Game ZIP, ZAP, BOING, POW
Description:
Sit your group in a circle. Explain that you are going to
pass 'Nothin' round the circle. Choose a player to start and explain that they should
pass 'Nothing' to the player on their left by pointing their two forefingers
like a gun at the person and saying 'Zip'. The person who receives the
'Nothing' then chooses what action to take from the following:
Zip: To pass the 'Nothing' onto the next player.
Zap: To pass the 'Nothing' back in the opposite direction.
Boing: To miss a player out and pass the 'Nothing' to the
person just beyond the one sitting next to you.
Pow: Whilst holding a fist above your head, point at a
player across the other side of the circle. This passes the 'Nothing' to them
and they can choose which direction to pass it in. The only rule is that you
cannot Boing or Pow somebody who has just Boing'ed or Pow'ed you. If anyone
hesitates, looks in the wrong direction or passes to somebody who is already
out then they will be out. The winner is the last one left in.
MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF...
Duration: 10 mins
Equipment required: A roll of masking tape per small group
of children, newspapers for each group, a small figurine - such as a lego or
playmobile figure, for each group OR pipecleaners for them to make their own
figurine. Optional sweets for small prize.
Description:
Divide the children into small groups of about 3 or 4. Give
each group a roll of masking tape, a selection of newspapers and a small figure
of a person or pipecleaners to make their own person.
Explain to the children that the aim is for them to make a
mountain out of the tape and newspaper within 5 minutes. There are no rules,
only that the mountain is able to support the figure on the top.
At the end of 5 minutes, call a stop to the proceedings. Ask
the children to place the figure on the top of their mountain and then allow
them all to stand back and admire their handiwork.
Walk round and comment positively on each creation - you may
wish to award a token prize to the tallest creation.
Once you have finished this, ask the children to sit down,
and explain that we are looking at the life of Jesus. After choosing His
disciples, Jesus then went up a mountain and spoke to his disciples and all
those who had flocked to hear and see him.
What he said was so important that it was recorded in the
Bible and is now known as the "Sermon on the Mount" because Jesus
taught the people from the side of a mountain.
The Point: To introduce the fact that Jesus went up on a
mountain to teach the people.
GUESS WHO
Duration: 10 mins
Equipment required: A piece of rectangular paper for each
child, approximately a third of A4 and a
pencil for each child.
Description:
Divide the children into small groups of 4. Give each child
a pencil and piece of paper.
Explain to the children that after he had chosen his
disciples, all sorts of people flocked to Jesus to see Him, hear Him speak and
to be healed from their diseases. They came from all over the place, but were
drawn to Jesus because of what they had heard about Him. Jesus was almost the
celebrity of His day and country. Everyone wanted to see him for themselves.
Ask the children to fold their paper into four and make
crease marks down the paper. In the top quarter ask the children to draw the
head of a person -and to make the marks where the neck should start.
Once they have completed drawing the head, they should fold
their paper over so that the picture is
covered, but so that the bottom of the neck should be visible at the
start of the next quarter. On the word pass - they should then pass the paper
on to the next person who must not peep underneath the flap. Everyone should
receive a new piece of paper and they must draw in the second quarter a person
from the neck down to the waist. Once they have done this, they must fold over
their drawing so that only the marks showing where the waist has finished are
visible.
Again on the word, all children have to pass their drawing
on to the next person, without peeping at what has been drawn. They must then
draw from the waist down to ankle. Once again they fold over it when finished
and on the word, pass it on once more. Finally they have to draw the feet of
their character.
For the last time they pass their paper on, and the next
person unfolds the paper to see the person they have created. All the groups
can then admire and hopefully laugh at the people they have created.
Conclude the session by reminding the children that all
sorts of people flocked to see Jesus - men, women, children, local people and
those from further afield - all because they wanted to see him and meet him.
The Point: To realise that Jesus was like a celebrity of his
day - crowds flocked to see him because of who he was, what he did and said.
COMPETITION CALL MY BLUFF
Duration: 15 mins
Equipment required: Pen and paper for each child. Call My
Bluff Worksheet (attached).
Description:
Divide the group into two teams - each team is to sit facing
the other. In turn give each team a "set" of a word and three
definitions.
Team A begins by holding up the word for Team B to see,
Three members of the team read the three definitions as convincingly as
possible. Then Team B has to decide which is the true definition. If they are
right they receive the word, if wrong Team A keeps it.
Play passes to Team B who is given a new word and three
definitions. The play continues as before, and play is continues until all
words are used up.
The team with the most words at the end are the winners.
Before concluding this activity - ask the children why we
played this game. It was in order to distinguish between the truth and what was
false.
Explain that today we are learning about the life of Jesus.
In particular we are learning about the time when Jesus started to teach His
disciples. Flocks of people came to listen to Jesus - Jesus healed their
illnesses and He then started to teach the people what was important - He
taught them the true way to live. Jesus said it was important that people
listened to Him and that they acted on what they heard.
They had to make a decision - just as each team had to
decide on a definition and choose one – Jesus told the people that they had to
choose to live in the way of truth.
The Point: To learn that Jesus taught his disciples and
crowd that came to listen the true way to live that pleases God. It was an
important message.
BIBLE STUDY - AUTHORITY
Duration: 25 mins
Description:
Choose four/five of the children who are good at acting to
mime the three following jobs. Tell the other children that you would like them
to guess what job the children are acting.
• Teacher
• Lawyer or judge
• Policeman/woman
• King/Queen
• Traffic warden
Ask the children to think about what these people might have
in common - answer should be that they are all people in authority. They all
have some power or authority- albeit different. You might find it useful to
briefly discuss the meaning of authority at this point. A good definition is
'the power to command, control or judge others' - some one who knows they are
in a position to tell you what to do.
Ask the children whether they obey what a teacher, judge,
policeman, etc. says they must do and why. Tell the children that today we are
learning more about the life of Jesus. After choosing his disciples, crowds of
people came to see Jesus, to be healed by him and to learn from him. Jesus
responded byteaching them about how they should live.
Ask someone to read Matthew 7:28-29
No-one asked "what right has Jesus to tell us how to
live?" - instead people were amazed because Jesus spoke with authority.
Jesus had the right given to Him by God to teach the people how God wanted them
to live.
In the Bible Jesus often tells us how to live our lives.
Look at the rest of the sermon on the mount in Luke 6:27-37. If it is
appropriate for your group you could read the whole passage, if the whole
passage is too complicated for your group then summarise Jesus rules as
follows:
• Love your enemies
• Give things to people and don't expect anything in return
• Show mercy
• Do not judge other people
• Forgive everything
Discuss what Jesus tells us to do. Do the children do what
Jesus tells them? Why? Why not? Do the children think that Jesus has authority?
You might like to finish with a prayer asking Jesus to help
us follow his rules better.
The Point: To ask the children to think about not the detail
of what Jesus said, but the fact that Jesus taught with authority and people
wanted to listen to Him and obey what He said because of who He was.
