Fun Photos From 12/16/12

Check out some photos of us having fun at service on December 16, 2012!!

 

We learned about the shepherds and that the angels told them not to be afraid because Jesus was born.

 

We took some shaving cream and a q-tip to make fur for our sheep, we made bell bracelets, and we blew cotton balls into the hoola hoop to get all of our "sheep" in the "pen." The shepherds were the first ones to know about Jesus being born, and He is our gift to us.

 

In the prayer spot, we thanked God that we are able to be with our families at Christmas. We also prayed for the soldiers and those who are not able to spend Christmas with their families.

 

We also had froggy dressed up as an angel!

 

Just a reminder, there is no service on December 31, 2012. Enjoy your holiday!!!

Why is Jesus special?

On December 2, we examined the question "Why is Jesus special?" The answer, of course, is that Jesus is God's Son. Our Bible story came from Luke 1:26-33,38,46 where the angel told Mary that she would have a special baby.


We ate angels made out of cheese, crackers, and chocolate chips for eyes.

We colored angels with gold cupcake wings.

We made snow angels!

We also started learning our new scripture for the month John 3:16 - "God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son.” (GNT) Feel free to practice this at home with motions! We will provide a link to the motions on the sidebar of this page!

The prayer this month is to remember that everything we do to celebrate Jesus birthday is an act of worship unto our Lord. One way that we are worshipping our Lord is by learning the song "Away in a Manger" but with an upbeat style!

We would also like to welcome Simon Bigger as our newest student volunteer!!

Our focus this month is the manger scene and Jesus' birth, and you can do several activities at home to remind your child of this special event:

1. Play a memory game with baby items. Instructions: Place on a tray baby items pacifier, lotion etc. and talk about how God gave us baby Jesus. Cover tray with a towel or napkin and see how many items you can remember that were on the tray.
2. Make handprint angels. Instructions: http://www.kinderart.com/crafts/handprintangels.shtml
3. Make crafts that remind us of baby Jesus. Here is a website that has several craft ideas for making ornaments, pictures, decorations, etc. that involve baby Jesus. http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/12/02/baby-jesus-crafts/

God Made Me To Worship Him

This week, we continued our lesson on David and how his life illustrates that God gives us good friends. Our memory verse for this month has been Ecclesiastes 4:9 - "Two people are better than one. They can help each other in everything they do." We looked at the fact that God made us to praise Him. In 2 Samuel 6:5,14 and Psalm 149:1-5 we saw that David praised God. He played his harp and sang and danced!

We made guitars, filled Easter eggs with beans to make maracas, and played our instruments during worship!! It is really fun to make music for God while you worship Him!! 

 

If you would like to make some instruments for worship at home, check out these websites:
http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2011/07/homemade-musical-instruments-for-kids.html
http://www.kinderart.com/teachers/9instruments.shtml

 

 We also sent home a project for Countdown Till Christmas. If you have not received one yet they will be available in the classroom again this Sunday (December 2nd)!

See you Sunday!!!

Friends Help Each Other

On November 18th, we continued in the life of David. In the Bible story (found in 1 Samuel 20:14-17 and 2 Samuel 9:1-13), David helped Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. 

We found canned goods hidden around the room and placed them into our Turkey box that we've been collecting food in for Feed the Turkey. God wants friends to help each other because two are better than one. 

We also talked about Thanksgiving coming up and about what we are thankful for. We had fun hammering golf tees into a pumpkin with one another while we each said something that we are thankful for. 

For snack, we had a preschool feast! We had mashed potatoes, green beans, turkey, and a yummy cookie for dessert! 

We hope that you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and we will see you next week!!

Two Are Better Than One

This week we continued to learn that two are better than one. Friends are great to have and they help each other feel better when they are sad. One thing that we can do to make our friends feel better is pray with them. We talked about how sad David and Jonathan were when they had to leave each other, but they were thankful that they got to be close friends.

For the first part of class, the kids just spent some time together playing and being friends. They played cars, found stones and soldiers in the sand, and made play sandwiches. We also made friendship bracelets!

