Unit 9 / Lesson 1
Science Leads Us To God
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Teacher's Prep
Games
Simon Says
You may want to read through the script of the game in the lesson and practice some of the actions for a smooth presentation.
Blind Man's Bluff with a Pool Noodle
Materials needed
Pool noodle
Blindfolds (disposable COVID masks make great blindfolds when they are worn over the eyes)
Donut on a String Challenge
Watch this video to see what this game is like
Materials needed
One donut per child
Note: If you don't want to give each child a full-sized donut, mini donuts from Safeway or Timbits are an option, although Timbits would be a bit tricky to attach to string
(Teacher: you will want to reach for the sky!)
If you reached for the sky, you would be out, because I didn't say Simon says! I'll be doing all the actions even if they're wrong, so this game is really tricky.
One length of string per child (approximately 1 metre long should be sufficient)
One chair per two children
Have the floor under the donuts covered (garbage bags, disposable plastic tablecloth, paper towel) so food will not be dropping directly on the floor.
Before the lesson, tie each donut with a string.
In the video, donuts are tied to a high bar. In this case, we will have someone hold on to the top end of the string.
Please be prepared to play two rounds of the game so that children can take turns eating the donut and holding the string.
Please be aware of allergies, and have an alternative prepared.
Intro
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Gathering
How was your week?
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Intro Game: Simon Says
Instructions
We'll start our lesson with a game of Simon Says! The rules are pretty simple. You just have to do whatever Simon says, but if I don't say “Simon Says” before telling you to do an action, you can't do what I say. If you mess up, you need to go to the side and sit out until the next round.
Teacher: do all the actions with the children even if they are the wrong actions, to help fool them. If most of them 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.
Script:
We'll do a practice round first.
Simon says brush your teeth
**Now reach for the sky!
(Teacher: you will want to reach for the sky!)
If you reached for the sky, you would be out, because I didn't say Simon says! I'll be doing all the actions even if they're wrong, so this game is really tricky.
NOW FOR REAL
Simon says pat your head
Simon says play the air guitar
Simon says hammer a nail into the ground
Simon says stand back up
Simon says clap three times
**Now clap two more times
Simon says snap your fingers
Simon says comb your hair
Simon says wiggle your fingers
Simon says open your umbrella
Simon says look left and look right
**Now jump up and down!
Simon says waddle like a penguin
Simon says draw a star in the air
Simon says smell your feet
Simon says look angry
**Let's all stomp our feet!
Simon says everyone make a big circle
Simon says, go back to where you were before.
Simon says row your boat
Simon says play the flute
Simon says play the guitar
**Play the flute again!
Simon says touch your left shoulder
**Now let's all sit down.
Simon says sit down.
Simon says it's game over and it's time to talk about why we played the game
Debrief
In this game we played, you had to do what Simon says.
Did you ever wonder, why should we do what Simon says? Just because Simon says it, doesn't mean it's right. None of us have ever met Simon before.
Imagine you got invited to be on a game show on TV, and you met a guy named Simon. The rules were that if you could just follow a few instructions, you would have the greatest prize ever! Then you would have a reason to do what Simon says.
Relevance
Real life can be like that. As Christians, we don't play Simon Says all the time, but we do what God says, and we do what the Bible says.
Sometimes it's worth asking:
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why should we do what God says? Practically nobody has ever seen God, and a lot of people think God isn't even real. So, why should we let an imaginary person tell us what to do? Our answer is: we shouldn't let an imaginary person tell us what to do.
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But, we have ways of knowing that God is real, and we have ways of knowing that we can trust Him.
Big Question
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Our big question today is: how can we know God is real?
Big Idea
Our big idea today is that science leads us to God.
The Bible teaches us that:
1. Learning about the world leads us to God, because
2. The things God made tell us about God.
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Point 1
Our first point is, learning about the world leads us to God.
Game: Blind Man's Bluff with a Pool Noodle
Instructions
We'll start this point with a game of Blind Man's Bluff!
It's a bit like “tag,” but the person who is "it" is blindfolded, and they get a pool noodle to tag everyone with.
If you're "it" we'll blindfold you, and you can try to tag someone with the pool noodle. Once you tag someone, they will be “it” and will be blindfolded, and they will try to tag someone else.
Teacher: play for a while until several children have had a chance to be “it.”
Debrief
We played this game because it's a learning game. If you've got the blindfold, you're listening carefully for clues so that you'll know where people are hiding.
