****************************************************************************** Title: Kindergarten Sabbath School Program, December 25, 1999 From: NAD Children's Ministries (author: Lisa Seeders) Date Completed: November 1, 1999 Abstract: Activities to use in place of program helps to teach the lesson, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER ****************************************************************************** Lesson Aim: We should forgive others as God forgives us. Memory Verse: "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37, NIV GETTING THEIR ATTENTION - SIN VIEWER (A multi-sensory activity) Materials needed: (1)Toilet roll or paper towel tube 6 inch square of red cellophane Rubber band A red and blue crayon for each child 3 X 5 cards (one for each child) Sheet of construction paper Scissors Tape Stickers WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Cut the sheet of construction paper to size so that it will wrap around the paper tube. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Have the children help you construct a "sin viewer". 1. Wrap the construction paper around the tube and tape it. 2. Stick stickers all over the tube for decoration. 3. Lay the red cellophane on one end of the tube and wrap the rubber band around so that the cellophane covers the end of the tube. Give each child a 3 X 5 card and a red and blue crayon. Ask them to whisper in your ear a sin or two that they did this week. Print their answers on their 3 X 5 card with the blue crayon. Write small enough so that when you look through the cellophane end of the tube you will see the complete word. Have each child color over their sins written on the card with the red crayon. Have them write their name on the top corner of their card. Ask them to pass the cards around to one another. Can anybody see what sins their friends did this week? Do we want others to know all the sins we do? Who knows all about our sins? Can we hide them from God? Make sure each child has their own card back. Have them each look through the "sin viewer" and see their sins printed on their card. Jesus doesn't need a little toy like this in order to see our sins. He already knows what they are. The best part about that is the fact that even though He knows every time we sin, He's always willing to forgive us when we ask Him. He tells His disciples a little story to help them understand what forgiveness is. GO STRAIGHT INTO THE BIBLE STORY. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - STACK OF FORGIVENESS (A primarily auditory activity) Materials needed: Play money (Enough for each child to have 13 bills. The bills should be of different increments. Home-made bills drawn, xeroxed and cut out are adequate if you don't want to purchase them) WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Make the play money if you don't choose to purchase it. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Put the money into small stacks where the children can reach them. Explain to them that as you tell the story they are to listen for you to say any word that has to do with forgiveness. (Forgive, forgiven, forgives, forgave etc.) Every time they hear one of those words, they take a bill from one of the stacks. At the end of the story they should have 13 bills. DO NOT INCLUDE THE LAST PARAGRAPH IN THE QUARTERLY AS PART OF THE STORY UNTIL LATER. At the end of the story count each child's stack of money. Talk about who has more. Suppose their stacks of money represented how many sins they needed forgiveness for. Who would need the most forgiveness? (The child with the most money) Aren't we glad that it doesn't matter how big or how small the amount of sins Jesus is eager and willing to forgive them all? NOW FINISH UP WITH THE LAST PARAGRAPH IN THE QUARTERLY. GETTING INTO SCRIPTURE - BAND-AID FORGIVENESS (A primarily auditory activity) Materials needed: Band-aids (Various sizes and styles - enough for each child to have six) Bibles WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) There are no advance preparations necessary. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Give each child six band-aids of various size and style. Have them point to some of the smallest ones. Say, "Sometimes people do small things that hurt or wound us. Can you think of a small thing someone has said or done that has hurt you?" Have them point out the larger band-aids. Say, "Sometimes people do big things that hurt or wound us. Can you think of a big thing that someone has said or done that has hurt you?" What does the Bible say we are to do when someone hurts us or sins against us? Show the children where the memory verse is found in the Bible. Read and repeat it several times together. When we forgive others whether they ask for it or not, Jesus can start healing the hurt in our hearts. He can take away the anger and bad feelings we may have toward that person. It's like we let Him put a band-aid on that hurt. That is why we put band-aids on boo-boo's, so they can heal. Jesus wants us to forgive others so our hearts can heal. Have each child assign a memory verse word to each of their six band-aids. Point to each band-aid and repeat the memory verse several times. Encourage them to take the band-aids home and give them out to people this week who do things against them as a sign of their willingness to forgive. Prayer with them for God's help in forgiveness this week. ACTING ON SCRIPTURE - THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS (An auditory & kinesthetic activity) Materials needed: A empty box gift-wrapped WHAT THE TEACHER DOES: (To prepare ahead) Gift-wrap an empty box. WHAT THE CHILDREN DO: Explain to the children that forgiveness is like offering someone a gift. A gift is not something you make someone give to you. It is given out of love. You don't have to forgive a person. They can't make you. It is a free gift of love you give someone. This is only possible with Jesus' help. Have the children stand in a horizontal line. You stand at the head of the line. The child to your right or left (depending on the way you are facing) tells you something a boy or girl might need to ask someone's forgiveness for. (Example: I'm sorry I lied to you. Will you forgive me? OR I'm sorry I didn't obey right away. Will you forgive me?) You then hand them the gift box and say, "Yes I do with Jesus' help." The child now holding the gift box turns to the child next to him. The child next to him says something a boy or girl might need to ask someone's forgiveness for. (It needs to be something different than what the first child said.) The child holding the gift box repeats what you said, "Yes I do with Jesus' help," and passes the gift box to the newly forgiven child. This continues on down the line until the gift of forgiveness has been passed to everyone and ends up back with you.