Serious Play 2 Teacher's Manual Sample

Leader’s manual SP2 God cares for people who trust him From Genesis

Contents How it works

4

Unit introduction

6

1

God cares for people

Genesis 1:1–2:4

2

Adam and Eve

Genesis 2:15–17; 3:1–7

17

3

Leaving Eden

Genesis 3:8–24

23

4

Noah

Genesis 6:5–9:17

31

5

Promises

Genesis 11:26–12:5; 13:14–16; 17:1–16

39

6

Lots and lots

Genesis 13

45

7

Stargazing

Genesis 15:1–6

53

8

A baby boy

Genesis 21:1–8

59

9

Isaac and Rebekah

Genesis 24

65

God cares for his people

Psalm 84:12; 104

73

10

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Serious play

How it works How the sessions are structured Bible passage: All sessions are Bible-focused

Aim This is the ‘big idea’ to be taught during this session. It is child-oriented.

Outcomes These statements break down the aim into ‘do-able’ chunks. There are generally only three, so that the leader can keep them in mind and check up later whether or not they were achieved. They are broken up into: • knowledge – information, concepts, beliefs • understanding – more personal ways of grasping the concepts in the session • life application – ways of making links between knowledge and children’s lives, and reflecting on what kind of change might happen in response to God’s word.

Memory verse This verse will generally be based on the CEV Bible and will be taught during the session.

Notes

Get ready

These notes for the leader give Bible context and background. There are hints regarding the theology of the passage, where it fits in salvation history and how it may properly be applied to both leader and child.

There might also be comments about the management of the session content and special comments when needed about visual aids and activities.

This section gives hints about important preparation to be done before the session starts.

Leader’s prayer This section links to the aim and outcomes, mentioning the way this session will actually call for a response from the child and make a difference in their lives.

Start up During this time activities occur that introduce the theme, aim and ideas of the session. There may be a few activities to choose from. Each activity has a specified purpose.

Your choice of activities will often depend on the children in your group and the space available.

Gear A summary is given at the beginning of the session of all the equipment needed by the leader and when it will be used. Some items will be given as optional. The gear needed for the Start up and concluding Activities is given with the particular activity. Leaders should choose these in advance to ensure that they have all that is needed. It is advisable to try out any unfamiliar activity before the session to make sure it works.

NOTE: Sometimes during Bible focus time there will be a special comment to the leader about an issue that may come up during the session.

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Bible focus

Bringing it together This section is really important. The leader is encouraged to allow enough time for this as connections are discussed that impact the children’s lives.

Links ?

Links are made with the previous sessions.

Connections with life are raised and the children are encouraged to discuss ‘real life’ situations they face. We will raise the issue here and it will be drawn to a conclusion during Bringing it together.

Teaching time This is the body of the session. It involves teaching and learning activities. For this youngest group the story time is usually presented first and activities done after to reinforce the main ideas raised by the story.

The story time has as its central focus the explanation of the Bible text in an age-appropriate way so that the aim of the session is reached. The activities ensure that all the session outcomes are achieved.

What the leader actually says to the children is presented in bold text. Directions to the leader are in normal type.

In this part of the session the children are helped to understand the Bible. Concepts and activities are ageappropriate. The activities are designed to reinforce the Bible teaching by revising the main concepts and testing the children’s recall.

Application is an important part of this section and it is done carefully, while being true to the passage and to the developmental needs of the children. At this youngest age group we are laying the foundations for further knowledge and understanding.

Regardless of the stage of their faith, they can be called on to respond and encouraged to know how God’s word challenges them to love and trust Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.

There may be open-ended questions that encourage children to respond in their own terms. We are aiming for honest responses from the children.

The Memory verse is often taught during this part of the session.

Prayer This will normally follow Bringing it together and allows for the issues highlighted by the children to be prayed about. Leaders will model prayer and also teach children how to pray – both for themselves and for others, and for issues in the wider world.

Activities After the more formal learning time the leader is encouraged to choose one or more of the activities included in each session as a way of reinforcing the main learning ideas and also allowing the children to interact with the adult leaders and also their fellow group members.

