Gideon A Judge of Israel

We are continuing our lessons on the Judges.  This week's lesson is about Gideon.  Gideon was a humble Judge with a great amount of Faith.  He did as God commanded and had victory over the Midianites.  

God told Gideon how to win the battle against the Midianites and Gideon did just as he was told.  300 men and Gideon went into battle with pitchers, torches and horns.  They were victorious!  

Our "Take Home" activity is a Torch.  It is made from a paper towel tube, paper (wrapped around the tube), and tissue paper.  The kiddos will color the paper that wraps around the paper towel tube and then we will assemble them with a bit of glue and tape in class. 

Our memory verse this week is Judges 7:8...We will sing it to the tune "The Law of the Lord."   I know the kiddos will have it memorized before leaving class on Sunday.  That makes it easy for their parent to help them review the verse with them, so they will be ready for Wednesday.

Our Review game for this week is based off the fact that Gideon and his arm carried torches.  So, the kiddos will attach flames to the top of the torches if they answer a question from the story correctly.  There is velcro dots on the board and on the back of the flames so  it is easy for them to attach the flame to the torch.

On Wednesday Evening the kiddos will be coloring a picture of Gideon.  They will then get to add a 3D trumpet and a torch to Gideon's hands.  I have cut slots in his hand so that the torch can be easily slid into his hand.    The horn has two foamy dots on the back of it so that it is "3D" and puffs off the page.

Hope you enjoy teaching Bible class.

Blessings,

Ronda

Deborah a Judge of Israel

This past Sunday we continued in our lessons on the Judges!  The children were greeted by BIG blow up palm trees.  They knew they were in for an exciting lesson.

We talked a bit about Shamgar...he killed 600 Philistines with an OX goad.  He was a brave man!  However, after he died the Hebrews returned to their evil ways...and God allowed them to be oppressed.    One of my students asked me, "Why did the Hebrews do this?  Why didn't they learn their lesson?"  I guess that is the questions we all have when we study the history of the Judges.

  My visual aids for the story were these 3D visuals.  I have had these Palm trees for YEARS,  They came in a kids meal when my daughters, who are now 22 & 21 years old, were very young,    I have used them time and time again for Bible stories.  I purchased the little people from $Tree and Mardels.  She is supposed to be Delilah...but, she served as Deborah for today.  He is supposed to be an apostle, but today he is Barak.  :-)  I always try to multipurpose my visuals.

Our "Take Home" activity was a palm tree with Deborah sitting beneath it.  This was made out of card stock....tape and glue.  It was a relatively cheap "Take Home."  The kiddos LOVED having their own palm tree!

This is what they looked like prior to being colored and assembled.

Our Memory Verse is Psalm 92:12.  We have a little tune that goes with the Memory Verse.  The kiddos seem to have it memorized prior to leaving class.  The will make it easy to say it on Wednesday night.  I am sure the will ALL be putting up their MAP piece, for knowing their Memory Verse this Wednesday.  :-)

For our REVIEW GAME we "grew" a palm tree.  The kiddos added a Palm Leaf to the tree, by answering questions from the lesson.  The leaves have velcro on the back for easy attach-ability.  

This was very easy to make.  I used Printmaster (a computer program) to print the palm tree out as a poster.  I made extra leaves and added the velco after laminating.  I think it is very cute.

Our map is filling up! 

The kiddos are amazed at all the places and events that have happened.  This map makes it easy for us to review places we have learned in the past.  Kids LOVE maps!!!

As a special treat I gave each of my students a Palm Tree bottle....I told them that every time they use this bottle they need to remember the story of Deborah...and the other Judges.

                                                                                   

Their Explorer Journal Activity for Wednesday will be a picture of Deborah with palm trees in the background.  The palm trees are made from the foam fun material that can be purchased at any craft store.  That will make the palm trees 3D.  Of course, we all know that Deborah sat beneath the Palm trees in the mountains of Ephraim, between Ramah and Bethel.

Teaching on the Judges is an exciting endeavor.  The boys in my class are LOVING these lessons.  The girls were glad to know that there was a woman judge too.  I believe in teaching the Bible as it was written.  God wants all of HIS word taught....even though some of the lessons are a bit violent we will be learning about these Mighty Men (and woman) of God.

Blessings,

Ronda

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