252 Groupsnovember 2016, Week 4

252 GroupsNovember 2016, Week 4

Small Group, K-1

252® Groups
Group Experiences for K-5th Grades

Scripture marked “NIrV” is taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL READER'S VERSION®.

Used by permission of Biblica.

Scripture marked “NIV” is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®,

Statement of Faith

ABOUT GOD

God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so
everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is
righteous, majestic, and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He’s
at work to bring about His will. No person, thing, or idea compares to God.

ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES

God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable,
and authoritative.

ABOUT PEOPLE

People are made in God’s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls
short of God’s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has
sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants
an intimate relationship with each of us.

ABOUT SALVATION

That’s why Jesus—God’s Son—came and lived on this earth, died, and
rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus
and accept Him as Savior—the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to
God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into
God’s family and will live with Him forever in heaven.

User Agreement

So He Thought He Should Dance

Bible Story: So He Thought He Should Dance (David dances before God)•2 Samuel
6:12b-22a

Bottom Line:Honor God by giving Him credit.

Memory Verse:“Love one another deeply. Honor others more than yourselves.” Romans 12:10, NIrV

Life App:Honor—letting someone know you see how valuable they really are.

Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

GET READY

Prepare ahead of time for kindergarten–1stgrade Small Groups this week:

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction(Choose one or both of these activities.)

Early Arriver

An offering container

Happy Circle

Squishy ball or beanbag

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect(Choose as many of these activities as you like.)

* If you don’t have time to do all these activities, be sure to do activity #2.

1. Interpretive Dance(application activity / review the Bible story)

Upbeat worship music
Music player

* 2. Blessing Jars(application activity)

Small, empty jars such as plastic mason jars or large baby food jars(you can use paper bags instead, but if possible use jars as they are more durable and will last a longer amount of time)
Construction paper
Markers
Scissors
Tape
Print the “Honor God Labels” Activity Page; print on Avery® labels8160 or similar; 1 label for each kid

3. Write it on the Board(memory verse activity)

Chalkboard or white board
Chalk or markers
Black construction paper; 1 piece for each kid
White chalk; 1 for each kid

Prayer

Jars from “Blessing Jars” activity

Additional Resources:

Make copies on cardstock or email this week’s GodTime and Parent Cue cards.
Tell parents about our additional family resources:Studio252.tv, CUE Box, and the Parent Cue app. To find out more about these great resources, go to

So He Thought He Should Dance

Bible Story: So He Thought He Should Dance (David dances before God)•2 Samuel 6:12b-22a

Bottom Line:Honor God by giving Him credit.

Memory Verse:“Love one another deeply. Honor others more than yourselves.” Romans 12:10, NIrV

Life App:Honor—letting someone know you see how valuable they really are.

Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

Social: Providing Time for Fun Interaction(Small Groups, 15 minutes)

Welcome kids and spend time engaging in conversation and catching up. Get ready to experience today’s story.

Before kids arrive, pray for each regular attendee by name. Pray for those who might visit your group for the first time. Ask God to help kids learn to humble themselves before Him, giving Him credit for every good thing in their lives. Pray that kids would understand that God is the source of every blessing and that they would always give Him the credit.

1. Early Arriver Idea

What You Need: Offering container

What You Do:

Collect kids’ offerings as they arrive.
Ask kids about something good that happened to them this week. What was something that made them happy? Who was the person that was responsible for making that happen?

2. Happy Circle

What You Need: Squishy ball or beanbag

What You Do:

Have kids sit in a circle.
Toss the ball or beanbag to one of the kids. Ask that kid to name something that makes her happy.
Then she can toss the ball to a different kid, who also names something that makes him happy.
Keep playing at least until everyone has had a turn to catch and throw the ball. Play until either kids run out of ideas or you run out of time.

What You Say:

“There are a lot of good things in our world that make us happy.[Transition]Today in Large Group, we are going to hear about a man who showed God and everyone else just how happy he was.”

