Scripture Reference
Genesis 29:14-30
"After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, 'Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.'
Now Laban had two daughters; they name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, 'I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.'
Laban said, 'It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.' So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, 'Give me my wife. My time is completed'...
So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob...
When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, 'What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?'
Laban replied, 'It is not our custom here to give the younger before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.'
And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife... He (Jacob) loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years".
Activity
I probably would have skipped these verses if Kiera weren't enjoying the stories of trickery and deceit quite so much. I'm going to put a small object such as a pom-pom* in my hand and have the kids guess which hand the pom-pom is in. For Kiera, I will probably put the object down behind me so that it isn't in either hand. Then we'll have a discussion about why the Bible teaches against dishonesty.
How It Went
Kiera wanted to act out our Bible story again this evening. That didn't go so well, because she was trying to direct everyone but wasn't doing a very good job of it. (Oh, well!) We also played the pom-pom game that I mentioned above. Kiera really enjoyed that, as did Andrew. Kiera wanted to play again and again.
Other Possible Activities
Play a game of "cups". Put a small object* such as a pom-pom under one of three paper cup, then mix the cups by sliding them across the table into the positions of the other cups. After a bit of mixing, the child will get to choose a cup and see if the pom-pom is under that cup. Then discuss Laban's dishonesty toward Jacob, and Jacob's to Isaac and Esau.
*For small children, make sure your small object is not something that would be a choking hazard. A good choice might be a small piece of cereal, a sticker or a scrap of paper.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Jacob flees Esau/Jacob's Dream ~ Genesis 27:41-46, 28:1-28
Scripture Reference
Genesis 27:41-46, 28:1-28
Memory Verse
Again, we haven't been working on this as much as we should. It seems as though both the kids are just taking in so much from our Bible time, pondering it, and applying it. Kiera has always had lots of questions about the Bible (and everything else). To be completely honest, I'd rather focus on answering her questions right now and reinforcing the main points of our studies with Andrew. We'll have plenty of time for memory work in later studies, and there are only so many hours after school! :)
Activity/How It Went
Kiera is really captivated by the level of deceit and trickery involved in these chapters about Jacob and his family. I don't think she understands why anyone would want to trick their family, much less lie to them in such a big way. Before we ever started out study for today, Kiera wanted to know if we could just read the Bible (she specified that it had to be MY Bible) rather than doing an activity, and I agreed. I've been working with Andrew a little throughout the day while Kiera is at school. So tonight we just read the my Bible and a bit of hers and talked about some things that she had questions about.
Other Activities
Before Kiera made her special request, I'd planned to have some game time with our study tonight. I wasn't coming up with any other creative, age-appropriate ideas for these verses, so I'd planned to play tag. The person who is "it" would be Esau, and the runner (since there would really only be Kiera and I playing) would be Jacob. "Esau" would chase "Jacob" and say, "Give me back my blessing". Yes, I know the Bible doesn't say that Esau chased Jacob, but both kids love to play tag, and it would give them a good idea as to why Jacob left his family.
Genesis 27:41-46, 28:1-28
Memory Verse
Again, we haven't been working on this as much as we should. It seems as though both the kids are just taking in so much from our Bible time, pondering it, and applying it. Kiera has always had lots of questions about the Bible (and everything else). To be completely honest, I'd rather focus on answering her questions right now and reinforcing the main points of our studies with Andrew. We'll have plenty of time for memory work in later studies, and there are only so many hours after school! :)
Activity/How It Went
Kiera is really captivated by the level of deceit and trickery involved in these chapters about Jacob and his family. I don't think she understands why anyone would want to trick their family, much less lie to them in such a big way. Before we ever started out study for today, Kiera wanted to know if we could just read the Bible (she specified that it had to be MY Bible) rather than doing an activity, and I agreed. I've been working with Andrew a little throughout the day while Kiera is at school. So tonight we just read the my Bible and a bit of hers and talked about some things that she had questions about.
Other Activities
Before Kiera made her special request, I'd planned to have some game time with our study tonight. I wasn't coming up with any other creative, age-appropriate ideas for these verses, so I'd planned to play tag. The person who is "it" would be Esau, and the runner (since there would really only be Kiera and I playing) would be Jacob. "Esau" would chase "Jacob" and say, "Give me back my blessing". Yes, I know the Bible doesn't say that Esau chased Jacob, but both kids love to play tag, and it would give them a good idea as to why Jacob left his family.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Jacob Gets Esau's Blessing ~ Genesis 27:1-40
Scripture Reference
Genesis 27:1-27, 30-40
"When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.'
'Here I am,' he answered.
Isaac said, 'I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons - your quiver and bow - and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.'
Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back. Rebekah said to her son Jacob, 'Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.' Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.'
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.'
His mother said to him, 'My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.'
So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
He went to his father and said, 'My father.'
'Yes, my son,' he answered. 'Who is it?'
Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.'
Isaac asked his son, 'How did you find it so quickly, my son?'
'The Lord your God gave me success,' he replied.
Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.'
Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 'Are you really my son Esau?' he asked.
'I am,' he replied.
Then he said, 'My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.'
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come here, my son, and kiss me.'
So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him...
30After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, 'My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'
His father Isaac asked him, 'Who are you?'
'I am your son,' he answered, 'your firstborn, Esau.'
Isaac trembled violently and said, 'Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him - and indeed he will be blessed!'
When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, 'Bless me - me too, my father!'
But he said, 'Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.'
Esau said, 'Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing.'
Isaac answered Esau, 'I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?'
Esau said to his father, 'Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!' Then Esau wept aloud.
His father Isaac answered him,
'Your dwelling will be away from the earth's riches, away from the dew of heaven above.
You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.'"
Activity
Since Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him Esau's blessing by covering his hands and neck with skins and wearing Esau's clothes, we're going to play a touch-and-feel game today. We'll take turns wearing a blindfold and identifying which stuffed animal is which.
How It Went
Kiera enjoyed the touch-and-feel game (partly, I think because she was peeking and winning). Today's lesson was, as I expected, over Andrew's head. He did enjoy watching the game though. After our game, Kiera wanted to act out the story, which we did - twice. She enjoyed today's story quite a lot. When I ask her where she'd heard the story before, she said that she'd read it in one of our Bibles here, then proceeded to tell me about Jacob fleeing from Esau and his dream in chapter 28. :)
Other Possible Activities
Tomorrow with Andrew, I'll probably play dress-up, explaining that sometimes people pretend to be other people in order to trick them. We'll talk again about the story saying, "Jacob tricked his father. That wasn't nice."
Genesis 27:1-27, 30-40
"When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.'
'Here I am,' he answered.
Isaac said, 'I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons - your quiver and bow - and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.'
Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back. Rebekah said to her son Jacob, 'Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.' Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.'
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.'
His mother said to him, 'My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.'
So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
He went to his father and said, 'My father.'
'Yes, my son,' he answered. 'Who is it?'
Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.'
Isaac asked his son, 'How did you find it so quickly, my son?'
'The Lord your God gave me success,' he replied.
Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.'
Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 'Are you really my son Esau?' he asked.
'I am,' he replied.
Then he said, 'My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.'
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come here, my son, and kiss me.'
So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him...
30After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, 'My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'
His father Isaac asked him, 'Who are you?'
'I am your son,' he answered, 'your firstborn, Esau.'
Isaac trembled violently and said, 'Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him - and indeed he will be blessed!'
When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, 'Bless me - me too, my father!'
But he said, 'Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.'
Esau said, 'Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing.'
Isaac answered Esau, 'I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?'
Esau said to his father, 'Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!' Then Esau wept aloud.
His father Isaac answered him,
'Your dwelling will be away from the earth's riches, away from the dew of heaven above.
You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.'"
Activity
Since Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him Esau's blessing by covering his hands and neck with skins and wearing Esau's clothes, we're going to play a touch-and-feel game today. We'll take turns wearing a blindfold and identifying which stuffed animal is which.
How It Went
Kiera enjoyed the touch-and-feel game (partly, I think because she was peeking and winning). Today's lesson was, as I expected, over Andrew's head. He did enjoy watching the game though. After our game, Kiera wanted to act out the story, which we did - twice. She enjoyed today's story quite a lot. When I ask her where she'd heard the story before, she said that she'd read it in one of our Bibles here, then proceeded to tell me about Jacob fleeing from Esau and his dream in chapter 28. :)
Other Possible Activities
Tomorrow with Andrew, I'll probably play dress-up, explaining that sometimes people pretend to be other people in order to trick them. We'll talk again about the story saying, "Jacob tricked his father. That wasn't nice."
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Announcement! :)
I'll be changing my web address soon. Please look for me at raisingkingdomkids for the next few days, and at http://www.hiddenintheirhearts.blogspot.com/ in the near future! Thanks!!!
I took today off to spend with my family and friends and then ended up a bit under-the-weather. I'll be back tomorrow with another devotion. I'm sorry for any inconvenience!
Also coming in the next month or so: other pages with ideas to keep Christ the focus of the holidays, books and resources that my family enjoys, games, and maybe a few classroom suggestions for larger groups or centers. Please leave comments as to what you would like to see in the near future...I look forward to hearing from you!!
I took today off to spend with my family and friends and then ended up a bit under-the-weather. I'll be back tomorrow with another devotion. I'm sorry for any inconvenience!
Also coming in the next month or so: other pages with ideas to keep Christ the focus of the holidays, books and resources that my family enjoys, games, and maybe a few classroom suggestions for larger groups or centers. Please leave comments as to what you would like to see in the near future...I look forward to hearing from you!!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Prayer ~ Matthew 6:5-15
Scripture Reference
Matthew 6:5-15 (NIV)
" 'And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
'This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins'."
Matthew 5:44
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Luke 22:40
"On reaching the place, he said to them, 'Pray that you will not fall into temptation'."
Memory Verse
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
"Be joyful always, pray continually."
Activity
After discussing just a few of the commands about prayer in the Bible (listed above), we're going practice praying.
How It Went
I'd never really worked with Andrew much on praying. I've also notice that Kiera hasn't been praying when the congregation does at church. She's even tried several times to talk to me during prayers.
Today we had the perfect "teachable moment". Kiera started reading a children's book we have on the Lord's Prayer. Afterward, she headed to her room to pray. What a great time for a lesson on prayer!
Kiera and I read the verses together (without Andrew. - He wasn't very focused tonight). She was very interested in what we read and applying it to her school situations, etc. With Andrew we began talking about how to pray: why we encourage them to bow their heads, fold their hands, close their eyes, sit up rather than lay down... After we talked about those things, Kiera and Andrew both prayed. Andrew prayed for the first times tonight on his own, "God, thank you people. Amen." Later he prayed again, "God thank you people...thank you sissy...thank you daddy and (with some urging from Randy) thank you momma." :)
Matthew 6:5-15 (NIV)
" 'And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
'This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins'."
Matthew 5:44
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Luke 22:40
"On reaching the place, he said to them, 'Pray that you will not fall into temptation'."
Memory Verse
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
"Be joyful always, pray continually."
Activity
After discussing just a few of the commands about prayer in the Bible (listed above), we're going practice praying.
How It Went
I'd never really worked with Andrew much on praying. I've also notice that Kiera hasn't been praying when the congregation does at church. She's even tried several times to talk to me during prayers.
Today we had the perfect "teachable moment". Kiera started reading a children's book we have on the Lord's Prayer. Afterward, she headed to her room to pray. What a great time for a lesson on prayer!
Kiera and I read the verses together (without Andrew. - He wasn't very focused tonight). She was very interested in what we read and applying it to her school situations, etc. With Andrew we began talking about how to pray: why we encourage them to bow their heads, fold their hands, close their eyes, sit up rather than lay down... After we talked about those things, Kiera and Andrew both prayed. Andrew prayed for the first times tonight on his own, "God, thank you people. Amen." Later he prayed again, "God thank you people...thank you sissy...thank you daddy and (with some urging from Randy) thank you momma." :)
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tower of Babel ~ Genesis 11:1-9
Scripture Reference
Genesis 11:1-9
"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."
Activity
Long ago, Kiera won a set of "big blocks" from an event through the school district. These blocks have a variety of sizes and shapes, the largest of which are about twice the size of a men's shoe box. The kids love to build with them. Actually, my sister and I had a set of similar blocks when we were little and I remember building everything with them. They were wonderful!!! Today we're going to use our "big blocks" to build a Tower of Babel. If you don't have blocks similar to ours, you could use a variety of boxes (anything from cereal boxes to shoe boxes to storage boxes...) If you'd rather not go that route, use small wooden blocks. You might even include a small action figure type doll to give kids the feel for the size of the Tower.
How It Went
Kiera really loved our story today. She was particularly interested in hearing words in other languages. After we built a tower, I ask her what happened next. She replied that the people started speaking different languages, then started "speaking" in her own made-up language. I love my kids' creativity!
Andrew enjoyed building towers too. When Kiera and I started picking up the blocks to put them away, he started crying! We decided it would be best to build a block tower in the corner of their room that could stay there for a while as a reminder of today's lesson. Andrew was very excited about the story and enjoyed saying, "Tower up to the sky!!"
Other Possible Activities
Cut out small rectangles of construction paper. Have the kids create a tower out of the construction paper rectangles by gluing them to a sheet of paper.
If you have children that are quite a bit older, have them build a tower out of playing cards. (Kiera would be old enough to create a small tower, but it would never survive Andrew's 2-year old energy!!)
Kiera loves to make mud "recipes" lately, so she would enjoy this one... I searched the internet for "make mud bricks" and came up with several free guides that looked promising (and easy). They basically involve mixing water, dirt, and straw together, then letting it dry in a mold in the sun. It might be fun to make these bricks and then use them to create a planter around a tree, etc. It might remind your family of today's lesson long after the lesson is over.
Genesis 11:1-9
"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."
