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Choosing Friends

Unit 2 / Lesson 4

Choosing Friends

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Captain's Coming

    • Memory Game

    • Bunny Tail Hunt

      • Cotton balls (10 per child)

      • A bag of chocolate eggs (or enough for 3 per child) or other similarly small prizes

      • Spread cotton balls generously over a wide area which can be explored. If you have helpers, have them spread out the cotton balls during the discussion phase of Point 1. Otherwise, you may want to do this task before the lesson begins.

      • Make some cotton balls easy to find, and some more challenging.

  • Discussion Sheet (print off a copy for each student)

  • Main Activity (Pizza Making):

    • Find a recipe and possibly a YouTube video to share with the children.

    • Bring ingredients

    • Prepare the kitchen and equipment.


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    SLIDE 2

    • How was your week?

  • Intro Activity: Captain's Coming

    SLIDE 3

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: you may want to play this video to help children get familiar with the rules of Captain's Coming

      • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35_bmHF-OM&ab_channel=NorthwestChildren%27sTheater%26School

      • Sample Phrases

        • BOW: shipmates race to the front of the room

        • STERN: shipmates run to the back of the room

        • STARBOARD: shipmates run to the right of the room

        • PORT: shipmates run to the left of the room

        • CAPTAIN'S COMING: shipmates stand at attention, salute, and say, "Aye, aye, Captain!"

        • SCRUB THE DECK: shipmates mime scrubbing on hands and knees or with a mop

        • CLIMB THE RIGGING: shipmates pretend to climb a rope ladder

        • MAN THE LIFEBOAT: shipmates find a partner and hold both hands together

        • SHARK ATTACK: shipmates lie on their backs with their feet up

        • FREEZE: shipmates stop all actions and can't continue until the captain says, "Unfreeze"

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it’s about following instructions. 

      • As Christians we need to follow instructions in the Bible.

      • Today we are talking about how to choose friends. 

    SLIDE 4

    • A lot of people don’t know it, but the Bible gives us instructions for how to choose our friends.

    • Did you know, some people should not be our friends? On the other hand, there are people who would be great friends.

    • If you have a great friend, you can have a lot of fun, and you can help each other to be better people. A great friend will make you wiser, kinder, and more powerful.

  • Big Question

    SLIDE 5

    • Our big question today is: how should we choose our friends?

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is: when we are trying to bring honor to God, we will know who our friends should be.

  • Bible Reference

    SLIDE 6

    • Let's read our main Bible verse for today.

    • 1 Corinthians 10:31 (CEV)

      • When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God.


    Point 1

    SLIDE 7

  • Our first point is, some people make bad friends.

  • Activity: Memory (Team Edition)

    • Instructions

    SLIDE 8

    • We'll start this point with a game called Memory.

    • Teacher: you may want to play this short instructional video if you think any of the children are unfamiliar with Memory (the card matching game).

    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=492bM_dhdR4&ab_channel=GatherTogetherGames

    • In order to play, we need to set up a table for every group of 4-6. On each table, we need to have a lot of cards upside down and spread out neatly.

    • Let's take a moment to set up the tables and the cards

    • Teacher: set up tables and cards with the children. Cards should end up in a grid formation.

    • Now everyone needs to find a partner, and when you've found your partner, go to a table. You and your partner should stand on opposite sides of the table, and you will be on opposite teams!

    • Everyone will go around the table turning over two cards, and seeing if they match. If they match, you get to keep the cards for your team. Work together with the people on your team and try to get as many matches as you can. If you run out of cards to match, you can start the game again.

    • Teacher: run the game for about 10 minutes.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it reminds us that not every match is a good match.

    SLIDE 9

    • That's how it's like when we are choosing friends. Not every person should be your friend, and that is okay, because there will be other people who can be your friend. 

    • Now you might be wondering: what is a bad friend like? The Bible gives us clues for who would be a bad friend. Today, we’ll be reading the Bible for ourselves to see what it says.