Munchies Many of the sessions contain ideas for Munchies – food and drink that relate to the session for the children to enjoy. It is a good idea to check with parents for any allergies that their children might have before serving food and drink.

NOTE: The Links in each session help children to recall what they have already learned. Leaders may wish to include a reflective session also.

This icon shows where in the session the Bible will be read to the children so they can listen to and interact with the word of God.

Music spot Various songs, on readily available CDs, are suggested to link into the session and to provide a high-interest flow to the activities.

Think about it

Think ahead

Here the leader is encouraged to think through issues that occurred in the session and reflect on possible strategies for the future.

This is a very brief indication of what the leader will need to plan ahead for next session. It may involve equipment, people, and so on.

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Unit introduction

God cares for people who trust him From Genesis

Unit aim The children will learn that God, our loving Creator, is faithful and can be trusted.

Unit outcomes By the end of this unit the children will: • know that God promises to care for his people • state some of the ways we see God keep his promises in Genesis 1–24 • understand that God keeps all of his promises • understand that God is always faithful to his people, even when they are not faithful to him • appreciate that God wants us to trust him.

Memory verses Sessions 1–3 God created us all. Job 34:19a (CEV) Sessions 4–7 Trust the Lord! Psalm 27:14a (CEV)

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Where this fits in the Bible

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Sessions 8–10 [Jesus said] ‘I will trust God.’ Hebrews 2:13a (CEV)

We encourage the children to understand that God is always faithful to his people, no matter how unfaithful they are to him. God wants each of us to trust him completely, even if his promises seem impossible. For God, all things are possible!

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Notes

Special features

Bible background

The leader’s pack includes:

These ten sessions focus on God’s character as a faithful, promise-keeping God, and some of the promises he made to his people as seen in the book of Genesis.

• the Leader’s manual of ten sessions • a set of 11 full-colour A3 Leader’s posters • a sample of the set of 10 full-colour A5 Children’s posters. Extra sets may be purchased from CEP so that every child has their own copy to work with in each session.

• a set of photocopiable masters • a variety of Visual aids and activities for each session.

The first session revises previous learning on the wonders of God’s creation. The children are reminded that God created a perfect world in which his people co-existed with him in harmony and trust. The next two sessions consider Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God and the consequences of their lack of trust. Indeed, these consequences were universal and not just limited to Adam and Eve, but unlike us, Adam and Eve had to live with the knowledge that they had known a perfect world.

The next six sessions focus on the promises God made to Noah, Abraham and Isaac. The children will see that God remained faithful to all these promises, showing constant care for his people. Finally, the children will reflect on God’s care for themselves and others.

Faith development Children grow and develop physically, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually at different rates and in different ways. The unit aims to encourage growth in trust of our loving and caring Creator God, for each child at his or her own pace. No matter what stage of their faith development, they can be challenged to respond to God with trust in his faithfulness.

Faith has been described as having four aspects: believing, imagining, trusting and doing. (See Children Finding Faith by Francis Bridger, SU, England, 2000, available from CEP.) Believing involves having faith in the truth of the gospel and a reliance on the promises of God in Christ. Imagining involves creatively exploring our beliefs. Trusting involves the relational side of faith. Doing is the way we act as an outworking of our faith. Children, like adults, benefit from learning approaches that involve exploring faith from each of these four aspects.

These sessions have been written with this in mind.

Leader’s posters There is a Leader’s poster to be displayed in each session, summarising the theme of the Bible teaching. These are useful for reinforcing teaching, summarising and recalling past sessions, and creating a colourful timeline of learning.

Children’s component The children will receive smaller versions of the Leader’s posters. The children will make a Photo album using their Children’s posters, adding to the album each session, and decorating or adding to the posters to reinforce the session aim. During sessions the albums can also be used as aids for revision.

Although the album pages will be collected by the leaders for the first nine sessions, the children will be able to take them home in the final session as a visual reminder of what they have learned.

A suggestion for preparing the Photo albums is as follows. Use one A4 sheet of paper per two sessions per child. For example, in Session 1 stick Children’s poster 1 on one side and in Session 2 stick Children’s poster 2 on the other. Repeat this process for all sessions so that the children end up with five double-sided photo pages. Before the final session in this unit, bind each child’s set of photo pages with string or staples, in a folder, or with an office binder. If desired, use small paper triangles as photo corners.