Activity
Long ago, Kiera won a set of "big blocks" from an event through the school district. These blocks have a variety of sizes and shapes, the largest of which are about twice the size of a men's shoe box. The kids love to build with them. Actually, my sister and I had a set of similar blocks when we were little and I remember building everything with them. They were wonderful!!! Today we're going to use our "big blocks" to build a Tower of Babel. If you don't have blocks similar to ours, you could use a variety of boxes (anything from cereal boxes to shoe boxes to storage boxes...) If you'd rather not go that route, use small wooden blocks. You might even include a small action figure type doll to give kids the feel for the size of the Tower.
How It Went
Kiera really loved our story today. She was particularly interested in hearing words in other languages. After we built a tower, I ask her what happened next. She replied that the people started speaking different languages, then started "speaking" in her own made-up language. I love my kids' creativity!
Andrew enjoyed building towers too. When Kiera and I started picking up the blocks to put them away, he started crying! We decided it would be best to build a block tower in the corner of their room that could stay there for a while as a reminder of today's lesson. Andrew was very excited about the story and enjoyed saying, "Tower up to the sky!!"
Other Possible Activities
Cut out small rectangles of construction paper. Have the kids create a tower out of the construction paper rectangles by gluing them to a sheet of paper.
~or~
If you have children that are quite a bit older, have them build a tower out of playing cards. (Kiera would be old enough to create a small tower, but it would never survive Andrew's 2-year old energy!!)
~or~
Kiera loves to make mud "recipes" lately, so she would enjoy this one... I searched the internet for "make mud bricks" and came up with several free guides that looked promising (and easy). They basically involve mixing water, dirt, and straw together, then letting it dry in a mold in the sun. It might be fun to make these bricks and then use them to create a planter around a tree, etc. It might remind your family of today's lesson long after the lesson is over.
~or~
Since she was about three years old, Kiera has enjoyed learning words in other languages. If your children have an interest, give them a quick vocabulary lesson in a different language!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Noah - Dry Land ~ Select Passages in Genesis 8 & 9
Scripture Reference
Select passages in Genesis 8 & 9 (NIV)
8:1 "But God remembered Noah...and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down...The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. 13...Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry...
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 'Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you - the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground - so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.'
Genesis 9
9:12 'And God said, ...'I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life'."
Memory Verse
Genesis 9:17
"So God said to Noah. 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'."
Activity
How It Went
Well, we've definately had better activities... Both kids got tired of making thumbprints way before their rainbows were finished to their liking. The stamping ink didn't wash off their hands well, and Kiera was a little upset that her fingers were stained.
I'd also gotten the brilliant idea to stamp onto tissue paper. That way, I thought, the stamping ink would bleed through the paper and would make a design on both sides. I planned to hang them in the window and have them be seen from the inside and outside of the house. I didn't think about how floppy tissue paper is. The ink did bleed through and make both sides pretty, but our half-finished rainbows were much too floppy to hang in the windows without LOTS of tape! (We ended up opting for hanging them on the fridge with magnets.)
There are lots of other ideas below that should work a little (or a lot) better! :)
Other Possible Activities
There are so many possibilities for activities to go along with today's lesson. We did just one, but here are several more...
We didn't do this, because it would be a little "young" for Kiera, but kids could be asked to decorate a construction paper cut-out of a dove with fake feathers, etc. It could even be made out of two dove shapes which were stapled together. The "inside" could then be stuffed with paper scraps or tissues. A sprig of fake flower leaves could even be added to represent the olive branch.
Two styrofoam balls could be glued together (or use a toothpick stuck into each to attach the two balls depending on the ages of the children involved). Children could then decorate their "dove" with crafting feathers. Add google eyes and a construction paper triangle beak to complete the look.
Let the kids use finger paint or water colors to create their own rainbows on paper.
Select passages in Genesis 8 & 9 (NIV)
8:1 "But God remembered Noah...and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down...The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. 13...Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry...
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 'Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you - the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground - so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.'
Genesis 9
9:12 'And God said, ...'I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life'."
Memory Verse
Genesis 9:17
"So God said to Noah. 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'."
Activity
I'm going to have the kids use a variety of colors of stamping ink to make a thumb-print rainbow on paper. I'll simply have the kids dab their thumb on one color of ink at a time to make stripes of different colors. We're also going to cut out our rainbows and hang them.
How It Went
Well, we've definately had better activities... Both kids got tired of making thumbprints way before their rainbows were finished to their liking. The stamping ink didn't wash off their hands well, and Kiera was a little upset that her fingers were stained.
I'd also gotten the brilliant idea to stamp onto tissue paper. That way, I thought, the stamping ink would bleed through the paper and would make a design on both sides. I planned to hang them in the window and have them be seen from the inside and outside of the house. I didn't think about how floppy tissue paper is. The ink did bleed through and make both sides pretty, but our half-finished rainbows were much too floppy to hang in the windows without LOTS of tape! (We ended up opting for hanging them on the fridge with magnets.)
There are lots of other ideas below that should work a little (or a lot) better! :)
Other Possible Activities
There are so many possibilities for activities to go along with today's lesson. We did just one, but here are several more...
We didn't do this, because it would be a little "young" for Kiera, but kids could be asked to decorate a construction paper cut-out of a dove with fake feathers, etc. It could even be made out of two dove shapes which were stapled together. The "inside" could then be stuffed with paper scraps or tissues. A sprig of fake flower leaves could even be added to represent the olive branch.
~or~
Two styrofoam balls could be glued together (or use a toothpick stuck into each to attach the two balls depending on the ages of the children involved). Children could then decorate their "dove" with crafting feathers. Add google eyes and a construction paper triangle beak to complete the look.
~or~
If attentions spans will allow for it, take the kids outside to make a scene from today's Bible study using sidewalk chalk. Add an ark, some dry land (maybe with some floodwaters still in the picture), various animals, Noah and his family and a rainbow.
~or~
When Kiera was in pre-school, her teacher often gave the children a shape out of clear contact paper with a construction paper border - in this case it would be a rainbow. She then gave them multiple colors of tissue paper squares (3/4 inch or so square) that they would add to the sticky side of the contact paper. When the tissue paper was added to their liking, she would add a top layer of contact paper to seal in the tissue. These were beautiful hanging in a window!
~or~
Give the kids a chance to play (supervised) with prisms to create rainbows around the room.
~or~
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Noah: The Flood Begins ~ Genesis 7
Scripture Reference
Genesis 7
"The Lord then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.'
And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month - on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
For forty days, the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing hat moved on the earth perished - birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."
