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Becoming a Leader

Unit 2 / Lesson 6

Becoming a Leader

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Pin the Hat on the Farmer

      • Materials:

        • Poster paper

        • Masking tape

        • Marker to draw on the poster (ideally a wide-tipped permanent marker)

        • Sheets of paper of two different colors that are not white

        • A pair of scissors to cut the paper

        • A blindfold

      • Instructions:

        • This game is a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey

        • The point of the game is to stick a hat on the farmer while blindfolded. Later rounds of the game will feature spinning a child around to give them a greater challenge in finding the farmer.

        • You will want to draw this graphic on a large sheet of poster paper.

        • Some options are a cotton-centered ball, a styrofoam ball, or several pieces of paper scrunched up and wrapped in tape. 

        • Note: masking tape or painter's tape should work well to make lines on the ground. However, it is sometimes troublesome to remove tape off the ground after the lesson. Instead, you can tape lines of yarn on the ground for easier clean up.

        • The picture is the top half of a stick man (get as fancy as you like with the illustration). The target needs to be big so there is a reasonable chance of finding it while blindfolded. Use a large sheet of poster paper, and make the farmer's head as big as possible. Alternatively, you may be able to draw the stick man on the ground with sidewalk chalk, or even directly on the wall if you have a way of erasing it cleanly.

        • Use masking tape to attach the poster of the farmer securely to the wall, at a height accessible to everyone.

        • For the hat, cut colored paper in half diagonally to make two triangles. Make them as fancy as you like. 

        • Make half of the hats in one color, and half of the hats in another color, so that the children can form teams based on their hat color.

        • Prepare three hats per child so each one can play three rounds.

        • For each round, attach a piece of tape to the top of the farmer's hat so that it can stick.

    • Balloons Up

      • You will need a pack of balloons, or as many balloons as you have children. 

    • Zone Soccer (optional game at the end)

      • Materials:

        • A very soft ball that people could kick, but it would not hurt to be hit by the ball. 

          • Some options are a cotton-centered ball, a styrofoam ball, or several pieces of paper scrunched up and wrapped in tape. 

        • Tape to mark the ground 

          • Note: masking tape or painter's tape should work well to make lines on the ground. However, it is sometimes troublesome to remove tape off the ground after the lesson. Instead, you can tape lines of yarn on the ground for easier clean up.

      • This game is inspired by a foosball table. In foosball, each team has lines that control a part of the field.

      • In this game, each team controls parts of the room. See the graphic below:

      • Prepare a slide of the graphic above, so the children can see it before you play.

      • Have the ground marked before the start of the lesson.

    • Blind Man's Bluff

      • Blindfold

      • Pool noodle


    Intro

SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

SLIDE 2

SLIDE 3

  • Debrief

    • We played this game because it's about following a leader. Today you were following me. Eventually all of us will become leaders in some way, and will need to tell other people what to do.

SLIDE 4

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is, what kind of leader should we be?

SLIDE 5

  • Relevance

    • There are different kinds of leaders out there. Some leaders are selfish and don't care about people, and they make life hard for everyone else. A good leader helps everyone to be the best they can be.

SLIDE 6

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is:

    • We should become the kinds of leaders who help others. 

    • Our Bible passage today teaches two things we need in order to help others.

      • 1. We need strength, and

      •  2. We need mercy

SLIDE 7

  • Bible Reference

    • We'll see this in our Bible passage today. Let's read from the book of Proverbs.

    • Proverbs 31:1-9 (CEV)

      • 1 These are the sayings that King Lemuel of Massa was taught by his mother. 2 My son Lemuel, you were born in answer to my prayers, so listen carefully. 3 Don't waste your life chasing after women! This has ruined many kings. 4 Kings and leaders should not get drunk or even want to drink. 5 Drinking makes you forget your responsibilities, and you mistreat the poor. 6 Beer and wine are only for the dying or for those who have lost all hope. 7 Let them drink and forget how poor and miserable they feel. 8 But you must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. 9 Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.


SLIDE 8

Point 1

  • Our first point is, we need strength

SLIDE 9

  • Game: Pin the Hat on the Farmer

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: put up the poster of the farmer, taping it very securely to the wall. See instructions for the game at the top of this lesson plan.

      • Let's start this point with a game!

      • This game is called, "Pin the hat on the Farmer." Here's how it works.