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Activities

Music spot

Children all learn in a variety of ways. Serious play is for three to five year-olds who enjoy and learn through play, are either non-readers or beginning readers, and are active in the years before formal schooling. Because of this, the story-time component of Bible focus is kept short and to the point, and the main concepts of the Bible passages are then reinforced in the activities.

The Earth movers CD has been especially developed by CEP for use with the 3–5 year old age group. On the CD are songs about God and his promises, movement music for dance, music to cue the children to come back to the leader and get ready to listen, music to ‘get up and boogie’ to, and music for popular games such as pass the parcel and musical chairs.

At this stage the children are beginning to learn how to relate to God through his word, the Bible, and also through prayer. It is important that the leaders model this behaviour and encourage the children to follow their example.

Often the music helps the children to remember the significant learning that has taken place in the session. You may make one copy only of the CD onto audio cassette for use in the context of your church. This CD is available separately from your kids@church supplier.

A Memory verse activity is included in each session and is presented in an interactive way so that the children will begin to build their own personal store of Bible verses.

Each session recommends the song or songs from the Earth movers CD that are most appropriate for reinforcing the key concepts of the session or the unit as a whole.

Photocopiable masters

Other children’s CDs you may find useful are:

Photocopiable masters have also been included with most sessions to provide extra craft activities to reinforce key learning concepts or the Memory verse.

The opportunity should be taken when helping the children with these activities to talk to them and learn more about each individual.

• Promises, promises, CEP

When choosing the activities you will include in each session, the number of children in your group, their individual skills and the space you have available will be important considerations. Try to encourage a wide range of activities so that the different learning skills of the children will be catered for.

Purchase of the Leader’s pack entitles you to make one copy for each member of your group.

• 10,9,8 … God is great, Colin Buchanan • Practise being godly, Colin Buchanan • Remember the Lord, Colin Buchanan • Follow the Saviour, Colin Buchanan • How cool is that, Johnny Burns • The King, the snake and the promise, Emu Music • Meet the King, Emu Music • Lovely jubbly, Doug Horley • Tomb Breaker, CEP These CDs are available from CEP.

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1

God cares for

people Genesis 1:1–2:4

Aim To help the children learn that God, our Creator, looks after us and wants us to trust him.

Outcomes By the end of this session the children will: • be introduced to Adam and Eve, the first people • understand that God loves and cares for all people • state some ways in which God provides for them.

Memory verse God created us all. Job 34:19a (CEV)

Notes Read Genesis 1:1–2:4.

Genesis 1 is primarily about God and his name appears no less than 20 times in this passage. As the creation unfolds, more and more of God’s creative power, divine purpose and loving intention for all living things is revealed. The creation is awesome but it points to an infinitely more awesome Creator. This session briefly revises previous sessions about creation (see Serious play SP1, Sessions 1 to 5) and also provides an introduction to the current unit’s focus on a loving God who can and should be trusted.

The children will consider ways in which God provides for them, just as he provided for Adam and Eve. During this unit they will be encouraged to trust God, their Creator, as one who never stops caring for and loving them.

Leader’s prayer Pray that you and the children will respond to the Creator God with trust and obedience. Pray that even though the children may not understand all of the concepts of living a life of trust yet, seeds will be planted that will develop further in time.

Before Adam and Eve tasted the fruit forbidden by God, they were truly blessed. They lived amid the rich diversity of life and landscapes created by God, were abundantly provided for, had freedom to rule over everything they saw, and enjoyed the presence of their loving Creator. Although they had no clothes, they were content, rather than ashamed, and had no need of anything, be it spiritual, emotional or physical.

It was only later that human rebellion, doubt and discontent surfaced. Initially trusting God came easily.

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Gear  A copy of the People photocopiable (page 15) for each child  Visual aids from Serious play SP1 (see Get ready), optional  Prepared Adam and Eve dolls or puppets (see Get ready)  Leader’s poster 1  A Children’s poster 1 for each child  A CEV Bible marked at Genesis 1:29  CD of choice and CD player  A prepared copy of the Paper doll chain photocopiable (page 16)  Gear for Take home and Memory verse activities  Gear for chosen activities in Start up and Activities sections  Food for Munchies

Get ready Display Leader’s poster 1 in your area.

