Believe for Two-Year Olds LESSON 24 – SELF-CONTROL

Bible Basis: Luke 15:11-32

Key Verse: Excerpted from Titus 2:12: “We must control ourselves.”

Key Question: How can I wait patiently?

Key Idea: God helps me control myself.

Master Supplies List:

Teddy bear or doll

Bible, plastic bag of toy coins, stuffed pig

Optional Supplies

You will need the following supplies based on which Application Activities you choose:

Option 1: Copies of cow and pig pictures (one picture per child — half of the pictures are cows, half pigs), large red marker, gaffer tape, children’s praise music CD, CD player

Option 3: Special snack (be sure to avoid food allergies), napkins, cups, timer

Option 4: Young Man Comes Home Coloring Page (one per child), crayons

Step 1 – Come Together

Supplies: Teddy bear or doll

HAVE children sit on the floor.

SET the teddy bear on a chair in front of the children.

SAY, Let’s see if we can make this bear do something just by asking him to do it. What about waving his paw. Teddy, would you please wave your paw?

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 1 Lesson 24: Self-Control WAIT for a few seconds.

CONTINUE asking the bear to do things like jump up and down, roll on the floor, etc. Be silly to get a reaction out of the children.

SAY, This teddy bear can’t do anything on his own. We have to move his arms or we have to make him jump up and down. He cannot control himself. We have to be the ones to control him.

MOVE the chair and bear.

SAY, What about you? Can you wave your hand? Can you jump up and down?

GIVE children a few seconds to follow the directions the bear could not.

SAY, Good for you! Let’s listen to a story Jesus told about a young man who needed to control himself!

Step 2 – Hear the Story

Supplies: Bible open to Luke 15:11-32, plastic bag of toy coins, stuffed pig

ASK children to sit in a circle.

PICK UP your Bible.

SAY, One day Jesus told story about a young man.

CHOOSE a child to be the young man. Stand him next to you.

SAY, This young man knew he would get a big bunch of money when his father died. Instead of waiting, he asked his father to give him the money right away.

GIVE the bag of coins to the “young man.”

SAY, The father gave the money to his son and right away the son moved far, far away.

WALK with the “young man” to the other side of the room.

SAY, The son wasn’t careful how he spent the money. He spent some money on new clothes.

HAVE the “young man” hold the bag open while you remove a handful of coins out of the bag and set them aside.

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 2 Lesson 24: Self-Control SAY, He spent some of the money having parties with his new friends.

TAKE another handful of coins out of the bag and set them aside.

SAY, The young man wasn’t wise. He did not control himself. He kept spending and spending and spending the money.

CONTINUE removing coins from the bag while you are talking. Leave no coins in the bag.

SAY, Eventually the money was gone. The young man didn’t have enough money to buy clothes or have parties. He didn’t even have enough money to buy food to eat. So he had to get a job.

HOLD up the stuffed pig.

SAY, This young man got a job taking care of pigs. In fact, this young man was sooo hungry that he wanted to eat the food the pigs were eating.

MAKE the pig walk away.

SAY, Then the young man remembered that he could get food at home. He walked away from his job with the pigs and he went back home.

WALK with the “young man” back to where you started.

SAY, When he got home, the young man’s father was waiting there to welcome him home.

PUT the coins back in the bag.

SAY, The young man learned how to control himself and how to wait patiently. And just like that young man, we can learn to control ourselves, too!

HOLD your hands out in front of you.

SAY, Show me how you can use your self-control to reach up high and fold your hands. Bring them down and let’s pray.

PRAY: Dear God, Please teach us today how to wait patiently, and how to control ourselves. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 3 Lesson 24: Self-Control Application Activities

Option 1 – Pigs and Cows

Supplies: Copies of cow and pig pictures (one picture per child — half of the pictures are cows, half pigs), large red marker, gaffer tape, children’s praise music CD, CD player

Teacher Prep: Use the large red marker to draw a big star on one of the pictures. Tape the pictures to the floor in a circle using the gaffer tape.

PLAY the music while the children walk in a circle, stepping on the pictures.

WHEN the music stops, children stop on a picture.

ASK children standing on the picture with the star to say the Key Verse.

“We must control ourselves.” Titus 2:12

CONTINUE playing until every child has had a turn standing on the star and saying the verse.

Option 2 – Who Can?

Supplies: Nothing is needed

ASK children to stand in one area of the room, but with space between them.

SAY, At the beginning of our story today, the young man didn’t wait a long time before he started spending all of his money. How long is a long time for us?

EXPLAIN that when you say, “go,” everyone is going to stand on one leg.

ASK, Are you ready to see how long we can stand on one leg? Let’s go!

CONGRATULATE the child who stands on one leg the longest.

TRY other physical feats, such as stretching their arms out in front of them and holding a book, or passing a beanbag from left hand to right hand without dropping it, to see who can outlast the others.

REMIND the children that the young man in our story learned to have more self-control. As they get bigger, they will have more control over their minds and bodies, too.

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 4 Lesson 24: Self-Control Option 3 – Wait It Out

Supplies: Special snack (be sure to avoid food allergies), napkins, cups, timer

ASK children to sit down at the table.

SAY, We’re going to have a special snack today, but we’re going to have it AFTER we practice our self-control.

SET napkins and empty cups in front of the children.

PRAY, thanking God for their snacks.

ASK children to wait before eating the snacks.

SET the timer for 30 seconds.

WHEN the timer goes off, allow children to eat the snacks.

DISCUSS how difficult it was to wait for the timer to go off before they ate.

Option 4 – Color Time

Supplies: Young Man Comes Home Coloring Sheet (one per child), crayons

GIVE each child a Young Man Comes Home Coloring Sheet and crayons.

REVIEW the story of the young man and the Key Verse while they are coloring.

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 5 Lesson 24: Self-Control

Believe for Two-Year Olds Page 6 Lesson 24: Self-Control

Name: ______

Believe for Two-Year-Olds Lesson 24 Self-Control

The Young Man Comes Home

“We must control ourselves.” Titus 2:12