God was there. (Raise hands.) When his friends awoke, they had a great surprise. (Rub eyes.) Jesus looked so different right before their eyes! (Gasp.) Jesus was amazing. He stood there all in white! (Look surprised.) He talked with God his father, shining, shining bright. (Spread arms wide.) The friends were all amazed. Peter said, What shall we do? (Shrug shoulders.) God said, Listen to my Son. All his words are true. (Cup ears.) When the light began to fade, the friends thought of what they d heard. (Look puzzled.) They came down from the mountain but they dared not speak a word. (Fingers on lips.) 2 Can the children remember what the friends had heard? What did God say about Jesus? Jesus looked amazing all shining bright. And he is amazing because he is God s Son.
Tell the story Child-safe mirrors for each child, or enough mirrors for everyone to gather round; pictures of faces (web download: Day 3 resource sheets page 1 ) 1 Provide all the children with a small child-safe mirror or sit in groups around large mirrors so that everyone can see their own reflection. Explain to the children that you are going to name lots of different feelings and you would like them to try to make a face to show this. 2 Begin with easy emotions such as happy, sad, tired and angry. Include the emotions the children will need in the story: tired, amazed, frightened, puzzled, excited. Let the children look in the mirror as they are making these faces. 3 When the children have had an opportunity to try these faces, show them the pictures of faces. Either provide each of the children with a copy, or enlarge the page to create a large poster to share. Ask the children to point to the face that is tired. Repeat with each of the faces. 4 Tell the Bible story, pointing to the faces as you go. Begin by showing the neutral expression. Jesus said to Peter, James and John, Come with me. They began to climb a mountain. It was a long way up. By the time they got to the top, Peter, James and John were very tired. Suddenly, they saw that Jesus looked different. His clothes were bright and shining. Even his hands and feet were shining brightly. Peter, James and John were amazed. But they were a little bit frightened as well. A cloud began to swirl round the high mountain. Peter, James and John were puzzled. They heard a voice. This is my Son. I love him very much. Do what he tells you. It was God s voice! Peter, James and John were very excited. The cloud drifted away. They could see Jesus again. Now Peter, James and John were sure that Jesus was God s own Son. 5 Reread the story, encouraging the children to look in the mirror and use their own faces to show the different emotions in the story. Pause after you mention each emotion, to allow the children to make the appropriate expression. 6 How would you feel if you saw Jesus shining? Make that expression. How would you feel if you heard God speaking? Make that expression. How do you feel to know that Jesus really is God s Son? Make that expression.
Prayer and praise Mountain Meditation No equipment. 1 Ask the children to curl up on the floor and close their eyes. Explain that they are going to imagine climbing the mountain with Jesus. Use the short meditation below to do this. Off you go up the mountain. Follow Jesus and Peter. It s very steep so you have to walk slowly. Are your legs aching? You are at the top now. Peter, James and John are standing with you. Jesus is standing on his own. Can you see him? What s happening now? A big cloud has covered Jesus. Can you see him now? Oh, there he is. But look at him. He s shining and bright. Can you see how bright he is? It s amazing, isn t it? Now you can hear a voice. It s God s voice. This is my Son! says God. Wow! That is amazing! The cloud is going and you can see Jesus again. He s not shining any more but you are sure of one thing. Jesus really is God s Son. 2 After you have finished the meditation, gently tell the children to open their eyes and sit up slowly. Ask them what they would like to tell Jesus now. Encourage them to speak their prayers to Jesus. Finish with Amen. Adapted from LightLive: Shine Jesus! Structured Craft Shine Jesus! An outline drawing of Jesus on a large sheet of paper (available as a download page 2: Day 3 resource sheets ); a wide strip of paper per child; glitter; sequins; shiny paper; glue. 1 On a large sheet of paper, sketch an outline of Jesus, or blow-up the download picture using a photocopier. Ask the children if they can remember how Jesus looked when he and his friends got to the top of the mountain.
2 Give each of the children a strip of paper and ask them to make it look as amazing, special and shiny as Jesus did. When each of the strips is completed, sit around the picture of Jesus. Say, Suddenly, Jesus friends saw that he looked different. His clothes were bright and shining. Even his hands and face seemed to be shining brightly. 3 Encourage the children to place their shining strips on the paper near Jesus to create rays around him and make Jesus look amazing. Explain that God said, This is my Son. Listen to him. How do you think Jesus friends felt? 4 You may also like to encourage the children to use the glitter and sequins to decorate Jesus himself. Adapted from LightLive: Shine Jesus! Messy Craft Salt-dough people Ordinary salt dough; glitter salt dough; person-shaped cutters; dough recipes as web download: Day 3 Resource sheets page 3. 1 Prepare enough salt dough and glitter dough for each child to make three people with the salt dough and one with the glitter dough. Show the children the two bowls of dough, encouraging them to talk about the differences between them. 2 Explain that they are going to make Jesus, Peter, James and John from dough. Ask the children which dough they should use to make Jesus. Why? Encourage them to talk about how special the glitter dough is and how extraordinary Jesus is. Let all the children make a person from the glitter dough. 3 Ask which dough should be used to make the three friends? Although Peter, James and John were good friends of Jesus they were not amazing, as he was. Encourage the children to make three people with the ordinary dough. 4 Can the children remember the extraordinary thing God said about Jesus in the story?
Activity Sparkly dressing up Dressing up clothes; sparkly jewellery; sparkly scarves; tinsel; anything sparkly that can be used for dressing and draping; full length mirror. 1 Spread out the dressing up equipment so that the light catches the sparkles (if possible). 2 Encourage the children to dress themselves and each other in sparkly outfits. Look in the mirror to see the effect. 3 As the children play comment on how amazing they look. If this is after the story you could comment on how Jesus must have looked even more sparkly and amazing than they do. By Alison Dayer 2011 Songs and Rhymes Choose a few songs from the general list and from this list of songs and rhymes specifically related to today s theme, to sing together as a time of worship and fun. ks = kidsource S&S = Sing and Say Jesus is! S&S p55 I m like a little light Ish Jesus is my friend ks 197 JP Jesus love ks208 JP (and many others) Let s celebrate ks 226 Take home At the end of the session give the children a copy of the Shine Jesus! picture from page 4 of Day 3 resource sheets to take home. Encourage them to use the picture to tell others in their family about the story. Shine Jesus! picture from LightLive