Scripture: Genesis 1, with emphasis on verses 20-31.
Memory Verse/Key Verse: O give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. -- Psalm 136:1 (CEV)
Concepts:
· God created the world good.
· God wants us to care for
God's creation.
Objectives:
The children will:
1.
Locate
the story of Creation in their Bibles (older children). Younger children will
learn that the story is in Genesis.
2.
Play
a game that helps them explore the diversity of the world.
3.
Play
a game that illustrates the importance of each species and their
interdependence.
4.
Play
a game that teaches environmental problems and solutions.
5.
Consider
ways in which they can take care of God’s creation.
Procedure:
Welcome and
Introductions:
1.
Greet
the children and introduce yourself.
Wear your nametag.
2. Open with a brief prayer
Scripture/Bible Story:
1.
Grades
1-2 will not use Bibles, but open yours to show them where the story is. For
grades 3-5, make sure everybody has a
Bible. The shepherds will bring extra Bibles.
Help the students to find the book of Genesis. (Get the shepherds to go
around the room and help with this.)
2. Begin
with this statement: “Some people believe that the Creation story in the Bible
is a history that tells us exactly how God made the world. Some people believe
that it’s not history but a story that shows how ancient people understood
their world. Whether it’s history or not, the Creation story in the Bible
teaches us some important things about God and humans and the world, and that’s
what we’ll be learning about today.”
3.
Summarize Gen. 1: 1-19. The Creation story says that in the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. God made light and darkness. God made the sky, and
separated the water from the land. God made the sun and the stars, and made day
and night, and seasons of the year. And everything that God made was good.
4.
Read Gen. 1:20-31 out loud
from the CEV. With older children, you might let the kids take turns reading.
Emphasize: God made the world and all its creatures good. After verses
26-30,discuss:
God told
the humans to rule over the fish and the birds and every animal. Does that mean
humans can do whatever they want, and mistreat the animals or disregard their
needs? A good ruler does not abuse those
who don’t have power, but takes care of them.
God provided fruits and grains and other plants to be food for everything
else that breathes – for all the animals. If humans are to rule the other
creatures, what does that say about our responsibility for their food supply? People are responsible for taking care of
the plants and the animals of the world. God wants us to take care of God’s
creation.
Application:
Creation Scavenger Hunt
“Now, we’re going to explore Creation!”
Break
the children into two teams (or more, depending on how many shepherds are
available to help supervise). Give each team a copy of the scavenger list (see
end of lesson plan). See which teams can find the most items on the list in 10
minutes – emphasize that they will not have time to find everything. They
should mark items off the list as they find them. The teams might want to
divide into several smaller groups and give each group part of the list. Tell
them what time they MUST be back in the room.
You can shorten the
list if you like, depending on the age and number of children in the group.
Also, feel free to substitute your own ideas for items on the list.
Consider
also making this a sock hike. Give the kids old socks to put on over their
shoes. After the scavenger hunt, have them look at the things stuck to their
socks. Where did those items come from? Did they see them while they were
outside?
When
the kids return, briefly discuss the wide variety of plants, animals, and
non-living natural things that can be found in just 10 minutes on our church
property, even though the land is largely devoted to building, parking lot, and
grass. Imagine the variety that abounds worldwide!
The Web of Life
(If
you think this game is too hard for the younger children, substitute Hawk,
Swallow, Mosquito from the Rainy Day Options below.)
Materials:
· Skein of yarn
· Index cards labeled with
parts of a food chain. Attach lengths of yarn to the cards to fit around the
students' necks. Examples might be:
* The sun (1 card), plants (8
cards), insects (6 cards), spider (3 cards), song bird (2 cards), hawk (1 card)
* The sun (1 card), plants (8
cards), water snails (6 cards), crayfish (4 cards), little fish (3 cards),
turtle (2 cards), alligator (1 card).
You
can adjust the number of cards according to the number of students, but make
sure there are more plants and small critters than larger animals, and more
herbivores than carnivores.
Procedure:
1.
Students
stand in a circle. Pass out one card to each student.
2.
Ask
which card would represent what all life needs to grow (the sun). Hand the end
of the yarn to the "sun" cardholder.
3.
What
would be next in the chain? The students with "plant" cards each take
a section of the yarn. The "sun" person should still hold tight to
the beginning end of the yarn. The yarn will slowly be unwound to form a web of
yarn. Continue through the list in the same manner until everyone is holding a
section of yarn.
