The Unmerciful Servant s7

First Look 3- through 5-year-olds, August, Week 3 Small Group

August 20, 2017

Bible Story Focus: God made the animals and they are wonderful. Animals • Genesis 1:20-25 Memory Verse: “You have done great and wonderful things.” 2 Samuel 7:23, NIRV Key Question: Who made everything wonderful? Bottom Line: God made everything wonderful. Basic Truth: God made me. August 20, 2017

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction (Small Groups, 15 minutes) Activities that encourage preschoolers to enter the classroom and begin engaging with peers and Small Group Leaders by providing age appropriate and hands on fun while introducing new concepts they will hear in the day’s Bible story.

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. Animal Hunt Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler’s natural desire to move to help them learn

What You Need: Several plastic animals

What You Do: During the Activity: Gather several plastic animals and the children in an open area of the room. Encourage the children to close their eyes as you throw out the plastic animals in several spots around the open area of the room. When you say, “go!” encourage the children to open their eyes, gather the animals, and bring them back to you in the center of the open area.

What You Say: During the Activity: “We’re going to go on an animal hunt. I want you to close your eyes and then when I say, ‘Go!’ open your eyes and search for the animals. When you find one, bring it to me.” (Do activity.)

After the Activity: “Wow, look at all these animals! (Hold up a few, name them, and talk about some of their characteristics.) We’ll talk about all the amazing animals in our Bible story today. I can’t wait!”

2. Skin Match Made to Play: An activity that encourages preschoolers to follow guidelines while having fun and learning new concepts

What You Need: “Animal Bodies” and “Animal Skins” Activity Pages, white cardstock, scissors, and wall tape

What You Do: Before the Activity: Copy “Animal Bodies” on cardstock and hang each picture side-by- side on a wall in the activity area. Copy “Animal Skins” on cardstock and cut along the dotted lines.

During the Activity: Have the children sit in front of you. Show the children one of the skin pictures and ask them to decide which animal on the wall it belongs to. When the children choose the correct answer, tape the correct skin next to the animal it belongs to. Repeat the activity with the other two animals and skin samples.

What You Say: Before the Activity: “Today we are going to talk about ANIMALS! Do you see the three pictures of animals I have on the wall? (Point.) This is a giraffe (point), this is a fish (point), and this is a bird (point).”

During the Activity: “I have some close-up pictures of these animals too that only show their skin. Let’s work together and see if we can match the correct skin to the animals on the wall. Are you ready?” (Do activity.)

After the Activity: “WOW! You are so smart! You matched all of the animals. Today we are going to hear a TRUE story from the Bible! We are going to hear about who made ALL of the animals! I am excited!”

August 20, 2017

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes) Create a safe place to connect through activities that are written to reach every learning style while reinforcing the Bottom Line that was introduced during the Bible Story and applying it to real life experiences. In addition, these activities provide preschoolers with an opportunity to build relationships with their Small Group Leader.

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. Memory Verse Animals Hear From God | Memory Verse Review Made to Imagine: An activity that lets preschoolers pretend, imagine, and role play to enhance their learning

What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do: During the Activity: Gather the children to sit in an open area of the room. Explain that you will say the verse, and at the end you will call out an animal and the children will make that animal sound. Repeat the verse and animals sounds as long as time and interest allow. (Animals: cat, dog, elephant, lion, bear, wolf, chimpanzee, frog, turtle)

What You Say: Before the Activity: “I want us to say our verse together, but at the end of the verse, I will call out animal and I want you to make that animal sound. Are you ready?”

During the Activity: “Let’s say our verse together: You have done great and wonderful things, 2 Samuel 7:23. LION!” (Pause for children to roar.) (Repeat, calling out different animals each time.)

After the Activity: “Great job, everyone! You make pretty convincing lions. I thought for a minute I was in the African savannah! Wow, God has done great and wonderful things, like creating so many amazing animals! Who made everything wonderful? [Bottom Line] God made everything wonderful.”

2. Look What God Made Talk About God | Bible Story Review Made to Imagine: An activity that lets preschoolers pretend, imagine, and role play to enhance their learning

(Note: This is an activity that can be continued throughout the month. If you have the ability to keep a poster-sized Activity Page throughout the month to add things to each week, then you will need to blow up the Activity Page to poster size. If you are not able to keep things from week to week, then you can copy the Activity Page onto 8x11 white cardstock and allow the children to create their own page to take home instead of one that will be done as a class. Please keep your choice in mind as you gather your supplies for this activity.)

