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Peer Pressure

Unit 6 / Lesson 1

Peer Pressure

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Teacher's Prep

  • Songs

  • Games

    • True / False Elimination

      • Prepare slides for each question

    • Pantyhose Bowling

      • Watch this video to see the game concept

      • Materials:

        • 1 pair of pantyhose per group of five

        • 1 tennis ball per group of five

        • 3 Plastic water bottles per group of five

      • Before the lesson, you will want to put a tennis ball into the bottom of each pantyhose, as you see in the video.

    • Not In My Backyard

      • Materials: 

        • Four sheets of paper per child. So, a class of 25 kids should have about 100 pieces of paper in total, split into two even piles, one per team. These will be made into paper snowballs to be thrown back and forth.

  • Main Activity

    • Please take a look at the bottom of the lesson to see if you will want materials or other preparation for games night.


    Intro

     SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

     SLIDE 2

  • Intro Activity: True/False Elimination

    • Instructions 

      • We will start our time with a game! It's called True or False Elimination. Here's how it works.

      • We have 19 true or false questions that we need to answer as a class.

      • Your goal is to answer as many correctly as you can, and you can help each other out.

      • In order to say something is true, put your right hand on your head. If it's false, put your left hand on your head. If you get the question wrong, you’re eliminated for the round, and you need to sit down, but you can still help your team.

      • Teacher: Do a couple of practice rounds at the beginning. If everyone is eliminated (sitting down), everyone will stand up and get a fresh start. If they are bored, you can cut short the questions.

    • Questions (read one by one)

     SLIDE 3

    • You blink about once every four seconds.

      • True

     SLIDE 4

    • Humans have four stomachs.

      • False

     SLIDE 5

    • Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.

      • True

     SLIDE 6

    • Bees live in hives.

      • True

     SLIDE 7

    • You use more muscles to smile than you do to frown.

      • True

     SLIDE 8

    • Ostriches can fly.

      • False

     SLIDE 9

    • Your heart is about the size of your fist.

      •  True

     SLIDE 10

    • Lightning never strikes in the same place twice.

      •  False

     SLIDE 11

    • There are more stars in space than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.

      • True

     SLIDE 12

    • There are 365 days in a year.

      • True

     SLIDE 13

    • Canada is the largest country in the world.

      • False (Russia)

     SLIDE 14

    • Cherries are red when they’re ripe.

      • True

     SLIDE 15

    • All dogs have tails.

      • False (Australian Shepherd are born without tails)

     SLIDE 16

    • Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.

      • True

     SLIDE 17

    • Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the solar system.

      • False (Olympus Mons on Mars)

     SLIDE 18

    • Worms have eyes.

      • False 

     SLIDE 19

    • Canada has more lakes than any other country in the world.

      • True

     SLIDE 20

    • Giraffes have two horns.

      • False (One)

     SLIDE 21

    • Butterflies taste with their feet.

      • True

     SLIDE 22

  • Debrief and Relevance

    • We played this game because in order to win you sometimes need to get your clues from other people. BUT, you also need to think on your own, and use your common sense.

    • At times, life is like that too. Sometimes it really helps to look around and see what other people are doing. BUT, we can't always follow everyone else, because sometimes everyone else is wrong.

    • If we can do the right thing even when other people are wrong, we will become leaders, and other people can follow us, and we can make a great difference.

    SLIDE 23

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: What can we do when everyone else does the wrong thing?

    SLIDE 24

  • Big Idea

    • Our big idea today is: 

      • 1. We need to spot the wrong thing, and 

      • 2. We need to look for an easy way to do what is right.

    SLIDE 25

  • Bible Reference

    • That’s what we’ll learn from our Bible passage in Daniel 1.

    • The Book of Daniel starts in the city of Jerusalem where God's people lived. God’s people had turned away from Him and they were doing all kinds of evil things, so God sent an enemy to fight against them. Their enemy was the country of Babylon, the most powerful country in the world. The army from Babylon won the war, and the king of Babylon sent all the best and smartest people away to the country of Babylon. Daniel was one of the young men who lost his home and was sent to Babylon. Now let's watch the story.

    • YouTube: Daniel and His Friends Obeyed God, by daniel rokes


    Point 1 

    SLIDE 26

  • Our first point is, we need to spot the wrong thing.

     SLIDE 27

  • Game: Pantyhose Bowling

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a game! This one's called pantyhose bowling. Let's watch this video to see what it's like:

      • Now to make it easier, we’ll be using our hands to hold the top end to our head.

        • Teacher: demonstrate how to knock over a water bottle with a pantyhose, using your hand to hold the top end of the pantyhose to your head.

      • This will also be a relay race with teams of five people each.

      • When I'm done talking, we will split into teams of about five people each.

      • Each member on your team will have three water bottles to knock down.

      • After you knock down your three bottles, set up the bottles again for the next person, and then pass the pantyhose on to the next person for them to try.

      • When you've all knocked down three bottles, you win!

     SLIDE 28

  • Debrief 

    • The reason we played this game was that it makes us practice thinking for ourselves. When it's our turn to knock over the bottles, we need to use our own ideas. Other people will give us advice, and we can watch other people and learn from them, but when it's our turn, we will need our own ideas for how to do our job.

     SLIDE 29

  • Bible Reference

    • In our Bible passage, Daniel could see what everyone around him was doing. But, he had his own ideas. He could see that everyone else was doing the wrong thing, and he decided to obey God's instructions for what he could eat.

    • Let's read what the Bible says.

    • Daniel 1:8 (CEV)

      • Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. He asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace.

