LESSON 13: SPIRITUAL GIFTS: the BODY of CHRIST Leader Guide for Ages 3-6 Classroom: Monkeys

LESSON 13: SPIRITUAL GIFTS: THE BODY OF CHRIST Leader Guide for Ages 3-6 Classroom: Monkeys

 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 07/25/2021

Teachers Dig In

Dig In to the Bible Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 In This Passage: In a letter to the Corinthians, Paul compares the church to a body. In this body, Jesus is the head and each Christian is a part of his body. Each part is important and couldn’t function well without all the other parts. Just as the hand needs the eye and vice versa, we need each other. Bible Point: We need each other. Summary Verse: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:4-5).

Dig Deeper You’ll Be Teaching: We need each other. Kids are often pulled out from the rest of the church. Most kids don’t go to “big church” these days and may not feel much like they’re part of the larger church body. Help them see how they have an important role in the body of Christ! Think About: Which body part are you in the body of Christ? Why?

Dig In to Prayer Ask God to help your kids see their value to the church.

Quick Tip Help your kids see how they’re part of the church as a whole. Give them a tour, have a special week where they do a presentation in “big church,” let them watch clips from a service so they can see the elements of “big church,” connect them with adult mentors or prayer partners, and invite pastors from other parts of the church to come say hi during your Sunday school class.

1 of 15 This Lesson at a Glance

OPENING Preschoolers share about a topic related to the lesson. Supplies Bible large gift box from Week 10 paper crayons

CORE BIBLE DISCOVERY Preschoolers explore their senses and sing a song. Supplies Bible flowers (1 per adult or teen helper) music music player photographs of nature (1 per adult or teen helper) squishy toys (1 per adult or teen helper) juice boxes (1 per child)

LIFE APPLICATION WRAP-UP Preschoolers sing a song about God’s family.

MUSIC VIDEO Preschoolers sing songs of praise to God. Supplies “Stand Together” (watch or download here) “Living by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) (watch or download here) “Let’s Go!” (Ephesians 2:10) (watch or download here)

TALK-ABOUT VIDEO Recommended for elementary kids. Supplies “Teamwork” teaching video (watch or download here)

HIGH-ENERGY GAME Preschoolers play hoop-ball. Supplies Easy Prep hula hoops (1 for every 10 kids) Tape hula hoops to the back of chairs so they chairs (1 for every 10 kids) stick up in the air. Place the chairs on opposite duct tape sides of the room. foam balls (1 for every 4 kids) 2 of 15 upbeat music (optional) music player (optional)

LOW-ENERGY GAME Preschoolers work together to bounce balls on a parachute. Supplies parachute (1 for every 10 kids) small balls (5 for every 10 kids) upbeat music (optional) music player (optional)

OBJECT LESSON Preschoolers need each other’s arms and help to support a bunch of stuffed animals. Supplies variety of stuffed animals (2 per child)

DEEPER BIBLE Preschoolers work together to find every piece of a puzzle. Supplies Easy Prep Bible Remove a central piece from each puzzle, and preschool-friendly, interlocking puzzles (1 for hide it somewhere in the room. every 5 or 6 kids)

CRAFT Preschoolers make a puzzle with handprints on the back. Supplies Easy Prep “Friendly Puzzle” handout printed on card stock (1 Make a sample craft to show kids. per child) (download here) washable ink pads wet wipes or access to a sink child-safe scissors washable markers sandwich-size resealable plastic bags (1 per child)

*Marked supplies can be reused from Core Bible Discovery Let's keep kids safe! You can help by using supplies as instructed for only ages 3+, purchasing child-safe items, and being aware of allergy concerns.

3 of 15 OPENING [5 min] Welcome

Supplies Bible large gift box from Week 10 paper crayons

Welcome Thank kids for coming. Make announcements. Introduce new kids. Collect the offering.