4.
What
would happen if one of the life forms were removed from the environment? Start
removing things from their created environment. If something will not survive
with another thing, another critter must be taken out of the web.
5. As the chain collapses, end
with a discussion: What does this tell us about the importance of each living
thing in the environment? When one plant
or animal can’t survive, it affects other creatures. Most animals have more
than one source of food, but if too many of an animal’s food sources disappear,
the animal will disappear also. What does this tell us about human
activities that kill off certain plants or animals, or destroy their habitat?
Source:
Minnetonka Public Schools,
http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/science/tools/earthmonth.html#web
The Match Game
Pass
out index cards on which you have written either an environmental problem or a
solution. See list at end of lesson plan, and add your own ideas. Tell the
children to figure out whether their card has a problem or a solution. Then
have them go around the room and find the person with their card’s match. Some
problems can have more than one solution.
Discussion:
All the environmental problems on the cards are caused by things people do and
the way we live. We need to look for solutions to the problems we cause.
Rainy Day Options
If weather does not permit the scavenger
hunt, substitute one of these games:
Hawk, Swallow, Mosquito
“Do
you know how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors? Let’s try Hawk, Swallow, Mosquito
instead.”
Divide
the children into pairs. “Everybody tap your fist on your palm for the counts
of 1 and 2. On the count of 3, change your fist to any one of the following”:
· index finger for the hawk's
hooked beak
· index finger and thumb
straight out for the swallow's open mouth
· straight index finger for
the mosquito' stabbing mouthparts
Who
wins each round? Hawk catches swallow, swallow swallows mosquito, mosquito
bites hawk.
Discussion
is similar to the Web of Life discussion: In God’s creation, every animal has a
role to play and they are interconnected and depend on each other. What would happen
if all the swallows disappeared? The
hawks would lose a source of food. What if all the hawks disappeared? All
the mosquitoes? Even though we might
think we’d like to see the mosquitoes go extinct, if it happened we would
probably realize that they provided some benefits we weren’t aware of.
Source: National Wildlife Federation, Ranger Rick’s Kids Zone, http://www.nwf.org/rangerrick/summerfun/index2.html
Recycling Relay
This
is played with two teams. Have a box and a garbage pail for each team. Bring in
a pile of clean garbage and recyclable items. Set up this pile in between each
team. The boxes and garbage pails are about 6 feet away. On the word GO, the
kids run up grab an item, run and throw it in the proper disposal container,
and run back to their team to tag the next runner. If they get it wrong they
have to go back and get another item.
For
older kids, consider having separate boxes for categories of recyclables so
they have to sort paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum cans, steel cans, etc.
Source: Mrs. Bee’s Busy Classroom: http://dcrafts.com/earth2.htm
Trash or Treasure
Fill
a large cardboard box, (reused, of course; decorated if you like), with items
that are routinely trashed, such as wire hangers, gallon milk jugs, paper,
six-pack rings, detergent bottles, bottle caps, and cereal boxes.
Begin
with a demonstration. Draw an item from the box or can and tell a new way that
the item can be used. Example: A wire hanger can be made into a mobile, a long
hook for grabbing hard-to-reach items, or a wire sculpture. Some dry cleaners
will also let you return the hangers to be reused. You can also reuse them at
home to hang lightweight clothes.
Grades
3-5: Divide the kids into groups of 3 or 4. Hand out paper that has already
been used on one side (trash cans in the church office are a possible source)
and pencils (shepherds can supply). Have each group draw an item. Set the timer
(in the supply bin) and give them two minutes to write down as many uses as
they can think of for the item.
Grades
1-2: Have shepherds do the writing for the kids. Or just brainstorm as a class.
Discuss
the 3 R’s of Trash: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. All of them help to save natural
resources and keep trash out of landfills. We reduce trash by not buying
disposable items, over packaged products, and things we don’t need. In this
game, we practiced finding new uses for things that we otherwise would have
thrown away, or that we might have bought new materials for instead. Recycling
(for example, making new paper out of old paper, or making new metal products
out of old cans) also saves natural resources and landfill space. It consumes
less energy and causes less pollution than starting with new materials from the
environment.