Memory Verse
"So God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'." Genesis 9:17
Activity
Andrew really enjoys doing the activities we've done before. He wants to do them again and again... This morning he woke up, went to the table and said, "Make boat! Make boat?" So today's activity is designed with repetition in mind, meaning that I wanted something Andrew could work on day after day. I'm going to have the kids cut ark shapes out of brown paper grocery sacks. (Andrew's will be done for him already. Also, construction paper would work, but we're out of brown so I'm improvising.) Inside we'll draw the three levels (Genesis 6:16) and add in a few animals. We'll need to cut two ark shapes for each child, because I'd like the arks to open as a book would to reveal the animals inside. Each animal will have a piece of tape on the back so that it will stay in place once it's put onto the ark, but the kids will be able to move them a few times. I'll just replace the tape as needed to keep them sticky. (Sticky-tack would also work, but Andrew has a "thing" for putting it into his mouth. I guess he wants it to be gum...)
I'm also planning to make a sort of scene on a dry erase board that we have. I'm planning to use a large sheet of blue paper (or white paper that I've colored blue...I'll have to see what's in the cabinet!) to make flood waters that we'll lift to cover the trees and mountains. The ark will be attached to the top of the "water" so that it lifts as the waters rise. **
How It Went
Andrew enjoyed coloring his ark and putting the animals in, though he's still very preoccupied with the scissors! (He's using "edging" scissors because they don't cut things quite so easily.) Kiera thought that making the ark book was "okay", but she was more interested in the part of our activity where we made the ark rise above the mountains on the floodwaters. I think the thing that they both liked best was coloring the dry-erase board scene completely blue to show the flood waters (their idea).
If today's activity book were done using all felt pieces, it would be more durable for continued play (it could be used as a busy bag), and it would eliminate the need for scotch tape - the felt animals would stick to the felt ark on their own.
**Today's activity is fairly large and a little time consuming. It could easily be dissected and some parts of it could be done while skipping other parts.
Genesis 7
"The Lord then said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.'
And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month - on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.
For forty days, the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing hat moved on the earth perished - birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."
Memory Verse
"So God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'." Genesis 9:17
Activity
Andrew really enjoys doing the activities we've done before. He wants to do them again and again... This morning he woke up, went to the table and said, "Make boat! Make boat?" So today's activity is designed with repetition in mind, meaning that I wanted something Andrew could work on day after day. I'm going to have the kids cut ark shapes out of brown paper grocery sacks. (Andrew's will be done for him already. Also, construction paper would work, but we're out of brown so I'm improvising.) Inside we'll draw the three levels (Genesis 6:16) and add in a few animals. We'll need to cut two ark shapes for each child, because I'd like the arks to open as a book would to reveal the animals inside. Each animal will have a piece of tape on the back so that it will stay in place once it's put onto the ark, but the kids will be able to move them a few times. I'll just replace the tape as needed to keep them sticky. (Sticky-tack would also work, but Andrew has a "thing" for putting it into his mouth. I guess he wants it to be gum...)
I'm also planning to make a sort of scene on a dry erase board that we have. I'm planning to use a large sheet of blue paper (or white paper that I've colored blue...I'll have to see what's in the cabinet!) to make flood waters that we'll lift to cover the trees and mountains. The ark will be attached to the top of the "water" so that it lifts as the waters rise. **
How It Went
Andrew enjoyed coloring his ark and putting the animals in, though he's still very preoccupied with the scissors! (He's using "edging" scissors because they don't cut things quite so easily.) Kiera thought that making the ark book was "okay", but she was more interested in the part of our activity where we made the ark rise above the mountains on the floodwaters. I think the thing that they both liked best was coloring the dry-erase board scene completely blue to show the flood waters (their idea).
Andrew's Noah book, with Kiera's below.
**Today's activity is fairly large and a little time consuming. It could easily be dissected and some parts of it could be done while skipping other parts.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Noah ~ Genesis 6:1-22
Scripture Reference
Genesis 6:1-22
"The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thought of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air - for I am grieved that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper dicks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.' Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
Memory Verse
Genesis 9:17
"So God said to Noah, 'This (the rainbow) is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'." (We'll probably change out the word "covenant" for "promise", though we'll talk about what a covenant is.)
Planned Activity
We'll be making arks today! I'm breaking out our recycling things and letting the kids make their own arks out of whatever they can find in there. Then we're going to fill the bathtub with water (a plastic storage tote would work in a classroom) and see who's floats!
I'll be pointing out that Noah had to follow God's instructions for building the ark, coating it with pitch inside and out, using cypress wood, and following the dimensions that God outlined to Noah. Then Kiera and I be talking about the importance of us following God's instruction as well.
How It Went
After reading the first sentence, Kiera said, "Mom, is this about Noah?" Obviously, not a new story to her! :) Kiera really enjoyed making her own ark. She gave quite a lot of thought to making her ark waterproof and ended up deciding on a few cardboard boxes taped together to make her ark taller. She taped the ends of the boxes to make it extra waterproof, "just like they used tar for the ark!" Andrew's ark wasn't nearly as detailed of course, but he thoroughly enjoyed taking it into the bathtub with him. Then he enjoyed sinking it on purpose and tearing the wet cardboard to shreds in the tub! :) Even after I got him out of the tub, he kept running back to the bathtub with other objects saying, "boat float!" Some of the items weren't even close to being "ark-like", but he really enjoyed our activity! Kiera's ark did float...for a while at least. She was excited about that. We also talked about the importance of following God's instructions from the Bible
Other Ideas
It's extremely hot in Missouri today so we didn't do this, but I think it would be fun to mark out the measurements of the ark at a really big park or huge open field. I don't think kids (and most adults for that matter) have any idea exactly how large the ark was. Even saying that it was as big as so many football fields, etc. doesn't give a real picture. I'd guess that giving kids a feel for the size of the ark would give them a new appreciation for the size of ark and the task of building it. Even most pictures (coloring pages, etc.) of the ark I've seen show it as a fairly small boat. I'd love to do this on a not-so-hot day!!
Genesis 6:1-22
"The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thought of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air - for I am grieved that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper dicks. I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.' Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
Memory Verse
Genesis 9:17
"So God said to Noah, 'This (the rainbow) is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth'." (We'll probably change out the word "covenant" for "promise", though we'll talk about what a covenant is.)
Planned Activity
We'll be making arks today! I'm breaking out our recycling things and letting the kids make their own arks out of whatever they can find in there. Then we're going to fill the bathtub with water (a plastic storage tote would work in a classroom) and see who's floats!
I'll be pointing out that Noah had to follow God's instructions for building the ark, coating it with pitch inside and out, using cypress wood, and following the dimensions that God outlined to Noah. Then Kiera and I be talking about the importance of us following God's instruction as well.
