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The Prodigal Son

Unit 16 / Lesson 4

The Prodigal Son

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Simon Says

      • There are no materials needed for this game, but it will really help if you are familiar with the script and if you practice. Delivery makes a big difference in this game.

    • Penne Noodle Pickup

      • Watch this YouTube video for the concept of the game:

      • Materials:

        • Spaghetti

        • Penne pasta

        • Trays for the penne pasta

        • One bowl per group of four.

      • Note: children with a gluten allergy cannot have noodles in their mouths. Have gluten free options available if needed.

    • Face the Cookie

      • One package of Oreo cookies, or enough for one cookie per child

      • For the concept of the game, you may refer to this video: 

  • Main Activity (Mural):

    • Materials:

      • A large roll of paper. You can find paper rolls on Amazon, or at IKEA

      • Painter's tape to put up the roll of paper

        • Lots of colored markers or crayons.


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Game: Simon Says

    • Instructions

      • Let's start our lesson with a game of Simon Says!

      • The rules are pretty simple-you just have to do whatever Simon says. If I don't say “Simon Says” before telling you to do an action, don’t do what I say. If you end up doing the action, you need to go to the side and sit out until the next round.

      • Teacher: you'll want to do all the actions along with them even if they are the wrong actions, to help fool them. If most of the children get eliminated, you can start again. Play as long as time and interest allow; you don't need to finish all the items, but you can skip to the end to save time.

    • Suggested script for Simon Says (you don’t have to use all of these):

      • LET’S DO A PRACTICE ROUND

      • Simon says blink your eyes 

      • **Now put your hands behind your back

        • I didn’t say Simon says! So if you put your hands behind your back, you’d be out! But this was just a practice round, so we're all still in the game.

      • NOW LET’S PLAY FOR REAL:

      • Simon says stick out your tongue

      • Simon says turn your body into a banana shape

      • **Let's all rub our tummy

      • Simon says give a thumbs up

      • Simon says clap your hands twice

      • Simon says tickle yourself under your arms

      • **Now hop on one foot

      • Simon says balance on the tips of your toes

      • Simon says jump as high as you can

      • Simon says sit down and cross your legs

      • **Alright you can all stand up

      • Simon says stand up

      • Simon says draw a star in the air

      • **Now stretch as high up as you can

      • Simon says everyone make a big circle

      • Simon says everyone stand in a line

      • Simon says look angry

      • Simon says point to your ears

      • Simon says touch your left shoulder

      • **Now give yourself a big hug

      • Simon says look left and look right

      • Simon says turn around 3 times

      • Simon says do three jumping jacks

      • Simon says tap your head

      • Simon says pull your ears

      • **Let's all take a bow

      • Simon says pretend to put a hat on.

      • **Quick, take your hat off!

      • Simon says make a heart shape with your hands.

      • Simon says make a sad face

      • **Now make a funny face

      • Simon says rub your belly

      • Simon says pretend you are chopping onions

      • **Now rub your belly and pat your head at the same time

      • Simon says show us all your teeth

      • Simon says try wiggling your ears

      • **Let's all be like a pair of scissors.

      • Simon says show us the back of your hands.

      • **Now show us the front of your hands

      • Simon says stand on one foot

      • **Now hop up and down on one foot

      • Simon says stretch to the sky

      • Simon says let's all sit down.

      • Simon says it's game over and it's time to talk about why we played the game

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's tricky, and most of us make mistakes. There are two ways to make mistakes in the game. We could do things when Simon hasn't said it. But, we could also not do things even when the leader says "Simon says."

      • So, also, in real life there are two kinds of mistakes, and our Bible story shows us these two mistakes.

    SLIDE 3

    • Most people make these two mistakes. But, if we can avoid both mistakes, we can become the most amazing people.

  • Big Question

    SLIDE 4

    • So, our big question for today is: How do Christians mess up?

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is, we can mess up in two ways:

      • 1. We can ignore God's rules, and

      • 2. We can keep God's rules with a bad attitude.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 5

    • That’s what we’ll see in our Bible story today. Our story today is called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Let's watch a video about the story.

    • Teacher: please play this YouTube video:


    Point 1

  • The first kind of mistake in our story is, ignoring God's rules.

  • Game: Penne Noodle Pickup

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: set up trays of penne noodles, and some bowls. You may want to provide one tray for every four people, and one bowl for every two people. 

      • We'll start our time with a game! It's called the Penne Noodle Pickup. Let's watch how it works.

    SLIDE 6

    SLIDE 7

    • Here are the rules: you'll all have a noodle to put in your mouth, and your goal is to pick up the other pasta with it and put it into a bowl. You'll do this as a team, so everyone around your bowl is one team. We'll do this for three minutes.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it shows the power of a good rule.

      • It might seem silly at first to use the noodle, because you could just pick up the pasta with your hand.

      • But if you pick up the pasta with your hand, you don't have a game.

      • The rule is what makes the game fun, and it gives you a chance to be creative, and you get to do stuff you never imagined doing.

    SLIDE 8

    • And that's what it's like with God's rules too. God's rules can make life harder. But, his rules can also help you in ways that you never imagined. And,his rules can keep us out of trouble. That's what we see in our Bible story.

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read about the younger son again.

    SLIDE 9

    • Luke 15:11-16 (CEV). 