Before the session, make male and female peg puppets or paper dolls to represent Adam and Eve during Bible focus.

Create a display to represent the Garden of Eden, complete with a sun, trees, flowers, grass and water.

If possible, use real leaves or branches. Use blue cellophane or plasticine for water. This display does not need to be large and could be made to fit into a box.

If you have any of the Visual aids used in Sessions 1 to 5 of Serious play SP1, have these ready to show during Bible focus. If possible, display the Visual aids from Session 5 in your area.

Open small children’s Bibles to pictures of Adam and Eve and display these somewhere in your learning area.

Make a paper chain doll using the template provided on page 16. Refer to the diagrams on page 11. This Visual aid will be used during the Memory verse activity or Let’s make people (see Start up).

The children will be making their own Photo album during this unit (see Unit introduction, page 7).

You may wish to pre-cut small coloured paper triangles to use as photo corners. If you decide to use photo corners, you will need these for each session in this unit.

Playdough recipe Mix together the following ingredients in a saucepan: 1 cup plain flour, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 cup water, and a few drops of food colouring. Stir over low heat until the mixture is well-combined and has a thick, doughy consistency. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then knead well. Make a few batches of playdough and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Start up Do Paper people, then choose from the other activities in Let’s make people as time permits. It is preferable to have the children do as many of these activities as possible to encourage them to have fun making people – just as God surely did! For larger groups where there is an assistant, set up several activities in different spaces, allowing the children to rotate between activities. Keep all of the ‘people’ made aside for use later in the session. For future reference, tick the activities you choose.

Paper people Purpose: To make some ‘people’.

Gear  A copy of the People photocopiable (page 15) for each child  Child-friendly scissors  Coloured pens and pencils  PVA glue  Wool Make paper people by cutting out the templates provided. Pre-cut the templates before the session for very young children and large groups, or simply to save time. Each child should make a male and a female paper person. Ask the children to draw faces on the people and glue wool on for hair, assisting them as required. Put the people aside for use in Bible focus.

For extra impact Play music as the children do their Start up activities.

One suggestion is the song, In the beginning, track 3 on the Earth movers CD.

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Bible focus

Let’s make people Purpose: To enjoy making ‘people’.

Gear  Playdough (see Playdough recipe, page 10), people-shaped cookie cutters and a tray  Cut-outs of people from magazines, adhesive tape and ice-cream sticks  Pipe-cleaners  Small boxes, coloured pens, adhesive tape, wool and other craft items such as corks  A copy of the Paper doll chain photocopiable (page 16) for each child and scissors  Wooden pegs, wool, PVA glue, googly eyes and fabric scraps

Links We have just made all types of people.

Did you enjoy making people? (Accept responses.)

Show me the people you made. Allow the children to show what they have made.

Of course, our people are pretend people.

Tell me who made real people. (Accept responses.

God made real people.) ?

God made people. He made you and he made me (point to the children, then yourself).

Choose from the following suggestions to make people. You only need the Gear for the activity you choose.

1. Roll out the playdough and use the cookie cutters to make playdough people. Arrange the people on a tray.

2. Stick cut-outs of people from magazines onto ice-cream sticks.

3. Fold pipe-cleaners into people shapes.

4. Create people from boxes and other odds and ends. The children can let their creativity go wild here.

5. For older children, use the photocopiable to make paper doll chains (referring to the diagrams below). Help the children to fold and cut out the chains.

6. Make people out of wooden pegs. Glue on googly eyes, wool for hair, and fabric scraps for clothes.

Before God made people he made lots of other things.

Tell me what else God made. (Accept responses.

If available, display the Visual aids from Serious play SP1, see Get ready.)

The Bible tells us that God made the sky and the sun, the moon and the stars, the ocean and the land, the plants and all of the living creatures in this way – and everything he made was good.

Of all the things God made, the best thing was people. Today we are going to hear about the first people God made.