How It Went
After reading the first sentence, Kiera said, "Mom, is this about Noah?" Obviously, not a new story to her! :) Kiera really enjoyed making her own ark. She gave quite a lot of thought to making her ark waterproof and ended up deciding on a few cardboard boxes taped together to make her ark taller. She taped the ends of the boxes to make it extra waterproof, "just like they used tar for the ark!" Andrew's ark wasn't nearly as detailed of course, but he thoroughly enjoyed taking it into the bathtub with him. Then he enjoyed sinking it on purpose and tearing the wet cardboard to shreds in the tub! :) Even after I got him out of the tub, he kept running back to the bathtub with other objects saying, "boat float!" Some of the items weren't even close to being "ark-like", but he really enjoyed our activity! Kiera's ark did float...for a while at least. She was excited about that. We also talked about the importance of following God's instructions from the Bible
Other Ideas
It's extremely hot in Missouri today so we didn't do this, but I think it would be fun to mark out the measurements of the ark at a really big park or huge open field. I don't think kids (and most adults for that matter) have any idea exactly how large the ark was. Even saying that it was as big as so many football fields, etc. doesn't give a real picture. I'd guess that giving kids a feel for the size of the ark would give them a new appreciation for the size of ark and the task of building it. Even most pictures (coloring pages, etc.) of the ark I've seen show it as a fairly small boat. I'd love to do this on a not-so-hot day!!
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Fall of Man ~ Genesis 3:1-15
Scripture Reference
Genesis 3:1-15
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Genesis 1:1
Activity
Kiera asked several nights ago to act out these verses. I'm planning to use play-dough to make a serpent to use.
How It Went
Kiera insisted on acting out the verses as I read them, which didn't work as well as I would have liked. I'd hoped to talk through the story after reading the verses (which she didn't want to do), acting them out at that time. I'd rather have devotion time be conflict-free, so I agreed to do things her way this time. Andrews enjoyed watching and listening to our little play. He also got to add clothes to Eve in our Creation Box. Our Adam is really just a head and arms sticking out from behind a bush, so he didn't get clothes!
Another Possible Activity
Genesis 3:1-15
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Genesis 1:1
Activity
Kiera asked several nights ago to act out these verses. I'm planning to use play-dough to make a serpent to use.
How It Went
Kiera insisted on acting out the verses as I read them, which didn't work as well as I would have liked. I'd hoped to talk through the story after reading the verses (which she didn't want to do), acting them out at that time. I'd rather have devotion time be conflict-free, so I agreed to do things her way this time. Andrews enjoyed watching and listening to our little play. He also got to add clothes to Eve in our Creation Box. Our Adam is really just a head and arms sticking out from behind a bush, so he didn't get clothes!
Adam (left) with Eve.
Another Possible Activity
It might be fun to create a sort of paper doll activity for these scriptures. Make one girl and one boy paper doll, which would start out plain white (have the kids color) or flesh colored cardstock (naked). Then as the kids act out the story on their own, they add construction paper "leaves" or even leaves from a silk flower and then "skins" made out of construction paper, fabric, leather, or fake fur. This is an activity the kids could do again and again if supplies were kept in ziplock bags. It could even be used as a "busy bag" (a project that you can pull out when you want the kids to be occupied in a constructive way that doesn't require massive amounts of adult assistance).
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Creation on Woman ~ Genesis 2:15-23 (NIV)
Scripture Reference
Genesis 2:15-23 (NIV)
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if you eat it you will surely die.'
The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man'."
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Activity
I thought we were done with our Creation Box, but Kiera had other plans. Truth be told, I think Andrew did too, he just didn't verbalize it as well! Kiera wanted to add Eve to the Box and Andrew just kept asking to get it down today, saying "God ma- people! God ma- Andrew! (God made people and God made Andrew.)
How It Went
Kiera was excited to add another piece to the Creation Box. I guess tomorrow we'll be adding a serpent and probably acting out Genesis 3.
Another Fun Activity
Depending on the ages of the children you're working with, it might be fun to talk about Adam naming the animals. How did he choose all those names? You might even let the kids cut animal pictures from old magazines. They could use the whole picture, or put parts of different animals together to make one whole animal. Then have the children give names to all the animals that they've crafted.
Genesis 2:15-23 (NIV)
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if you eat it you will surely die.'
The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man'."
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Activity
I thought we were done with our Creation Box, but Kiera had other plans. Truth be told, I think Andrew did too, he just didn't verbalize it as well! Kiera wanted to add Eve to the Box and Andrew just kept asking to get it down today, saying "God ma- people! God ma- Andrew! (God made people and God made Andrew.)
How It Went
Kiera was excited to add another piece to the Creation Box. I guess tomorrow we'll be adding a serpent and probably acting out Genesis 3.
Another Fun Activity
Depending on the ages of the children you're working with, it might be fun to talk about Adam naming the animals. How did he choose all those names? You might even let the kids cut animal pictures from old magazines. They could use the whole picture, or put parts of different animals together to make one whole animal. Then have the children give names to all the animals that they've crafted.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
A Busy Day
It's confession time. Today was a very busy day for me. It was filled with blessings: several awesome finds at garage sales, time spent with the kids...playing tag, squirting them with the hose, and loving our new kitten. We usually do our devotion right after supper, but somehow the day just slipped away with household busyness and play. Because I've felt so blessed today, I thought I would share a quote that I enjoy...
"The secret of happiness is to count your blessings
while others are adding up their troubles."
~ Barbara Johnson ~
My husband, Randy, would absolutely hate this quote. I can just picture him reading it, closing his eyes, pointing his face to the sky, and uttering a "Grrrr"-type sound! You see, I'm a blessings-counter, and he's a troubles-counter. It's funny that God chose us to be a pair. His trouble-counting drives me nuts at times, and I'm sure my "Pollyanna" attitude drives him crazy too!
As a parent, I know how much more I appreciate it when my children see what they have, rather than what they think is lacking in their lives. I can only imagine that God enjoys seeing us count the blessings that He gives us too, whether it be time with kids, time off work, or seeing that never-ending laundry pile gone! Take a minute and praise God for the many ways that he has blessed you. Better yet, spend some time with your family and see how many blessings you can all come up with together. I'm praying that it will be time well spent!
(The quote was taken from the book "Boundless Love: Devotions to Celebrate God's Love for You". It is a Women of Faith book by Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, Sheila Walth, Barbara Johnson, Luci Swindoll, and Thelma Wells.)
Friday, August 19, 2011
Creation Day 7 ~ Genesis 2:1-3
Scripture Reference
Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)
"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
My husband decided to lead today's devotion. He was off work today, but usually he isn't home at the same times as Kiera. I'm usually the one that leads the devotions. Since today's scripture is on God resting, we are taking the night off from doing an activity and just focusing on the commandment that we rest on Sundays.
How It Went
Kiera was excited that we were, in a sense, "acting out" what God did by resting on the 7th day. She enjoys devotion time, but I think she innitially thought she was getting away with something by resting from an activity today. It took a little explaining to get her to realize that God intended us to rest, and actually commands it in the 10 Commandments. She giggled when she realized that our Sunday pizza lunch (which she enjoys so much) is actually one way that I rest on the Sabbath!
Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)
"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
My husband decided to lead today's devotion. He was off work today, but usually he isn't home at the same times as Kiera. I'm usually the one that leads the devotions. Since today's scripture is on God resting, we are taking the night off from doing an activity and just focusing on the commandment that we rest on Sundays.
