****************************************************************** Title: Kindergarten Sabbath School Program, September 25, 1999 From: NAD Children's Ministries (author: Lisa Seeders) Date Completed: July 25, 1999 Abstract: Activities to use as a supplement to help teach the lesson, DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF ****************************************************************** Lesson Aim: God willingly forgives our sins when we ask Him. Memory Verse: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Mark 2:7, NIV GETTING THEIR ATTENTION - BIBLE TIMES HOUSE/BIRD FEEDER (A multi-sensory activity) Materials needed: Toast (4 slices for each child) Plastic knives (one for each child) Paper plate (one for each child) Peanut Butter (choose a thicker, drier kind that's not as creamy and full of oil) Aprons or large men's shirts for cover-up WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Toast all the slices of bread. Lay all the materials out on a flat work surface that has been covered with newspaper or butcher block paper. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Give each child four slices of toast, a paper plate, a plastic knife and an apron or shirt. Using the plastic knife have the children cut two of the pieces of toast in half. Using peanut butter as glue apply small amounts to the crust edges of the four halves of bread. Stick them together to form four walls. Apply a small amount of peanut butter to the outer edge of one of the whole toasts and set the walls on top of this outer edge to form a floor. Apply peanut butter all the way around the top of the walls and lay the second whole piece of toast on top to form the roof. Explain to the children that in Bible times the houses were flat-roofed like the one they have constructed. They would have had steps going up the side of the house so people could get to the roof. There would have been a door and a window or two. Put each child's house on a paper plate with their name on it. Move into the Bible story and the next Getting Into Scripture Activity. The children will continue to add to their bird feeder as the story progresses. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - BIBLE TIMES BIRD FEEDER cont....... Materials needed: Peanuts in their shells (each child needs 5) Toothpicks (each child needs 5) Permanent markers (thin-line) Birdseed Plastic knives (one for each child) WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) There are no advance preparations necessary. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: As you narrate the story help the children add the necessary pieces to complete their bird feeder. 1. When you talk about the paralytic man, have them draw eyes, a nose and a sad smile on one of the peanuts. Stick a toothpick through it going from end to end. Lay him down on the plate. 2. When you talk about his four friends, make them out of peanuts also, drawing on their faces and sticking toothpicks through them. 3. When they put him through the roof of the house, have the children cut a hole in their toast roof with the plastic knife. Fill the hole with birdseed. Lay the "paralytic man" down inside the house. Stick the four friends up on top the roof using the toothpick to puncture through the toast. 4. Finish the story. Encourage the children to take their bird feeders home and share them with their feathered friends after they have told the story to their friends and families. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - FORGIVEN HEART (A visual & auditory activity) Materials needed: Write on/wipe off board OR blackboard Dry erase markers & eraser OR chalk & eraser Bibles WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Draw a large red heart on the write on/wipe off board or blackboard. Inside the heart draw an owl, a can, a number 4, a ten commandments, write the word but, God and alone. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Show the children where the memory verse is found in the Bible. Point to the picture of the owl. It stands for the word Who. The can stands for the word can. The number 4 stands for the word forgive. The 10 commandments stand for the word sins. But, God and alone stand for themselves. Have them say the memory verse several times with you as you point to each picture or word. Choose a child to erase one of the pictures or words. Say the verse together remembering to fill in the word where the missing one has been erased. Continue calling on volunteers to erase one word at a time. When the whole verse is erased from the heart, show the children how our hearts look to Jesus after He has forgiven our sins. Only Jesus can do such a great thing for us. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - SOAP, SINS AND SCARS Materials needed: Bars of soap (one for each child) Large nail Quart jar Bleach Tongs Paper towels Permanent Marker (one for each child) WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Pour bleach into the quart jar and seal tightly. Using the large nail, etch the word sin deeply into each bar of soap. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Give each child a bar of soap. Talk about the word sin and what it means. Ask the children to tell you some things they consider sins. Have the children color in the word sin on their soap bar. (The markers tend not to work after one usage, so you may want to substitute iodide if you don't have one marker per child.) Talk about forgiveness and why it is that only God can forgive sins. Using the tongs slip the bars of soap into the quart of bleach one by one. Show the children that what we thought was permanent is going away. Sometimes we think we have done things that are too bad for God to forgive. Nothing is ever too permanent or bad for God to forgive. Lay each bar of soap on a paper towel to dry. Draw the children's attention to the fact that the word sin is still a scar on the soap. When Jesus forgives us, He doesn't always remove the scars left by sin. The sin is completely forgiven, but sometimes we have to live with the scars that sin has left. If someone does something to hurt his body, then is sorry and asks God to forgive him, God is happy to do so. But he might still have bad health or problems because of what he did to his body. Have a special prayer with the children concerning forgiveness. Encourage them to share the experiment with their friends and family.