LifeWay EXTRA! SessionsEXTRA! Weekly Supplemental Teaching Plans Childhood Bible Studies for Life EXTRA for Preschoolers January 27, 2008 January Sessions for Preschoolers Kevin Lintz ALL SESSIONS FOR THIS MONTH ARE INCLUDED January 6, 2008 Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Chose Helpers (3s–Pre-K) Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Taught People (Kindergarten) Play a Follow the Leader Relay (3s–Pre-K) Gather: scarves, yarn or pennants, masking tape Prepare: Clear an area large enough for children to move across the room. Tape a line of masking tape on the floor. Pick an area where children can move to a wall and then return to the line. Teach: Give the children scarves and ask them to stand on the tape line. Choose one child to be the leader. Instruct the child to move across the room while using the scarf. Suggest that she could wave it, wrap it around her hands, drag it on the floor, or toss it in the air and catch it. After the leader has moved to the other side of the room, all the other children can follow her and repeat her actions with the scarf. Then, she can choose a new leader who will move using a different action. Continue to play the game as long as children are interested. Give suggestions to children who have difficulty thinking of ways to use their scarves. Tell the children that they each had a turn being the leader and then choosing a new leader. Talk about how Jesus chose some men to be His helper. Open the Bible to Mark 3:14 and read the Bible phrase Jesus chose helpers. Taste Fish (Kindergarten) Gather: fish-shaped crackers, plates, napkins, allergy alert chart Prepare: Place the food and plates on a table. Clearly post the allergy alert chart near the entrance. Teach: Ask children to wash their hands before eating. Talk together about how Jesus' helpers were fishermen. Let children talk about times they have eaten fish or gone fishing. Before eating, pray and thank Jesus that He taught people. January 13, 2008 Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Had Friends Paint with a Friend (3s–Pre-K) Gather: finger paint, shallow pans, smocks, adding machine tape, masking tape, newspaper Prepare: Cover a table or floor space with newspaper and pour paint into the nearby shallow pans. Roll out a long strip of adding machine tape, but do not detach it from the roll. Teach: After children put on smocks, show them how to use their fingers to paint on the adding machine tape. Remind them to not paint the newspaper. As children fill up the narrow adding machine tape, roll it out further and let them continue painting. Look for chances to talk to children about being friends and helping each other. Mention that Jesus had friends and Jesus helped people. Hang the dry painting across a wall or ceiling and use it as a reminder of the ways that children helped each other. Weave a Wall Hanging (Kindergarten) Gather: large rectangle of cardboard; scissors; yarn; items for weaving such as straws, feathers, chenille stems, paper strips, or grass Prepare: Cut seven, one-inch, equally spaced notches into each short end of the cardboard rectangle. Wrap yarn around the cardboard and secure it into the notches. When you finish, you should have seven parallel strands of yarn running the length of the cardboard. One weaving board should accommodate up to four students at a time. Teach: Model the weaving process to children by showing how to thread an item over and under the yarn strands until it is held in place. Spread out the materials and let students choose the things they want to weave into the board. Encourage them to talk through their disagreements and find a solution to their problems. Remind them that Jesus helped people and worked with His friends. Periodically push the woven items together to make a solid mat. This will create a more aesthetic art piece as well as allowing more room for children to work. Display the finished weaving in the classroom or hallway. January 20, 2008 Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Helped People Create a Texture Plate (3s–Pre-K) Gather: sheets of corrugated cardboard smaller than 8 1/2 by 11 inches; glue; materials with different textures such as fabric pieces, sandpaper, scrap cardboard, or flat foam shapes; crayons; white paper; fan Prepare: Put the art materials on a table along with the glue and cardboard sheets. Teach: Invite children to feel the materials and describe their textures. Hand out the cardboard sheets and glue and let children glue art materials to their cardboard sheet. Explain that this is just the first part of their art project. Continue talking about textures and feeling. Briefly tell today's Bible story while you work with children. Once children finish, place their texture plates under a fan on low speed to dry the glue quickly. After children clean up the glue and art materials, give them each a piece of white paper and some crayons. Bring the texture plates back to the workspace and show children how to place the white paper on top of the texture plate and make a crayon rubbing. Expand this activity by guiding children to trade texture plates with each other to create new artwork. Draw a Hidden Picture (Kindergarten) Gather: a box large enough for kindergartners to have their hands under it, paper, crayons, scissors Prepare: Cut off the flaps of the large box and cut a hole into one edge. Make the hole large enough for kindergartners to stick their hands inside. Turn the box upside down and place it over a piece of paper so that children can reach into the box and draw, but cannot see their drawing. Teach: Ask students about experiences they have had with blind people. Let them describe what they have seen people do and how they feel about it. Tell students that Jesus loved people and helped a man who was blind. Show the box and demonstrate how to place your hands under it and draw a picture. Give each child a turn to draw a hidden picture. Ask students to be supportive of each other's drawings and not make fun of pictures which look strange. Provide additional paper and crayons for students who wish to draw another picture after they have experienced drawing a hidden picture. January 27, 2008 Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Told People about God's Love (3s–Pre-K) Today's Bible Truth: Jesus Told People about God (Kindergarten) Decorate Water Bottles (3s–Pre-K) Gather: bottled water, markers of several colors, blank labels, paper, tape Prepare: Collect enough new bottles of water for each student to decorate several. Write the phrase, Jesus taught people about God, on the labels. Cut the paper into wide strips that fit around the bottles. Teach: Talk about how Jesus asked the woman at the well for some water. Show the water bottles. Say: “We can do something nice for other people and give them some water.” Explain to children that they can decorate the water bottle. Encourage them to draw and write on the paper strips. If you have students who can copy letters, let them write the words Jesus or God. After a child has finished drawing and writing, help him tape the strip around the bottle and attach a Bible phrase. Collect all bottles and give them to the staff at your church or distribute them through your church's food pantry. Make a Dirt Mixer (Kindergarten) Gather: empty 1-liter bottle with lid, sand, gravel, dirt, water, funnel, towels Prepare: Spread a towel over your work area. Clean and dry the 1-liter bottle. Place the materials within easy reach of the students. Teach: Allow students time to feel and explore the sand, gravel, and dirt when they come to the center. Explain that wells work when water filters through rocks and sand and collects underground. Point out that Jesus asked a woman for some water from a well. Talk about how much Jesus loved the woman at the well and how much He loves all people. Let students pour the sand, gravel, and dirt into the 1-liter bottle using the funnel. Close the top briefly and shake the bottle to mix the contents. Remove the lid and fill the bottle with water. Close it again and let students shake up the bottle to mix the rocks and water. Tell them to let the bottle sit for a while as they observe how the dirt and water separate. Consider sealing the bottle lid with hot glue. Permit children to continue to shake up the bottle and observe what happens. Kevin Lintz directs the Kindergarten Sunday School department at University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXTRA is a supplement designed to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by LifeWay Church Resources. 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