Design Criteria for Creating Lesson Plans

FAITH QUEST

Adam and Eve

Antioch Arcade

Scripture: Genesis 3

Memory Verse:

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. Don't let me follow evil ways, but lead me in the way time has proven true. -- Psalm 139:23-24. (CEV)

Concepts:

§ Sins are actions that separate us from God, but God always comes to look for us.

§ Sometimes we want to hide from God, but God always comes to look for us.

§ God judges us, but God also helps us do better next time.

Objectives:

§ Older children will locate the story of Adam and Eve in their Bibles. Younger children will learn that the story is in Genesis.

§ The children will play a game that illustrates our inability to hide from God.

§ The children will discuss the concepts above in the context of the story and game.

Procedure:

Welcome and Introductions:

1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Wear your name tag. Make sure the children are wearing nametags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week who may not know you.

2. Open with a brief prayer

3. Announce: “Today we’re going to play Dodge Ball in the Garden of Eden. Let’s start with the story of Adam and Eve.”

Scripture/Bible Story:

1. Grades 1-2 will not use Bibles, but do open yours to show them where the story is. For grades 3-5, make sure everybody has a Bible. Help the students to find the book of Genesis, then chapter 3. (Get the shepherds to go around the room and help with this.) Some of the children will confuse chapters and verses. Show them that chapter numbers are the big ones, and also are at top of every page.

2. Begin with this statement: “Some people believe that Adam and Eve were two real people and that this story is history. Some people believe that it’s not history but a story that we can learn from. You can ask your parents what they believe about it. Whether it’s history or not, this story in the Bible teaches us some important things about God and humans, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on today.”

3. Review the story, using the summary below as a guide. With older children, consider telling part of the story and calling on them to read selected verses at the appropriate times. Unless this is the first Sunday of the rotation, let the children help you tell the story. This will give you an idea of how much they already know. Other ideas for reviewing the story in later weeks:

· Photocopy the passage (remove verse numbers), cut it up and see if they can put it back together correctly.

· Tell the story back to them with inaccuracies and let them correct you. (especially fun for the younger ones), but don’t do this until the later part of the rotation.

· Hand out key words and ask the kids what they have to do with the story. Or find the key word in the Bible passage and then read it.

Story Summary

After God created the man and woman, they were living in the Garden of Eden. One day the snake, who was the sneakiest of God’s creatures, came up to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

The woman answered, “We can eat from any tree except the one in the middle. If we touch it, we will die.”

“No you won’t!” the snake said. “If you eat from that tree, you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”

The woman looked at the fruit. It looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she ate some of it. Her husband was with her and she gave some to him, and he ate it too. All of a sudden they realized they weren’t wearing any clothes! So they sewed some fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Late in the afternoon, the man and woman felt a breeze and heard God walking in the garden. They were scared, and hid behind some trees.

God called out to the man and said, “Where are you?”

The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you I was frightened and hid.”

“How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden?”

“It’s the woman’s fault,” the man said. “She gave me the fruit and I ate it.”

“It’s the snake’s fault,” the woman said. “It tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”

So God told the snake, “ From now on, you will crawl on your stomach. You and humans will be enemies; they will hit you on the head and you will bite them on the heel.”

God told the woman, “From now on you will suffer a lot of pain when you have a baby.”

God told the man, “From now on, you will have to struggle to grow your food.”

Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the first mother.

Then God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and Eve, and sent them out of the garden to a place where they would have to work hard to grow their food.

Application:

1. Divide the children into groups of no more than 10. Send each group to a marked-off area that will be their Garden of Eden. In each “garden,” have some chairs or similar-sized items for “hiding” behind. (Alternative: Do this outdoors, using trees or playground equipment for hiding. If you want to use the playground, check with Faith Walk to make sure it’s available.)

2. Designate one child in each group as God, and hand him/her a Nerf ball, a roll of socks, or some other soft, throwable object. Have extra balls on hand.

3. The object is to avoid the ball thrown by God. God can throw from anywhere inside or outside the garden. The kids can hide behind the chairs and each other. Those who are hit are out of the game and must leave the garden, but they can assist God by retrieving the balls. God continues throwing balls until everyone is out.

