Shaping Little Minds for the Future - Softcover

Holloway, Elnora; Lamb, Connie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1438972776 ISBN 13: 9781438972770

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2009

Synopsis

We are sure this book will be helpful for children as they grow up in today's society. It will teach them to shun the evil things and choose the good. This book can be used in Sunday school, Vacation Bible School or anywhere children need positive teaching. "Even a child is known by his doings whether they be pure of whether they be right." (Proverbs 20:11)

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Shaping Little Minds for the Future

By Elnora Holloway Connie Lamb

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Elnora Holloway and Connie Lamb
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-7277-0

Contents

Obedience Pays (Genesis 2:15-3:19)......................................1Jesus Taught from the Mountainside (Matthew 5:1-11).....................5Follow the Good Shepherd (John 10)......................................9Zacchaeus, Come Down (Luke 19:1-9)......................................13Good Fruit! Bad Fruit! (Matthew 7:18-19)................................17Children Can Work for God (Ecclesiastes 12:1)...........................21The Widow and the Unjust Judge (Luke 8:1-8).............................25Jealousy Causes Pain (Genesis 4)........................................29Tempted (Matthew 4:1-10)................................................33Just for You and Me (Matthew 27:1-5)....................................37The Miracle Worker (Mark 8:1-10)........................................41Jesus Loves Children (Matthew 18:1).....................................45A Blind Man Made Happy (Luke 18:35-43)..................................49The Red Sea Miracle (Exodus 14:21-30)...................................53The Power of God in Creation (Genesis 1)................................57Answer Sheets...........................................................61Glossary................................................................65

Chapter One

Obedience Pays (Based on Genesis 2:15 - 3:19)

In the beginning of time God created the first man whose name was Adam. Later God decided to make Adam a helper, the first woman, her name was Eve. God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden which was called the Garden of Eden. They were placed there to enjoy God's beautiful creation of trees, flowers and other plants. Not only were the trees beautiful to look at, some of them produced tasty fruit.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was located in the middle of the garden. Adam and Eve had been given special instruction to eat from any of the trees except of the one in the middle of the garden.

Adam and Eve sampled the fruit from all the other trees. Their curiosity was aroused when an old serpent came along to deceive Eve. With his smart voice, he asked Eve if God had said do not eat from any of the trees? Even told the serpent God said enjoy the fruit from all the trees except the one in the middle of the garden, or they would "surely die". The serpent said again in his smart voice - "You will not surely die; God just knows you will be as smart as He is if you eat from that tree." Eve was really curious now!

Eve decided to try some of the fruit - it was good, so she gave some to Adam. Immediately Adam felt ashamed, naked, and guilty. He exclaimed, "Oh Eve, we have disobeyed God!"

When God appeared in the evening He said, "Adam where are you?" Adam replied, "I am hiding because I am naked." God said, "How do you know you are naked? Did you eat from the tree in the middle of the garden?" Adam said, "Eve gave the fruit to me and I ate it." Eve said, "The serpent fooled me and I ate it." Adam, Eve, and the serpent had to suffer the consequences for this great act of disobedience.

God told the serpent he would have to crawl on its belly and eat dust from now on. He told Adam he would have to work hard and grow his food. Eve would have pain during child birth. This punishment was passed down to all generations just because Adam and Eve failed to obey in the garden.

There are always consequences for every action. When you obey, you are rewarded with good things. Disobedience brings punishment, guilt and shame.

Discussion Questions

1. What does the word consequences mean?

2. Who should you obey?

3. Who/what is our serpent?

4. Which voice should you obey

Activity #1

Use yellow construction paper to make happy/sad faces. Cut out a circle three inches in diameter for each child. On one side of the circle have children draw features for a happy face. Draw features for a sad face on the other side. Attach the happy/sad face to a Popsicle stick or tongue depressor then read the following statements: Show the happy face when the statement describes obedience, show the sad face when the statement describes disobedience.

a. Always do as you are told.

