252 GroupsFebruary 2017, Week 3

Small Group, K-1

Master Chef

Bible Story: Master Chef (Jesus feeds 5,000) •Mark 6:30-44

Bottom Line:Give to others who are in need.

Memory Verse:“Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins.”1 John 4:10(NIrV)

Life App:Love—choosing to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

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

Go Fish!

  • “Go Fish” cards; one set for every 3-4 kids

Note: You can use regular playing cards if you don’t have enough sets of “Go Fish” cards, but we highly suggest using “Go Fish” cards because of the tie-in to the Bible story.

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.

Heads Up! Kids will be making “Forgiveness Toolboxes” and adding tools to them all month long during March! Starting on Week 1 of March, you’ll need a large cardboard cereal box and an empty paper towel tube for each K-1 child. We suggest that you ask parents and volunteers to bring in cereal boxes and paper towel tubes all during the month of February. Boxes should be intact (not flattened). To save time, ask parents and volunteers to also cut off the top 1/3 of the cereal boxes they bring in. Start collecting now to ensure you have a box and a tube for each kid!

1. Multiplying Food(application activity / review the Bible story)

  • Bible
  • Basket
  • 15 pieces of food (can be real or fake; need to be things that are easy for kids to pass around a circle); put in basket

* 2. Go Give(application activity)

  • Print the “Go Give Cards” Activity Pages on cardstock; two copies for each kid
  • Zip-top plastic baggies; one for each kid
  • Scissors
  • Markers

3. Finish the Verse(memory verse activity)

  • Print the “Verse Page” Activity Page; one for each kid
  • Bibles
  • Pencils
  • Markers

Prayer

  • Kids’ cards from “Go Give”

Master Chef

Bible Story: Master Chef (Jesus feeds 5,000) •Mark 6:30-44

Bottom Line:Give to others who are in need.

Memory Verse:“Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NIrV)

Life App:Love—choosing to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Basic Truth: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

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. For those who don’t have a lot of material wealth, pray that today would be a chance to learn other ways they can give to those in need. For the rest of your few, pray that they would be encouraged to give to others lovingly and because Jesus first gave himself to them.

1. Early Arriver Idea

What You Need:Offering container

What You Do:

  • Collect kids’ offerings as they arrive.
  • Ask kids to talk about gifts they have given:
  • Think about the last time you gave your mom, dad, a friend, or brother/sister a birthday gift. What did they say when you gave it to them? Were they smiling? Did they give you a hug or a fist bump?
  • What’s your favorite part about giving gifts?
  • What’s your favorite part about GETTINGgifts?
  • Which one do you like better? Why?

2. Go Fish!

What You Need:“Go Fish” cards

What You Do:

  • Divide kids into groups of three or four.
  • Give each group a set of cards and instruct them to play “Go Fish.”
  • You may need to give kids a reminder of the rules. (Head to you need a quick refresher.)

What You Say:

“Do you know what I like about ‘Go Fish’? I get to help others by giving them what they need![Transition] Let’s go to Large Group, where we’ll hear some more about giving to others . . . and about fish!”

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 howthe Bible story applies to real life experiences, through interactive activities and discussion questions.

1. Multiplying Food(application activity / review the Bible story)

What You Need: Bible, basket of food

What You Do:

  • Guide kids to sit in a circle, with you sitting in the middle with the Bible and basket of food.
  • Explain that you’re going to read them the Bible story, and when you hand a piece of food to a kid, she should immediately pass it to her left around the circle.
  • Read Mark 6:30-44. Before each verse, give a piece of food to a kid, who should start passing it around the circle.
  • As more pieces of food are added, there’s the potential for chaos. If kids are passing too quickly to pay attention, do something to decrease the distraction, such as telling them to pass more slowly or telling them they can only pass on every other word you say.

What You Say:

“Our food multiplied—which means the number of it got bigger—just like the food in the story did.When Jesus saw that the people needed food, He gave them what they needed, and He did it through a miracle! We can[Bottom Line] give to others who are in need, too.”

[Make It Personal] (Tell kids about a time you gave to someone in need. What happened? How did they respond? How did it make you feel?)

* 2. Go Give(application activity)

What You Need: “Go Give Cards” Activity Page, zip-top plastic baggies, scissors, markers

What You Do:

  • Give each kid two pages of “Go Give Cards.”
  • Explain that each of the things on the cards is a thing that people might need.
  • Help kids identify each item.
  • Talk about people who might need each thing. For example, an elderly neighbor might need a hug, or someone whose house burned down might need clothes, or a homeless person at the park might need some food or water.
  • Allow time for kids to cut apart their cards and color them if they wish.
  • Help kids put their cards into a baggie to take home and play “Go Give” with their families, just like they’d play “Go Fish.”

What You Say:

“There are so many people we can help and so many ways we can help them by giving them what they need. I want you take these cards home and play ‘Go Fish’ with your families. While you play, talk about ways that you can help people you know or people in our community or even all over the world by giving them what they need. Jesus gives us what we need, and we can be a part of how He gives others what they need. Let’s all[Bottom Line] give to others who are in need.”

3. Finish the Verse(memory verse activity)

What You Need: “Verse Pages” Activity Page, Bibles, pencils, markers

What You Do:

  • Help kids look up 1 John 4:10 in their Bibles by using the tips from Week 1.
  • Give each kid an Activity Page. Tell them to write the word “love” or “loved” in the hearts. They can refer to their Bibles if they need to know which word to use.
  • You may want to write the word/words on a piece of paper or whiteboard so kids can copy it.
  • Allow kids to decorate their papers with the markers if there’s time.

What You Say:

“God gave us the greatest gift we needed when He gave us Jesus to die for our sins. We can also help people by giving them things they need, like love, food, clothes, or a listening ear.Let’s [Bottom Line] give to others who are in need and show them that God loves them and so do we!”

Pray and Dismiss

What You Need: Kids’ cards from “Go Give”

What You Do:

  • Tell kids to look at their cards again and pick one out.
  • Go around the circle, and let each kid say the following prayer, filling in the blank with the word(s) on their card: “God, help me give _____ to others.”
  • Close with the prayer below.

What You Say:

“God, thanks for all You’ve given to us. Help us to also[Bottom Line] give to others who are in need. Help us to see those needs and fulfill them to show love to those people. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

As adults arrive to pick up, tell them that kids have a set of “Go Give” cards that can be played like “Go Fish” cards, with a “winning set” being two of the same cards. As they play as a family, encourage them to talk about people they could help by giving items like the ones on the cards.

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