Lead your group to the Large Group area.

Groups: Creating a Safe Place to Connect (Small Groups, 25 minutes)

Create a safe place to connect and learn how the Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

1. Interpretive Dance(application activity / review the Bible story)

What You Need: Music and player

What You Do:

Play music for kids to dance to.
While kids are dancing, call out names of made-up dances, such as:sprinkler, fire hydrant, crazy dog, hyper kitty, swimming snake, cold monkey, tree on fire, etc.
Let kids decide what the dances look like and dance however they want to.

Adaptation: If you have multiple groups in the room, have a big dance party by doing this activity all together as soon as Large Group is over!

What You Say:

“You guys did great dancing, even though sometimes you looked pretty silly doing your dances. When David was dancing for the Lord, he didn’t care how he looked. However, his wife was embarrassed by him and how he was dressed. She kept telling him how ridiculous he looked, but all David cared about was giving glory to God. He knew he could[Bottom Line]honor God by giving Him credit. We might not always be happy, but God is always doing something good, somewhere around us.[Make It Personal] (Tell kids about something good that’s going on in your life right now.)Whenever we notice the good things in our lives, we should be sure to thank God for all He has given to us.”

* 2. Blessing Jars(application activity)

What You Need: “Honor God Labels” Activity Pages, empty baby food jars or other small jars; 1 for each kid, construction paper, markers, scissors,tape

What You Do:

Give each kid a jar.
Help kids cut construction paper to fit in the jar.
Let kids decorate the paper with markers and stickers.
Help kids tape the paper inside the jar, facing out. They may not need to actually tape the paper to the jar, as the roll of paper should expand, filling the inside perimeter of the jar.
Give each kid a label to put on the outside of their jar or on their papers.
Encourage kids to put things in the jar this week to remind them of their blessings (i.e. figurine, rock, trinkets, etc.).

What You Say:

“You guys did a great job decorating those jars! In the Bible, God is always telling people to remember the good things He has done for them. This week, let these jars help you remember the good things that happen to you. Maybe if you got to play outside on a nice day, you could save a piece of grass in the jar. Or, if you went to a fun birthday party, you could save one of your party favors in the jar. Another idea would be to put a leaf in the jar to remind you of all the fun activities we get to do this time of year.Whenever we take the time to remember all the good things God has done for us and given us, we [Bottom Line]honor God by giving Him credit.”

3. Write It on the Board(memory verse activity / environment-wide)

What You Need: Chalkboard or white board, chalk or dry erase markers, black construction paper; 1 for each kid, white chalk; 1 for each kid

What You Do:

Write the verse on the board and read it together with the kids.
Help the kids copy the verse onto black construction paper with white chalk, like a chalkboard.
Encourage kids to decorate their papers.

What You Say:

“You guys have done a great job remembering the verse this month! This verse tells us that it is important to love one another and honor people. We can show God we love Him by honoring Him too. We need to[Bottom Line]honor God by giving Him creditas one way to show Him that we love Him. Giving God credit means thanking Him for all He has done for us and telling other people that all the good things in our life are from God.”

Pray and Dismiss

What You Need: Jars from “Blessing Jars” activity

What You Do:

Have kids hold their jarsas you pray over them.

What You Say:

“God, we thank You for all the good things in our lives. We thank You for the parents you have given us to take care of us, for the teachers you have given us to teach us how the world works, and for the leaders of our church who teach us about you. We also thank you for safe places to live and for the food that we eat. (Note: Be mindful of kids in your group who don’t have these blessings. Adjust this prayer as needed in order to thank God for the things those kids DO have, and to avoid isolating them or pointing out the differences between them and the other kids.) Help us this week to use these jars to remember all these things and more that you have done for us. Help us to tell others all about how great you are and [Bottom Line]honor God by giving Him credit. Amen.”

Make sure kids take their blessing jars home. Inform parents about what kids are supposed to put in
the jars.

If you change the content of this document, please add to the copyright: Adapted by (your name/organization name/date).