***************************************************** Title: Kindergarten Sabbath School Program, July 1, 2000 From: NAD Children's Ministries (author: Lisa Seeders) Date: June 15, 2,000 Abstract: Activities to use in place of program helps to teach the lesson, WHY JESUS DIED FOR US ***************************************************** Lesson Aim: Jesus loves us and asks us to love others. Memory Verse: ".....since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11, NIV GETTING THEIR ATTENTION - NOODLE ART Materials needed: Heavy card stock paper in dark colors (one - two sheets per child) Cooked spaghetti (nine strands per child is plenty) Pencil Glitter WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Cook the spaghetti. Rinse with cold water to prevent the noodles from sticking together. On a piece of card stock for each child print the words, GOD IS LOVE with a pencil. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Give each child nine strands of spaghetti noodles. Have them trace over the letter "G" with a glue stick. Then make the letter "G" with a spaghetti noddle laying it down on the glued area. Show the children how to pinch off the excess noodle after completing each letter. The children cover all the letters on their card stock sheet with spaghetti noodles. Have them sprinkle the glitter of their choice over the noodle letters. Read the words together. In our story today we will talk about what love really is. The best kind of love always includes Jesus! GO STRAIGHT INTO THE BIBLE STORY. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - STORY HEART SEARCH Materials needed: 8 small red construction paper hearts A daily planner book (or a page from a daily planner) A baby wrapped in a blanket Two sticks rubber banded together in the form of a cross A globe Pile of rocks and smooth flat rock (To represent tomb) WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Hide the daily planner book, the wrapped baby, the cross, the globe and the pile of rocks representing the tomb somewhere in the room or outside. Near each object place a small red heart. Place a sixth red heart on a tree trunk, a seventh one near some flowers and the final one hang on to. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Explain to the children that in the story today God's love for us is showing. They are to travel with you as a group looking for red hearts. The red hearts represent God's love. When they spy one they observe the object that the heart is near or on. Talk about how God showed His love in that particular act. 1. The planner - Explain that many people make a plan and write down what they are going to do each day. Sometimes they write their plans in a book. Some people write down their plans on a calendar. Their teacher's at school have to write down each day what they're going to do with the children for that day. Because they loved us before we were even created God and Jesus made a plan to decide how they could help us if we decided to sin. 2. The baby - Because God and Jesus loved us so much, they decided that Jesus would come to our earth as a tiny baby to live and win over Satan. 3. The globe - Because Jesus loved us so much, He left His angel friends and Heavenly Father to come live on our earth for three years. 4. The cross - Because Jesus loved us so much He died on the cross, so we could live with Him forever in Heaven. 5. Tomb - Because God loved us so much He brought Jesus alive out of the tomb. 6. Tree - Because Jesus loves us so much He still gives us things to enjoy while we live on this earth. 7. Flowers - Same comment as above for tree. 8. Have the children close their eyes. Hide the last heart somewhere on your person. Have them open their eyes and look for the last heart on you. I want to show God's love to you. I want you to be able to find God's love by the way I talk to you by the way I look at you and by the way I touch you. I want God's love to show on me. How about you? GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - MEMORY VERSE HEART PICK-UP Materials needed: Balloon Heart beads OR heart-shaped candies OR heart erasers (anything that comes in a heart shape is fine) Bibles WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Blow up the balloon. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: This activity is similar to ball and jacks except a balloon and heart-shaped objects are used instead of a ball and jacks. Show the children where the memory verse is found in the Bible. Repeat it several times together. Have the children stand in a circle. Leave plenty of space in the middle to scatter the heart-shaped objects. Toss the balloon into the air in the center of the circle. Bend over and pick-up a heart- shaped object. Catch the balloon before it hits the ground. (The rest of the children are not to touch the balloon when it is not their turn.) Repeat the memory verse. If the balloon is caught and the memory verse is repeated, the heart object is kept. If not, it is tossed back into the center of the circle. Give as many children turns as possible. Try to collect all heart-objects off the ground. (If you are unable to find heart-shaped objects you can use construction paper hearts.) You may decide to divide the heart-shaped objects up among the children after the memory verse game is over for take home. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - GOD IS LOVE TREATS Materials needed: Sugar cookie dough Heart-shaped cookie cutter Small thin-tipped decorative icing gel Cookie sheet Oven Paper plates Saran wrap Spatula or pancake turner WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) There are no advance preparations necessary except to assemble the materials WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Help the children cut out heart-shaped cookies from the dough. Use a large enough cookie sheet that all the cookies can bake at once. After they have cooled, write God is Love on each one with the decorative icing gel. Send them home with the children to be shared with friends and family. (You may want to have them cut out their cookies prior to the memory verse activity above. Play the activity above while the cookies are baking and return to this later when the cookies are cool.) Make sure they understand that these cookies are to be shared just as God's love is to be shared with others.