Showstoppers Under 5S Day 1

Showstoppers Under 5s Day 1

God made everything! You will need: illustrated Bible (put a book mark and a picture of a garden or packet of seeds at Genesis 2), tray filled with sterile compost, a separate container with some small plants, twigs, stones, flowers, model animals and figures to represent a man and a woman.

Say, ‘This book is the Bible. It’s a special book because it tells us a lot about God. I wonder what we can find in it today.’ Teach everyone to say, ‘What’s in the Bible today?’ Open it up and ‘find’ the picture or packet of seeds. Say, ‘There’s a story in the Bible about a garden where lovely things grow – a garden that God made.’ (Show tray of compost.) Long, long ago, the earth was empty – only bare land and water, but God had a great idea! God made a person – just like you and me! And God thought about what that person would need – somewhere to live! So God made a lovely garden with beautiful trees and flowers, fruit and vegetables and everything that people would need to live happily. God said to the person he’d made, ‘This is your home. Take care to look after it well. Grow plants and use them for food and be happy.’ And that’s what the person did, but he had no one to work with him. So God said, ‘I’ve made a garden and I’ve made a person, but he’s lonely. That’s not good. I’ll make someone else to work with him.’ So God began to make other creatures. (Ask everyone to say what other animals God made.) There were big animals, little animals, birds, fish and reptiles – every kind of animal you could think of. The man gave them all names, but not one of them could work with him. ‘I’ll make someone just like the man,’ thought God. ‘Another person to work with him.’ So God made a woman to help the man and to be his friend. When the man saw the woman that God had made he said, ‘Yes, at last, here’s someone to help me. This woman is just like me. Now I have everything I need.’ God had made everything in all the world! (adapted from Tiddlywinks: The Big Orange Book) Prayer

Everything! In this prayer, everyone mimes and says the words in italics together.

Tall, tall trees and flowers bright, Spotted beetles, days and nights. Oh God, you made everything! Fish that swim, stones and rocks, Elephant and cunning fox. Oh God, you made everything! Drinking water, food to eat, Frosty days and sweltering heat. Oh God, you made everything! Angry wasp and humming bee, All the people, you and me! Oh God, you made everything! (adapted from Tiddlywinks: The Big Orange Book)

Activity

Body jigsaws You will need: large sheets of paper, eg wallpaper, crayons, scissors (adult use). Get a volunteer to lie on the paper while you draw around their body. (Do this in advance if you are short of time.) Cut the shape out and show everyone the ‘body’. Identify the different parts of the body. Draw on a face and some clothing while everyone watches. Get others to do the same until you have one body shape for each four or five children. (If you have lots of adults you might prefer to draw round every child and then you will have one each.) Take each small group, with one paper body, into a separate part of the room. Cut the body shapes into five large pieces (head, legs, two arms, body). Help the children reassemble the bodies. Have a big cheer when everyone has done this! Swap ‘jigsaws’ and start again. (adapted from Tiddlywinks: The Big Orange Book) Craft Junk Animals You will need: lots of household junk, eg cardboard boxes, paper plates, foil containers, plastic bottles; washable PVA glue, saucers, brushes, safety scissors, used wrapping paper, newspaper, fabric scraps, ribbon, masking tape. Pour a little of the glue into saucers (add more as necessary) and put the brushes and scissors nearby. Stack the junk in a box or on another table so that it is accessible, but not cluttering the table. Suggest that the children make animals by gluing things together. Say that it can be large or small and could be a new animal that no one has ever seen before! Help them find what they need to make the animal’s body and suggest other items for legs, tails, ears etc. Most children will need adult help with cutting things to the right size and shape, but try to ensure that the children do most of the work. Very young children will probably enjoy sticking things together, but be unable to produce anything recognisable – that is fine as the emphasis is on the process of creating. Put the finished animals somewhere to dry that is out of reach of the children. (adapted from Tiddlywinks: The Big Orange Book)