Main Idea: God is the creator and sustainer of the world and everything in it.
Suggested Schedule: (90 mins)
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Game 1 (5mins)
- Review Big Verse (5 mins)
- Set the Scene: Bible story/skit and review questions (10-15 mins)
- Object Lesson 1 talk (5mins)
- Game 2 (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 2 talk (5 mins)
- Game 3 (5 mins)
- Object Lesson 3 talk (10 mins)
- Love our Planet Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel – activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God – prayer (5 mins)
Setting the Stage: This series helps children understand their responsibility to be a good steward of the Earth. With the rise in interest in our environment and concerns for the world’s future, children and young people are more passionate than ever about sustainable living and looking after our world. Over four weeks we will explore the ways that we practically help the Earth in a Biblical way, understanding why God cares so much about our planet and everything on it.
If you have the space, you could decorate your stage with maps, globes, animals, giant leaves, recycled materials, love hearts and other ‘caring for the environment’ props.
Supplies:
- Blow up globes
- 12 Skittles (or large cups)
- Stickers with numbers 1-6 (x2)
- 2 large white sheets of paper
- Pens
- 1 sheet of black construction paper
- Lego
- Lego kit
- Instructions from the Lego kit
- Something that you have created.
- Acorn
- 2 large world maps
- 12 inflatable globes
- 48 heart shaped post it notes
- Pintables:
- Coloring pens
- Rolls of paper
- Magazine images
- Photo’s,
- Newspapers
- Scissors
- Glue
- Playdough or clay
- Lego or construction toys
- Prayer tent materials – cushions, bibles, fairy lights, cross, candles etc
- All PowerPoint games with some way of showing them (i.e. laptop and screen)
SONG and BIBLE STORY VIDEO IDEAS available via our dedicated Pinterest Board.
GAME IDEAS:
GAME 1 CREATION SKITTLES – 5 mins
Description: Team Game.
Supplies: Blow up globes, 6 Skittles (or large cups), stickers with numbers 1-6
Details: Creation Skittles. Divide the children into two teams. Set up the skittles and stick a number on each of the skittles and then line them up. Each player roles the globe and wins the point of which ever skittle they hit (if they hit skittle one they get one point, if they hit skittle number two they get two points etc). Then line them up so ready for the next player. Keep going until everyone has played with someone keeping a total of the points won. The team with the most points is the winner!
GAME 2 BLIND ANIMAL – 5 MINS
Description: One on one Game.
Supplies: 2 large blank sheets of paper, pens, blindfolds.
Details: Blind Animal. Give each player a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Once blindfolded, players have two minutes to draw a giraffe. The player to draw the best picture is the winner!
GAME 3 ANIMAL TRUE OR FALSE QUIZ – 10 MINS
Description: PowerPoint Game
Supplies: No supplies needed.
Details: Animal True or False Quiz. (PowerPoint/Keynote) Leaders reads out the Science questions – see how many science facts the children can get right!
- Mice live for up to 10 years (False – they live for 2 years)
- Rabbits are born blind (True)
- Cheetahs are the fastest land animals in the world (True)
- Snakes have slimy skin (False – it is smooth and dry)
- Cats spend around 14 hours a day sleeping (True)
- Lions are the largest land animal in the world (False – it’s the Elephant which weighs around 12000 Kilograms!)
- Crocodiles sleep with their mouths open (True)
- Bee’s have 1 pair of wings (False – they have two)
BIG VERSE: “The Lord placed man in the garden of Eden to tend and care for it.” Genesis 2:15 (widescreen)
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Bible story and questions
Supplies: Bible, black construction paper. PowerPoint of the days of creation or images.
Details:
Say: Look at this sheet of paper (hold up construction paper). What do you see? Nothing right?! That’s all there was at the beginning of time until God set about creating the universe! It’s hard to imagine what that was like but if we close our eyes tightly and put our hands over our eyes what do we see? NOTHING! And that’s what it was like until God decided to make our world.
Let’s read how He did it!
Read Genesis 1 (whilst reading show the creation Powerpoint)
If you are able to, why not go outside and look at all the different things that God has created!
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- What existed before creation?
- What did God create?
- How did God create the world?
- Do you think God cares about the things He has created?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) CREATOR GOD – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: Lego, Lego kit already built, instructions from the Lego kit.
Details:
Say: Who can tell me what the first sentence is in the bible? I can give you a clue – we read it together a few moments ago!
“In the beginning God CREATED the heavens and the earth“.
