Unit 14 / Lesson 1
Attitudes To Start The Day
Slides for the Lesson
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Teacher's Prep
Games
Traffic Yam
Enough large marshmallows for each child to have two (one to put on the floor, and one to eat as a prize).
This game is based off of a Minute To Win It game called Traffic Yam. Normally, it is a relay race between two teams in which teams need to move a yam across the floor of the room using only their noses. Seeing that we have kids and don't want to hurt anyone's nose, we can replace the yam with a marshmallow.
Alternatively, you can have them move a gummy bear across a table.
For reference, watch this video:
Traffic Yam! By Tyler Lowden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncKeCAPGOk&ab_channel=TylerLowden
Drawing with Limited Crayons
Materials:
Two crayons per child
Two sheets of paper per child
Red Solo Cup Behind Back
Materials:
Two plastic cups per ten kids. Red solo cups work great.
Main Activity (Make a Bouncy Ball):
See this website for instructions
Materials for every two children (these quantities will make 4-5 bouncy balls):
1/4 cup Boiling water
1/2 Tablespoon Borax
2 Tablespoons Elmer's clear glue
Glitter
Equipment needed:
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Small bowls
Spoons
Make some sample bouncy balls before the lesson, so that you can get familiar with the activity, and so that you have an example to show at the beginning of the craft.
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
How was your week?
SLIDE 2
Intro Game: Traffic Yam
Instructions
We'll start our lesson with a game! It’s called Traffic Yam, because sometimes it’s played with yams. It's a relay race, so we will have two teams. Everyone on your team will take a turn moving a marshmallow across the floor of the room with just their nose! When it's your turn, you'll start touching the wall, and then you'll roll the marshmallow to the other side of the room, touch the far wall while your nose is still on the marshmallow, then roll the marshmallow back with your nose and touch the wall where you came from. Then the next person on your team will go. If you finish, you get a new, clean marshmallow to eat for all of your effort.
Teacher: you will want to demonstrate how to play, at least at key parts of the relay, e.g. how to begin, how to roll, how to touch the far wall while your nose is on the marshmallow, and how to end one's turn at the near wall.
Debrief and Relevance
We played this game because it helps us to start thinking about the beginning of our day.
The game can be a bit uncomfortable, and there can be a lot of noise, and it can be hard to focus, and you can’t always see what’s happening around you.
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And, life can be like that too. When we wake up on a school day, we normally have all kinds of things to do. We also have people telling us what we should do, and we have things going wrong all the time.
And if we're not careful, we can get angry and frustrated, and we can think we're having a terrible day and a terrible life.
Series Intro
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But if you know how to think like a Christian, you can be happier, and you can also help a lot more people.
So, for the next few weeks we’ll be learning how to think like a Christian through the different parts of our day.
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Big Question
Our big question today is:
What should we remember at the start of each day?
Big Idea
Our big idea is: we should remember to celebrate and to work.
As it turns out, every day is a day to celebrate, and every day is a day to work.
Bible Reference
That’s what we learn from the Bible. Let's read our Bible verses for today:
SLIDE 6
Philippians 4:4-5 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Teacher: you may need to explain that the word "rejoice" means to celebrate, and the word "evident" means "clear, like anyone can see it." So, this Bible passage is telling us, it’s always time to celebrate because we have the Lord, and he is near.
Ephesians 2:10 (ICB)
God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good works. God had planned in advance those good works for us. He had planned for us to live our lives doing them.
Point 1
Our first point is: Every day is a day to celebrate.
SLIDE 7
Game: Drawing with Limited Crayons
Instructions
We'll start our point with a game! It's a drawing game. Each of you will get two crayons, and a couple of pieces of paper. I'll tell you what to draw, and you'll have two minutes to draw each picture. Make the picture as nice as you can in two minutes. And then, we'll share the pictures that we drew.
Our first picture is: a dinosaur
Teacher: wait two minutes for the kids to draw. If they look like they need more time, you can extend the time by a bit.
Time's up! Let's see what we all drew.
Alright, let's draw a couple more pictures.
Please flip over the page that you drew on, so we'll draw on the backside.
Our second picture is: outer space
Teacher: for each picture, give the kids two minutes to draw, and then have them show each other what they drew. For the third and fourth pictures, you can draw things like: a castle, and a playground. Note, you can cut the game short if the kids are losing interest, or if you are low on time.
