Session Title: The Good Samaritan

Life Point: Show love to other people like Jesus showed love to you

Life Verse: “He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Weekly Bible Verse: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Bible Passage: Luke 10:25-37

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: Who is Your Neighbor?
This is a very fun and informative craft. Have kids take index cards and write the letters of the word NEIGHBOR on the cards (one letter per card) then have the kids look through magazines to find pictures of different people. Encourage them to get all different kinds of people. Have them cut out the pictures and glue the pictures to the back of the letter cards. After they have finished explain that this is a reminder that all people are our neighbors and should be treated as such. Put cards in bags and have them take home to share with their family and as a re-minder for them. (You will need to provide magazines because we do not have a stock of them).
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Snack Activity: Neighbor Trail Mix
This is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Kids will make snack mix to remind them who their neighbors are. All the supplies and the poem are in the picture below. (If you do this please put up an allergy alert).
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Game: Good Samaritan Game
Form teams of four. Choose one person from each team to be the hurt man who was robbed and beaten on his way to Jericho. Have the hurt people lie on the floor at the end of the room opposite their teams. Give each team a supply of 10 to 15 adhesive bandages and a cup of water.

On “go,” teams race with their supplies to their hurt team members. The goal is to put 10 bandages on the hurt neighbor, give him or her a drink of water, and carry the person back to the starting point.

Once every team has accomplished this, read aloud Luke 10:25-37. Ask, “How did you feel when you were helping the hurt person? If you were the hurt person, how did you feel while you were being helped? How would you feel if you were hurt like the man in the parable and no one stopped to help you? What do you think Jesus meant when he said, ‘Love your neighbor as your-self?’ What can you do to help others in need?”
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Discussion: Blessing Bag Ideas
You should have received a letter week about the Parent Day activity, Blessing Bags. This would be the perfect week to discuss with your class some ideas of what you could put in the Blessing Bags you make as a class that day. Let Jamie Holland know if you need details about the Blessing Bags.

Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: The Widow Gave Her Money

Life Point: People should give money to God’s work.

Life Verse: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Weekly Bible Verse: “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart – not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7

Bible Passage: Luke 21:1-4

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: Tithing Jar
Use baby food jars to make a tithing jar. The picture gives instructions on how to make the jar.
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Activity: Helping Others
This activity will encourage the children to think about some of the ways they can help others.

Preparation: Prepare ten slips of paper with one of the following acts of service on them: Raking leaves; setting the table; reading a story to a younger child; giving a gift to someone; taking dinner to someone sad or in need; cleaning up litter; visiting an elderly or lonely person; donating money to a charity or relief fund; giving unneeded clothes or toys; sharing a treat with a friend.
Obtain a large pad of paper and markers, or chalkboard and chalk.

Presentation: Explain to the children that Jesus often helped others. Tell them you are going to play a game to help them think of some ways they can also help others.
Have a child come up and select a slip of paper. Let the child choose to act out (charades style) or draw (on the pad or chalkboard) clues so the rest of the children can guess which act of service they have selected.

After the children guess the service, briefly review how the children could perform this service in their own setting(s).

Talk about the joy they feel when they help others. Tell them that God loves them very much and has provided many blessings for them. They can share their blessings with others in many ways, some of which you will have just discussed.
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Game: Giving Game
For this Sunday school lesson you will need a second-timer and a white board or chalk-board. You will need someone from your class who spells and writes well and who can be the scorekeeper.

Divide your class into 2 teams. Have them sit in 2 separate areas of the room. You are now ready to play this activity. Say the following: 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” This verse doesn’t say God loves a grumpy giver or a bored giver. It says God loves a cheerful giver. Why do you think God wants us to give cheerfully? (Wait for responses. Clarify with the following: When we give with a cheerful and joyful heart, we are going to be blessed and the person who is receiving the gift is going to be blessed.) 2 Corinthians 9:7 is an easy verse to memorize so we’re going to play a fun game to make sure you have it inside your heart and mind for your whole life.

