Moses and the Burning Bush

(Exodus 3:1-15)

An easy craft for this lesson has been around for a long time. Sometimes the older, well tested ones are the best. I like that this one can cross over to many different age groups just by varying the style of the flames.

Materials:

Clear plastic cups

Red, orange and yellow tissue paper

Brown and green Sharpies

Battery operated tea lights

Scissors (optional - for cutout flames)

Clear glue (not pictures, optional - for torn flames)

I found everything at the Dollar Store making this a super cheap craft. 

At Home Before Prep:

Tools

Iron

Cutting matt

Ruler

Rotary cutter 

   (I know it is tempting, but do not use your fabric rotary cutter for this. Buy a rotary cutter to use on paper. Both cutters will last longer and perform better if you dedicate one to fabric only and the other to paper only. Just say'n.)

1. With the setting on low, iron the tissue paper to get it nice and smooth.

2. Cut the tissue into 9"x 9" squares with the rotary cutter. Each child will need one square of each color.

That's it for the prep work!

Class Instructions:

1. Ask each child to draw and color a bush on the outside of a cup.

2. Give each child one square of each color tissue paper and a tea light. 

For smaller kids (kindergarten): have them layer the tissue yellow, orange and red with the corners alternating in direction. 

For a little older (1st & 2nd grade): ask them to tear the paper into pieces and glue to the inside of the cup.

For even older kids (3rd & up): allow them to cut flame shapes all around the edges of each piece of tissue.

3. Place the tea lights in the center of the tissues. 

4.Gather up the edges around the tea light to make a pouch. 

5. Place the pouch inside the cup and fluff out the edges of the tissue.

Kindergarten version:

1st and 2nd grade version:

3rd grade and up version:

There you have it; your very own burning bush!

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

               

First Day of Class 2014

Welcome Back! This Sunday is our first day back after the summer break.

As I look down my class roster, I see we have quite a few new students this year, so we are going to spend time getting to know each other during this first gathering. I decorated the door with sunflowers, so to continue the theme, I decided to combine a simple craft and a getting-to-know-you game.

We are going to make sunflowers to hang on our class banner. But first, we will write one personal detail on each flower petal. I'll explain in more detail below, but after everyone has finished writing on their petals, we will collect them all in a pile. Then one by one we will pull a petal from the pile, read it aloud, and try to guess who wrote it. When that person reveals their identity, they get to glue the petal onto their flower center. After all petals are accounted for, we will add stems, and hang them on the banner.

Suggestions for personal descriptions:

1. Start each statement with "I".

2. Try to make each statement reflect something unusual or funny. For example: I was once bitten by a monkey. (Yep, it's true.)

3. Each statement must be true.

  

Materials:

Brown, yellow and green construction paper
Circle cutter
Scissors
Pencil 
Puffy paint or sharpies (I used 3D fabric paint because that's what I had on hand. I'm hoping it is not too messy for the kids.)
Any other desired decorations

Beforehand Preparation:

1. Draw petals on the yellow construction paper. Just free hand it. It doesn't need to be perfect.

2. Cut out the petals. Six to eight per child. The size of the sunflower center will determine how many petals are needed. Test it to make sure you cut enough petals before hand. 

3. Cut out circles for the center of the sunflowers using the brown paper. One per child.

4. Optional stems: Cut strips of green paper for stems.

Instructions:

1. Give each child at least four flower petals. Ask them to write one true statement about themselves on each petal. For example: "I have 6 brothers", "I am named after a famous baseball player", "I am allergic to cats", or "I like to play soccer". Encourage the kids to write things that will help people remember them—the more unusual, the better.

2. When they have finished writing, place all petals in the center of the table and shuffle.

3. Take turns retrieving a petal and reading it aloud. Let everyone take a guess as to who they think the statement is about. After everyone has made a guess, ask the author to identify him/herself. That person can then glue the petal onto their flower center. They may also glue blank petals onto their flower to create a more full flower. I would suggest keeping the personal statements down to four per child because many discussions will arise during the game (a good thing!) and it can take a long time to get through them all. 

Just a side note: The purpose of the game is to get to know each other. This includes learning each other's names. Discourage the "guessers" from language such as, "I think it's her," followed by a pointing finger. Instead, encourage the children to say, "I think it is Abbie." It may help to use name tags.

4. When all petals have been claimed and the sunflowers completed, add a green stem if desired. 

5. Next, ask each child to write their name in the center of the circle using a pencil. Trace the name using the puffy paint or sharpies. If time allows, they may want to add more decorations. This is the one I made while testing this craft at home:

We have a banner in our classroom. Each year we make something representative of the class members to post on the banner. This year I thought the sunflowers would be a good selection.

We had so much fun guessing who each statement belonged to that we ran out of time and did not get to decorate the center of the flowers. The children wrote their names in the centers with magic markers instead.

