The Book of Judges. Ehud the Judge

We are beginning our lessons on the Judges this Sunday.  I am excited about this study...and I know the children will LOVE all these adventures.  

Our first lesson is about Othniel and Ehud.  Our focus will be on Ehud, since there is more information about him.  

As a "Take Home" activity the children are going to make Egg Shaped  "King Eglon."    The will learn how Ehud delivered the Hebrews from the oppression of King Eglon of Moab.

Our Memory Verse is Psalm 57:2. There is a little tune that we will sing during class, that goes with this Memory Verse.  I have found if I put the Memory Verses to a tune the kiddos get them memorized very quickly.

The Wednesday Evening Activity for the children's Explorer Journals is a picture of  "Ehud" with his dagger in his left Hand,  The Daggers are 3D...and wrapped with aluminum foil....to give them a "blade."

Our new attendance "charts" are a hit with the kiddos.  The kiddos LOVE adding the flowers to their flower pot.  I also love the fact that it adds a bit of Spring color to our classroom.  

I will post more pictures and info later.  We are playing a "dagger" review game.....and I will post a pic of the game tomorrow. 

Blessings,

Ronda

New Attendance Board...Sping Time Flowers

Our new 

Attendance Chart Board...

The children will add flowers to their own flower pot each time they attend.  I will be using flowers from the dollar tree...You know, those multi-colored flower bushes....I am excited about this attendance chart... I know they will LOVE IT!!!!!

"Growing In Knowledge...Blooming in Understanding."

I will take more pics as they add their flowers.

Joahua Takes A Stand...."As for Me and My House..."

This week we are learning the story of Joshua's Farewell Address to the Hebrews.  He is wanting them to remain FAITHFUL to God.  He tells them that they must make a choice.  He reminds them of all the blessings God had blessed them with.  He reminds them that God had always been with them.  Joshua tells them, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  

For our activity this week we made little houses out of milk cartons.  I pre-painted the  milk cartons and glued on the cardstock roof.  (The roof is a clip art picture of roofing tiles...printed on card stock.)  The door and windows are also clip art....however, I laminated them and ran them through my sticker maker...that way they can be quickly applied during class time.

Our memory verse is Joshua 24:15...we have a little tune to sing it too...They will have this one memorized very quickly. 

Our Wednesday "Explorer Journal" activity is a house....The kiddos will add the "pop-cicle sticks" and a picture of their family...I had to plan ahead with this activity...We took family pictures of my students this pass Sunday and Wednesday.  I know they will LOVE making this one...because it will have a picture of their OWN family!  :-)

Our Review Activity will be a game where they all work together to build a house.  They will answer questions from today's lesson...if they get the correct answer then they will add a block to the "house."  Since I teach Early Childhood Ages...I figure we will rebuild it several times.  :-)

Blessings,

Ronda

Joshua, The Day the Sun Stood Still

This Sunday we are learning the story of the day the sun stood still.  This story comes from Joshua 10.  I am excited about this lesson.  I know the children will be excited as well.  They always come into the classroom ready to EXPLORE something new.    I love their excitement!  

I am sure you know this story...Joshua and the Israelites were battling the Amorites at Gibeon.  The sun was going down and Joshua was wanting to get the battle done.  So he asked God for HIS help.  He told the sun to "Stand still over Gibeon" and it did not move for the entire day.  There has never been another day like that day when the sun stood still.  

The kiddos will be making a SUN as their "Take Home" project.  The sun is made from a toilet paper tube and a Styrofoam ball.  It has a string through the back so that the children can hang it up.  Since time is an issue, I have pre-painted the suns and balls...the children will add glitter (red and orange) to the sun to make it sparkle...they will also have to glue on the ball. 

Our memory verse is from Joshua 10:13.  We will sing a song to help the kiddos remember it.  They are so great about memorizing their Bible verses.  I am so impressed at their ability to remember how the verses go.  To me it shows parents are working with them during the week.

Our Review Game will be played sort of like the traditional "Red Light -Green Light" game.  I will hold the sun in my hands...the children will march, hop, skip, etc. towards me.  When I raise up the sun the have to stop moving.  I will ask a question about the story.  If one of them can answer it then the sun will lower and they can again march, hop, skip, etc.  We will repeat it several times.  