Continue saying: You are in 2 different teams. I am going to take turns asking a student from each team something they might give to a certain person. You will have to answer with 2 words formed from the initials of your own name. For example, I might ask, “David Johnson, what would you give to your grandma?” David might respond with “dandy jacks.” Sarah Crawford might say “seven cantaloupes.” You will have 7 seconds to come up with an answer. If you are successful, you will come forward and stand on your side where you team is sitting. My scorekeeper will write your answer on the board so it cannot be used again. Once I have asked every student the gift they would give, I will then have each of you who were able to give me a gift according to your initials to recite 2 Corinthians 9:7. For every team member who says the verse correctly, they will earn 50 points for their team. We will then start all over, but on the next round you will have to give a new answer that hasn’t been used. After 5 rounds, the team with the most points wins. Now let’s play!
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Snack: Oreo Coins
Take Oreos and spray them with edible gold spray, you would need to look for this at some-where like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby that has a cake decorating section. Spray them and give them to children while telling the story. Use an allergy alert if you do this.
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Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: The Parable of the Talents

Life Point: People should use their resources wisely

Life Verse: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Weekly Bible Verse: “Happy is the man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding.” Proverbs 3:13

Bible Passage: Matthew 25:14-30

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: Story Summary
A good craft to summarize the story and they can use to tell their parents the story when they get home. All the instructions are on the website below. This craft is going to be better for 3rd-5th grade as it has a lot of cutting and writing.
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Game: Talent Hunt
Get chocolate coins or plastic coins and play the game described on the website below.
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Game: Bury Talents
Give children an index card and tell children to draw and write a talent that they may have. Then children can bury or hide their card for another classmate to find. If their “talent card” is found, children can get into a circle and discuss their talents that they could use for God.
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Craft: Talent Coin Pouch
For each child: brown coffee filter, yarn, 10 plastic Bingo chips
General supplies: hole punch (small hole preferred)

• Plastic Bingo chips (to represent “talents”) are available at party stores or online for about $5 per 500 chips. Any color can be used.
• Unbleached basket coffee filters (not cone shaped filters). Felt circles can replace filters – cut slits with scissors instead of holes.
• Use hole punch to punch holes every few inches, 1 inch from edge of filters. Make sure you have an EVEN number of holes. (To punch many filters at a time, use folding method on the below website to make a pattern. Unfold and punch a stack of filters at one time.)
• Older kids can do the hole punching themselves – fold unpunched filter in half, then in half again, and two more times, creating a wedge shape. Punch one hole through all layers making 16 holes.

To Assemble:
• Each child takes one filter and one piece of yarn
• Child threads the yarn back and forth through the holes to form a drawstring bag.
• Each child gets 10 “talents” to put in his pouch
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Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: Paul Warned Timothy About Greed

Life Point: Be content with the things God gives you.

Life Verse: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Weekly Bible Verse: “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Bible Passage: 1 Timothy 6

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Game: M&M Get to Know You
Fun game using M&Ms to get to know your new class. Sitting in a circle each child pulls an M&M out of the bag and shares about themselves according to the chart.
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Game: Get to Know You Bingo
Bingo game while getting to know people in the class.
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Game: Would You Rather?
This classic get to know you game is fun for kids and you can make it more active by having them go to different sides of the room for the two different answers. Attached are some questions that you could ask
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Craft/Game: Get to Know You Bracelets
Each child gets one pipe cleaner filled with beads of one color (to give to others) and one empty pipe cleaner (to hold beads they collect for themselves). To get a bead they have to go to an-other child and say “Hi, my name is ____.” And then share something with that person about themselves. Afterwards they can make their bracelets.
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Craft: Faithbook
Students create a “Facebook” page about themselves to help you get to know them better. I did this with my first graders last year and they loved it. Any age would love to do this because they all know what Facebook is. After everyone creates one you could hang them up in your room so others could look at them.
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Faithbook PDF

Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: The Parable of the Vineyard Workers

Life Point: People should thank God for His generous gifts.