Introduce the Lesson Say: Today we’ll find out we need each other. Show the gift box. We’ll find out each of us is a gift to God’s family. Give each child a sheet of paper. Say: We all have special talents and skills we can use to help one another. Draw something special about you. Allow time. Say: Each of you is unique—that means you’re special and different! That’s why we need each other. It’s a gift to have one another! Lead kids to place their pictures in the gift box.

Share Say: The Bible helps us think about why we need each other by talking about our body parts, like hands, feet, eyes, and mouth. Each body part is important and does something different. Let’s think about something silly. I wonder what it would be like to have an extra body part. Ask: • Would you rather have an extra eye or an extra arm? Share which body part you’d rather have an extra of, where it would be, and why. In leader-led small groups, have preschoolers share whether they’d rather have an extra eye or an extra arm, where it would be, and why. After small groups have discussed, have adult or teen helpers share with the whole group what they talked about in their small groups.

Summarize Open a Bible, and say: It would be pretty silly if we had an extra eye or arm. Every body part is important, just like everyone in our church is important. We need each other. Today we’ll learn more about that. Pray, thanking God for reminding us that we need each other. You can now get rid of the gift box.

4 of 15 CORE BIBLE DISCOVERY [20 min] Spiritual Gifts: The Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

Supplies Bible flowers (1 per adult or teen helper) music music player photographs of nature (1 per adult or teen helper) squishy toys (1 per adult or teen helper) juice boxes (1 per child)

Tip If you used the Music Video block, consider repeating the songs from today’s lesson during the game. You can find the downloadable album here.

Explore Our Senses Gather children in leader-led groups (as many as you have adult or teen helpers). Show the Bible. Say: Today we’ll learn that we need each other. The Bible tells us each one of us is important. We’re all God’s friends, and each of us has a special job in God’s family. The Bible says God’s family is like a body. Say: A body has a smiling face. Ask: • What’s good about a smiling face? Lead kids to smile and point to the sides of their mouths. Say: A body has legs and feet. Ask: • What do legs and feet help us do? Lead kids to march in place. Say: A body has arms and hands. Ask: • What do arms and hands help us do? Lead kids to clap their hands together. Say: But what if our bodies were made up of only hands? Point to your head. Instead of a head, we had a hand here. Point to your leg. Instead of a leg, we had a hand here. That would be silly, and we could do only what hands do. We couldn’t walk or eat or listen, like we do with our ears. Let’s do something to help us think about that. Ask: • What do our noses help us do? Have adult or teen helpers lead kids to pass their group’s flower around, each child smelling it and sharing how it smells. After all groups have finished, say: Our hands can’t smell, and our ears can’t smell. We need our noses to smell! Ask: • What do our ears help us do? Say: Listen to this. Turn on a song for about 20 seconds. Our noses can’t hear, and neither can our feet! We need our ears to hear. Ask: • What do our eyes help us do? Have adult or teen helpers lead kids to pass their group’s photograph around and discuss what they see in the photograph. After all groups have finished, say: Our knees can’t see, and neither can our elbows. We need our eyes to see. Ask: • What do our hands help us do? Have adult and teen helpers pass around the squishy toys and have each child squish and feel them. Kids can talk about what the squishy toy feels like and what they can do with it with their hands, such as squeeze or drop it. After all groups have finished, say: Our eyes can’t pick up a squishy toy. And our ears can’t either. We need our hands to feel and pick up things. We need our hands to write and draw, too. Ask: • What do our mouths help us do? Distribute juice boxes, and invite kids to take a sip. Encourage them to share what flavor they taste in their mouths. Say: Our toes can’t taste the flavor of this juice, and neither can our belly buttons! We need our mouths to taste flavors!

5 of 15 Ask: • What would happen if our whole body was made up of only eyes—what could we do, and what could we not do? Say: We need all our body parts. Each one does something different. Each one is important! Like that, each of us is different and important. We need each other. God’s family needs each of you because each of you has an important job, like ears and eyes and noses do.

