Whose Line Is It Carefully?

252 Groups August 2015, Week 3 Small Group, K-1

Bible Story: Whose Line Is It Carefully? (Choose your words carefully) • Proverbs 12:18 Bottom Line: If you want to be wise, think before you speak. Memory Verse: “Choose my teaching instead of silver. Choose knowledge rather than fine gold.” Proverbs 8:10, NIrV Life App: Wisdom—finding out what you should do and doing it. Basic Truth: I need to make the wise choice.

8:45/10:45 - Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 30 minutes) Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today’s story.

Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Pray that today’s Bottom Line would really hit home with the kids (and maybe even with your own heart!). Pray that the kids would begin to really think about how their words can cut others’ hearts. Ask God to help them understand the power of what they say has over their friends and families. Pray that once the kids understand this power, they are encouraged to use it to build others up instead of tearing them down.

1. Early Arriver Idea What You Need: An offering container, beanbag or ball

What You Do:  Collect kids’ offerings.  Play a rhyming game with the kids.  Sit in a circle and hold a beanbag and say a word such as “mat.”  Toss the beanbag to a child and ask him to say a word that rhymes with “mat,” such as “cat,” and then pass the beanbag to another kid.  Continue until the kids can think of no more rhyming words. The child who is holding the beanbag at that point begins the game with a new word.

2. Make the Wise Choice (Closet Clean-Up) What You Need: White scrap paper, black (or other color) paper, 2 Hula-hoops

What You Do:  During Social throughout this month, you are letting the kids choose between two really silly and unwise options and one wise/good one.  Here are today’s choices: 1. Sit on your thumbs until we go to Large Group. 2. Stare at your favorite wall until we go to Large Group.

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3. Toss paper wads in a fun game called “Closet Clean-Up.”  Congratulate the kids for making a wise choice. (Hopefully they did!)  Divide your group into 2 teams and give each team a Hula-hoop and equal amounts of white scrap paper.  Have the kids wad up each sheet of paper into a tight ball.  Place the Hula-hoops several feet apart but still within throwing distance of the paper wads.  Tell kids to pretend that their Hula-hoop is a messy closet. Their job is to clean their closet by tossing the paper wads into another Hula-hoop. All the teams will be trying to keep their closets clean at the same time.  Before you begin, throw the black paper wad into one of the Hula-hoops. Tell everyone to “BEWARE OF THE WAD!” At the end of each round, the team with the black wad of paper automatically loses even if they have the least amount of white paper wads.  Use a signal to let the kids know when to start and stop (flash the lights, pause some music, clap your hands, etc.).  Vary the time for each round (10-30 seconds). Keep score if desired.

What You Say: “Keeping that black paper wad out of your closet wasn’t always easy, was it? You had to be constantly watching and then getting rid of it as quickly as you could. Great job keeping your closets clean! [Transition] In our story today, you’ll be happy to hear that we won’t be cleaning any closets, but we will be learning how to watch out for words and actions that could make a mess in other ways. Let’s go to Large Group and learn more about being wise in the things we say and do.”

9:15/11:15 - Lead your group to the Large Group area for worship and today’s Bible Story (30 minutes)

9:45/11:45 - Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 35 minutes) Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

1. Hula-hoop-Heads (application activity) What You Need: Hula-hoop

What You Do:  Form a loose circle by having the kids hold hands with arms extended and then sit down and put their hands in their laps.  Tell the kids that you want to play a game that will help them think about choosing their words wisely.  Give one of the kids a Hula-hoop and ask him to stand in the middle of the circle.

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 Ask everyone to listen carefully as you read a sentence from the list below. Tell the kids sitting in the circle to make a very sad, frowning face if the words you read sound mean, hurtful, or unkind. Tell them to make a huge smile if the words sound kind or helpful.  Have the child in the middle place the Hula-hoop around the kid he thinks is smiling or frowning the best. The kid in the Hula-hoop becomes the next person to stand in the circle.  Make sure everyone gets a turn in the center.

Sentences (create additional sentences if needed): 1. You smell weird. 2. I like your shoes. They’re cool. 3. Would you like to come to my birthday party? 4. I don’t like you. 5. You can’t be on my team. 6. You can borrow my bike if it’s okay with my mom. 7. You can go first. 8. Please. 9. Your room isn’t very pretty. 10. Thank you. 11. Would you like the last cookie? 12. Your dog is ugly. 13. [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak.