Life Verse: “Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5

Weekly Bible Verse: “The one who pursues righteousness and faithful love will find life, righteousness, and honor.” Proverbs 21:21

Bible Passage: Matthew 20:1-16

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Game: That’s Not Fair Chairs
This game is played like musical chairs. The children walk around some chairs until the music stops. There will be one chair less than the number of children playing and when the music stops, the child without a chair is out of the game. When that happens, all of the children will all say, “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” and then the music will start once again. Continue playing until just one child is left standing with a chair and all the other children will say, THAT’S NOT FAIR! Then tell today’s Bible story to the children as they sit in the chairs in a circle today.
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Craft: God Gives Us A “Bunch” of Blessings
This is a cute craft. The picture is a just a drawing but you could do more with it to make it cut-er. I would suggest having purple circles to make a bunch of grapes on a piece of paper. Have the children draw or write things that they are thankful to God for.
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Story: Acting Out the Story
On this website they used pom-poms to show the difference of how much each person was paid in the story but you really could use any object, even using real money for older kids. This is just another simple but fun way to act out the story for the kids.
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Food: Grape Shish-kabobs
Basically just put grapes on sticks but a fun way for the kids to eat something related to the story. If you do this please but up an allergy alert.
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Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: Put God First

Life Point: Value your relationship with Jesus more than your things.

Life Verse: “Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5

Weekly Bible Verse: “May the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Bible Passage: Luke 12:13-21

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: God’s #1 Foam Hand
Create a foam hand like at sporting events to help the kids remember to put God first before other things in their lives.
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Object Lesson: No Room for God
An easy object lesson to show kids what will happen when they put a lot stuff in front of God and leave no room for Him in their lives. All instructions are on the website below.
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Game: Bean Relay
Before telling the story of the man whose land had produced so much grain that he had no place to store it, let children play a bean or rice relay. The children can divide into two teams and have a timed relay or race to see which team can fill a bag with the rice or beans first with each team taking turns with a measuring cup to dip from a container to the bag.
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Visual Tool: Needs and Wants
You will need to adapt this a little from the website because they are using for a different activity but it is perfect for this lesson and a fun way to show needs and wants.
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Game: Giving vs Taking
Fill a jar with pennies, then instruct your children to sit in a circle. For the first activity, give each child a handful of pennies and tell them they have one minute to try to pick up as many additional pennies as they can, or take some from their classmates (all pennies must be in their hands at all times). The child with the most pennies wins. For the second activity, your children must give away as many of their pennies as they can in a minute. The child with the fewest pennies wins. After participating in both activities, discuss with your children: Which activity did they prefer? How could this activity relate to their life and the things they do? What could the pennies represent? What would Jesus like us to do?
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Unit: Money, Money, Money

Session Title: The Rich Young Ruler

Life Point: God wants people to love Jesus – Not their possessions

Life Verse: “Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have.” Hebrews 13:5

Weekly Bible Verse: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

Bible Passage: Mark 10:17-27

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: Real Treasure
Children will create a pot of gold with the real treasure in their lives. You will need to have them cut out a black pot and then coins. On the coins they will write the things that really matter over the material things. You can put the life verse at the top of the picture as well.
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Craft: Story of the Rich Young Ruler
The instructions for this craft are at the bottom of the page. This would be fun for 2nd grade and up.
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Game: Who, What, Where, When, Why
Bean Bag Toss Game:
Cut shapes out of a box and label them ―Who,‖ ―What,‖ ―When,‖ ―Where,‖ and ―Why.‖ Set box with cut-out shapes on top, 3 to 5 feet from throw line. Give each child two tries to get the bean bag through a shape. The child draws a question written on a corresponding shape. If the child does not know the answer, he or she may ask another child for help.

Use the following questions:
1. Who asked Jesus a question? (Vr. 17 – a rich young ruler.)
2. Who did Jesus say is good‖? (Vr. 18 – only God.)
3. Who did Jesus tell the rich, young ruler to give to? (Vr. 21 – to the poor.)
4. What did the ruler ask Jesus? (Vr. 17 – what must I do to inherit eternal life?)
5. What did Jesus ask the rich, young ruler to sell? (Vr. 21 – all his possessions.)
6. What did Jesus say was easier for a camel to go through? (Vr 25 – eye of a needle.)
7. When did the rich, young ruler keep all the commandments? (Vr. 20 – since he was young.)
8. When did Jesus say the rich, young ruler would have treasure in heaven? (Vr. 21 – when he sold all his possessions and gave all the money to the poor.)
9. When did the ruler become very sad? (Vr. 22 – when Jesus told him to give all his money to the poor.)
10. Where do you find the commandments Jesus quoted in Vr. 19? (Exodus 20)
11. Where did Jesus say the rich, young ruler would have treasure? (Vr. 21-  in heaven.)
12. Where is it hard for a rich man to enter? (Vr. 25 – kingdom of God.)
13. Why did the rich, young ruler ask Jesus a question? (Vr. 17 – he wanted to know how to get eternal life.)
14. Why did the rich, young ruler become very sad when Jesus told him to sell everything? (Vr. 22 – he had many possessions.)
15. Why do you think Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? (Because you are depending on your material wealth instead of God.)