Lets just think about the word “Created“. Created means to bring somebody or something into existence. And that’s exactly what God did! Some people say that God MADE the world but that sounds like he had some parts laying around and decided to make the world! A bit like if I had some lego (show Lego) and then made this lego creation (hold up lego creation). NO! God didn’t have anything. He started with NOTHING and began to create – he didn’t have any instructions (hold up lego kit instructions) or anything to copy. Planets spun into space, stars filled the heavens and galaxy’s whirled out into the universe! God designed it all Himself!
And do you know what – The creativity of God has no end! He is constantly creating – you just have to look around to see this!
2) PERFECT PLANET- 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Something you have created (see Pinterest for the Perfect Planet video)
Details:.
Say: How do you feel when you see our planet? Do you think the world is beautiful? (allow responses). Well let me show you this amazing clip of our planet!
(Show video clip)
WOW! How do you feel now you have watched this? (allow response).
Have you ever created anything that’s perfect? I know that when I create anything I can never really get it perfect. There is always something that I would change. Let me show you something that I have created (show the children the thing that you have made). Now it might look good but if you look at the detail you can see that it’s not quite perfect. But when God made our planet it was perfect! Remember our bible story? God looked at all he had made and called it all good! (If you have time you could finish by watching the clip again!)
3) JUST AN ACORN – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 3
Supplies: Acorn, Powerpoint of tree,
Details:
Say: Who can tell me what this is? (Allow children to respond). It’s an acorn! What do you think of acorns? Are you impressed by them? (allow children to respond).
Well if God created them I think they must be pretty special! Let me tell you why that might be. Firstly, acorns grow into massive trees (show picture) – that’s right this small nut can become this pretty impressive oak tree. But that’s not all! It is also a superfood for animals such as squirrels and deer. Acorns have also been eaten by humans since ancient times! It was ground into flour and milk as well medicine! So what do think of acorns now?!
Everything that God has created is pretty special and has a purpose! Even things that to us look boring and useless!
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES:
LOVE OUR PLANET GAME – 10 MINS
Description: Team or individual game
Supplies: Bibles, 2 large maps (or one for each team), 12 blow up globes (or 6 for each team), 12 heart shape post it notes, Bible verses, pens.
Details: Print out the bible verses and place each one on one of the globes (making sure you have enough for each team). Give each team 6 post it notes and pens. Hang the large maps on the wall.
The children need to run and grab a ball then find the verse. Once found they write it on the post it note and then stick the post it note around the edge of their map on the wall. Keep going until all the scriptures have been found, written on post it notes and stuck on the maps! The team that finishes first is the winner!
Love our planet verses:
- Psalm 24: 1 The Earth is the LORD’S and everything in it.
- Psalm 95: 5 The sea is his, for he made it; for his hands formed the dry land.
- Isaiah 65: 18 …rejoice forever in what I create.
- Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Psalm 8: 3 I look at the heavens, which you made with your hands. I see the moon and stars, which you created.
- Psalm 104:24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.
Then discuss the questions below.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- How do you think God feels about everything He has created?
- When you think about the planet, how does it make you feel?
- Is there something that God has created which makes you say WOW!
SENSE HOW YOU FEEL – 10 MINS EACH OR IN TANDEM/ROTATION
Encourage the children to think about the questions above as they do one of the activities:
Description: Craft.
Supplies: rolls of paper, magazine images, photo’s, newspapers, scissors and glue.
Details: Using your creativity, make a collage which represents God’s creation.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould something that God has created.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build something in God’s creation that makes you say WOW!
Description: Sensory activity.
Supplies: Create a prayer tent space using cushions, lights, a cross and tent if you have one. Have some quiet music playing.
Details: Encourage the children to spend some time listening to God. Have some scriptures around to help focus them. Allow time to draw or write anything that they have heard.
Description: Coloring sheets.
Supplies: coloring sheet , markers.
Details: Fill in or color the sheets
SEEK GOD: 5 MINS
Description: Prayer/Encounter activity
Supplies:
Details: Ask the children to stand. Play some quiet music in the background
Today we have been looking at God’s amazing creation!
Have a time of worship and during this time ask the children to spend some time thanking God for our planet and all the amazing things He has created. Ask God to help the children appreciate all the things He has created.
Dear God, thank you that you are the creator God and that everything you made is perfect! AMEN
CHALLENGE: For next week ask the children to bring something that God has made that makes them think WOW!
Download the ‘Creation’ Children’s Ministry Lesson on Genesis 1 title here.