Debrief
SLIDE 8
We played this game because it gives us a chance to do one of two things. On the one hand, we could complain that we don't have all the colors we want. But on the other hand, we could notice that there's so much that we can do with two colors! We can draw practically anything with just two colors! And, it helps to know that if you really get into trouble, you’re not alone, but you can always talk to the teacher.
Bible Reference
That's the idea behind our first Bible passage. Let's read it again:
SLIDE 9
Philippians 4:4-5 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Explanation
These were Paul's words to a bunch of Christians who were going through a hard time. They had some scary enemies.
SLIDE 10
Their leader was in jail.
SLIDE 11
Some of the Christians were even fighting with each other. So, there was a lot that these Christians could complain about.
SLIDE 12
But, Paul reminded the Christians that they also had a lot to be happy about. The good news about Jesus was spreading all over the place, and it was helping people in the greatest way. And, God had taken care of the Christians. God was close to the Christians, and they could trust God to keep taking care of them.
SLIDE 13
So, Paul encouraged the Christians to celebrate because of all the great things that God was doing for them.
Application
SLIDE 14
It’s like that for us too. There’s always something we could complain about. But, on the other hand, there is always something to be thankful for. So, let's always remember all the good things that God is doing for us, and we’ll find a reason to celebrate even when all kinds of things are going wrong.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 15
Let's pause for a discussion question:
What’s something you can be thankful for, even on a bad day?
Point 2
Our second point is: Every day is a day to work.
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Game: Red Solo Cup Behind Back
Instructions
We'll start this point with a game! It's a really simple game.
We’ll form teams of about five people each. Each team will have two plastic cups.
Everyone on your team will take turns dropping the cup behind their back. If it lands right side up or upside down, you’re done, and you can pass the cup to someone else on your team. If the cup lands on its side, you need to pick it up and try again.
You have two cups so your team can have two people at a time doing the challenge. You win when everyone on your team has finished the challenge.
So, help each other out -- you can pick up the cup for each other, and you can cheer each other on.
Teacher: you may want to do a demonstration for how to drop the cup behind your back, and what counts as a good landing (right side up, or upside down, but not resting on the side). Also, you may want to play two or three rounds of this game depending on time and the level of interest.
Debrief
We played this game because it’s about putting in the work. We don’t know when the cup is going to land the right way, but we will win if we just keep putting in the work. And, when we win,
SLIDE 17
it won’t just be good for us, but it will also be good for everyone on our team.
Bible Reference
Our game helps us to understand what the Bible says about work. Let's read our second Bible passage again:
SLIDE 18
Ephesians 2:10 (ICB)
God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good works. God had planned in advance those good works for us. He had planned for us to live our lives doing them.
Explanation
SLIDE 19
This verse tells us that God created us to do good work. God wants us to use our energy to help people and make life better for people.
SLIDE 20
And, this verse also tells us that God has prepared things for us, so that we can do that work. For example, in the game we played, someone had to prepare the cups and prepare the rules. You couldn’t play the game with the cups, and you couldn’t play without the rules! So in real life, God has prepared lots of things for us, and all we need to do is try our best with the things He has given us.
Application
SLIDE 21
So, let's always look for good work to do -- and we'll see that there's a lot we can do. When we are in school, we can train our minds, and we can make friends, and we can build character. When we are at home, we can help around the house, and we can build good habits. There are lots of things to work on!
SLIDE 22
There's also a time to rest, and God wants us to rest. But, we should rest so that we can do more work and better work later on.
If we keep on working like that, we can help a lot of people, and God will be happy with us. And He promises to reward us in the end, so that we are happy with Him.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 23
Let's pause for a discussion question:
What's something you can work on today or tomorrow?
SLIDE 24
Conclusion
To wrap up this lesson, our big question was:
What should we remember at the start of each day?
Our big idea was:
We should remember to celebrate and to work – because, every day is a day to celebrate, and every day is a day to work.
SLIDE 25
Main Activity: Making Bouncy Balls
Now it's time for our main activity. Today we are making our own bouncy balls!
Teacher: show the class the bouncy balls you made before the lesson.
Let me tell you beforehand: this is a messy craft, and things can get sticky. You’ll have reasons to complain. BUT, let’s remember what we learned in today’s lesson. There’s always something to celebrate, and there’s always good work to do, and if we keep trying, everything will be good for us in the end.
Teacher: make the bouncy balls with the class, following the instructions from the website:
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