    SLIDE 30

  • Explanation

    • It helps to know the story leading up to this verse.

    • Daniel had grown up in the city of Jerusalem, where he worshiped the one true God.

    • One day when he was a young man, a huge army came to fight against the people in his city. The huge army killed all the soldiers who were protecting the city. A lot of people had to leave the city and move to a place far away, to Babylon, where nobody worshiped the true God.

    • Life was hard, and Daniel and his friends were very sad, and they missed their home.

    SLIDE 31

    • But then the king of Babylon had an idea. The king decided to choose some young people to go to a very special school. It was a school for only the best students. The students would have the best teachers and the best food. The students would study and practice for three years so that they could work for the king in his palace.

    • Would you want to go to a school like that?

    SLIDE 32

    • Daniel and his friends went to that school, along with a lot of other people from his home country. All the students were from the same place. In a way they were all competing with each other. The best students in the school could expect to get the best jobs. If they got the best jobs they would become rich and powerful, and have everything they wanted.

    SLIDE 33

    • The students just needed to do everything the king's way, because that's how they got the best scores. One day, the royal kitchen cooked some food for the students. The food was so tasty, it was fit for a king. Everyone was eating the food. However, Daniel and his friends knew this food was not right for them. God's people back then were not allowed to eat certain things.

    SLIDE 34

    • All the other students were eating all the delicious food, and they were all trying to do what the king wanted. But, Daniel didn't just copy everyone else. He knew his Bible, and he knew it was wrong for him to have that food. Daniel asked if he and his friends could eat just vegetables, because for him, he would rather honor God than eat the most delicious food and have the most amazing job. As we read on, we find out that God took care of Daniel.

    SLIDE 35

  • Application

    • Let's learn from Daniel. We can't just copy what everyone else does, even if they are God's people. We need to think for ourselves, and we need to remember the Bible. Then we can do what is right even if everyone else is doing the wrong thing, and God will take care of us.

    SLIDE 36

  • Discussion Question

    • Can you tell us about a time when it was hard to do the right thing?


    SLIDE 37

    Point 2

  • Our second point is, we need to look for an easy way to do what is right. 

    SLIDE 38

  • Game: Not In My Backyard

    • Instructions

      • Let's watch this video to see what it's like: https://youtu.be/xhNYMuhAOuQ?si=_opl1xNwvvhHm88Q&t=18 

      • Teacher: make a "fence" out of chairs to cut the room in half. On each side of the room, make a pile of paper for teams to make into paper snowballs.

      • We'll start this point with a game! We'll call it, "Not In My Backyard." We're going to form two teams. The two teams will be like two families. We'll also split this room into two halves, divided by a fence made of chairs.

      • Each team will have a stack of paper to scrunch into balls to throw.

      • Your goal is to throw as much paper as you can on the other side of the fence without crossing over. You want as little paper as possible on your side. 

      • After two minutes, we'll see which side has less paper on their side!

      • Teacher: play two rounds of this game. In the second round, you may want to re-balance the teams (perhaps add an adult on one side). You may want to give them a moment to discuss strategy. After you are finished with the game, put the fence away, and gather the children together for the next bit of teaching.

    SLIDE 39

  • Debrief

    • We played this game because it helps us understand what it's like to have friends and enemies. Friends are like the people on your side of the fence, and enemies are like the people on the other side of the fence. If you have a lot of enemies, they'll make your life really hard. But if you make lots of friends, you'll have a much easier time.

    • We'll see in our Bible passage that Daniel was good at making friends, and he tried not to make enemies.

    • Let’s read the story.

    SLIDE 40

  • Bible Reference

    • Daniel 1:8-15 (CEV)

      • 8 Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace. 9 God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel. 10 But the man still told him, “The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men.”

    SLIDE 41

    • 11 The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard, 12 “For the next ten days, let us have only vegetables and water at mealtime. 13 When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us.” 14 The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked.

    SLIDE 42

    • 15 Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace. 16 After this, the guard let them eat vegetables instead of the rich food and wine.

    SLIDE 43

  • Explanation

    • Daniel had a plan to honor God, but he also didn't want to make any enemies. If Daniel had made a big fuss over the food, he could have gotten into a lot of trouble. So, Daniel asked nicely, and he made it easy for the king's guard to help him.

    • For ten days, Daniel and his friends ate only vegetables, and they became the healthiest and best looking students. So, God gave Daniel a way to do the right thing without making enemies.

    SLIDE 44

  • Application

    • The Bible tells us:

    • Romans 12:18 (ICB)

      • Do your best to live in peace with everyone.

    • If we can do the right thing and still live in peace with everyone, that's the best. A lot of times, we don't need to fight or make a big fuss. We can just ask nicely and make it easy for people to help us. If we do that, we will make more friends and less enemies, and we will have an easier time doing the things God wants us to do.

  • Discussion Question

    • Do you have any ideas for how to make more friends and less enemies?


    SLIDE 45

    Conclusion

  • To wrap up our lesson, let’s review!

    • Our big question today was: What can we do when everyone else does the wrong thing?

    • Our big idea was: 

      • 1. We need to spot the wrong thing, and 

      • 2. We need to look for an easy way to do what is right.

    • We spot the wrong thing by thinking for ourselves and knowing the Bible, and not just doing what everyone does.

    • And, we try to make more friends and less enemies, because that makes everything easier.


    Main Activity: Games and Hanging Out

  • For the rest of our time together we will be playing games! Games are a great way to remember the lesson, because in order to do well, we need to learn from other people, but we also need to think for ourselves.

  • Suggested games (Teacher: you may want to play two of these, having the children choose)



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