Sunday School Sunday - The Story and The Song

If you're like me, you don't like being told what to do... and that includes following a Children's Ministry curriculum. I love having the opportunity to teach kids God's Word, but also like to use the gifts and talents I have of creating in order to do so.

Each week I will give you a lesson plan that I would use in order to teach kids in my church. Now, I DO NOT want you to follow it step-by-step when you use it! I want you to get some ideas, but create what would be best for YOUR kids using YOUR creativity! Trust me, YOU can do it!

I usually use The Jesus Storybook Bible when I teach. You can get it on amazon here, or most likely find it at the nearest Christian store.

The first "story" in The Jesus Storybook Bible is called "The Story and the Song", so let's dive into a lesson where the kids will be engaged AND learn more about the Lord (no curriculum needed)!

. . .

"The Story and the Song"

PREPARATION:

The story mentions Jesus being the missing puzzle piece towards the end of the story, so we are going to create a puzzle in which Jesus can be the missing puzzle piece.

This is the puzzle we will be making. 

First, fold a piece of paper "hamburger style".

Next, fold it in half again. 

(If you unfolded the paper, there should be 4 columns.)

Now, we will create 2 folds lengthwise.

You should end up with a square like this when you are done folding.

Open up the paper, and you should have 12 squares. 

Next, we will draw half circles in the center of each line that makes a square like so.

(These will be the links for the puzzle.)

Your paper should turn out to look something like this. 

Next, draw lines across the folds that we created, 

making sure not to put a line through the half circles just drawn. 

It should end up looking close to this.

Next, write "I love you." in all of the puzzle pieces except ONE.

We will then write the word, "Jesus", in the last puzzle piece.

Grab your scissors and cut out the puzzle pieces (being careful not to cut through a puzzle link).

Before the children arrive, hide the puzzle pieces to the puzzle we have created around the room, but make sure to keep the "Jesus" puzzle piece with The Jesus Storybook Bible!

You can hide the "Jesus" puzzle piece either inside the back cover, or...

hold it on the back cover as you read the story. Just make sure the kids can't see it. 

STORYTIME:

Once the kids are ready for their lesson, begin reading the story.

After you read, "He wrote his message everywhere!" have the children look for the "I love you" puzzle pieces hidden around the room. Explain that God shows us He loves us all over!

Tell the kids that there are 12 puzzle pieces hidden around the room. When they can only find 11, have them sit down and mention that we can try to find the last piece later.

Continue the story.

At the end of the page, it says, "And God put it into words, too, and wrote it in a book called 'the Bible.'"

(I will sometimes put a post-it note on a place to remind me that I have an activity I would like to the kids at this spot in the story.)

SONG:

Have the kids stand up and teach them "The B.I.B.L.E.". Yes, I know this is an old song, but "it's an oldie, but a goodie." You can make up hand motions to this song, or have each class make up their own motions! The kids LOVE creating motions to things!

If you'd like, you could also sing "Jesus Loves Me" as that song goes along with our story too!

After you finish going over the song/songs (when you can tell we need to move on), have the kids sit back down, and continue with the story.

STORY:

Continue reading the story. Ask questions as you go along, such as "Who is your favorite hero?" to keep the students engaged.

When you get to the last page, get your "Jesus" puzzle piece ready to drop.

When you get to the part in the story that says, "He is like a missing piece in a puzzle," drop the puzzle piece from behind the book.

The kids will freak out now that we've found the missing puzzle piece. Also, make sure to look surprised when in happens!

If the kids had begun putting the puzzle together, you can place the "Jesus" puzzle piece into the missing spot.

Finish the story.

PRAY:

Have the kids put their "hands together, eyes closed, heads bowed", and pray thanking God for the Bible. Feel free to have volunteers come up and pray! Some kids absolutely LOVE to do this, and their prayers are so sweet!

CRAFT:

For today's craft, we will make a "Bible" out of one sheet of paper and a couple of colored pencils.

The front will say, "BIBLE", and will be colored in to look like a book.

When you first open it, you will see what looks like a lot of words.

But when you open it up fully, it will read "God loves you."

. . .

The Bible is a complex book that has a lot of words, but overall the message is that 

GOD LOVES YOU.

. . . 

First, fold the paper in half (hamburger style).

Fold it in half once again using hamburger style.

When you are done folding, it should look like this.

Next, either have the kids or the volunteers help in writing "BIBLE" on the cover. 

If you'd like, you can have the kids sing the song again as they work.

Next, we will squiggle horizontal lines onto the pages we find when one first opens the book. 

Next, we will open up the page fully, and...

write "GOD LOVES YOU" on the inside.

Depending on how old the kids are, you can either have written this for them, and they can color in the heart, or they can do the entire thing for themselves. 

The front should look something like this. The important thing is that is says, "Bible", and...

the inside should look something like this. 

Allow the kids to use their creativity to come up with ways to color their "Bible". 

FREE PLAY:

I usually will allow the students to enjoy free play until their parents come. You can also have some kids who enjoy crafts to make some more of these Bibles to hand out to others (whether that means they hand them out to others, or you can hand them out to people in your church)!

In all, enjoy this time with the kids of your church, and have fun connecting with them. Ask Susie what she's drawing, or ask Tom if he's building a castle with those blocks. 

Engage with the students, and reflect to them God's love and acceptance as you also make sure no one kills themselves. 

. . . 

Enjoy the time you have with the kiddos God provides.

TGBTG