Talk About It Share something special about you that would be useful to the church. Ask: • What’s something special about you? Preschoolers might share that they’re strong or fast, they can draw, or they’re good helpers. As kids share, point out how what they share could be helpful in God’s family. Say: All of you are different, and all of you are important! That’s why we need each other. If we had only teachers, we wouldn’t have nurses to take care of the sick. If we had only nurses, we wouldn’t have teachers to teach us how to read and write. If we had only kids who are helpful workers, we wouldn’t have kids who are great sharers. And if we had only great sharers, there would be no kids to be helpful workers! Each of you is important in God’s family; we need each other.

Sing a Song Say: Let’s sing a song to help us remember that God’s family is like a body with many important parts. Lead kids in singing and doing the motions to the following song:

Head, shoulders, knees, and toes, (touch head, shoulders, knees, toes) Knees and toes, (touch knees, toes) Each one has a job and (show one finger and nod head) So it goes. (hands on hips, nod head) Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, (touch beside eyes, ears, mouth, nose) It’s like God’s family. (spread arms out wide) Each one knows! (hands on hips, nod head)

Repeat, as time allows. Say: Just as each body part has a special job, each of you has a special job in God’s family. You’re all important—no matter what your special job is—because we need each other.

6 of 15 LIFE APPLICATION WRAP-UP [5 min] Sing It!

Sing a Song Say: Today we learned we need each other. We found out all of us have special gifts or talents God gives us that we can use to help everyone in our church. Let’s sing the song we learned to remind us that every person is important in God’s family. Lead kids in singing and doing the motions to the following song:

Repeat, as time allows.

Pray Say: I’m so glad all of you are part of God’s family. Name different special things about kids. All of you have special gifts from God to help each other. That’s why we need each other. Let’s thank God that we have each other. Lead kids in a brief prayer, thanking God for giving everyone special gifts and for how everyone is helped by each other. Thank kids for coming, and invite them back next week.

7 of 15 MUSIC VIDEO [10 min] Stand Together

Supplies “Stand Together” (watch or download here) “Living by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) (watch or download here) “Let’s Go!” (Ephesians 2:10) (watch or download here)

Tip Don’t have internet in your classroom? That’s okay! You can download the videos before class using the “download” button at the link provided, or just purchase this quarter’s DVD here.

Sing Songs to God Sing the three songs in any order.

8 of 15 TALK-ABOUT VIDEO [10 min] Teamwork

Supplies “Teamwork” teaching video (watch or download here)

Tips Talk-About Videos may work for preschoolers, but they’re geared more toward elementary kids. If you find that the videos aren’t hitting the mark for your preschoolers, try using the Preschool Puppet Skit activity block instead.

Don’t have internet in your classroom? That’s okay! You can download the videos before class using the “download” button at the link provided, or just purchase this quarter’s DVD here.

Discuss and Watch “Teamwork” Say: Today we’re learning that we need each other. Being part of the church is kind of like being on a sports team. Ask: • If you play a sport, talk about it. How do your teammates help you? Say: If you tried to be a whole soccer team all alone, you’d definitely lose the game! But when you work as a team, you can win! Let’s see how some soccer-playing kids had to work together in a different way. Watch “Teamwork.” Ask: • Why did the kids in this video need each other? • Tell about a time you worked together with other people. Say: These kids had a hard time tracking down their ball, even though they worked together. The ball kept getting moved to new places! But in the end, putting their heads together helped them solve their problem. When we work together in the church, we can do amazing things for God! But we can’t work alone; we need each other.

9 of 15 HIGH-ENERGY GAME [10 min] Hoop-Ball

Supplies hula hoops (1 for every 10 kids) chairs (1 for every 10 kids) duct tape foam balls (1 for every 4 kids) upbeat music (optional) music player (optional)

Easy Prep Tape hula hoops to the back of chairs so they stick up in the air. Place the chairs on opposite sides of the room.