On Wednesday evening the kiddos will do their

"Explorer Journal" activity.  They will color the picture of "Joshua" and then glue on the 3D sun.  I know this is a simple activity, but it has a lot of punch!  The sun really pops up from the background and I know they will love gluing it on.  They always love gluing stuff.  :-)

Jericho

This past Sunday we learned about the story of the conquering of Jericho. We made the "Rams" horns as our "Take Home" Activity.  The horns were made before class (see previous post).  During class the children added the chenille stick around the mouth piece and were allowed to color and decorate their horn any way they wanted.    We also used these horns during the review game...but, more on that later.  The kids LOVED these horns.  They were soooo excited about getting to show their parents their "Rams" horn.  

Our memory verse this week was from the book of Proverbs.  We said and sang the memory verse several times during class...and I am sure they will have it memorized by Wednesday. 

Our Review Game was a BLAST (the kiddos were allowed to blow their horns during this game.) I had the children draw card from a pile...if they picked a "Trumpet Carrying Priest" then they were a horn blower....if they picked the "Ark of the Covenant" then they had to follow behind the horn blowers as we marched around "Jericho."  The children had to answer a question from the story in order to pick a 

card. 

This "Review Game" board from the Rahab story served as our Wall of Jericho. We marched around it a total of 13 times...(1 time for each of 6 days and then 7 times for day 7.)  Then the kids blew their horns and shouted.   Because this is a poster board type game board, I was able to let the wall fall flat.  Their expressions were priceless...I love getting them excited about Bible stories.

On Wednesday the children will be making this project for the Explorer Journal.  The horns are Bugles (from the grocery stores chip aisle.)  I coated them with a thick coating of modge podge and let them air dry for several days.  They have become extremly hard and I believe will hold up well in their Explorer Journal...I love the arm on the one Priest...it has motion by adding a brad...I love activities that have the kids do several things with their hands... I believe it will help them remember the story very well.

Blessings,

Ronda

How To Make a "Rams Horn"

As I was prepping to teach the story of Jericho, I decided I wanted to make each student a "Rams Horn."   I wanted it to be a working horn that they could BLOW...so, out came the toilet paper tubes, masking tape, etc. These horns are not hard to make, but they do take a bit of time to completely assemble.  

You will need 3 toilet paper tubes per horn.  (Paper towel tubes will work, but you will need to cut them down to approx. toilet paper tube length.)  You will need a horn mouth piece from a party horn, masking tape, tape and chenille sticks.   

You start by removing the mouth pieces from the party horns.  You will then cut one toilet paper tube length wise and wrap it around the mouthpiece in a cone shape.  Use masking tape to tape it together. Then add the second tube...you will need to manipulate the tube to make it fit inside the cone shaped tube then add the third tube.  Again, you will have to manipulate the tube and make it fit...you should now have a "Rams" horn.  Now wrap it in masking tape.  (My masking tape came from the $Tree so it is yellow and not the traditional cream color.)    After you have it completely wrapped in masking tape you then paint the horns.  I choose gray and brown paint...in hopes to resemble the colors of a real Ram's horn.  

Here are pictures of them in progress....I loved the way they turned out...and the kiddos LOVED them too!!!  They added the chenille stick to the area where the mouth piece and horn joined...and then colored a little extra coloring and markings to their own horn.  

They were wonderful....Make sure to see next post to see what we did with the modged poged BUGLES. 

Blessings,

Ronda

Memorial Stones

This past Sunday we learned about the story of the Memorial Stones.  The stones were picked up from the midst of the Jordan River, from the place where the Priest feet had stood.    Joshua picked 12 men (one from each tribe) to pick up a rock out of the Jordan and carry it on his shoulders all the way to Gilgal.  The rocks were then turned into a Memorial for the Hebrews.  The stones would help remind the Hebrews of all that God had done for them.  

The children made a Diorama as their "Take Home" project.  They LOVED gluing on the 12 stones.  I had already glued the back ground into the shoe box...this helps save a bit of time.  I also asked member to donate shoe boxes months ago.  That way I was insured to have enough shoe boxes for this project.  

Our Memory Verse this week was Joshua 4:7.   We sang the Memory Verse to the tune: "If you're happy and you know it..."  The kiddos did great with the Memory Verse.

For a "Review Game" I had paper mache rocks that the children had the opportunity to pick up and carry on their shoulder to our "Gilgal."  They were soooo cute carrying them on their shoulders, pretending that they were soooo heavy.    They had to answer a question from the Bible story before going to pick up a rock from the "midst" of the "Jordan."  Then they brought the stone over to the other side of the room, by carrying it on their shoulder, and placed it in the pile.  We made our version of a "Memorial."  They had a great time.

On Wednesday Evening the children made a version of a "Memorial" out of 12 stones...This project is in their Explorer Journal.  They are heavy and had to be made of cardstock paper to help support...however, I still suggest you be careful lifting this.   They children loved their "Memorial Stones."