      • Jesus also told them another story: Once a man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the property.”

    SLIDE 10

    • So the father divided his property between his two sons. Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living.

    SLIDE 11

    • He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat. He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.

  • Explanation

    • Jesus was saying that some people are like the younger son. The younger son was supposed to live with his father and obey his father. But the younger son didn’t want to live with all of his father’s rules.

    SLIDE 12

    • The younger son just wanted to party. So, he took his father’s money and he wasted it. And, he got into a lot of trouble.

  • Application

    • The story of the younger son reminds us that God gave us rules for a good reason. It’s because God is wiser than us, and He knows how we can live the best life.

    SLIDE 13

    • Now, all of us break God’s rules because we aren’t perfect, but the biggest mistake is to keep breaking His rules like they don't even matter. If we do that, then sooner or later, we will get into a lot of trouble.

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 14

    • Let’s stop for a discussion question: 

      • What is one rule that your parents talk about?


    Point 2

  • So, God has given us a lot of good rules. But, actually there’s a way to mess up even if we keep the rules. That brings us to our second point.

    SLIDE 15

    • The second mistake we need to watch out for is: 

      • keeping God's rules with a bad attitude.

  • Game: Face the Cookie

    • Instructions

      • We’ll start this point with a game! The game is, Face the Cookie!

      • You will all get an Oreo cookie. You play the game by tilting your head up and putting the Oreo cookie on your eye. Then you need to move the cookie into your mouth using just the muscles on your head and your face. If your cookie drops off your face, you need to put the cookie on your eye and try again.

      • Teacher: demonstrate how the game works. Alternatively, there is a video tutorial on YouTube which you can show to the children. Also, you may want them to play while standing around a table so the cookies will drop onto the table instead of the ground.

    • Debrief

    SLIDE 16

    • In this game, your attitude matters a lot. If you have a good attitude, you'll want to just try your best, and enjoy the challenge, and you can look forward to eating the cookie whenever you finish. A good attitude will help you to have fun!

    SLIDE 17

    • But if you have a bad attitude, you'll say stuff like, “this game is so dumb,” and, “I'm no good at this game,” and you'll be frustrated and angry. If you have a bad attitude, it ruins the game for you, and for the other people around you too.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 18

    • That's what the older brother had to learn in our Bible story. Let's read the second half of our story again.

    • Luke 15:25-29 (CEV)

      • The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants over and asked, “What’s going on here?”

    SLIDE 19

    • The servant answered, “Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf.”

    SLIDE 20

    • The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house. His father came out and begged him to go in. But he said to his father, “For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never even given me a little goat, so that I could give a dinner for my friends. 

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 21

    • We find out at the end of the story that the older brother was super angry. He had been working all that time when the younger brother was partying. The older brother had followed the rules.

    SLIDE 22

    • When the younger brother came back, the father threw a big party for the younger brother.

    SLIDE 23

    • So, the older brother was really jealous. The older brother complained in front of everyone that his father was unfair and that his father worked him like a slave and never gave him anything. These things were not true, but the older brother believed it, and his attitude was ruining the party for everyone. 

    • The reason Jesus told this story was because He was talking to people who were like the older brother.

    SLIDE 24

    • Jesus was talking to people who spent a lot of time reading the Bible and following the rules.Those people thought they were better than everyone else. But, those people forgot that the most important rules are all about our attitude.

    SLIDE 25

    • The most important rules in the Bible are about love and joy and trusting God. Jesus was talking to people who had forgotten those things. And, because of their terrible attitude, they kept fighting against Jesus, and eventually they killed Him. It was the rule keeping people who did the worst things, because they had the wrong attitude.

  • Application

    SLIDE 26

    • This story is a lesson to us, that we always need to watch our attitude. The most important thing is that we have love in our heart, and we trust God, and we are friends with God and we are happy with Him. 

  • Discussion Question

    SLIDE 27

    • Time for a discussion question! The question is: 

      • What is something you are good at? 

        • We ask this question because if you are good at something it’s probably because you follow a lot of rules to be that good. And, if you see other people not following the same rules, you might think you are better than them, and you might forget the attitudes of love and joy and trusting God. So, we need to be careful about our attitude especially when we are good at things. So, what is something you are good at?


    Conclusion

  • We talked about two mistakes today that can ruin our lives. 

    SLIDE 28

  • One mistake is to keep breaking God's rules like they don't matter. Our story reminds us that eventually our rule breaking will get us into a lot of trouble. 

    SLIDE 29

  • The other mistake is to keep God's rules, but with a bad attitude. We have to remember the most important rules in the Bible are about attitudes -- about love, joy, and trust. If we can keep a good attitude and follow God's rules, then God will do amazing things with us.


    SLIDE 30

    Main Activity: Mural “I'm thankful for…”

  • And that brings us to our main activity today. Today, we are making a mural! 

  • So, in a bit, we'll get a big long piece of paper and we'll start doodling on it together.

  • We’ll draw all the things we are thankful for, and we'll see that we have a lot to be thankful for.

  • And we can remember that every good thing comes from God , and we can trust Him.

  • Because if we trust God, we will keep His rules with a good attitude, and we won't have the problems that we saw in our Bible story today.

  • Teacher: give the class a long roll of paper, and markers to draw.


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