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

               

Catch Jonah With The Whale Game

(Jonah 1 & 2)

I have seen many versions of this craft/game over the years, but they always seemed to leave me wanting something... I don't know... more colorful, I guess. After a long search for the perfect materials, this is what I ended up with and I couldn't be more pleased. It works really well, is bright and cheery, and the kids have a blast with it. It is easy to alter the craft to fit whatever time span and age group you happen to have. For vacation Bible school, when longer activities may be needed, allow the children to do some of the "Beforehand Preparation" steps below themselves. For Sunday school, when time is shorter, put most of the project together at home and have the children only do the coloring, and maybe the glueing of the whales. Likewise, older children can do more of the actual construction, and younger children will need to stick to the coloring steps. You know your class and your time limits, so I'll just say, read through all steps carefully, then pick and choose which steps will work best as beforehand prep. and in-class construction for your situation. I've listed it below as I do it for a thirty minute project time.

Materials:

Blue paper party hats (cone shaped, no decorations)

Yarn (any color)

Cotton cloth or burlap (solid, neutral color)

Any dried beans (I like Lentils best)

Hot glue gun & glue sticks (for ADULT use only)

Scissors (not pictured)

One large eye sewing needle (optional, not pictured)

Small bore funnel (optional, not pictured)
White card stock (not pictured)

Whale template: 
        Color (download here) or

        Black & White (download here)
Jonah template (download here)

Printable t-shirt transfer sheets

Skinny sharpie pens in variety of colors


Beforehand Preparation:

1) Print the Jonah template onto the printable t-shirt transfer sheets. One Jonah is needed for each child.

2) Cut around each Jonah in a circular fashion smaller than the bean bag desired.

3) Transfer each Jonah onto the cotton cloth per the transfer sheet instructions.

4) Cut around each Jonah leaving a good margin for the glue. Each one should be the actual size you want the bean bag to be. Don't go too big because if he is too heavy he will be difficult to catch with the whale.

5) Cut a matching piece of plain cotton cloth for the backside of the Jonah bean bag.

6) Cut yarn in approximately 24" lengths. One for each child. I have found this to be a good length for most ages. The longer the yarn, the more difficult it is to catch Jonah in the whale. For teenagers 36" works well.

7) Put together the Jonah bean bag:

        a) Hot glue the front and back of the Jonah pieces
            together leaving an opening at the top.
        b) Fill with beans.
        c) Stuff one end of the yarn into the opening.
        d) Hot glue the bean bag closed making sure the yarn is secure.

8) Print the whales on white card stock. One sheet (or 2 whales) are needed for each child. Use the black and white template if the children will be coloring their own whales. Use the color template if time will not allow them to color their own.

9) Since I am always running close on time in my class, I either let them use the color template and they get to cut the whales out OR I cut the black and white template whales out and they get to color them. We never have time for them to do both the cutting and the coloring during the Sunday school hour. 

10) Remove the elastic chin straps from the hats.


In-class Instructions:

1) Give each child a hat, a Jonah bean bag with yarn attached, a left and right whale, and sharpies.

2) Ask the children to color their Jonah (& the whale if applicable) with the sharpies. The whale can be colored with anything, but the cloth Jonah does better with sharpies.

3) When they have completed the coloring, they should take the hat and the whales to the teacher for glueing. Using the hot glue gun, glue the whales to each side of the hat with the mouth of the whale facing the large opening of the hat. I do not recommend using Elmer's or other similar glues because the children will want to play with the game immediately and that type of glue does not dry fast enough. Using hot glue allows game play to begin within seconds.

4) Lastly, have the children thread the free end of the yarn through the top of the hat. Tie a large knot in the end of the yarn to secure. Look closely at the picture below. See the hat seam? This seam makes it easy to thread the yarn without a needle. If your hats are constructed differently, a large eye yarn needle can be used. Just make sure it has a blunt tip if the children will be using it.

Hold the hat at the narrow end and let the swinging begin!




NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

                  

The Widow's Mite

(Luke 21: 1-4 and Mark 12: 41-44)

Did you know at the time of the writing of the bible, there was  no such thing as a mite? According to Wikipedia, the term mite came about with the Kings James version. The widow actually gave two small copper coins. These coins were called leptons. But, at the time the KJB was written, the smallest coin was called a mite, so it was translated as a mite. I just found this interesting and thought I'd share. :)

Whenever this lesson rolls around, I usually show the kids how to make their own lepton/mite. And each time, the method gets perfected slightly from the time before. Here's the latest version:

Materials:

Any type of circle cutter

Aluminum foil

Sharpies (brown + other colors)

Chips (I found a small package at the dollar store) 

I have to admit, it seemed wrong buying poker chips to use at church, and I still feel a little guilty about it, but I reasoned with myself that we were not gambling with them, and then I marched right up to the checkout. While waiting in line, I asked God to help me find a better item to use for this purpose. Since nothing better has turned up yet, I guess he's okay with it. At least that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it. :D

Instructions:

1) Using the circle cutter, cut two circles slightly larger than each coin. I used 
1 7/8" circles.

2) Allow each child to draw a face, sun, or other simple picture on each piece of foil.

3) Next, since the widow's coins were copper, use a brown or copper marker to shade the aluminum foil around the picture to mimic copper. Notice I forgot this step in my picture - sorry about that. I tried to find copper foil at Michael's or Hobby Lobby so this step could be omitted, but the only copper sheets I could find were too thick and actually had sharp edges. Oh well. The kids have never minded coloring their coins to look like copper anyway.