If you're NOT blindfolded, you're still learning. You're looking around the room and getting all kinds of ideas. The more you learn, the better you will be at the game.
Real life is like that too, so the Bible tells us to learn about the world, which is just another way of saying that we need to learn all kinds of science.
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Bible Reference
Let's read from the book of Proverbs, which was a book written to young people. In the book of Proverbs there is a wise and loving parent who talks to their son. Let’s read what that parent says:
Proverbs 2:2-5 (ICB)
My child, believe what I say. And remember what I command you. Listen to wisdom. Try with all your heart to gain understanding. Cry out for wisdom. Beg for understanding. Search for it as you would for silver. Hunt for it like hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it means to respect the Lord. Then you will begin to know God.
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Explanation
These verses teach us that we need to keep learning. We need to learn wisdom and gain understanding. If we're really serious about understanding life, our search for knowledge will bring us to God.
Application
One of the greatest things about going to school is that you get to learn all kinds of things that help you understand the world.
All the things you learn are like little puzzle pieces, and they're meant to fit together to make a big picture.
And, the more puzzle pieces you can fit together, the easier it is to see the big picture.
One of the best ways of figuring out the puzzle of life is to ask questions. Keep asking why and keep searching for answers that make sense.
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If you keep asking why, at the end of all your questions you will find God, because God is the reason for everything.
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Discussion Question
Let’s stop for a discussion question:
What's something you want to learn more about?
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Point 2
Our second point is, the things God made tell us about God.
Game: Donut on a String Challenge
Instructions
We'll start this point with a fun game: The Donut on a String challenge!
Let's watch a video to see what it's like:
Teacher: play this YouTube video:
Today we don't have a bar to hold up the donuts, but that's alright, because we have chairs, and we have each other.
We will form pairs, and we will take turns. Half of us will try to eat the donut with no hands, and the other half will stand on a chair and hold the top of the string. Then we'll switch.
We'll have something to cover the ground in case the donut falls down.
Teacher's instructions:
Provide each team with one chair.
Provide materials to cover the ground in case the donut falls down.
Run two rounds of the game so that each child has a chance to hold the string on one round and eat the donut on the other round.
Debrief
We played this game because it helps us to understand how science points us to God.
Bible Reference
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Let's read from the Bible.
Romans 1:20 (NLT):
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Explanation
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Imagine you were hiking in the forest, and off to the side you spotted (continue)...
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a box of donuts that had strings on them, and there were chairs and things to cover the ground.
None of you would think that the box of donuts just grew out of the ground. In order to get donuts like these, we need a complicated process.
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We need to mix a whole bunch of ingredients together, and we need to bake the donuts just right. When you taste the donuts and they are delicious and sweet, you know that the flour and the sugar didn't just come together by themselves. Instead, the donuts were made by someone who knew what they were doing. We also know the strings and the chairs didn’t come together by themselves, but they were part of a bigger plan.
And that's what it's like when we look at the world that God created. It all works so perfectly. That’s how we know that it was made by someone who knew what they were doing.
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When we look at the earth and the sky, (continue)...
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we know that they were made by someone who is really powerful, (continue)...
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and really smart.
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They were made by someone way more powerful than us, (continue)...
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and way smarter than us.
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That's one reason why everyone should believe in God.
Application
One of the ways we can know God better is to try to make stuff with our own hands.
We can bake cookies, make crafts, or draw things, and when we are done, we can see that the things we make are very different from the things God made. God has made all kinds of things that we would never think to invent. When we make things with our own hands, we can appreciate how much smarter and powerful a person has to be to make the whole universe. We can be amazed that the maker of the universe is the same God who wants to be our Father and our friend.
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Discussion Question
Let’s stop for a discussion question:
What's something you would like to make?
Conclusion
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To wrap up our lesson:
Our big question today was: how can we know that God is real?
Today we learned that science leads us to God.
The Bible teaches us that:
1. Learning about the world leads us to God, because
2. The things God made tell us about God.
Let's keep learning, keep making things with our hands, and be amazed that God wants to be our Father and our Friend.
Short Film
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We'll end with a short film! It's called “Hunters.” It’s a story of animals on the hunt, and it reminds us that the world is an amazing place full of surprises that we didn’t expect.
Teacher: play this video
YouTube title: CGI Animated Short Film: "Hunter" by Hunters Animation Studio | CGMeetup
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Main Activity: Games/Hanging Out
Teacher: if you have extra time after the lesson, you may want to play games, chat, or hang out.
If you're looking for games ideas, here is a list of fun games and their instructions: