| Supply list: Pretzel sticks, small marshmallows, large marshmallows, plates, cotton balls, sheep ears, yarn Pre-class prep: samples of both crafts and sheep on the wall for relays Circle Time – Rules, songs, good news, prayer, Memory Scripture (John 1:1-2, only John 1:1 for the younger class). Please review the lessons from this unit: Jesus Loses His Parent, Mary Mother of Jesus, Calling the Disciples, and Woman at the Well, Jesus Feeds the 5000 New Song idea: My God Is So Great Bible Reading – John 10:11-15 Intro – Today our Bible story is from the book of John. Jesus is talking about Heaven with the Pharisees and how He is the only way to get to Heaven. Jesus decided to use an example to help them understand. He compared Himself to a good shepherd and all of us to sheep. However, the Pharisees probably still didn’t understand. Let’s read the story, and find out what Jesus is saying to us. Discussion Questions – 1. What does a shepherd take care of? (Sheep.) 2. Does a good shepherd lay down (or give) his life for the sheep? (Yes.) 3. What do you think this means? (The good shepherd would risk his or her own life to protect the sheep.) 4. What does a hired hand do when he or she sees the wolf coming? (Runs the other way leaving the sheep behind.) 5. What happens to a flock of sheep if there is no shepherd? (They may be attacked by a wolf and get scattered.) 6. In our Bible story, does the good shepherd know his sheep? (Yes.) 7. Do the sheep know the good shepherd? (Yes.) 8. How are we like sheep? (Allow for answers.) 9. Do we have a good shepherd? (Yes.) Who is our Good Shepherd? (Jesus.) Craft 1 – Marshmallow Sheep Give each student some large marshmallows, small marshmallows, and pretzels to make a sheep out of. Game 1 – Sheep Voices Have the children sit in a circle representing sheep in a pen. One of the children will wear a blindfold and will be the shepherd. The teacher will point to one student at a time to make a baa-baa sound. The shepherd will listen to the baa-baa sounds of the sheep and will try to guess what sheep is “calling”. Craft 2 – Sheep Mask Give each child a white paper plate with the center cut out. Have the children cut out ears from construction paper and glue them to the edge of the plate. They will then glue pieces of cotton all around the edge of the plate. The children will them hold the plate up to their face allowing their face to show through. Explain to the children that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep! Game 2 – Sheep Relay Divide the children into two teams. The teacher will provide a cut-out of a sheep for each team and tack it to the wall. The teacher will give each team exactly the same number of cotton balls. Each child will take a turn running to their team’s sheep and gluing one cotton ball to their sheep. The child will then run back to tag the next team player who will go and glue a cotton ball on the sheep. Game 3 – The Good Shepherd and the Wolf If you have finished all the activities, you can take the students outside for recess and one more game. This is basically Duck, Duck, Goose with a Bible Twist https://www.kidssundayschool.com/preschool/games/the-good-shepherd-and-the-wolf Books of the Bible – Please use the following song to teach the kids the books of the Bible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7ZtWRSCH7E Each student will need to bring a Bible to class. This will help them participate during Bible reading time, but it will also allow them to learn to use their Bibles. When any child can say the books of the Bible in the correct order to the coordinators, there will be an extra special prize. Optional Activity – Bible App for Kids – any of the stories about Jesus |