Did you ever do hopscotch as a child? I did, though usually on a sidewalk or driveway, drawn with chalk. This version is a bit different.
I love reviewing the books of the Bible with my students, because even though most people use their phones or ipads now to follow along during scripture readings (assuming it's not up on the power point screen), it's still good to know where things are in an actual Bible. I'm always looking for more ways to review with them that are different and makes them use other sense than just their sight or hearing. When I found this version of the hopscotch, I knew I wanted to try something similar. Our congregation has an amazing program called Teacher Toos. It's a group of ladies who meet on Tuesday mornings and work in the teacher workroom on anything that the teachers have left to be done. It could be running copies, cutting out shapes, or even punching holes as I had them do for a Ruth craft last year. They're wonderful and so appreciated. When I came to one of them with this idea, she seemed skeptical, but told me to write out the details and she'd see what they could do. I think they did an amazing job. Each book is a separate square or rectangle of card stock, sealed within a pocket of contact paper. Our laminator is old so it doesn't like to do big thick pieces of paper. Hence, the contact paper. They cut out all the letters and arranged them. This literally goes all the way around our classroom, but the girls especially love it. As we get further into the quarter, we can flip some of the pieces over and see if the kids can remember what is next before jumping on that space. Or we can mix them up and have them lay them out in order again. There are so many options. I have one girl who sings as she steps on each spot. I'd love to hear from you. What get-up-and-get-active things do you do in your Bible classroom to help kids learn the facts?
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"Look toward the heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. --Genesis 15:5-6 I love the story of Abraham. I guess I compare a lot of the things in his life to mine. Obviously, my family never had to wander around in a tent until God told us to stop (not really, anyway), but we did have to pick up our things and move quite a few times. And then, I can empathize with Sarah and him as they waited and waited and waited for that baby. I'm so grateful God didn't make me wait until I was in my 90s before blessing us with a child. Whew!
As this lesson came up in my curriculum this time, I remembered a few years ago when I taught this. I got the brilliant idea to make key chains or bracelets or zipper pulls with a piece that would remind us that even if it took more than 20 years, God would keep the promises He had made us. Here's how we did it. I have a neat little Shrinky Dink machine like this one. I caught it on sale at a craft store one time and picked it up just for my Bible class. If you don't want to spring for a fancy machine, a toaster oven works just as well. Just buy the special paper and follow the directions. Shrinky Dinks are so fun because you do whatever design you want on the special paper and then watch it magically shrink into the harder plastic piece that works for a bead. I printed out several memes that I had found online that said "God keeps His promises" and printed them out for the students to use for tracing purposes. They picked whichever one they wanted and colored as desired. We then trimmed the piece and punched the hole -- **if you don't do this before you shrink it, you can't do it afterward and it won't work as a bead**. My co-teacher manned the shrinking machine and I helped the kids string their beads together and tie the knots to finish up. We used star beads to remind us of what God told Abraham -- that his family would be as many as the stars. This craft always goes over well with the kids, and while it takes a lot of time, it's something different that should last for quite a time to come. Have you ever done something like this in class before? |
I am one of those Bible class teachers who can't stand to just present the lesson and then hand out a worksheet. I want whatever I do in class to stick with the kids, reinforce the lesson, and really make them understand that this isn't just a story ... it's something that really happened. I want to include some of the ideas I've come up with here so that I can hopefully help some of you who want the same thing. I'd love to hear your ideas, too!
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