  • Discussion Groups

    SLIDE 10

    SLIDE 11

    • Let's share our answers! Does your group have any ideas for who should NOT be your friend?

  • Explanation

    • Each of the verses in your handout gives us a clue for who should NOT be our friend, because certain people could get you into big trouble.

    SLIDE 12

    • We can expect trouble if we make friends with someone who:

      •  gets angry easily

      •  is foolish (who doesn’t like wisdom)

      •  is evil (for example, someone who shares secrets that they shouldn’t)

      •  lies to us

      • we cannot trust when we really need them

  • Application

    SLIDE 13

    • Let's remember, God put us on earth to do some really important things. He wants us to love people, do good things, and bring honor to Him. He has given us some really important work.

    • If you remember that you are here to do God's work, you will be more careful picking friends, because some people will make your work much more difficult.

    • That said, not everyone would be a bad friend. Which leads us to our next point.


    Point 2

    SLIDE 14

  • Our second point is, some people make good friends.

  • Activity: Bunny Tail Hunt

    • Instructions

    SLIDE 15

    • We will start this point with a game! It’s a bunny tail hunt! We have a whole bunch of cotton balls and they have all been spread out over a big area. 

    • In a moment, you'll all get a chance to look for them. If you find most of them, you'll get a prize.

    • Teacher: let the children know exactly how many cotton balls there are, and in which rooms they are hidden. Set some benchmarks for them. For example, if they find half of the cotton balls, they each get 1 chocolate egg. If they can find three quarters of the cotton balls, they can each get 2 chocolate eggs. If they can find almost all of the cotton balls, they can each get three chocolate eggs.

    • You will have five minutes to find as many as you can! Then you can bring them back here, and at the end of the lesson, we'll count them and see how many eggs you can have.

    • Teacher: give them about five minutes to find as many cotton balls as they can. Save the cotton balls to be counted later.

    • Debrief

    SLIDE 16

    • We played this game because it's a bit like finding a friend. A friend is like a treasure. It takes effort to find a good friend, but it's worth that effort.

  • Discussion Groups

    • You might be wondering, what makes a good friend? Well, the Bible gives us some clues. Let's make some discussion groups again -- of about 5 people each. 

    SLIDE 17

    SLIDE 18

    • Let's share our answers! Does your group have any ideas for who SHOULD be your friend?

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 19

    • Here's what we learn from the verses in your handout:

      • It's good to be friends with wise people.

      • It’s good to be friends with people who will help sharpen your mind, so you become smarter

      • It’s good to be around people who will help you succeed.

      • It’s good to be friends with people who worship God and follow His teachings.

      • It’s good to be friends with anyone who follows Jesus seriously.

  • Application

    SLIDE 20

    • All of these kinds of friends have one thing in common: they all help you to do the work that God gave you to do. Remember, God wants us to love others, do good work, and to bring honor to Him. When we are with wise people, they help us to do God's work. When people sharpen our minds and help us succeed, they help us to do God's work, even if they aren't Christians. If we are friends with other followers of Jesus, it's easier to do God's work together.

    • Always think about the work God gave you to do, and you'll have an easier time knowing who should be your friend.


    Conclusion

    SLIDE 21

  • Let’s wrap up our lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question today was: how should we choose our friends?

    SLIDE 22

  • We see our answer in our main Bible verse:

  • 1 Corinthians 10:31 (CEV)

    • When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God.

  • The Bible gives us a lot of ideas for who would be a good friend, and who would be a bad friend. Here’s the pattern in the end: try to be friends with people who help you to honor God.

  • If you can pick the right friends, the result will be very sweet.

  • Teacher: announce how many cotton balls that were collected during the bunny tail hunt, and how many chocolate eggs they can have. Distribute the eggs.


    Main Activity: Making Pizza

    SLIDE 23

  • Our main activity today is making pizza!

  • Pizza making reminds us of friendship, because in pizza lots of different things come together, and they make each other better.

  • Teacher: give instructions for how the pizza making will work.

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