Teaching time Have ready Leader’s poster 1 and the Adam and Eve dolls or puppets (see Get ready). The children will need their paper dolls made in the Paper people activity (see Start up).

Before God made any of us, he made two people. First he made a man. He called the man Adam. Hold up ‘Adam’.

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Show me the paper man you made before.

Allow the children to respond. That’s Adam.

Bringing it together

Then God made a woman. Adam called her Eve. Hold up ‘Eve’.

Hand each child a copy of Children’s poster 1. Ask the children to point to the appropriate pictures as you summarise the story.

Show me the paper woman you made before.

Allow the children to respond. That’s Eve. Point to Adam and Eve on Leader’s poster 1.

God made Adam and Eve (point to Adam and Eve).

God gave Adam and Eve a beautiful place to live (point to the garden).

Look at Adam and Eve. Can you see their happy faces?

God gave Adam and Eve healthy food to eat (point to the food).

Point to the garden on Leader’s poster 1.

Adam and Eve lived in a beautiful garden that God made for them. It was the most beautiful garden in the world, prettier than any garden you have ever seen.

This is what God said to Adam and Eve. Read Genesis 1:29 from a CEV Bible.

Point to the fruit trees on Leader’s poster 1.

Look! There is fruit growing on the trees. Adam and Eve had lots of yummy food. They were never hungry.

Let’s pretend to eat some fruit like Adam and Eve did (all pretend to eat).

Point to the water on Leader’s poster 1.

God gave Adam and Eve clean water to drink (point to the water).

Adam and Eve didn’t need anything! They didn’t worry about what they would eat or drink because they trusted that God would always look after them. And that is exactly what God did.

Guess what? God is looking after us too. He tells us to trust him.

Prayer Stand near the people created in the Start up activities. Invite the children to form a circle and hold hands, before saying the following prayer after you.

Dear God, Thank you for looking after your people. Help us to trust that you will always look after us, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden.

Amen.

Look! There is some water, clean and clear.

Adam and Eve were never thirsty.

Let’s pretend to drink some cold, fresh water like Adam and Eve did (all pretend to drink).

It wasn’t too hot in the garden (pretend to wipe off sweat and fan your face). It wasn’t too cold (pretend to shiver with cold). It was just right.

Adam and Eve must have loved living in the lovely garden God made for them.

Perhaps they danced and sang to show how happy they were. Let’s dance in a circle like Adam and Eve might have done (all join hands and dance in a circle). If your group is large, it may be better to form two or more groups to use the available space.

Hold up ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’.

Adam and Eve loved the garden God made for them, but they loved God even more. They knew God loved them very much and they trusted that he would always look after them.

Take home Gear  Assorted coloured paper with a variety of textures, such as crepe paper, tissue paper and cardboard  Scissors  Glue  Coloured pens and pencils  The paper dolls made in the Paper people activity (see Start up) Help the children make a garden for Adam and Eve. Before the session, cut the coloured paper into simple shapes such as flowers, circles (sun), rectangles (tree trunks), clouds, tree-tops and so on.

Show the children how to use wide strips of paper to make the sky and grass, before adding trees, flowers, a sun and clouds to the scene. Finish by adding the Adam and Eve dolls. Comment on how lovely the gardens are as the children create them.

Encourage the children to take home their scenes in their Serious play backpacks.

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Music spot

Ask the following questions:

Encourage the children to join in as you play the following songs. Dance to the music!

• How does God look after us?

In the beginning, track 3 on the Earth movers CD.

• Does he give us food and water?

Creation song, track 3 on The King, the snake and the promise CD.

• Does he give us the warm sun and the wet rain?

If you sang the song in the Sing and remember activity, Session 10 of Serious play SP1 (page 81), try and sing this with the children too.

Remind the children that the Bible tells us God is looking after us too.

Memory verse

Gear

Gear

 A cardboard or paper tree shape for each child  Coloured pens and pencils  A large cardboard tree shape with ‘God’s family’ written on it  Adhesive tape or Blu-Tack

 ‘People’ made in the Start up activities  Prepared paper chain doll (see Get ready) Walk around and look at all of the people that the children made in the Start up activities. After you have looked at them and praised the children for their wonderful work, show the paper chain doll.