      • We have a poster of a farmer. You need to put a hat on the farmer. Your hat will have a little bit of tape on it so it can stick.

      • You'll be blindfolded, so it won't be so easy.

      • We'll play three rounds. The first round, your team will help you to find the farmer. You’ll want to listen to your team, and you'll be able to find the farmer.

      • The rounds after that will get more challenging.

      • Let's make two teams. Each team will have a different color of hat to pin on the farmer. 

      • Further instructions for teacher:

        • Pass out the hats. Have the teams take turns sending people to pin the hat on the farmer (while blindfolded).

        • When everyone is done, you can give the teams a score.

          • A hat on the paper gets one point.

          • A hat that touches the head gets two points.

          • A hat on top of the head gets three points.

        • Remove the hats between rounds.

        • For the second round, you will want to increase the challenge by spinning them around before they start.

        • For the third round, individuals must try to find the farmer without the help of their team. Teams must be quiet for the third round and not give instructions. It's up to you if you want to also spin the children around for the third round.

SLIDE 10

  • Debrief

    • Teacher: praise the teams for their efforts. You may want to ask if they had a secret to finding the farmer in the last round.

    • We played this game because it's a bit like leadership. When you are leading people, there are lots of things you can't see. You need to have a very clear idea of what you should be doing. It really helps to listen to people who can see more than you can.

    • We'll find these ideas in our Bible passage. Let's read the first half again.

SLIDE 11

  • Bible Reference

    • Proverbs 31:1-5 (CEV)

      • 1 These are the sayings that King Lemuel of Massa was taught by his mother. 2 My son Lemuel, you were born in answer to my prayers, so listen carefully. 3 Don't waste your life chasing after women! This has ruined many kings. 4 Kings and leaders should not get drunk or even want to drink. 5 Drinking makes you forget your responsibilities, and you mistreat the poor.

  • Explanation (Part 1)

    • This advice was given to a king named Lemuel. It was wise advice from his mom, and it was so wise that it was written down for us in the Bible so that all of God's people could learn the same lesson that King Lemuel learned.

    • Back then, it was a great thing to be a king. A king had lots of money, he could do whatever he wanted, and he could tell everyone what to do. He could have the best house and eat the best food, and he could have servants to do all kinds of work for him.

    • Can you imagine being a king like that?

SLIDE 12

  • Discussion Questions

    • Let's take a moment to break into groups of two or three, and you can try to answer some questions:

      • What would you buy if you had a lot of money? 

      • If you had hundreds of servants who would do anything you wanted, what would you tell them to do?

    • Teacher: allow a few minutes to answer the questions above, and then have them share some answers.

SLIDE 13

  • Explanation (Part 2)

    • Kings back then were a bit like us. They liked to have fun. They didn't have video games or movies like we did, but in those days, kings could marry more than one person. A lot of kings would chase after all the most beautiful women they could find, and marry them. It would be really fun, but the Bible says that's a bad idea, and it could get a king into a lot of trouble.

    • Kings also liked to throw parties and drink wine. Sometimes when people are older they drink wine to help them have fun. But, wine can lead to a lot of problems. Wine makes a person forget things. If a person drinks a lot, they can't think very well. The Bible tells us a little bit of wine can be good sometimes, but a lot of wine is always bad.

    • Lemuel's mom told him not to waste his life chasing women and drinking wine, even if it would be really fun. It's because Lemuel was the leader of his country. He had responsibilities. People needed him to do his job, and he needed to be strong and to think clearly.

  • Application

    • We can learn from Lemuel and his mom.

    • You and I will probably never be the king of a country. Hopefully we will never have a problem with drinking too much wine, or marrying too many people. But, there's a very important idea in these verses, that when we are leaders, people are depending on us to do our job. We need to be strong and we need to think clearly. 

    • If we want to be strong and think clearly, sometimes it will mean having less fun than we could.

    • If we like to watch TV for fun, we should ask, is this TV show making us better or worse? Sometimes a TV show just wastes time and it takes us away from things that are more important.

    • Or, if we like to play video games, we should ask, is this game making us better or worse? Games can be good and they can teach us things, but too much gaming takes us away from other things, and sometimes a game isn't helping us at all.

    • Let’s make sure the fun things in our lives are not making us weaker – because people need us to be strong.


SLIDE 14

Point 2

  • Our second point is, we need mercy. This means we need to do our best to help people who are having trouble. 