How It Went
Kiera was excited that we were, in a sense, "acting out" what God did by resting on the 7th day. She enjoys devotion time, but I think she innitially thought she was getting away with something by resting from an activity today. It took a little explaining to get her to realize that God intended us to rest, and actually commands it in the 10 Commandments. She giggled when she realized that our Sunday pizza lunch (which she enjoys so much) is actually one way that I rest on the Sabbath!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Creation Day 6 ~ Genesis 1:27-31
Scripture Reference
Genesis 1:27-31 (NIV)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
Today we're going to add a man (Adam) to our Creation Box. I'm going to let Kiera choose her supplies, because she really enjoys working with all the things in our craft cabinet. Andrew will color a picture that I draw for him with a man in it. He loves to color!
How It Went
Again, Kiera enjoyed making her addition to the Creation Box. We both had a good laugh at her first attempt at making a man... He was very cute, but she'd given him a little pair of pants, etc. We got to have a talk about sin entering the world and causing Adam and Eve to be embarrassed over their nakedness. (We also kept his pants for a different lesson!)
I cut out a little person for Andrew to color. He's particularly fond of glue sticks these days, so he wanted to glue his little person to a larger sheet of paper. He finished his work of art by painting it with glitter glue. (I get glitter glue pretty inexpensively, so I let the kids squirt some on a picture sometimes and use a brush to "paint" with it.) We also wrote "God Made People" on the top of his picture and repeated several times that "God made people and God made Andrew". He got a real kick out of repeating me, "God - people...God - Andrew!!)
I've been surprised at how successful the Creation Box has been. Both kids have asked again and again to add more things to the Box, even at times when we weren't doing our devotions. Kiera is also enjoying her memory work. She doesn't quite have her verse memorized yet, but she does like the idea of it at least. We'll keep working on different ways to memorize verses as the weeks go by. I do have to admit...while I'm glad that the Creation Box was successful, I'll be glad to move on to other activities in our devotions. It's easy to have an ongoing project like this, but it's a little less-than-exciting for grown-ups! :)
Genesis 1:27-31 (NIV)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
Today we're going to add a man (Adam) to our Creation Box. I'm going to let Kiera choose her supplies, because she really enjoys working with all the things in our craft cabinet. Andrew will color a picture that I draw for him with a man in it. He loves to color!
How It Went
Again, Kiera enjoyed making her addition to the Creation Box. We both had a good laugh at her first attempt at making a man... He was very cute, but she'd given him a little pair of pants, etc. We got to have a talk about sin entering the world and causing Adam and Eve to be embarrassed over their nakedness. (We also kept his pants for a different lesson!)
I cut out a little person for Andrew to color. He's particularly fond of glue sticks these days, so he wanted to glue his little person to a larger sheet of paper. He finished his work of art by painting it with glitter glue. (I get glitter glue pretty inexpensively, so I let the kids squirt some on a picture sometimes and use a brush to "paint" with it.) We also wrote "God Made People" on the top of his picture and repeated several times that "God made people and God made Andrew". He got a real kick out of repeating me, "God - people...God - Andrew!!)
I've been surprised at how successful the Creation Box has been. Both kids have asked again and again to add more things to the Box, even at times when we weren't doing our devotions. Kiera is also enjoying her memory work. She doesn't quite have her verse memorized yet, but she does like the idea of it at least. We'll keep working on different ways to memorize verses as the weeks go by. I do have to admit...while I'm glad that the Creation Box was successful, I'll be glad to move on to other activities in our devotions. It's easy to have an ongoing project like this, but it's a little less-than-exciting for grown-ups! :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
A fun and encouraging story...
A friend of ours from church came over late this evening to drop off one of our vehicles. He was working on it as a blessing to us. - Thank you, Tom! :) Kiera was excited to see him, and went outside with us to talk for a minute. She was admiring the stars, which she rarely sees because she's almost always in the house getting ready for bed when the stars are out. He saw her looking up at the stars and commented on how pretty they were. She said very thoughtfully, "You know, Tom, God made those stars!" It was a very proud mommy moment. It also encouraged me to keep up our lessons at home because it's keeping God on the forefront of her mind - and mine!
Creation Day 6 (Animals Only) ~ Genesis 1:24-25
Scripture Verses
Genesis 1:24-25
"And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
Today we are going to make animals out of a little construction paper and toilet paper tubes. The tube will serve as the body of the animal, while the construction paper will be made into legs, heads, ears, tails, etc. The kids will be choosing what animals they make.
How It Went
The kids both really enjoyed making the animals. Andrew and I made a horse. We also made a turtle that he colored. Kiera chose to make a giraffe, but then after making some stripes for it, she decided that it looked more like a log. She liked that idea, so she kept it as a log! :) They also found a pom-pom monkey in the craft supply cabinet. Kiera had made it long ago and forgotten about it. They added it to our Creation Box and were happy about the look that he added.
Genesis 1:24-25
"And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Activity
Today we are going to make animals out of a little construction paper and toilet paper tubes. The tube will serve as the body of the animal, while the construction paper will be made into legs, heads, ears, tails, etc. The kids will be choosing what animals they make.
How It Went
The kids both really enjoyed making the animals. Andrew and I made a horse. We also made a turtle that he colored. Kiera chose to make a giraffe, but then after making some stripes for it, she decided that it looked more like a log. She liked that idea, so she kept it as a log! :) They also found a pom-pom monkey in the craft supply cabinet. Kiera had made it long ago and forgotten about it. They added it to our Creation Box and were happy about the look that he added.
The brown "thing" in the upper right corner is a bird. The yellow and brown in the bottom left corner is the log that Kiera made. Andrew's horse was played with a little too much to before the picture and didn't quite make it...
Kiera and I need to work a lot harder on her memory verse. I've been too busy trying to keep Andrew engaged, involved, and learning a key thought like "God made animals and God made Andrew." I haven't been working with her on her memory verse nearly enough.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Creation Day 5 ~ Genesis 1:20-23
Scripture Reference
Genesis 1:20-23(NIV)
"And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.' And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Planned Activity
In the "Creation Box" that we made, we'll be adding fish/water creatures and birds. For our air and water creatures, we'll use a variety of pom-poms, google eyes, "foamies" scraps (could substitute construction paper), and any other craft supply items that we have on hand that the kids want to use. (Craft feathers would also be cute, but I can't seem to find ours...) I'll be letting them use their creativity on this, so I'm going to just be flexible! Andrew will need some help to glue on parts since this is pretty difficult for his age level. I also expect to have him color some fish or birds that I draw on paper and we'll add those to the box as well.
How It Went
My kids love any activity that lets them use their creativity, and this was no exception! Andrew really enjoyed making fish. I expect that was partly because I was making his fish "swim" toward him and give him kisses! Kiera just enjoyed crafting. She also found some flower stickers that I didn't realize we had, so she added those to our box and reminded me that, "God made vegetation...See it's on our list!" :) I've been pretty strict about not adding things that haven't been in our scripture readings yet. Kiera is excited about adding animals tomorrow. All in all, I think our "Creation Box" has worked well. It's a good way to talk about our devotions throughout the day.
