Main Idea: God uses whatever means necessary to get our attention and show us what He needs us to do.
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)
- Hook a duck Game (5 mins)
- Sense How You Feel – activity (10 – 25 mins)
- Seek God – prayer (5 mins)
Setting the Stage: This series is all about strange stories in the Old Testament which illustrate how God does crazy and unexpected things! If you have the space, then you could create your own circus backdrop or have a talent slot in your program where the children and leaders can show any circus skills or crazy talents that they have.
Supplies:
- Paper Hats
- String
- Toothpaste
- Remote control Car
- Books
- 2 different colored eggs
- Hook a duck set (or use our printed ducks)
- Pintables: Tail on the donkey pdf, Hook a duck PDF, Ticket craft PDF, speech bubbles PDF
- Ticket Wallet (to be used throughout the different lessons)
- Coloring pens
- Playdough or clay
- Lego or construction toys
- Prayer tent materials – cushions, bibles, fairy lights, cross, candles etc
- Music
- 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 HAT RELAY – 5 MINS
Description: Team Game.
Supplies: Paper hats, string
Details: Hat Relay. (regular/widescreen) Children are paired off in their teams. Each child wears a pa-per hat attached by a piece of string about 30 cm long to their partner’s hat. The pairs then race to one end of the space and back without holding on to or losing their hat.
GAME 2 TANGLED – 5 MINS
Description: Group Game.
Supplies: No supplies needed
Details: Tangled. (regular/widescreen) The children stand in a circle and each child puts their left hand in the circle and takes hold of another child’s left hand. Each child then puts their right arm in and does the same again (to a different child). The chil-dren then must try and untangle themselves back into a full circle, without breaking hands.
GAME 3 BIZARRE FACTS! – 10 MINS
Description: PowerPoint Game.
Supplies: Before the session you will need to prepare this activity. Have a list of ‘bizarre but true’ facts/stories about the group – researched beforehand.
Details: Bizarre Facts! (Keynote/PowerPoint)
Add the bizarre facts onto the PowerPoint slide and the children must guess which person is linked to the bizarre but true fact!
BIG VERSE: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27
(regular/widescreen/social media image) Download the Bible cards here.
SET THE SCENE: 10-15 MINS
Description: Bible story and questions
Supplies: Bible, PowerPoint slide of a bear, Bible story video
Details: You may want to have some of the children act out the story at the same time as you read the passage.
Say: Have you ever seen a bear in real life? Perhaps not. (show PowerPoint) A bear is a large, shaggy animal with great big teeth and claws, and is very strong. It will kill sheep, and lambs, and calves, and goats, and eat them. When it is very hungry it will attack men, women, or children, and tear them to pieces!
Today, we’re going to learn about a man named Elisha. He was very busy doing God’s work and God performed many miracles through Elisha.
Read 2 Kings 2:23-25 or use the recap below.
Elisha walked from Jericho to Bethel, and as he is going by the way, there came a group of young children out of the city. When they saw Elisha, they mocked him or made fun of him. Elisha was bald and the children taunted him and said, “Go up, you bald head! Go up, you bald head!” Was that a nice thing to do? NO! When Elisha heard the children saying that he was bald in a very disrespectful way, he turned back, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up 42 of them!
It is very wrong to mock people and despise God’s Word. Instead God wants to use our words for his glory.
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. Why were the young boys making fun of Elisha?
2. What happened to the boys as a result?
3. How should we treat others?
4. Do our words matter?
5. Do you think Christians should be different from other people in the way that they speak? Why?
SPOT THE SIMPLE MEANING:
1) TONGUES ARE POWERFUL – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 1
Supplies: Tube of toothpaste
Details: Say: I wonder if you can guess what am I? I can hide or I can show myself. I am made up of many muscles. I am usually always wet. I can hurt people or help people. I can be curled. I help people taste food. I am usually pink. (Hopefully the children should have guessed tongue by the end). God created each one of us with a tongue. It’s an important part of our body as it can help us to eat food and speak. When our tongues are used to speak with they can be very powerful! Our words can make people feel great or they can make people feel sad.