Or, use the following review questions in a game of your choice:
1. One day a young man ran to Jesus, knelt before Him and asked him a question. What was that question? (―What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?)
2. How did this young man think a person got to heaven? (By doing good works, like keeping the commandments.)
3. Had the rich young man kept all of God’s commandments perfectly? Which one had the man not kept? (―Do not covet and also, ―Do not have any idols. The man obviously idolized his money.)
4. What is the only way to receive eternal life? (By believing in what Jesus did for us all on the cross.)
5. What did Jesus tell this young man to do? (―Sell everything he had and then give the money to the poor.)
6. What did Jesus mean by telling the rich young man to sell everything and give all the money away to the poor? (To get rid of his love of money and his trust in riches because it was blocking him being able to receive all that God has for him.)
7. Does Jesus expect you or your parents to sell everything and give all the money away to the poor? (No, but He wants us to be willing to do anything God asked, even that.)
8. Why do you think it’s hard for rich people to get into heaven? (They depend on their money and not on God’s provision.)
9. Is it wrong to have money? Why or why not? (No, it’s not wrong to have money; it’s wrong to put money first.)
10. Why do you think Jesus used the image of a camel going through the eye of a needle to illustrate his point? (Because it’s nearly impossible for someone who is banking on his riches to receive eternal life from God.)
11. What other kinds of things could make it hard for us to reach heaven? (Good looks, power, prestige, connections, knowledge, possessions…)
12. What is the most important thing in life? (Our relationship with Jesus.)
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Unit: Worship God

Session Title: The People Sang

Life Point: People worship God by singing songs to Him.

Life Verse: “We will worship the Lord our God and obey Him.” Joshua 24:24

Weekly Bible Verses: “I will rejoice and boast about You; I will sing about Your name, Most High.” Psalm 9:2

Bible Passage: Ezra 2:1, 68-70; 3:1-13

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): http://blog.lifeway.com/biblestudiesforlife/leaderextras/by-age-group/

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Craft: Maracas
You can make instruments that can be used to praise God.
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Craft: “Jesus, You Make My Heart Sing”
This paper craft will remind the kids that they can worship God through singing. Below is a link to instructions and a copy of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
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Click here for hymn lyrics

Unit: Worship God

Session Title: Solomon Dedicated the Temple

Life Point: People should worship God together.

Life Verse: “He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Weekly Bible Verse: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Psalm 122:1

Bible Passage: 1 Kings 8

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Activity: Build Solomon’s Temple with Blocks
Use basic blocks to build Solomon’s temple. The website has you paint the blocks gold but you could just use solid blocks as well.
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Craft: Decorate the Temple with Jewels
Print out the coloring page jpg below and decorate with jewels.
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Craft: Solomon Temple Facts Wheel
Fun wheel and review for the students to make. Then they can ask their parents questions about it on the way home. Use the template below and the put together with a brad.
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Solomons Temple Wheel Color PDF

Food: Build an Edible Temple
Don’t have a specific site for this but you can use a vanilla layer cookie, graham crackers, marshmallows, and frosting to make a temple. Be creative or let your kids be creative. If you end up eating any of it please put up an allergy alert.

Unit: Worship God

Session Title: Deborah and Barak

Life Point: People worship God by obeying Him.

Life Verse: “He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Weekly Bible Verse: “We will worship the Lord our God and obey Him.” Joshua 24:24

Bible Passage: Judges 4-5

Extras from LifeWay (GREAT Ideas Here): Click here

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Craft: Praise God Noise Makers
The website gives you all the instructions to make these cute noise makers.
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Food: Palm Tree
This is such a cute idea of how to make food palm trees for your class to enjoy as a snack. Just remember to put up an allergy sign. **Disclaimer: comes from Catholic website**
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Game: Review Question Palm Tree
Cut palm leaves from green paper and write review questions on them. As the children answer correctly they can attach the leaves to a tree trunk.
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Craft: Deborah Warrior Sword Bookmark
Easy craft for you to do with your class.
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