What You Need: If you are using the poster board from last week: wall tape and animal stickers

If you are using the Individual pages: “Magnifying Glass” Activity Page, white cardstock, and animal stickers

What You Do: Before the Activity: If using the poster board from last week: Hang the poster board on a wall at preschool level.

If using individual pages: Copy the “Magnifying Glass” Activity Page onto the white cardstock.

During the Activity: Retell the Bible story. After the Bible story has been retold, encourage the children to place the stickers inside the magnifying glass. If you are using the poster board, allow each child to come up and place one sticker in the magnifying glass. If you are using individual pages, allow each child to place several stickers on their page inside the magnifying glass.

After the Activity: If you are using the poster board, place it in a safe place until next week. If you are using the individual pages, send them home with the children.

What You Say: Before the Activity: “WOW! We heard an amazing TRUE Bible story today! We learned that God made all of the animals! God made the animals in the sea, the animals on the land, and the animals that fly in the sky! WOW! Everything that God made is WONDERFUL!”

During the Activity: “This month we are talking about EVERYTHING that God made. (Point to magnifying glass.) We can pretend to use this to look at all of the WONDERFUL things that God made. We have talked about how God made the land, plants, sea, and sky. Today we can add the animals to our magnifying glass! Let’s put these cool animal stickers (hold up) inside our magnifying glass. WOW! Look at all that God made!” (Finish activity.)

After the Activity: “Great job! I am so glad God made the animals. I love animals! God made everything WONDERFUL! Who made everything wonderful? [Bottom Line] God made everything wonderful!”

4. Big Animal, Small Animal Live for God | Application Activity Made to Move: An activity that uses a preschooler’s natural desire to move to help them learn

What You Need: No supplies needed

What You Do: During the Activity: Gather the children in an open area of the room. Encourage the children to imitate some wonderfully BIG animals and wonderfully small animals that God has made using the dialogue below.

What You Say: Before the Activity: “When God made the animals, He made some that are wonderful in their BIGNESS! And that He also made some that are wonderful in their smallness! I think we should pretend to be some of those animals!”

During the Activity: “First, let’s pretend that we are some of those wonderfully BIG animals! Here we go. Show me a big, tall giraffe!” (Big animals: Giraffe, buffalo, horse, elephant, gorilla)

“Those are some wonderfully BIG animals! Now let’s pretend we are some wonderfully small animals. Ready? Show me a tiny mouse!” (Small animals: mouse, turtle, frog, lizard, hamster)

After the Activity: “God created so many wonderfully big and wonderfully small animals, didn’t He? (Pause.) When I think about ALL the animals God created, it just makes me say, ‘WOW! Way to go, God!’ He really did make everything wonderful. Who made everything wonderful? [Bottom Line] God made everything wonderful.”

5. Nosey Live for God | Application Activity Made to Create: An activity that allows preschoolers to review the Bible story, Bottom Line, or memory verse by creating a craft to take home

What You Need: “Animals” and “Noses” Activity Pages, white cardstock, a color printer, scissors, and glue sticks

What You Do: Before the Activity: Using the color printer, copy the “Animals” and “Noses” Activity Pages onto the cardstock. Cut out each nose along the dotted lines. Each child will need one of each of the different noses for a total of three noses per child.

During the Activity: Give each child an “Animals” Activity Page and the three noses. Help the children decide which nose belongs to which animal. Encourage the children to glue each of the noses onto the correct animal.

What You Say: Before the Activity: “There are three animals on our page. (Point.) Oh, no! They are missing their noses! We need to help them get their noses!”

During the Activity: “The first animal is an elephant. (Point.) He has a long nose that helps him drink water and eat. He can also use his nose to make trumpet sounds to talk to other elephants. Can you find which nose belongs to the elephant? (Pause.) Yes! Lay the elephant’s trunk on top of the elephant. The next animal is a pig. (Point.) A pig’s nose is called a snout. A pig uses his snout to root around on the ground to find good things to eat. Can you find the pig nose? (Pause.) Awesome! Lay the pig nose on top of the pig. The last animal is a dog. A dog uses it’s nose to sniff out all kinds of things. Dogs use their noses to find food and friends. Have you ever been sniffed by a dog? Lay the dog nose on top of the dog. (Pause.) Way to go! Now use your glue stick to glue on all of the noses.” (Finish activity.)

After the Activity: “WOW! God made some really cool animals! Everything that God made is WONDERFUL! Who made everything wonderful? [Bottom Line] God made everything wonderful!”