Elijah & The Widow of Zarephath

 This week our lesson is about Elijah and The Widow of  Zarephath.    We will be EXPLORING the HISTORY of this LESSON.  The fact that the drought had become so BAD that Elijah had to leave the Brook Cherith and travelto a place in Sidon, because GOD  said there was  a woman there that would provided  food for Elijah.

During this lesson we will see various attributes that we must have in our life.  FAITH, HOSPITALITY, OBEDIENCE.  And we will again see the LOVE OF GOD and HIS LOVE shown through PROVIDING for HIS SERVANTS. 

As I tell this story I will be using these 3D visuals.  I printed them from a clip art program that I purchased a LOOOONG time ago.  It is available online and it is called COOL CLIPARTS.   The great thing about their clip art is you get it in color and black and white.  I have used a LOT of their clipart as PROJECTS for the KIDDOS.    I PRINTED, LAMINATED and added a RING of Laminate to the back to make them STAND UP.    I need to take a picture of the backs of all of these.  LOL 

Coming up with a HANDS ON ACTIVITY for this lesson was a challenge!    I knew I wanted something to go along with the idea of the OIL never running dry...the FLOUR never running out and BREAD being provided.  So, that got my wheels to turning.    

SO, let me tell you what happened and give you a little insight to HOW MY BRAIN WORKS.   I was at the Dollar Tree and this lesson was on my mind.  I was looking at different items and NOT really finding anything that went with this lesson....When all of a sudden I found these little Hawaiian Themed Cups with feet.  (The cups were sold in 2 Packs...a boy and a girl cup.  I was NOT pleased with the HULA theme of the little cups!)  But, I did NOT want them for the cups...I wanted them for the FEET!!!!!!!  So, I bought the cups,  sawed off the feet with my little exact-o style saw....the cups immediately went into the trash!!!)  

I LOVED those little FEET and thought they would be PERFECT for my TAKE HOME activity.  So, next stop was HOBBY LOBBY.  They had their FAKE (artificial) bread on sale for 50% off.  So, I bought these little slices of bread.  I had the eyes and the arms are printed cardstock from my computer...So, each TAKE HOME activity only cost me a $1.00!!!     I think they turned out REALLY Sweet. 

I have already attached the feet to the KIDDOS bread for Sunday's Take Home Project.  .  They will  stick on the eyes, color the arms and then glue them to the sides of their SLICE of Bread. 

My suggestion is this:  LOOK AT ITEMS AND THINK!!!  "COULD I USE 'THIS' OR A PORTION OF 'THIS' FOR BIBLE CLASS?"  "COULD I REMAKE THIS INTO SOMETHING USEFUL?"  "COULD THIS 'WIDGET' HELP ME TEACH A BIBLE TRUTH?"  DON'T BE AFRAID TO DECONSTRUCT SOMETHING IF IT WORKS!!!  ;-)

We will be adding a "NEW" word to our WORD WALL.  The word is "WIDOW."  I am not sure how many of my KIDDOS have heard this word in a understandable context.  I know they have heard it from the pulpit...but, I want to make sure they REALLY UNDERSTAND What a WIDOW is and HOW the WIDOW in our story HELPED ELIJAH. 

We will also have a NEW LOCATION to learn on our MAP.  The KIDDOS will find it interesting that Zarephath was NOT part of the Northern Nation of Israel...It was actually in Sidon.  So, I want them to see HOW far ELIJAH had to travel to get to Zarephath from the Brook Cherith.  While showing them the MAP, I will be pointing out that SOMETIMES OBEYING GOD is NOT EASY.  BUT, IF WE DO OBEY....GOD WILL BLESS US.  Traveling by foot---Traveling during a drought, Running for your life!---I count that as "NOT EASY."   But, Elijah OBEYED!!!! 

Our Memory Verse for this week is PROVERBS 3:33...I thought this would be a GOOD verse to go along with this lesson.  Showing HOW GOD BLESSED the WIDOW for HELPING ELIJAH.  (BTW, that is what is printed on the little bottle of "OIL" that the KIDDOS "BREAD MAN" is holding.)  We will sing this MEMORY VERSE to a Ronda Original tune. 

Our REVIEW GAME is very simple.  We have played something similar to this in the past...and the KIDDOS loved it....so, I decided to use the idea (just modified to fit this lesson) again.  We are going to play a TRUE or FALSE game.  Each KIDDO will get a set of TRUE/FALSE game boards and some Playing Chips MARKERS.  I will read a question and the KIDDOS will put a MARKER on the correct answer.  If the question is TRUE then they will put a marker on TRUE...if it is FALSE they put a marker on FALSE.  (NOTICE the THEMED True/False Boards....  Bread and Oil for the TRUE card and Cake and Coffee for the FALSE card.) 

NEXT Week we  will REVIEW this lesson and the KIDDOS will do their EXPLORER JOURNAL Activity...   This is WHAT they will be making...

They will COLOR  the WIDOW, her SON and ELIJAH...Then they will get to ADD several 3D items to their Explorer Journal Page.  They will add LOAVES of BREAD, a JAR of OIL, and a CANISTER OF FLOUR.    The little loaves of bread came from Hobby Lobby, I found them in the Doll House Furniture/Furnishings.  The JAR of OIL and CANISTER of FLOUR  were made using Crayola Model Magic.  (THIS STUFF IS WONDERFUL!!!)  

You can make all sorts of BIBLE TIME ITEMS from Model Magic...I use a LOT of the Terracotta Color, but the other colors are very useful too.  This is a AIR DRY product and it DRYS really quick....after it is dry I wrote the words FLOUR and OIL on them.  Then just using a good quality glue they will STICK to the paper!!! 

I used Terracotta for the FLOUR CANISTERS and Orange for the OIL JARS.  I just wanted 2 COLORS.  (BTW, keep all UNUSED portions of Model Magic in a zipper plastic baggie with all the air pushed out...and it will stay moist a LONG time.) 

If you can't FIND the perfect needed item....TRY MAKING IT!!!!  

Hope you are prepping and thinking about BIBLE CLASS.  Sunday will be here soon!!

Blessings,

Ronda