If you'd like to continue the fun of friends at home, here are a few ideas:





Make Hands of Friendship out of construction paper and hang them somewhere cool!














Read The Rainbow Fish and color your very own Rainbow Fish!

Don't forget to bring in your canned/boxed goods for Feed the Turkey!!

God Gives Us Good Friends

This week we learned that God gives us good friends. In the Bible, God gave David a good friend named Jonathan. They shared with each other and helped with each other.

 

To illustrate David and Jonathan sharing with each other, we made heart necklaces to share with each other. We also learned a new song called "Together" which had lots of actions to it - marching, hopping, swimming, and flying!

 

At the Prayer Spot, we prayed for Tripp because is in the hospital after an accident during the storm. By praying for Tripp, the kids learned that friends pray for each other.

The memory verse for November is Ecclesiastes 4:9:"Two people are better than one, they can help each other in everything they do." We began learning it with motions this week. If you'd like to practice at home, you can find the verse with motions on the left bar of the Parents' Page under the November 2012 Memory Verse heading.

 

Don't forget to bring your canned/boxed goods for Feed the Turkey!!

 

See you next week!

 

 

 

 

David Led the Israelite Army

This week, we learned about how God helped David and put him in charge of the Israelite army. He led them through various battles and overcame his enemies by using God's strength. Just like the Israelite army marched into battle, we marched around to 2 of our songs: "I'm in the Lord's Army" and "Be Bold".

After watching our lesson about David, we practiced our memory verse, which is 2 Chronicles 32:8 - "We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us." The kids are getting very good at saying their verse and doing the motions! If you'd like to practice the monthly memory verse with motions, it can be found on the left side of this page.

We discovered a double prayer spot in our room, which gave us the opportunity to pray for both the church and those who are sick. For our weekly craft, we made paper swords, shields, and even used balloon swords to "battle" with one another. It was so much fun!

God helps me do BIG things!

This week, we answered the question "Who helps me do big things?". God helps us do big things, and He tells us that in 2 Chronicles 32:8 (NLT) - "We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!"

In our Bible story, the kids continued to learn about David. When he fought the giant, Goliath, he didn't have to be afraid because he KNEW God would help him. The story of David and Goliath is found in 1 Samuel 17:1-50. David won the fight against Goliath because God helped him. God helped David do a big, scary thing, and He will help us do big things!

Here are a few fun ways that you can remember this week's lesson together at home:


Play-Doh Stones: At the start of the activity, start a conversation with your child about how many stones David threw at Goliath: “Do you remember how many stones David threw at Goliath?  Yes! He threw five stones at Goliath. Lets count them. (Counting on your fingers as you count aloud) One, two, three, four, five! Great job! We are going to make stones out of the Play-Doh®. Can you use your hands to make stones out of the Play-Doh®?” Give your child some Play-Doh®, and instruct them to knead it and roll it into 5 small balls.





Rock Painting: You can remind your child of the 5 stones that David threw at Goliath by painting stones together. You'll need different colors of paint, paintbrushes, paper plates, permanent markers, stones, and anything else that you'd like to use to make your stones look cool! (Tip: The rocks can be found or purchased. If you’re looking to purchase them, you can find them at dollar stores or craft stores.) While you're painting, you can talk about how God helped David defeat the big, scary Goliath using 5 little stones!

God helped David do a big, scary thing. God helps your child do big things too!

See you next week!

God Looks at the Heart

This week, we learned that God looks at the heart, while men just see the outside. To illustrate, we looked at a pumpkin. Just like we culdnt' see the seeds until we took the top off, we can't see into a person's heart. But, God can and does!

In today's Bible lesson, Samuel went to annoint a new king for Israel.  He looked at all of Jesse's 7 sons, but God knew that David would be the next king of Israel because He could see in their hearts.

To continue this conversation at home, you can do things with the number 7.  Jump on one foot 7 times, snap your fingers 7 times, count out 7 grapes, etc.

See you next week!

God Loves Me & Will Save the Day!