*Just a note...We did end up breaking out the hot-glue gun for the pom-poms. The kids didn't want to wait for regular glue to dry before they could play with their fish and birds. I dropped glue on where they indicated they wanted it, then I put the part being added on for them. It wasn't the greatest way to have them do a craft, but they didn't seem to mind.
Supplies For Tomorrow
Construction paper, toilet paper roll tubes, google eyes, glue, and tape (as a back-up for the glue - a "just in case..." after today's experience)
Genesis 1:20-23(NIV)
"And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.' And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Planned Activity
In the "Creation Box" that we made, we'll be adding fish/water creatures and birds. For our air and water creatures, we'll use a variety of pom-poms, google eyes, "foamies" scraps (could substitute construction paper), and any other craft supply items that we have on hand that the kids want to use. (Craft feathers would also be cute, but I can't seem to find ours...) I'll be letting them use their creativity on this, so I'm going to just be flexible! Andrew will need some help to glue on parts since this is pretty difficult for his age level. I also expect to have him color some fish or birds that I draw on paper and we'll add those to the box as well.
How It Went
My kids love any activity that lets them use their creativity, and this was no exception! Andrew really enjoyed making fish. I expect that was partly because I was making his fish "swim" toward him and give him kisses! Kiera just enjoyed crafting. She also found some flower stickers that I didn't realize we had, so she added those to our box and reminded me that, "God made vegetation...See it's on our list!" :) I've been pretty strict about not adding things that haven't been in our scripture readings yet. Kiera is excited about adding animals tomorrow. All in all, I think our "Creation Box" has worked well. It's a good way to talk about our devotions throughout the day.
*Just a note...We did end up breaking out the hot-glue gun for the pom-poms. The kids didn't want to wait for regular glue to dry before they could play with their fish and birds. I dropped glue on where they indicated they wanted it, then I put the part being added on for them. It wasn't the greatest way to have them do a craft, but they didn't seem to mind.
Supplies For Tomorrow
Construction paper, toilet paper roll tubes, google eyes, glue, and tape (as a back-up for the glue - a "just in case..." after today's experience)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Creation ~ Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19)
Scripture Reference
Genesis 1:14-19 "And God said, 'Let there by lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.' And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Hands on Activity
Today I plan to begin making a "Creation Box". We will use a medium sized cardboard box, laying on its side and add different objects/drawings to symbolize what God has created in the scriptures we've read on creation so far. We will add a flashlight pointing at the box for light, black construction paper on the top of the inside for darkness, green and blue construction paper for land and see, and then draw in some plants and trees. We'll also add the memory verse and a list of what God created on each day we've covered so far, adding to it with each new day. Tomorrow we'll be adding in some pom-pom fish and birds, then the next day we'll add animals (made out of toilet paper roll tubes) and Adam and Eve.
How It Went
I'm having trouble keeping both Kiera and Andrew interested in the Bible story at the same time. We've just been reading and talking about the verses, but with Andrew barely two years old, keeping his attention for any length of time is difficult to say the least. The problem is that Kiera likes to discuss things much more because of her age. She wants to know what every verse means. I'm going to have to find another way to go about keeping Andrew interested. He's such an active boy!
Both kids LOVED the activity for today, and Kiera was able to tell me what we hadn't covered yet after putting in the black "sky", then "water" and "land". Andrew ran around and around the box (we worked on the floor) adding his scribbles to the inside and out. He was especially interested in the scissors, which he somehow kept managing to pick up no matter how many times I put them away. Then he proceeded to try and give Kiera a hair cut! He only got a few strands before I got them away from him, but that was a really close call. Whatever cut he gave her would not have made a good look for back-to-school!! Soooo, I'm guessing whatever activities we do in the future need to be scissor-less! :)
Supplies For Tomorrow
Craft-sized pom-poms, google eyes, construction paper scraps (variety of colors), craft feathers.
Genesis 1:14-19 "And God said, 'Let there by lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.' And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day."
Memory Verse
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Hands on Activity
Today I plan to begin making a "Creation Box". We will use a medium sized cardboard box, laying on its side and add different objects/drawings to symbolize what God has created in the scriptures we've read on creation so far. We will add a flashlight pointing at the box for light, black construction paper on the top of the inside for darkness, green and blue construction paper for land and see, and then draw in some plants and trees. We'll also add the memory verse and a list of what God created on each day we've covered so far, adding to it with each new day. Tomorrow we'll be adding in some pom-pom fish and birds, then the next day we'll add animals (made out of toilet paper roll tubes) and Adam and Eve.
How It Went
I'm having trouble keeping both Kiera and Andrew interested in the Bible story at the same time. We've just been reading and talking about the verses, but with Andrew barely two years old, keeping his attention for any length of time is difficult to say the least. The problem is that Kiera likes to discuss things much more because of her age. She wants to know what every verse means. I'm going to have to find another way to go about keeping Andrew interested. He's such an active boy!
Both kids LOVED the activity for today, and Kiera was able to tell me what we hadn't covered yet after putting in the black "sky", then "water" and "land". Andrew ran around and around the box (we worked on the floor) adding his scribbles to the inside and out. He was especially interested in the scissors, which he somehow kept managing to pick up no matter how many times I put them away. Then he proceeded to try and give Kiera a hair cut! He only got a few strands before I got them away from him, but that was a really close call. Whatever cut he gave her would not have made a good look for back-to-school!! Soooo, I'm guessing whatever activities we do in the future need to be scissor-less! :)
Craft-sized pom-poms, google eyes, construction paper scraps (variety of colors), craft feathers.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Creation Days 2 & 3 ~ Genesis 1:6-13
Today's Scripture
"And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse 'sky.' And there was evening and there was morning - the second day.
And God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.' And it was so. God called the dry ground 'land,' and the gathered waters he called 'seas'. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day." Genesis 1:6-13 (NIV)
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
(I'm posting this in our house for Kiera to see daily and read. - She loves to read!)
What I Planned
Review yesterday's lesson, read our scripture for today, and talk specifically about the days of creation so far: Day 1 - Light, Day 2 - Sky, Day 3 - Land and Vegetation. Using two colors of Play-Dough, I'll make a ball wrapped in another color of Dough (preferably green wrapped in blue). Based on Genesis 1:9, discuss that God "gathered the water in place and let the dry ground appear." The Play-Dough gives a good visual for this by opening the outer layer of dough and exposing the "land".
How It Went
Both kids listened with interest today, and Andrew was able to repeat "God - Andrew!" (God made Andrew) Kiera especially thought that the Play-Dough visual aide was really cool. I think her word was, "Whoa!" :) She was also really impressed with the word "vegetation" once she figured out what it meant. When we were finished, Kiera wanted to do more Bible stories, so that's encouraging!
"And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse 'sky.' And there was evening and there was morning - the second day.
And God said, 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.' And it was so. God called the dry ground 'land,' and the gathered waters he called 'seas'. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day." Genesis 1:6-13 (NIV)
Memory Verse
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
(I'm posting this in our house for Kiera to see daily and read. - She loves to read!)
