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.
Scripture: Luke 2: 8-20
Key verse for this lesson: “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people”– Luke 2:10
Concepts:
God cares for people even if they don’t have an important job.
God communicates with people through messengers (angels).
Objectives:
It is assumed that all children know the basic Christmas story; therefore, this lesson will focus only on the shepherds and angels. The children will learn that being a shepherd was not a prestigious job but that God used these ordinary people to be an important part of Jesus’ birth. The children will also learn that God can send messages to us through other people who could be called angels. We do not know what angels look like and they may not be the creatures we imagine with white wings and halos.
Procedure:
Welcome
and Introductions:
1. Greet the children and introduce yourself. Remember, each week you are interacting with a different group of students who may not know you.
2. Make sure that everyone is wearing a name tag, including you. Extra name tags can be found in the plastic bin for your workshop or in the Shepherd’s bag.
3. Tell the children that today they will use the puppets to learn more about the shepherds and angels in the Christmas story.
Scripture/Bible
Story:
1. Read Luke 2:8-20. Younger grades: read the scripture and ask the children to follow along in their Bibles. Older grades: have volunteers read aloud. Have all children follow along in their own Bible.
2. Discuss shepherds and angels with the children including the following ideas:
· Review what a shepherd did and that being a shepherd was not a prestigious job. It was a lonely job that was not well respected among the leaders of that day.
· Ask the children to imagine that Jesus was to be born in modern times. Ask them what jobs modern “shepherds” might or might not have. Examples of jobs that would not be equivalent to Biblical shepherds are doctors, college professors, government officials, wealthy businesspeople, etc. Examples of modern jobs that would be similar to a Biblical shepherd are trash collectors, road construction workers, janitors, other cleaning people, etc.
· Further discuss the story by talking about the angels. Ask questions such as “How many angels do you think there were?” “What do you think the angels looked like?” Help the children understand that even though we often think of angels as white-winged creatures wearing a halo that the Christmas story in the Bible gives no description of the angels.
· Older Children: Help the children see that the angels were really messengers from God. What do you think about this idea? Are there ways that people can be God’s messengers? “Do you think an angel could be a person like a teacher, friend, someone in your family?” Let them know that they might serve as God’s angel sometime by sharing the message of God’s love or caring with someone.
· If you want/need more discussion with the children, some additional discussion questions are: “How do you think the shepherds felt when they saw the angel?” “Do you think the shepherds believed the angel? Why or why not?” “Do you think the shepherds believed that Jesus was a special baby? Why or why not?”
3. End the discussion when you feel the children understand these points:
· The shepherds in the Christmas story were ordinary people that God chose for a special task.
· Angels are messengers from God.
· Modern “shepherds” and “angels” might not look as we imagine them from the Bible story.
Application:
1. Divide the class into four groups. Designate the groups as Angel 1, Angel 2, Shepherd 1 and Shepherd 2.
2. Pass out the people puppets (not the animal puppets) to only children in groups Angel 1 and Shepherd 1.Tell these groups they will be acting out their part of the story while you read from the Bible. NOTE: Since you will not be using puppets for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, you might want to draw or have pictures of them as a background. The shepherds could walk from where the angels greet them to the “stable” where your picture or drawing of the nativity is located.
3. Have groups Angel 1 and Shepherd 1 come to the stage with their puppets. Angel 2 and Shepherd 2 will be the audience this time.
4. Reread Luke 2:8-20 aloud slowly and with expression while Angel 1 and Shepherd 1 act out their parts of the story. Remind the children to show the emotions of the shepherds and angels such as the shepherds’ surprise and the angels’ reassurance.
5. Switch groups and repeat.
Optional: Younger children might be helped by using halos and head-dresses for their shepherds. You could use Christmas tree garland tied into circles for halos and strips of cloth held in place with an elastic band for shepherd head-dresses. Older children won’t need this visual cue.
Wrap-Up:
1. Following the presentations have a brief discussion with the children using questions such as “Does it matter that our angel puppets did not have halos?” “Does it matter that our shepherd puppets look different than Biblical shepherds”? Use this discussion time to reinforce the italicized ideas from above about the shepherds and angels.
2. At 10:35, ask the children to return the puppets to their storage location and to sit down quietly.
Reflection:
1. Ask the shepherds to pass out the journals and pencils/markers. Ask the children to draw a picture of a modern shepherd or angel. This will help reinforce the idea that ordinary people today can be used by God to carry messages or to help with God’s work in the world.
2. At 10:45 ask the students to close their journals and sit quietly for prayer.
Closing:
Prayer: End with a simple prayer thanking God for sending Jesus and for the part the shepherds and angels played in Jesus’ birth. Ask God to help us be a part of God’s work in the world now—maybe as a modern shepherd or angel.
Tidy and Dismissal: Ask
children to help clean up as they wait for their parents to arrive. With the older group ask them to remain
briefly to help tidy the room.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study, _______.
2. Prepare an opening/closing prayer.
3. Write your key scripture verse on the white board.
4. Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
5. Bring a CD or tapes music for background music while you are gathering, meditative music for reflection time.
6. Halos (Christmas tree garland) and Head-dresses (strips of cloth and elastics).
Puppet warm-up exercises:
You may wish to begin the puppet work in your lesson with
some of these warm-up exercises:
1. Tell the children that they will each receive a puppet and will practice moving their puppet in ways that help the audience understand what the puppet is doing. You will give them guidance on what to do with their puppets.
2. Ask the children to divide into pairs. If there is an odd number, a group of three will be fine.
3. Pass out the puppets to one child in each pair. It does not matter which puppet goes to which child.
4. Have one of the pair do the action or emotion that you suggest and the other person watch. Instruct the “watchers” to make any needed suggestions such as, “make bigger movements with the puppet” “do not turn the puppet’s head so much” etc. Examples of things you can practice with the puppets are:
· “Show how your puppet looks when it is speaking quietly.”
· “Show how your puppet looks when it is speaking loudly”
· “Show what your puppet does when it is listening.”
·
“Show your puppet praying.”
·
“Show your puppet looking surprised.”
·
“Show your puppet looking afraid.”