4) First wrap the back piece around one side of the coin, and then wrap the top piece around the other side. Press the edges snuggly to the coin.

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Our church does not hold Sunday school classes during the summer. Although that means I will not be preparing lessons for a few months, it does offer me an opportunity to spend some time posting lessons from my pre-blogging days. Please bare with me while I recreate and photograph these lessons. I will get them to you as soon as I can. Until then... I hope you have a joyful summer!

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Welcome to heaven!

(Acts 10)

Wait… what? Yes, that’s right, I said, "Welcome to heaven!"

The scripture today is one I have never seen as a Sunday school lesson before… until now. I love this uncharted territory! That means the internet is not full of pre-made puzzles, coloring pages, or materials of any kind on the topic, as far as I know. That also means I have no preconceived ideas as to how to handle the story on a child’s level, and for some weird reason, that is when my imagination is at its best. 

Since the children probably have not ever heard the story, the challenge will be to make this first experience stick with them. Thankfully, I think the following activity accomplishes that. 

I usually do not retell bible stories on the blog, but since this is not a common lesson, I’ll run through the high points so you’ll be able to clearly see the connections with the activity.

Acts 10 tells of the meeting of Cornelius and Peter (previously known as Simon). Each man has a vision. Cornelius, a Gentile, is told by an angel to seek out Peter, a Jew, whom he does not know. Peter has a vision of a sheet that flows down from heaven carrying animals of various types. God tells him to kill and eat the animals. Peter replies that some of the animals are unclean and therefore forbidden. God tells Peter not to reject what He was made clean. Peter does not understand the vision until he meets Cornelius. Once he meets Cornelius he realizes that God was telling him that everyone who accepts Him as their savior is welcome in heaven. Peter then baptizes the Gentiles (the people he previously thought were not worthy of heaven).

Since winter has retreated and the scrumptious days of spring are here, I thought a make-believe journey to heaven would be a memorable way to communicate this story. The first objective is to make the children feel overwhelmingly welcome, the way all who believe in Christ will surely feel when they get to heaven.

Materials:

Hawaiian leis

Picnic blanket

Animal Crackers

Small cooler filled with drinks

*Additional activity at the end if time allows: parachute & ball.

Instructions:

As the children arrive, greet them with a lei, repeating the word welcome. “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to heaven” They will be curious about the leis and perhaps confused by the “…to heaven” part. Do not go into detail just yet. Let them wonder what’s up while everyone enters the classroom. The lei, of course, has nothing to do with the lesson directly. The purpose is to set a festive tone. Most kids will recognize the Hawaiian tradition as a welcoming gesture. It will also subliminally reinforce the idea of going on a trip (in our case, to heaven!)

After everyone has arrived, lead them outside to a safe and secure grassy area. Make a big production about spreading out a picnic blanket. Ask each child to hold onto the blanket edges, tossing the center into the air and letting it float slowly to the ground. Do this several times in order to create a strong visual for the children so when you later tell them of the sheet in Peter’s vision, they will immediately be able to draw on that visual memory.

Next, ask the children to find a comfy spot on the blanket. Allow them to remove their shoes if they want. Comment on what a glorious day it is: the sun is warm, the sky is so blue, the breeze is nice, the grass is cool, etc. Have the children close their eyes and listen to sounds of nature that surrounds them. Take deep breathes together. What do they smell? Finally, ask the children what they think heaven will be like. Will it be sunny & warm, like today? Will there be cool, soft, green grass? Will it smell like sunshine? 

After each child has had an opportunity to briefly describe their idea of heaven, move into explaining how in the times of Cornelius and Peter, Jews believed only they would be allowed into heaven. Next, tell about the visions Cornelius and Peter had, and about Peter’s revelation that God will accept any person into heaven who loves and worships Him. Isn't heaven going to be wonderful?! 

Open the bag of animal cookies and allow the kids to help themselves as you tell the part about the sheet being filled with animals. (Don’t forget to wash them down with a yummy beverage.) Talk about which animals were considered clean and unclean (you may need to do a little extra research for this. Pigs & catfish, for instance, were unclean). Let the conversation move naturally and freely touching on various parts life during Cornelius and Peter’s time that will help the children understand what an oddity it was for a Jew to visit a Gentile, especially in his home. Dig into the story as much, or as little, as you feel is appropriate for your age group.

*We ended up having a few extra minutes at the end, so I broke out a parachute & small ball that I keep in my car for just such instances. It was fortunate that today’s lesson went along with it so well. The kids had a blast tossing the ball up and down on the parachute while trying to keep it from bouncing to the ground. We even put a few of the animal cookies on it and let them fly about to re-enact Peter’s vision – a little more widely than I imagine it actually happened, though. LOL

This lesson is a fairly significant story when you get into it and by using all the visual aids, the kids really did get it. I was tickled when I overheard several of them returning to their parents with excited voices explaining, “We visited heaven today!” Definitely a happy teacher moment. J




NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!