SLIDE 15

  • Game: Balloons Up

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a game! We'll call it "Balloons up." It's a pretty simple game. We'll start in a circle, and I'll toss in a balloon. We'll all try to keep the balloon from touching the ground by hitting it. You're free to move around, so you don't have to stay in the circle. The only catch is, you can't hit the balloon twice in a row before someone else hits it. You all need to work together to keep the balloon up.

      • When there's only one balloon, you'll probably find it pretty easy. I'll keep adding balloons and we'll see what happens. Remember, you want to keep all the balloons up, and you can't hit a balloon twice in a row.

      • If a balloon touches the ground, we'll stop, and we'll start with one balloon again. We'll see how many balloons we can manage at the same time.

      • Teacher: Call out the number of balloons as you introduce another one as a way of keeping score. Also, you may want to discuss strategy between rounds. For example, you may want to break them into sub-groups, and each sub-group can handle their own balloons. Or, you may want to spread them out across the floor for a kind of zone coverage. Play as long as time and interest allows.

SLIDE 16

  • Debrief

    • We played this game because it helps us to think about what's important. When there are lots of balloons in the air, the most important balloon is the one that's falling down and about to hit the ground.

    • Sometimes people are a bit like the balloon that's about to fall down. Sometimes people go through hard times, get stuck, get into trouble. If you’re a leader, that’s the first person you should think of helping. That’s what we learn from the Bible.

SLIDE 17

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read the last part of our Bible passage again.

    • Proverbs 31:8-9 (CEV)

      • 8 But you must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. 9 Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.

SLIDE 18

  • Explanation

    • This is why a good king had to keep himself strong: so that he could help people who were helpless. He needed to look out for people who had no hope, and people who were poor and homeless.

    • If the king did these things, he would be doing God's work. The Bible teaches us that God really cares about the poor. God loves it when we join Him in His work.

    • If the king took care of the poor, God would take care of the king.

    • Proverbs 29:14 (CEV) says,

      • Kings who are fair to the poor will rule for a long time.

SLIDE 19

  • Application

    • When we take care of people who need help, we are doing God's work. If we do God’s work, God will be happy with us, and He will give us everything we need.

SLIDE 20

  • Discussion Questions (optional)

    • Let’s break into pairs to discuss:

    • Do you have any ideas for how to help people?

    • What is something you would like to do for people?


SLIDE 21

Conclusion

  • Let's wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • In short, we are all becoming leaders, and sooner or later, people will look to us to show them the way. The Bible teaches us we should become the kinds of leaders who help others. We need two things to help others.

  • First, we need strength. Sometimes we need to make hard choices. If we want to be strong, sometimes we need to have a bit less fun so we can think clearly and have time to do important things.

  • Second, we need mercy. That means, we need to look out for people who are in trouble.

  • If we look out for people like that, we will be doing God's work, and God will take care of us.


SLIDE 22

Main Activity: Group Games

  • Teacher: you may want to play both of these games, or you may want to just pick one depending on time and interest.

  • We'll end our time with some games that help us to think about what it means to be a leader.

  • Zone Soccer

    • Teacher: show this graphic on a slide

    • Our first game is called Zone Soccer. It's a game where your team has to work together.

    • If you've ever played foosball on a table, it will feel a bit like that, except you're the people on the field!

    • In the game of foosball, all the players can move left and right, but not forward and backwards. In this game, you can only move left and right as well. You need to stay between the lines and not cross over them. You’ll want to work together with everyone else on your team. 

    • You might be in the goalie zone, protecting your goal. You might be in the forward zone and trying to score goals. You might be in the middle zone and trying to do a bit of everything. Regardless, you'll have to work together as a team.

    • You can switch zones between points, but your feet can't cross the line when the ball is moving around. Any questions?

    • Teacher: play until one side has five points, or as time and interest allow.

  • Blind Man's Bluff (with a pool noodle)

    • Our next game is Blind Man's Bluff!

    • It's a bit like tag, but the person who is "it" is blindfolded. They get a pool noodle to tag everyone with.

    • It's a game that reminds us what a bad leader is like. You can imagine that the blind person is like a bad leader, and everyone wants to get away from the bad leader.

    • Teacher: there are two variations of this game: one where the blind man tries to tag one person and then that person becomes "it." Or, you may find it more fun to have the blind person tag everyone, so it becomes a survivor type game where the last person to be tagged wins.


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