What You Say: “It’s easy to let hurtful words slip out of your mouth, especially when you feel angry or frustrated. God wants you to be careful about the things you say and the way you say them. Remember what we learned in Large Group: Put your words to the test. Ask yourself, ‘Is what I am about to say true? Is it kind? Is it helpful?’ If it isn’t, then it’s probably wise to be quiet and not speak. If you do mess up and say something hurtful, always apologize. You can’t take the mean words away after you’ve said them, but you can let the person know that you’re really sorry. [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak. When you think before you speak, you’re making God happy and those around you are happier too.”

2. Picture Repairs (application activity / review the Bible story) What You Need: Bible, crayons, “Picture Repairs” Activity Page, tape (optional), scissors (optional)

What You Do:  Read Proverbs 12:18 aloud to the kids. (“Thoughtless words cut like a sword. But the tongue of wise people brings healing.”)  Ask kids to tell you how mean words are like a sword. (They can be very powerful; they hurt; they make us feel bad.)  Ask them what kinds of words help people and make them feel better. (Kind words; I love you; compliments; truthfulness; encouragement)  Set out the crayons and give each kid a copy of the “Picture Repairs” Activity Page.  Remind them of today’s Bottom Line: [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak. Then ask them what words they think should be written in the head bubble and in the

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mouth. Let them explain their answers and then, if needed, lead kids in understanding why the words “THINK” and “SPEAK” are the best choices.  Ask kids to write the word “THINK” in the head bubble and “SPEAK” in the mouth and color the picture. Help with spelling as needed. (If most of your kids are on the young end of K-1, you can write the words out as an example and let them copy you.)

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY:  If time allows, give the kids a pair of scissors. Have them cut their pictures in half between the head bubble and the words below it (“before you”).  Talk about the way mean words cut our feelings and hurt us on the inside. Ask them what they should do if they have said something mean to someone. (apologize, ask forgiveness)  Let them tape their pictures back together.  When finished, have the kids look at one another’s pictures. Remind them that even when we apologize for saying unkind words, we’ve still hurt someone. Saying we’re sorry is the right thing to do but it doesn’t make the mean words go away. It’s always better to stop, think, and speak kind words to others.

What You Say: “Mean words not only hurt people, but they hurt God, too. Because He created everyone on earth, He wants us to say kind words to each other. So this week, when you start to feel mad at someone, stop to think about how you would feel if somebody said to you what you’re about to say to the other person. Are you speaking sword words that would hurt someone? Or are you speaking healing words that would make them smile and feel glad? [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak.”

3. Silver Coins (memory verse activity) What You Need: Bibles, foil

What You Do:  Sit together on the floor in a circle as you help kids look up the memory verse.  Recite the verse together several times. Remind kids that we find wisdom in God’s Word—the Bible—and that having wisdom is like having a treasure.  Give each kid a piece of foil. Show them how to lightly wad and then flatten the foil into the shape of a “coin” that’s about two or three-inches wide. Help as needed to shape and flatten the “coins.”  When finished, ask the kids to place their “coins” on the floor in front of them.  Recite the verse once again, but when you come to the word “GOLD,” instead of speaking it, have the kids slap their coins. Tell them to “say” the word in their head but not out loud.  Repeat a few more times eliminating the words, “SILVER,” “KNOWLEDGE,” and “TEACHING.”  Have the kids put their “coins” in their Bibles to help them remember to choose wise words this week.

What You Say: “You’re doing a great job learning Proverbs 8:10! Even when you didn’t say some of the words out loud, I could tell that you were hearing them in your head. That’s what it’s like to think before you speak. It’s listening to your words before you actually say them. Then, if they sound mean or bad, don’t say

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them out loud. Remember that God wants you to be wise with your words and will help you at all times. [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak.”

10:25/12:25 - Pray and Dismiss What You Need: No supplies needed.

What You Do:  Sit together in a circle.  Say today’s Bottom Line together by having kids take turns saying one word at a time. [Bottom Line] If you want to be wise, think before you speak.  Ask kids to share some situations when it’s hard for them to think before they speak. Some examples might be when they have made a mistake, when someone hurts their feelings, or when they are disappointed, tired, angry, or want to get even.  [Make It Personal] (Tell kids an age-appropriate example of a time you didn’t think before you spoke. What did you learn from the experience?)  Close with a prayer similar to the one below. Pray for the situations that the kids shared. Invite them to say, “think before I speak,” every time you pause.

What You Say: “Dear God, I know that You want me to (pause). Help me to (pause) and then say the wise thing at all times. Help me remember to (pause) when I’m at school. Help me to (pause) when I’m at home. In Jesus’ name, amen.”