Have you ever been hurt by someone’s words? (allow time for sharing). Words are similar to toothpaste (hold up the tube of toothpaste and squeeze some out). Once I squeeze out this toothpaste there is no way that I will be able to put it back in the tube. It’s like that with words. Once they are out of your mouth they cannot be taken back!
2) TONGUES ARE HARD TO CONTROL – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 2
Supplies: Remote control car, books, Bible
Details: Set up an obstacle course using books.
Say: Tongues are not only powerful they are also hard to control! A bit like my car (start moving the car around the obstacle course). It seems to have a mind of its own! I’m moving a tiny knob and look! The car turns and goes in the direction I don’t want it to go in!
Our tongues are small but can be hard to control. This is what the bible says about tongues (Read James 3: 1-12). It’s our same tongue that can praise God but also say bad things to people! We need to make sure that we control our tongues so that everything comes out of our mouth is respectful to others.
3) TONGUES NEED TO RESPECT OTHERS – 5 MINS
Description: Object Lesson 3
Supplies: Two different colored eggs
Details:
Say: God wants us to use our tongues to respect others. Have you ever met someone who was different from you? Sometimes we meet people and they are so different that we just decide we don’t like them. Sometimes we might even say really mean things about them. We might not even know them, but because they look different or talk different or act different or smell different, we decide that we don’t like who they are.
(Show the two different coloured eggs). These eggs are obviously different. They are different colours. They aren’t the same. We all tend to prefer people who are the same as us. But we all forget something very important. God made every single person in His image. (Crack the eggs into a bowl). Can you tell now which one was green and which was blue? No, because at the very core, every single person, whether purple or green, bald or hairy, short or tall, rich or poor… every single person is made in the image of God. When you look at another person, even if you don’t prefer what they are wearing or how they are acting we need to treat every person like they are made in the image of God. This means saying kind things and using our tongues to respect others.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES: HOOK A DUCK GAME – 10 MINS
Description: Team or individual game
Supplies: Hook-a-duck set (Keynote/PowerPoint) bibles.
Details: Write the following scriptures references on the bottom (or back) of the ducks. Make sure that you have enough ducks for either each group or individuals. Invite the children to come to the hook a duck stall and hook a duck. In their groups ask them to find the scripture in a bible and read it to the group.
Hook a duck bible verses:
• Psalm 19:14 Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, Lord, because you are my mighty rock and my protector.”
• 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the King.
• Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”
• John 15: 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
• Romans 12:10 Honor one another above yourselves.
• Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Then discuss the questions below.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.How should we treat those that are different to us?
2.Do you find it hard to control your tongue? How can God help you?
3.Why are words powerful?
4.How can you use your words in a good way?
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: Pens, Elisha pdf on circus ticket, wallet (each week a circus ticket craft can be placed in the wallet)
Details: Color and decorate the sheet and then place ticket in the wallet until next week.
Description: Moulding activity.
Supplies: Playdough or clay.
Details: Mould Elisha.
Description: Building activity.
Supplies: Lego or construction toys.
Details: Build a scene from the bible where kindness was shown.
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: Activity Booklets.
Supplies: 5-7s and 8-11s booklets (included in download), markers.
Details: Fill in or color the 5-7s (PDF) and 8-11s (PDF) booklets.
SEEK GOD: 5 MINS
Description: Prayer/Encounter activity
Supplies: soft worship music, paper, pens
Details: Ask the children to stand. Play some quiet music in the background
Say: In our story today we saw how words were used in an unkind way. God wants to use our mouths to bless others not be hurtful. Lets just spend some time reflecting on the words we have spoken this week. Maybe we’ve said something unkind to someone this week?
Perhaps someone has said something unkind to you? Is there someone you need to forgive? (Allow some time to pray for each other)
Dear God, we are sorry for all the hurtful things that we say to people. Please help us to remember to only say words that are kind. This week, show us ways that we can use our words to be a blessing to our friends and family. AMEN.
ZOOM FRIENDLY LESSON:
BEAR HUNT GAME (Keynote/PowerPoint)
TONGUE TWISTERS (regular/widescreen)
