Fruit of the Spirit-----Peace

We are already on lesson 5 of our Fruit of The Spirit lesson material.  The children are really enjoying these lessons.  Lesson five was about the attribute: PEACE.   I decided to use the account of Jesus calming the sea for our main BIBLE story. 

I told the children the story (put into my own words) from Matthew 8:23-27.  We learned how Jesus and his disciples were on a boat and a HUGE storm came up and was tossing the boat back in forth and filling it with water.  The disciples were very scared and woke Jesus.  Jesus demonstrates his AMAZING powers over natures and calms the winds and wave.  He causes a GREAT PEACE to come over the sea.  I used this story as an opportunity to share with the children the idea that we should always turn to JESUS for true PEACE.  He is in control of everything and we need to go to HIM when we are troubled about anything. 

Our TAKE HOME activity was a "Ship In The Bottle" activity.  The little ship was printed from my computer and then laminated...rolled and placed in the bottle.  We filled the bottles half way with blue (food coloring) water.  We then filled the bottle the rest of the way with baby oil.  Added glue to the neck of the bottle and tightly twisted on the lid.  We then (for extra security) wrapped the lid with tape.  The kiddos added on the scripture reference sticker and stuck on some PUFFY 3D fish stickers.  The cool thing about this was as they tipped the bottle back and forth waves would form in the bottle....giving the appearance of a storm.   Needless to say the children LOVED this!!!!  They were so excited about taking home their "STORM IN A BOTTLE."

Our memory verse this week was Psalm 119:165.  We had a little tune that we sang this Memory Verse too.  The children had it memorized before leaving class.  I love it when they know their memory verse so well that they leave the classroom singing it.  Those moments make me smile.

Our Game/Activity was so much fun!!!  We had a  "sea" and "boat" in  the classroom. The "sea" was made from an air bed covered with a blue sheet.  The boat was made from corrugated  plastic that I bought at our local Goodwill for a $1.00 a sheet.  I count this as a lucky find.  :-)  The  children were able to  board the boat and then had to answer questions for the lesson...when they answered the questions we would push up and down on the air bed to make "WAVES."  They would then say, "PEACE BE STILL" and we would stop making the waves.  We repeated this several times.  The kiddos LOVED this activity. 

Kiddos are Aboard the Boat....and the wave are billowing!

We added a few words to our "WORD WALL."  The children are so happy learning these  "BIG PEOPLE" words.  

On Wednesday Evening the children made a picture with a boat on it.  They added the sails (made from cotton material that I had on hand)  and then added the STORM CLOUDS and  then colored the PEACEFUL  side.  They added this to their EXPLORER JOURNAL. 

I am enjoying teaching this UNIT of the Fruit of the Spirit.  It has allowed the children to learn VARIOUS stories from the Bible.  Since I normally teach in a CHRONOLOGICAL fashion, this is a nice break from MY norm.  It is challenging me to think of Biblical Example that go along with each attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit.  So far, so good.  

Blessings,

Ronda

Fished the Armor of God Unitt!!!!

We finished the Armor of God unit.  The children had soooo much fun learning all about the Armor God wants us to be wearing.  I decided for this post to post a lot of pictures of one of the kiddos in his FULL "ARMOR OF GOD."  

They all enjoyed making their ARMOR PIECES....and when we put them all together they had their entire suit of ARMOR.  I know they will NEVER forget learning about this very important subject.  

They LOVED learning about the Armor of God.

Happy Boy

 

Belt of Truth.  

Breastplate of Righteousness. 

Sandals of Peace.  

Helmet of Salvation.  

Shield of Faith.  

Sword of the Spirit.

Armor of God Exploring Bible History New Testament Lessons 3

We are continuing our lessons on the Armor of God.  This past Sunday we added "Sandals of Peace" to our Belt of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness.  We learned that God wants our feet to be SHOD with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.    

I wanted the kiddos to realize that when we teach others about Jesus we are sharing news that gives people a lasting PEACE.  I also explained that sometimes people try to say that life is nothing but problems and disappointments,  but, because we are wearing our "sandals of peace" we know that God takes care of us and that we do NOT need to worry.  

I started off by asking the kiddos why we wear our shoes?  The answers were sooooo cute.   They responded with comments such as, "to protect our feet from the hot ground."  (BTW,  we have been in the 100 degrees for the past few weeks.)  One even said, "with out shoes you might step on rocks, glass or stickers. And that HURTS!"    One little girl said, "I wear shoes because they are cool and match my dresses."  (typical little girl ;-))   I loved ALL their answers.  I then explained that we wear the "Sandals of Peace" for all the same reasons.    

I explained the the "Sandals of Peace" protect our feet while we are teaching others.  They help us keep teaching even though some people don't want to hear the Good News of Jesus.   I then took what the little girl said and talked to them about how the "Sandals of Peace" go with all our other Armor pieces...and they help "complete" the outfit.    

As our "Take Home" activity we made "Sandals of Peace." Yes, they are wearable Sandals.  I think they turned out kinda cute.   I took pictures of each child wearing their sandals....I love little kids toes...and I know their parents will love receiving a pic. of their kiddo wearing their handmade "Sandals of Peace."

Our memory verse was Ephesians 6:15.  We sang the verse to a little tune and they all had it memorized before leaving class....BTW, I took the time to explain the word "SHOD."  I want them to understand what the verse means.  So, anytime I think there is something in a verse that is confusing I do my best to explain it in "KIDDO TERMS."  

The kiddos made the flip flop version of "Sandals of Peace" for their Explorer Journals.....They added the ribbons that say, "Jesus Loves Me."  We used this as a jump off point to say, "Since Jesus Loves us we need to feel peaceful." We went on and explained the need to SHARE the story of Jesus and HIS love for us....this is how we wear our "Sandals of Peace."

For our review game we rolled the cube I made for lesson one...I then asked the kiddos which piece of armor the cube landed on...We were pushed for time this past Sunday, as making the sandals and taking pictures, took up a little more time than our usual activities....so, I cut the review game time down by just letting them roll the cube after answering a question from the lesson.  They enjoyed it very much. 

Blessings,

Ronda