Tip If you used the Music Video block, consider repeating the songs from today’s lesson during the game. You can find the downloadable album here.

Talk About Missing Parts Say: We’re going to play a fun game today. All we have to do is throw a ball through a hula hoop. Enthusiastically ask: • What if we played our game with our eyes closed? What would happen? Preschoolers may say that kids would crash into each other or they wouldn’t be able to find the ball or the hoop. Say: Wow, it sounds like that wouldn’t work very well. We’ll need our eyes. Ask: • What if we didn’t use our arms? Would that work? Kids may say that they wouldn’t be able to pick up the ball, pass it, or throw it through the hoop. Say: Okay, so that won’t work either. We’ll need our arms. Ask: • What about our feet? Can we play without our feet? Kids may say they wouldn’t be able to run to the ball or the hoop.

Play the Game Say: Looks like we need all our body parts to play this game. So let’s play using our whole bodies! Give kids the balls, and point out the hula hoop goals. Show kids how to move the ball back and forth between goals by passing it to their friends instead of running with it, similar to the game of basketball. As kids play, encourage them to use different parts of their bodies to move the ball to a friend—for example, bouncing it off their knees or elbows. Continue playing as time allows. If you’d like, play upbeat music while kids play.

After the game is finished, say: We needed all the parts of our bodies in our game. Like that, we need each other in God’s family, too. God made us all different. But each person is important, just like all our body parts were important in our game.

10 of 15 LOW-ENERGY GAME [10 min] Don’t Let Go

Supplies parachute (1 for every 10 kids) small balls (5 for every 10 kids) upbeat music (optional) music player (optional)

Tip If you used the Music Video block, consider repeating the songs from today’s lesson during the game. You can find the downloadable album here.

Play With a Parachute Say: Games are more fun if everyone plays together. Ask: • Tell me about a game that’s more fun if lots of kids play. Kids may say Tag; soccer; or Duck, Duck, Goose. Say: Let’s all play a game together with this parachute. Form groups of 10, and help each group spread out around a parachute. Put the balls on the parachute, and encourage kids to keep the balls bouncing by shaking the parachute. If balls fly off, encourage kids to grab them and put them back on the parachute. If you’d like, play upbeat music while kids play.

Play With Fewer Friends After a few minutes, say: This is a fun game. You’re doing a great job keeping the balls moving. But I wonder what would happen if half the group let go. Ask all the kids on one side of each parachute to drop the parachute. Encourage kids still holding on to the parachute to try to keep the balls bouncing. Say: It’s a lot harder to keep the balls bouncing when we don’t have all our friends. God’s family also needs all his friends to work together. We need each other. Let’s have all our friends grab the parachute and join us so we can play our game again. Continue playing with the parachute as time allows.

11 of 15 OBJECT LESSON [10 min] Better Together

Supplies variety of stuffed animals (2 per child)

Discover the Difference Teamwork Makes Say: We’ve learned that when we’re friends with God, we’re given spiritual gifts of our own, but when we use our special gifts to work together, we can do amazing things. Let’s see why working together is better. Help preschoolers form groups of six or fewer, with an adult or teen helper to guide each group as you instruct. Have groups stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. Everyone in each group will extend his or her arms toward the center of the circle and link one hand with one person and the other hand with another person until all hands are connected. Distribute the stuffed animals to the adult and teen helpers, two stuffed animals per child in each group. Then helpers can place the stuffed animals on top of the kids’ interwoven arms until all the animals are supported by the group. Have helpers ham it up and name each animal they’re placing, such as “A hippo! Can you guys hold a hippo? I think you can!” After all the stuffed animals are added, helpers can tap a child’s shoulder to signal him or her to drop that arm. Have helpers pause a few seconds between taps so kids can see what happens as the amount of support from the group diminishes. Have helpers continue tapping until groups are left with only two people holding what’s left of the stuffed animals. Helpers can get kids giggling when animals are dropped by calling out silly statements, such as “Oh no! Hippo down!” If you have time left after the first round, you can have groups play a new round in reverse, where a tap on the shoulder now means a child can add that arm and his or her support back into the group. As more kids are added back to the group, the helper can add animals again, too. To end the activity, have groups come together for a group hug with all the animals embraced between the kids.