4. Repeat the game until you run out of time or the kids get bored. Let the first child thrown out be God next time.

5. The game should go fairly fast. If it’s moving too slowly or the kids who are out are idle, add a ball every time somebody gets out, so that somebody always has a ball in hand ready to hand to God.

Older children: Designate some children Adams, some Eves, and some Snakes. Adams can hide only behind Eves; Eves can hide only behind Snakes; Snakes can hide only behind chairs or trees.

Note: This game will be best played in a large room or outdoors. If you have no choice but a small room, have the kids play all in one group and use the whole room as the garden.

Alternative: Take the kids outside for a game of hide-and-seek in one or more areas marked off as Gardens of Eden. One child is God. Give the others a set time (1 to 3 minutes) to hide before God comes looking for them. As children are found, they can help God find the others. Older children: Designate the boys as Adams, the girls as Eves. When they are found, the Adams can point out Eves to God; the Eves can point out Adams.

Reflection Time:

Gather the children in a circle and discuss:

How was the game like the story of Adam and Eve? Everybody tried to get away, but nobody could hide from God. People tried to hide behind each other the way Adam tried to blame Eve and Eve tried to blame the snake.

Did anybody win the game? No, some people seemed to keep away from God longer than others, but God eventually got everybody.

In the story, why were the man and woman hiding from God? They were afraid and ashamed because they had disobeyed God. Sins are actions that separate us from God, so they did not want to be near God.

What did God do? Came and found them. Our sins make us want to hide from God, but God always comes to look for us.

How did God punish the people and the snake? The man had to work to grow food, the woman would have pain when she had babies, and the snake would crawl on the ground and be enemies with people.

What did God do to help the people? Made clothes for them out of animal skins, and gave them a new place to live. God still cared for Adam and Eve, and God still cares for us when we sin. God judges us, but God also helps us do better next time.

Recite the Bible memory verse learned in the Great Hall. “Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. Don't let me follow evil ways, but lead me in the way time has proven true.”

Psalm 139:23-24. (CEV)

Discuss: In the game, people were able to keep away from God for a little while. Are we ever really able to hide anything from God? No, God knows all our thoughts and our actions. God will help us to do right things.

Pass out the journal pages and ask the shepherds to pass out pencils/markers. (TIP: Fill in the “workshop” blanks ahead of time; otherwise, the children will spend the entire journal time spelling out “Antioch Arcade.”) Optional: Give the children a sticker or some other memento (e.g., a tiny piece of foam from an old Nerf ball or a snip of a sock) to paste in their journal as a reminder of the workshop.

Tell the children to think of a time they did something wrong and would have liked for God not to know about it. (Did or said something mean or sneaky, didn’t share, got in a fight, etc.) If they have trouble thinking of something, ask them if they’ve ever done anything they didn’t want their parents to find out about – it will probably apply to God, too! Write about the incident or draw a picture.

Closing :

Ask the students to close their journals. Point out to them that their memory verse is a prayer. For the closing prayer, have them pray together the memory verse.

Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help collect and put away the Bibles, balls, pencils, etc.

Note: Sometimes the kids participate better if they get little rewards along the way. M and M's are highly motivating for some reason. You might consider giving them a M and M for finding the Bible passage, for participating in story telling, for answering a question (right or wrong), for raising hands and other appropriate behavior, for writing in their journal, for cleaning up, etc. You could have several small jars of M and M's on hand and put the shepherds in charge of distribution. (Better check with shepherds and make sure nobody is diabetic!)

Extra Activity

For older children (optional): See “Adam and Eve Word Search” at the end of the lesson plan. You can make copies to have on hand for kids who finish their journals early or to let them take home. It is intended to reinforce the story details and the memory verse.

Teacher preparation in advance:

1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.

2. Optional: Bring a CD or taped music for background music while you are gathering, meditative music for Reflection time, lively music for game time. A boom box is located in the Puppet workshop cabinet.

3. Write the scripture verse on the white board or display it in the room some other way.

4. Decide where you are going to play the game. Mark off the “garden” areas with masking tape on the floor or by some other method, and place appropriate chairs or other props for hiding behind. Gather supplies.

Supply List

Nerf balls or old socks

Masking tape or other supplies for marking off game areas

Adam and Eve Word Search

After you’ve found all of the words, put the unused letters into the blanks below to reveal a hidden message.