Invite the children to link hands like paper dolls.

As they stand, hands linked, teach the children the following Memory verse.

God created us all. Job 34:19a (CEV)

Family trees

Invite the children to draw members of their family on the tree shapes. When the children have finished, help them to attach their family trees to the larger ‘God’s family’ tree, using tape or Blu-Tack. Explain that God made all people and he looks after all of them. He tells everyone to trust him and obey him, just as Adam and Eve did.

Make a garden

Activities

Gear

Do the Photo album activity first, then choose from the other activities to conclude the session. Play music while the children are working.

Photo album Gear A Children’s poster 1 for each child An A4 sheet of paper for each child Glue or adhesive tape Paper triangles to act as photo corners (optional) A smiley stamp or smiley stickers (you can make your own by drawing happy faces on sticker dots)  A felt pen     

Encourage the children to glue or tape the posters onto the A4 paper. If desired, attach a paper triangle at each corner of the poster. Invite the children to stick on the stickers or use the stamp around the poster. As the children do this, remind them that God looked after Adam and Eve by giving them food and water, and everything else they needed. Adam and Eve trusted God and they were happy in God’s beautiful garden. Write the children’s names on their photo pages and collect the pages for next session.

 Playdough (see Playdough recipe, page 10)  CD player and CD of choice Make a garden out of playdough. Encourage the children to make trees, flowers, a river, a sun, fruit and so on. If you made playdough people earlier (see Start up: Let’s make people), place these in the garden when it is finished.

Listen to some music as you create the garden together. Ask the children how God looked after Adam and Eve.

Garden games Pretend you are walking through a garden. Each time you say, ‘I see a ...’ the children need to pretend to be whatever you describe. Try to use suitably descriptive words and, if necessary, invite the children to copy whatever movement or sound you make. Begin each turn by walking on the spot and saying, ‘I’m walking through a beautiful garden.

Look! I see a ...’. Some examples could be: ‘a tall, tall tree’, ‘a tiny flower blowing in the wind’, ‘a hungry bird eating a worm’, ‘a busy ant scurrying on the ground’, ‘a caterpillar wiggling on a leaf’, and so on.

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How he cares

Munchies

Gear

Gear

 A small jug of water, a bowl and a colander or tea strainer  A big yellow ball or balloon  A piece of fruit  A glass of water

   

Begin by carefully pouring some water through the colander and into the bowl. Ask the children what this reminds them of. Why does God send rain?

What happens when it rains?

Hold up the ball or balloon. What does the balloon remind them of? Give clues or take them outside and show them the sun. Why did God give us the sun?

Tell the children that the sun gives light and warmth.

Assorted sandwiches (uncut) or plain bread People-shaped cookie cutters Butter and hundreds and thousands (optional) Water or juice

Give each child a sandwich or piece of bread. Take turns cutting the bread into people shapes using the cookie cutters. As you eat, ask who made people and whom the first people were that God made. As an added treat, butter the bread and shake hundreds and thousands over the top.

Hold up the piece of fruit and bite it. Why did God give us food, like fruit? Tell the children that we need food to help us to grow, and be strong and healthy.

Finally, hold up the glass of water. Take a sip. Why did God give us water? Tell the children that our bodies need water as a drink, but also to clean us!

End by encouraging the children to clap hands or shout thanks to God for looking after us. If the weather is warm and the setting is appropriate, why not let the children take turns making rain with the water, colander and bowl? Alternatively, encourage the children to throw the ball or balloon to each other and pretend it is the hot sun.

Think about it

Think ahead

Did the children remember that God made people?

You will need Leader’s posters 1 and 2, a copy of Children’s poster 2 for each child, the children’s Photo album pages from Session 1 and a copy of the Fruit photocopiable (page 22) for each child.

Did they grasp the ways in which God cares for his people?

You will also need a drawing of a tree on a large sheet of paper and a sock puppet.

See Gear in Session 2 (page 18).

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Š CEP 2004 The purchaser of the Serious play SP2 manual is entitled to photocopy this page for use with his or her group.

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Š CEP 2004 The purchaser of the Serious play SP2 manual is entitled to photocopy this page for use with his or her group.

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