FAITH QUEST
This lesson plan is copyrighted and belongs to the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian,
Cary North Carolina.
It may be used for non-profit uses only.
NOAH AND THE FLOOD
The story of Noah and the Ark covers four chapters of Genesis (6-9). This is too much to “read” or have the kids read, so particular parts of the story will be highlighted in various workshops.
PRAISING PUPPETS
Scripture: Genesis 6:13-22
Memory Verse/Key Verse: Genesis 6:13 “So God said to Noah… “ and Genesis 6:22, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
Objectives: Children will learn that God talked to Noah and continues to communicate with people. Children will understand that Noah was obedient to God even when he didn’t have any evidence that what God said would really happen. The children will recognize that Noah is an example to us of obedience to God. The children will become familiar with the puppets, how to manipulate them and how to store them.
Concepts: God communicates with people.
Noah obeyed God.
Procedure:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week that may not know you. Begin with a brief prayer asking God to help us be obedient.
2. Explain the puppet workshop. It is one of the 5 basic workshops for Faith Quest. During each story the students are studying during Faith Quest, they will come to a puppet workshop. They will use puppets to learn more about Bible stories and how those stories are important to us in our life. Today we will focus on Noah and his obedience to God.
3. Test for Knowledge. Ask younger children whether the story of Noah is found in the Old or New Testament, or for first graders, a simpler question might be whether it is found earlier in the Bible or later. For older children ask which Testament and also which book of the Bible it is in. Remind them this is one of our earliest stories of God and is therefore in the first book of the Bible.
4. Briefly review the Noah story from the Bible--focusing on the following aspects—Noah built the ark before it ever rained, he built the ark just because God told him to do so, Noah followed all God’s instructions including what size to build the ark and how many animals to include. This review will probably only take a few minutes; however, if the class does not seem familiar with the story, the review may need to be longer. End the review when you feel that the children have a solid recall of the story and of who Noah was.
5. Distribute the Puppets. Tell the children that they will each receive a puppet. With your guidance they will spend a few minutes learning to move their puppet in ways that will help the audience understand what the puppet is doing. Pass out the puppets. It does not matter which puppet goes to which child.
6. Work in groups of two. After children have received a puppet, tell them to work in groups of two. If there is an odd number, a group of three will be fine. You are going to suggest that their puppets show certain actions or emotions. Have one of the pair do the action or emotion that you suggest and the other person will watch. The “watcher” may make suggestions such as, “make bigger movements with the puppet” “do not turn the puppet’s head so much” etc.
After one person of the pair has had a turn, trade parts and let the other person try. As a leader, you will need to tell children when to switch parts and when to listen to the next instruction from you for what motion they should demonstrate.
Ask one child of each pair to show the following actions or emotions using their puppets. “Show how your puppet looks when it is speaking quietly.” (move mouth of puppet with small movements, head rather quiet) “Show how your puppet looks when it is speaking loudly”(move mouth wide open and show some head movement as well) “Show what your puppet does when it is listening.” (no motion at all, turned toward the speaker) “Show how your puppet might have helped build the ark.” (move puppets arms or hands as if it were hammering, lifting, carrying, etc something for the ark)
Tell the children that since they have had a little practice with their puppet you will do something a little more complicated now.
7. Perform a short play. Keep the children in pairs and ask them to choose which one of their puppets will be “James” and which will be “Sam” for a short play. Ask the Shepherd from the group to read one part while you read the other and tell the children act it out. This play will be similar to the story of Noah in the Bible, but will be in a modern setting. (See attached play.)
Following the play, ask questions similar to these. “How was this puppet story like the Bible story of Noah?” “How was this story different?” “What kind of person was Sam?” “How were Sam and Noah similar.” “How did Sam know what God wanted him to do?” “Do you think God can communicate with us like he communicated with Sam and Noah?” Continue the discussion until it seems the children have an understanding of God’s communication with Noah and Noah’s obedience.
If time permits, you can reread the Sam and James play as the pairs switch parts. Or, ask several children to come forward to the stage and act out the play as you read it, or choose two children to read the play while one pair or all the children act it out.
8. Make-up a situation. (time permitting) Now ask each pair of children to make-up a situation where someone is being obedient to what they know they should do just as Sam and Noah did. Have their puppets act out the situation. Examples: not stealing candy at the grocery even if a friend did, not cheating on a test, telling the truth when they have done something wrong, etc.
9. Tidy-up! When it is 10:30, ask the children to return the puppets to their storage location and to sit back down quietly.
Reflection Time:
Ask
the shepherds to pass out the journals.
Ask younger children to draw a picture Noah or Sam doing something
related to this story—listening to God, working on their building, etc. Ask older children to copy the sentence:
”Noah obeyed God” and then to write any words, thoughts, pictures, ideas they
have related to this.
Closing:
Prayer End with a simple prayer thanking God for the example of Noah in the Bible. Also ask God to help us do what God wants in our lives just as Noah did what God wanted him to do.
Tidy and Dismissal Ask the children for help with any clean-up needed. The Shepherd should collect name-tags and journals.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Preview the scripture passages
2. Prepare an opening prayer in case nobody volunteers to pray.
Materials:
Extra copies of the play as needed
SAM: “Did you know I spend time with God each day?”
JAMES: “Yeah, you’ve mentioned it before. But what do you do exactly?”
SAM: “I read the Bible, then I pray for a little while and then I sit
quietly.”
JAMES: “Why do you do the sitting quietly part? That seems like a waste of time.”
SAM: “I sit quietly to see if I hear a message from God.”
JAMES: “A message from God?!
That’s crazy! Do you get a
little written message in a bottle?!”
SAM: “No, but sometimes I get a very clear idea in my mind. When that happens, I am sure it is what God
wants me to do. You know what that
message was today?”
JAMES: “What? Go live in a
cave?”
SAM: “No, God said my construction company should build new apartments
for 300 people.”
JAMES: “That’s dumb. Our town
doesn’t need any more apartments.”
SAM: “I know, but God said there would be lots of people moving here
that would need apartments.”
JAMES: “Yeah, right. And what
happens when no one wants to move here?”
SAM: “Well, I don’t know, but I am very sure the company needs to
start on the apartments soon.”
EIGHT
MONTHS LATER
JAMES: “Sam, how is the apartment building going? Are you still working on that crazy
project?”
SAM: “We have the outside all finished and we are finishing the inside
painting and floors. It should be done
in about three weeks.”
JAMES: “I still think it is a crazy project! Who is going to live there?”
SAM: “I still don’t know, but I do know that God wanted this built, so
we’re working on it.”
ONE
MONTH LATER. NEWSPAPER HEADLINES READ
“HURRICANE GEORGE LEAVES 300 FAMILIES HOMELESS”
JAMES: “Sam, Sam, did you see the headlines in the paper today? There are 300 families whose homes were
destroyed by Hurricane George.”
SAM: “That’s it! That’s
it! God wanted me to build the
apartments for those families. Now they
will have somewhere to live. Quick
James, lets tell the mayor and the newspaper so the families can start moving
in soon.”