What I Planned
Review yesterday's lesson, read our scripture for today, and talk specifically about the days of creation so far: Day 1 - Light, Day 2 - Sky, Day 3 - Land and Vegetation. Using two colors of Play-Dough, I'll make a ball wrapped in another color of Dough (preferably green wrapped in blue). Based on Genesis 1:9, discuss that God "gathered the water in place and let the dry ground appear." The Play-Dough gives a good visual for this by opening the outer layer of dough and exposing the "land".
How It Went
Both kids listened with interest today, and Andrew was able to repeat "God - Andrew!" (God made Andrew) Kiera especially thought that the Play-Dough visual aide was really cool. I think her word was, "Whoa!" :) She was also really impressed with the word "vegetation" once she figured out what it meant. When we were finished, Kiera wanted to do more Bible stories, so that's encouraging!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Starting at the Beginning...Genesis 1:1
Bible verses for today:
Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night'. And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day."
Memory verse for this week:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Thought for the week (for our 2-year-old, Andrew):
God created the world, and God created you!
Activity:
I'm going to talk with the kids about what the earth was like before creation and have them draw a picture of what they think it would have looked like pre-creation. The verses for today use the words " formless" and "empty". These verses also say that God created light, but eludes to the fact that the darkness was already there. It also says that God was "hovering over the waters" (along with later verses on creation). Since God hadn't yet revealed the dry land (verse 9), I'm guessing that everything was covered with water. Everything in these verses are in stark contrast to what we see now, and can be pretty hard for us (kids especially!) to imagine. As a reinforcer for the lesson, while each of the kids are in the bathtub tonight, we're going to talk about the dark, watery beginning of the world. We'll probably turn off the lights and imagine what it might have been like. This is going to be a little difficult to imagine, since the sky wasn't formed until day 2!
Updated post:
How it went...We'll have to work on attention spans in upcoming devotion times. The kids are so energetic that Kiera (age 6) had trouble not focusing on everything else she wants to do. A perfect time to learn about committing time to God, I guess! Kiera also seemed to enjoy the idea of what things were like before creation, though she's in a hurry to get to the later days of creation. When we started reading today's verses, she said, "Oh, I know what this is about! We're going to learn about Adam and Eve!" :) Memory verses are new to Kiera. She's excited about memorizing things from the Bible, so that makes me all the more excited to teach her.
Coming Up:
I'll be blogging about a Creation Box in the upcoming days. This is the end-result of our Creation Box (animals were removed to give a better view). I wanted to go back and add it to this post so that everyone could see the end-result of ours before starting on their own. The orange thing in the middle is a tree, and the blue-green in the sky is a cloud. Our hand-drawn tree has flower stickers on it, as does the grass.
Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night'. And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day."
Memory verse for this week:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Thought for the week (for our 2-year-old, Andrew):
God created the world, and God created you!
Activity:
I'm going to talk with the kids about what the earth was like before creation and have them draw a picture of what they think it would have looked like pre-creation. The verses for today use the words " formless" and "empty". These verses also say that God created light, but eludes to the fact that the darkness was already there. It also says that God was "hovering over the waters" (along with later verses on creation). Since God hadn't yet revealed the dry land (verse 9), I'm guessing that everything was covered with water. Everything in these verses are in stark contrast to what we see now, and can be pretty hard for us (kids especially!) to imagine. As a reinforcer for the lesson, while each of the kids are in the bathtub tonight, we're going to talk about the dark, watery beginning of the world. We'll probably turn off the lights and imagine what it might have been like. This is going to be a little difficult to imagine, since the sky wasn't formed until day 2!
Updated post:
How it went...We'll have to work on attention spans in upcoming devotion times. The kids are so energetic that Kiera (age 6) had trouble not focusing on everything else she wants to do. A perfect time to learn about committing time to God, I guess! Kiera also seemed to enjoy the idea of what things were like before creation, though she's in a hurry to get to the later days of creation. When we started reading today's verses, she said, "Oh, I know what this is about! We're going to learn about Adam and Eve!" :) Memory verses are new to Kiera. She's excited about memorizing things from the Bible, so that makes me all the more excited to teach her.
Coming Up:
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Welcome!
Because this is my first official post, and I am still very much a "learner" about blogging, I am going to delay my post of a Bible lesson for this weekend and explain what I hope God will use this blog to accomplish.
First, I intend to use this blog to hold myself accountable for teaching my children one Bible lesson to the two of them together each day. With a daughter starting first grade and a son who's just two, planning lessons, stories, etc. will be a bit of a challenge, but I believe it's definitely worth it! Just today, our daughter was throwing a bit of a fit (okay, a big fit) because she didn't get to take ballet lessons, go shopping, etc. "like her friends" do. Now, I don't know any of her friends that take ballet, but okay...whatever... I didn't pull out my Bible (which I should have), but I pulled up a website for Doctors Without Borders and showed her pictures of both adults and children in other countries who don't have enough to eat, have no shoes, have one set of clothing if that, and live in tents made from fabric and small branches. Many of these people will die of malnutrition before hearing the Gospel. I think it all became a little more real to her. I worry about what I allow "the world" to teach my children without even realizing it. I think her fit today stemmed from the commercials on Saturday morning cartoons. (We usually only watch videos that I've previewed in advance.) With my kids soaking up so many worldly values, I want to combat that in every way possible!
If God chooses to use it as such, I also hope and pray that this blog would serve as an encouraging resource for other families, children's workers, and others. I'd love to know what He has in mind, but I'll try and wait patiently for that! :)
Also, in an effort to be completely honest and open, I'd love to see God use this as an additional source of income for our family, but I'm leaving that up to Him!
First, I intend to use this blog to hold myself accountable for teaching my children one Bible lesson to the two of them together each day. With a daughter starting first grade and a son who's just two, planning lessons, stories, etc. will be a bit of a challenge, but I believe it's definitely worth it! Just today, our daughter was throwing a bit of a fit (okay, a big fit) because she didn't get to take ballet lessons, go shopping, etc. "like her friends" do. Now, I don't know any of her friends that take ballet, but okay...whatever... I didn't pull out my Bible (which I should have), but I pulled up a website for Doctors Without Borders and showed her pictures of both adults and children in other countries who don't have enough to eat, have no shoes, have one set of clothing if that, and live in tents made from fabric and small branches. Many of these people will die of malnutrition before hearing the Gospel. I think it all became a little more real to her. I worry about what I allow "the world" to teach my children without even realizing it. I think her fit today stemmed from the commercials on Saturday morning cartoons. (We usually only watch videos that I've previewed in advance.) With my kids soaking up so many worldly values, I want to combat that in every way possible!
If God chooses to use it as such, I also hope and pray that this blog would serve as an encouraging resource for other families, children's workers, and others. I'd love to know what He has in mind, but I'll try and wait patiently for that! :)
Also, in an effort to be completely honest and open, I'd love to see God use this as an additional source of income for our family, but I'm leaving that up to Him!
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