Source: Mina E. Harris, Texas A & M University. Clean Texas 2000. <http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/admin/topdoc/gi/235/chapter2.html#4>
Creation Bingo
This
game would use bingo boards with pictures of animals, plants, water, and other
natural things, and “environmental” words such as “recycle,” “pollution,” etc. The game leader would call out
clues and the kids would figure out the correct picture or word to cover on
their boards. I have not taken time to work up the game and make the boards
since I didn’t know if it would be played, but I’ll be happy to do so if you
know you want to use it. Give me as much notice as possible – can’t do it in a
few minutes on a rainy Sunday morning! – Robin Morris
Reflection
Time:
Recite
the Bible memory verse learned in the Great Hall. “O give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” -- Psalm 136:1
Remind
the children that God made the world good and wants us to take care of God’s
creation.
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 to paste in their journal as a reminder of the workshop.
Have the children trace one of their hands on the page, then write at the top of the page: God’s Creation is in Our Hands. (Write it on the white board for them.) Tell them to list some things they can do this week to take care of the world (pick up litter, collect recyclables, feed birds, plant a tree, ride bike instead of driving, etc.).
Prayer: Ask
the students to close their journals and sit quietly for prayer. Go around the
room and let each child name something they are thankful that God made. (It
might be helpful to have them pass an object around so that whoever is holding
the object knows it is their turn.) End with, “Thank you, God, for creating all
these good things. Help us to take care of your good creation. Amen.”
Tidy and
Dismissal: Have
the children help tidy up before they leave.
Teacher
preparation in advance:
1. Read Genesis 1-2 and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
2. Prepare a closing prayer.
3. Write the scripture verse on
the white board or display it in the room some other way.
4. Prepare game materials.
Supply List
Dry-erase marker (in supply bin)
Lists for scavenger hunt
Old socks (optional)
Skein
of yarn
Index
cards prepared for Web of Life
Index
cards prepared for Match Game
Trash, recyclables, and containers for Recycling Relay (optional)
Trash, used paper, container, and timer (in supply bin) for Trash or Treasure (optional)
Creation Scavenger Hunt
(No manmade objects!)
Bird ____
Squirrel ____
Other mammal ____
Butterfly ____
Bee ____
Wasp ____
Ant ____
Other insect ____
Spider ____
Granddaddy longlegs ____
Turtle____
Snake ____
Animal nest
____
Spider web ____
Something living on a tree trunk ____
Animal that's camouflaged ____
Animal tracks
____
Egg case of a spider or insect ____
Animal part (bone, skin, feather, etc.) ____
Cocoon ____
Possible food for an animal ____
Seed ____
Plant with thorns ____
Plant that's been munched on ____
Five different-shaped leaves ____
Tree with rough bark ____
Tree with smooth bark ____
Smooth rock ____
Rough rock ____
White rock ____
Something bird might use in nest ____
Something very smooth ____
Something prickly ____
Something wet ____
Something each color of rainbow:
Red ____
Orange ____
Yellow ____
Green ____
Blue ____
Indigo
(a purple blue) ____
Violet ____
Something that is moving fast ____
Something hard ____
Something that floats ____
Something pointy ____
Something with cracks ____
Something noisy ____
Something with strong smell ____
Something a deer could eat ____
Something a bird could eat ____
Something slippery ____
Something soft ____
Something cold ____
Something short ____
Something hot ____
Non-living thing that never was alive ____
A sound from a living thing ____
Something under a rock ____
Something on a piece of wood ____
Sources:
National Wildlife Federation, Ranger Rick’s Kids Zone. <http://www.nwf.org/rangerrick/summerfun/index2.html>
Mrs. Bee’s Busy Classroom. <http://dcrafts.com/earth.htm>
Matching Game
Suggested problems and
solutions (some problems have more than one solution)
Garbage
takes up too much space in landfills.
Reuse things instead of throwing them away.
Recycle your trash.
Don’t buy disposable products or over packaged
products.
Buy recycled products.
Water
supplies are running low.
Grow plants that don’t have to be watered.
Turn off the water while you’re brushing your teeth.
Producing
electricity pollutes the air or produces radioactive waste.
Set your thermostat a few degrees colder in the
winter and warmer in summer.
Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
Automobiles
pollute the air.
Ride your bike.
Carpool.
Take the bus.
Plan to do a lot of errands in a single trip.
.
Forests
are being destroyed all over the world.
Plant trees.
Roadsides
are trashy.
Pick up litter; never throw it.