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. November 10/11, 2012 Basic Truth: God made me. Key Question: Who gives you good friends? Bottom Line: God gives me good friends. Memory Verse: Two people are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do. Ecclesiastes 4:9, NIrV Bible Story: Good friends comfort each other. David and Jonathan Say Good-bye 1 Samuel 20:3-42 Here s an overview of what you ll be teaching in 3s 5s this week. Make It Fun (Choose one or both of these activities.) Five Second Celebration Bubbles and Balls Make It True 20 minutes into service, bring children to the Kidville Park Worship Room Make It Stick Friendship Bracelets Two (for 4s) David s Story (for 3 s) Ball Game Make It Real Small Group Time Prayer Dismiss Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 1
November 10/11, 2012 Basic Truth: God made me. Key Question: Who gives you good friends? Bottom Line: God gives me good friends. Memory Verse: Two people are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do. Ecclesiastes 4:9, NIrV Bible Story: Good friends comfort each other. David and Jonathan Say Good-bye 1 Samuel 20:3-42 Make It Fun (Introductory Activities, 15 minutes) Prepare to offer one or more of the following activities as Your 3-, 4-, or 5-year-olds arrive. Let one or two teachers lead activities in different areas of the room while another teacher greets parents and kids at the door. 1. Five-Second Celebration What You Need: No supplies are needed. What You Do: Direct children to stand in a circle. Invite one child to stand in the middle of the circle and do any movement he would like. He could jump, make a funny face, dance, etc. After the child has performed, lead the rest of the children in a five-second celebration. Let each child have a turn performing in the middle of the circle and then having all the other children celebrating for five seconds. At the start of the activity: Look what I can do! (Do a silly trick.) I bet you all can do tricks too! Would you like to show the class your tricks? (Pause.) Okay, let s get in a circle and watch our friends. After someone does a trick, let's have a five-second celebration to show our friend that he or she did a great job! You can do anything you would like to celebrate, just stay in the circle. Are you ready? At the end of the activity: Everyone did such amazing tricks! Great job! I love how we did a five-second celebration for our friends to encourage them and let them know they did a good job. That is what friends do. They help each other and celebrate when they do something cool. Now it is time to hear a TRUE story from the Bible about two friends who were always there for each other. Are you ready to hear the story for today? Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 2
2. Bubbles and Balls What You Need: Bubbles and several small rubber balls. What You Do: Play games with your good friends using the bubbles and balls. Designate an adult to be in charge of the bubbles. Encourage the children to help you blow bubbles and then catch or pop the bubbles. Give the children the balls to roll to each other or toss and catch. Have fun as you enjoy each other. During the activity: I am SO glad God gave you to me to be my good friend. Good friends always like to play and have fun together, so let s play and have some fun! At the end of the activity: It was fun to play with our friends, wasn't it? Sometimes I get sad when playtime is over and I have to say good-bye to my friends. Our Bible story today is about two VERY good friends. They loved each other so much that it made them sad when they had to say good-bye. Make It True (Large Group, 20 minutes) After children have participated in Make It Fun, gather them in the Kidville Park Worship Room for a large group time that includes interactive worship, introductory sketch and Bible story. Make It Stick (Application Activities, 20 minutes) Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 3
These activities are designed to help preschoolers understand and remember today s Bible story and Bottom Line. Offer as many of the following activities as Your time, facilities, resources, and leadership allow. You may want to lead one activity at a time. Or offer two activities at once and allow half the kids to participate in each, then switch groups and repeat the activities. 1. Friendship Bracelets Two FOUR/PREK What You Need: Unfinished yarn bracelets What You Do: Give each child two unfinished yarn bracelets. Teach the children how to braid the three strands. If they are unable to braid, just have them twist the colors together. When children do finish braiding, knot the ends together to secure the braid. Allow each child to do this twice giving them each two bracelets, one for themselves and one for a friend. Tie one bracelet on the wrist of each child. Knot the other end of the second bracelet for their friend. At the start of the activity: David and Jonathan were very good friends. God gives us good friends, too. Think about one of your very good friends. (Pause briefly.) Did you think of one? I m going to show you how to make something very special for your good friend. Go to each child as they braid: What is your good friend s name? God gave you your good friend (insert name of friend). Who gives you good friends? God gives me good friends. Your good friend (insert name of friend) will love the bracelet you made for him (or her). 2. David s Story - THREES What You Need: David and Jonathan Say Goodbye coloring page, crayons What You Do: Give each child a picture and crayons. After you briefly review the Bible story, instruct the children to color the picture from the story. Great job! You are doing such a great job coloring this picture about David. The Bible is the most important book that we can read, and it has SO MANY wonderful stories in it! God tells us how He wants us to act and how to make good Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 4
choices in His stories. When we are finished making our book, we can show other people and tell them the story of David. We can show them that God wants us to have good friends. Who gives you good friends? (Pause.) Absolutely! God gives me good friends! 3. Ball Game What You Need: A beach ball What You Do: Direct children to sit in a circle around you. Gently roll the ball to a child and ask her how she can be a good friend. Wait for her answer and then have her roll the ball back to you. Continue with the next child. Repeat until every child has a turn. At the start of the activity: David and Jonathan were such great friends to each other. How can we be good friends? At the end of the activity: You all gave great ways to be a good friend! Who gives you good friends? God give me good friends. Make It Real (Small Groups, 5 minutes) Make It Real is designed to help preschoolers understand how the Bottom Line applies to them. They ll discuss real-life experiences and share prayer requests. Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 5
Divide kids into small groups of about five to eight children with each leader. Ideally, assign the same small group leader to the same group of preschoolers for the entire year. Small Group Time What You Need: Paperclip Memory Verse Card in your Bible at Ecclesiastes 4:9. SMALL GROUP LEADER (SGL): Jonathan and David were very best friends. That s why they were so sad when David had to go away. They hugged and cried because they didn t know if they would ever see each other again. Have you ever moved away from a friend or had a friend move away from you? (Allow children to respond.) Sometimes our good friends move away, and that makes us sad, but God will give us good friends wherever we go. God knows we need friends. Our Bible verse says, Two people are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do. Let s practice saying our verse together with the motions. (Lead the children in saying the verse a few times with the motions.) SGL: You sound great! One way we can help our friends is by making them feel better when they are sad. Let s think of things we can do to make our friends smile when they are sad. I ll write down what you say in our journal. (Write down the children s responses. Some possible answers include hugging them, baking cookies for them, drawing a picture for them, talking with them, listening to them, playing with them, giving them a balloon, calling them on the telephone, etc. Mention their list when you pray together.) SGL: Wow! You came up with some great ideas. Let s talk to God about them. Prayer: Dear God, we want to do things to make our friends smile when they are sad. Help us to do things like (name the things from the list). Thank You for giving us good friends that make us feel better when we are sad. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen. Get Ready to Dismiss Curriculum for 3- through 5-year-olds 2012 The rethink Group, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.thinkorange.com 6