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.
APOSTLE’S PLAYHOUSE
Scripture: Luke 15:11-32.
Key Verse for this lesson: Luke 15:20 “The younger son got up and started back to
his father. But when he was still a
long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed
him.” (Contemporary English Version)
Concepts:
1. God loves us even when we do wrong things.
2. When we are truly sorry God forgives us.
3. Making bad choices can hurt yourself and others.
4. God doesn’t want us to be jealous even when things don’t seem fair.
5. God wants us to be thankful for what we have.
Objectives:
1. Children will experience and understand the various emotions that characters in the parable felt.
2. Children will associate the love and forgiveness of the father in the story as being the kind of love and forgiveness we receive from God.
3. Children will use gross motor activities to demonstrate the emotions of joy and celebration.
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
1. Welcome the kids and introduce yourself. Wear your name-tag. Make sure that everyone is in the right classroom! Kids will either already have name-tags on, or will get a name-tag from their shepherd. Make sure that you know everyone’s name and greet the students individually. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week that may not know you.
2. Start the “lesson time” with prayer. Ask for volunteers, but plan on praying yourself. Thank God for the many feelings we have and give thanks for God’s love.
Bible Story:
1. Have the students use their bibles to locate the Key verse listed above. Make sure that all children are able to locate the book of Luke in the Bible – you and the class shepherd will need to circulate to assist kids having troubles. You may want to spend a minute reminding them (or asking) them where in the Bible to find Luke. What do we call this particular section of the Bible? (The Gospels).
Once all children have located the passage (Luke 15:20), read it together as a group. Ask the kids what emotion(s) are mentioned or displayed in this passage. Take a few minutes to share and discuss this one verse. Contrast the sadness that the father felt when the son went away with the joy of the son’s return. What other contrasts in emotions are found in this story? When have the children experienced great sadness and then great joy? How does it feel to find something special that you thought you had lost? How do you think God feels when we do wrong and don’t live as we should? How does God feel when we ask for forgiveness and make a real effort to do better?
2. Read the entire parable to the children. You can choose to read it from the Bible or a Children’s Bible Storybook. If this is the first week of this rotation, you will need to spend a little longer going over the parable.
Application:
1.Drama! This is where you can be creative. Some suggestions – acting out the story as the workshop leader reads it, talking about “celebration” and what it means and looks like (celebration of the son’s return – running with open arms, etc.) exploring through gross motor exercises various emotions that are mentioned or displayed in the story, letting the children act out the parable without a script making up lines as they go.
2.
Sharing/Discussion – After the movement/drama section, it will be very
important for the kids to discuss how they felt, how they think the various
characters in the parable felt and some possible changes that might have made a
difference. For example, how would this
story be different if the father refused to see his son? What if the father hired him back as a
servant to teach him a lesson? How does
the older son feel? What person in the
story most reminds us of God? Of
ourselves?
Reflection Time:
Shepherds will pass out the journals and pencils/markers. The children should spend a few minutes reflecting upon the morning’s lesson – what emotions did they experience. What part of the parable do they like best? What part of the parable would they change? At 10:40 ask the kids to close their journals and prepare for the closing prayer.
Closing:
Be sure to conclude the morning session with a prayer, review of the key scripture passage, song (I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart?), or activity you think will help the children remember/understand some of the concepts that this parable reveals to us. You may ask for prayer requests.
No matter what you choose to do as a closing, be sure to end with prayer and thank God for loving us and forgiving us. Ask God to help us be more like the father in the story and not like the son who was jealous.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study
2. Prepare an opening/closing prayer in case nobody volunteers to pray.
3. Gather and prepare any materials you will need for the drama/acting portion. Will you need costumes or props (stuffed toy pigs, robe, ring, items mentioned in the parable)? Will you need a script for the older kids
4. Check out the room before your first Sunday Workshop so that you know where everything is located. Bring any CD’s or taped music that you feel would add to the lesson.
5. Decide how you want to close the lesson. Prepare a prayer or use one of the group suggestions above.
Materials:
Children’s Bible storybook