Today's preschool lesson taught us that God loves me and will save the day.  We looked at the life of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  Even though the king was planning to kill them, God protected them and was with them in the furnace!

Our memory verse for this month is:

"Nothing can separate us from God's love."  Romans 8:39

God Gives Manna

During August, our preschool class has learned that God is always with us.  This week, we looked at the way that God provided manna, quail and water for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness.

God always gives us what we need.

Manna is like bread.  This week, when you make a sandwich, you can talk about how God provided the Israelites with what they needed and He will give us what we need, too.

We had manna falling from the sky in preschool this week!!

Ok, so maybe it was popcorn, but it looked like manna!

Crossing the Red Sea

This Sunday the preschool class continued to learn that God is always with me. This week we talked about how God led the Israelites at the Red Sea.  We learned that since God is with me, I can be brave!!

This week at home, you can hang blue streamers down in your child's bedroom doorway and pretend to "part the sea" as you go thru the door.  Thank you, Molly Phillips, for creating our "Wall of Water" in our preschool class.

Or watch, Finding Nemo, and talk about how God is always with us and can help us be brave!

This link below will take you to a site where you can print an activity you can do at home to review the Bible story.

http://www.dltk-bible.com/crafts/mpaperredsea.htm

Moses and the Burning Bush

During August, our preschoolers are learning the answer to this question:

Who is always with you?

And the answer is; "God is always with you!"

The memory verse for this month is,

  

"God is always with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Moses had to do something that he was afraid to do.  He had to go talk to Pharaoh.  But he learned that God would be with him, even when he was afraid.   God was always with Moses, just like

....."God is always with me!"

The burning bush!

And It Was Good

Today we concluded our summer study of Creation.  Today we learned that on the seventh day, God rested.  He looked at everything He had created and it was all good!!



Here's a fun thing you can do this week to remind your child that God rested.  Build a blanket for and make a shadow puppet show while you rest together.


Another fun activity that you can do together is listen to Adventures in Odyssey.  Check out their website here:  www.Whitsend.org

Day 6: God Created Animals

Throughout July, our preschool class is celebrating all of God's creation!  We know that "God makes good things" and this week we learned that on the sixth day of creation, God made the animals.  Our memory verse is:

"God saw all that He had made and it was very good!" Genesis 1:31





The class had a visitor, too!

God made the animals!

Here are a few things you can do this week with your preschooler to talk about God's creation of animals this week:

-Muddy creatures: mix up a little mud in the bottom of a dishpan and add plastic animals and talk about which animals like to live and play in the mud.

-While eating dinner, talk about what foods the animals eat.

- Gather wet or dry sand and make animal prints using forks, cotton balls, twigs, etc.  You can find pictures of animal tracks on the internet or in books at the library.

Day 4: Sun, Moon & Stars!

 As our preschoolers continue in their focus that "God Made Everything!" today we learned that on the 4th day of creation, God made the sun, the moon and the stars.  They had a great time looking at the glowing stars under the table with their flashlights.  And they even had sun and star snacks!

Day 3!

This week was Day 3 of Creation!!  As we continue learning that "God Made Everything"; we learned that Day 3 was when God created the land, the plants and the sea.  Check out these pictures of this week's class:

Creation Station: Week #2

This week as we chugged into Creation Station, we learned that on Day 2 of creation, God created the sky and water.  This cute ducky visited the class, as we talked about where you would use it: the sky or the water?  

We have talked a lot about the fact that "God created EVERYTHING"!  

Our memory verse for this series is, "You made the world and everything in it." Psalm 89:11

As you go through this week, look at the sky and talk with your child about what is in the sky; the clouds, the birds, the rain and rainbow.  This is a great time to talk about how God created everything!

June is Here!

June is here and with it our preschoolers are learning that "God Made Everything".  Each Sunday, the "Creation Train" will come chugging into the class as"Creation Station" and learn about a different day in creation.  This week,  we learned that on the first day, God made Dark and Light.

Take the opportunity this week, if you see a train, to talk about the Creation Train and how God Made Everything!!