Talk About It Ask: • Why was it better when you all worked together to hold your stuffed animals? • How was it different when friends stopped helping? Say: You had a lot to hold, and when you worked together, you could hold much more than you could when friends stopped helping. We can do bigger and better things when we work together, and that’s why we need each other.

12 of 15 DEEPER BIBLE [15 min] We Need Every One

Supplies Bible preschool-friendly, interlocking puzzles (1 for every 5 or 6 kids)

Easy Prep Remove a central piece from each puzzle, and hide it somewhere in the room.

Put Puzzles Together Say: God’s family is full of different people. Each of you is an important part of God’s family. We need each other. Without every person, something’s missing. Let’s think about that some more while we work together on these puzzles. Place kids in groups of five or six. Give each group a puzzle, and encourage kids to work together to assemble it. Praise them for working well with their friends. As kids discover that a piece of the puzzle is missing, help them imagine what the missing piece might look like.

Find the Missing Piece Say: All our puzzles are missing something. Without the last piece, our puzzles won’t be the fun pictures they could be. Without every person, God’s family’s missing something, too. Share a time you missed having someone around. Maybe you missed your brother who moved away, a friend who couldn’t make it to a birthday party, or a teammate who missed a big game. Ask: • Tell me about someone you miss when that person isn’t there. Kids may say a special friend at school, Grandma who lives far away, or Dad when he travels for work. Say: God made his family to fit together, just like pieces of a puzzle. Listen to this. Read aloud Psalm 133.1. Say: We need each other. When a puzzle piece is missing, the puzzle won’t look like it’s supposed to. When a part of God’s family isn’t there, we miss them, too. Let’s go find our missing pieces. Encourage kids to look for their missing puzzle pieces. Celebrate when the puzzles are complete. Say: I’m so glad we found all the pieces for the puzzles. Each piece is important. Let’s pray and thank God that we’re all important parts of his family. Lead kids to pray and thank God that everyone is important in his family.

13 of 15 CRAFT [20 min] Friendly Puzzle

Supplies “Friendly Puzzle” handout printed on card stock (1 per child) (download here) washable ink pads wet wipes or access to a sink child-safe scissors washable markers sandwich-size resealable plastic bags (1 per child)

Easy Prep Make a sample craft to show kids.

Tip If you would like, print the Friendly Puzzle on a variety of paper colors, and give each child in a group a different color. That way, kids won’t confuse their puzzles with their neighbors’ puzzles!

Talk About Puzzles Say: Puzzles are fun. It’s fun to find just the right piece to fit in the right place. Ask: • Tell me about a puzzle you like to do. Give kids a few moments to describe their favorite puzzles. Say: Let’s make our own special puzzles today. Our friends can put their handprints on our puzzles. Then we can remember the good friends God has given us here at church.

Make Puzzles Put kids into groups of five or six. Give each child a Friendly Puzzle. Encourage adult or teen helpers to bring ink pads to kids and help them put a handprint on the back of all the puzzles in the group, including their own. After stamping, encourage kids to wipe their hands or wash the ink off in the sink. Kids can use markers to color the front of the puzzles as well. Give each child scissors, and help kids cut their papers into approximately six pieces. Place each child’s finished puzzle in a bag for the child to take home.

Say: When we put a puzzle together, each piece has a place. We need every one. God gives each of us special gifts. Every gift is important. We need each other in God’s family, just like we need every piece of a puzzle.

14 of 15 Epic Teachings of the Bible, Lesson 13: Spiritual Gifts: The Body of Christ. Design and base content copyright © Group Publishing, Inc. Licensed for use with 1-20 students. Permission to reproduce granted for local church use only.

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