b. Tell lies

c. Ride your bike in the street

d. Always tell the truth

e. Talk back to parents, teachers and other adults

f. Share with your friends

Activity #2

Play Simon Says - Instruct children to only do what Simon says. If they do something that Simon did not say, they are out of the game. Play the game long enough for the children to get the concept of obedience. Command suggestions are as follows:

Clap your hands, Walk in place, wave good-bye, Give me a smile, Stamp your foot, rub your head, Close your eyes, nod your head, turn around, sit down

Chapter Two

Jesus Taught from the Mountainside (Based on Matthew 5:1-11)

Would you like to be happy? One beautiful day Jesus sat down on the side of a huge grass covered mountain and began to teach His disciples how to be happy. A large crowd of other people wanted to hear how to be happy too so they gathered around and listened. Jesus was a great teacher and he taught many good lessons about living with one another. Even though this was a long, long time ago, we can still do the things Jesus taught to be happy.

He said we can be happy when we have a good attitude. Attitude is the way we feel or act toward something or someone. We need to always think about good things. We should always build others up and not be selfish. We should even be nice to those boys and girls that are not nice to us. When we remember to do these things we can be happy almost always.

Jesus said that we would be sad sometimes. But He also said that he would never leave us alone, so we must remember when we feel sad Jesus is right there by our side. We must also remember to do all the things Jesus taught if we want to be happy. When we do these things Jesus is happy and we can look to live with Him one day.

Discussion Questions

1. What are some things Jesus taught us to do to be happy?

2. Who can help us to learn and do what Jesus taught?

3. What does the word attitude mean?

Activity 1

Make a copy of the following statements for each child. Have the children draw a happy face beside the statement that makes Jesus happy and a sad face beside the statement that would not make Jesus happy.

1. Clean up your room when you are told

2. Pick a fight with a classmate

3. Share your toys or snacks with a friend

4. Tell a lie to cover some bad act

5. Come when mom or dad calls

6. Give someone a hug

7. Cheat while playing games

8. Make a mess and leave it for mom to clean up

Activity 2

Happy Mountain Climbing

Use brown poster paper to make a mountain shape. Divide it into four sections. Cut out four rocks for tags. Write these words on the rocks: SHARING, LOVING, HELPING, and CARING. Place one rock on each section of the mountain. Let children write sentences to demonstrate each word and place in the proper section of the mountain.

Chapter Three

Follow the Good Shepherd (Based on John 10)

The Good Shepherd leads sheep to greener pastures. In the Bible, Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd. Jesus is God's only son and he wants him to lead his sheep to greener pastures, obedience, honesty, and humility. We are his sheep.

Jesus compared his disciples to sheep. Sheep are animals that need to be led to good food, water and a place to rest. Jesus knew his disciples needed to be led also. Sheep are usually led by a shepherd. When Jesus compared his sheep, he appointed himself to be their shepherd. The sheep get to know their shepherd, and will follow him wherever he leads them. The disciples got to know Jesus and followed him wherever he led them. He was always looking for them and taking care of their needs. When they needed good food, water, and rest, he led them to the right place. Sometimes some of the sheep would get distracted and stray away from the other sheep and their good shepherd that takes care of them. When one strays he comes in contact with the bad shepherd. The bad shepherd doesn't care for the sheep. He allows them to get in trouble.

As children of God, Jesus is our shepherd. As long as we follow him, he will lead us to good things. We will have good thoughts, good attitudes and good habits. But when we stop following the things Jesus taught, we are like the sheep that strayed away and followed the bad shepherd. The bad shepherd leads us in the wrong way. The wrong way leads to disobedience, ugly attitudes, mean thoughts, and almost always get us in trouble.

We must choose to follow the good shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd. He always leads us to greener pastures. Greener pastures mean the better things in life. So follow the good shepherd.

Discussion Questions

1. Who is the good shepherd?

2. Where does the good shepherd lead us?

3. What kinds of things do we experience when we don't follow the good shepherd?

Activity 1

Have children demonstrate following the good shepherd by role playing. Example situations:

1. Child obeying parent (obedience)

2. Finding and returning an item that is lost (honesty)

3. Befriending a new boy/girl at school or church (humility)

Activity 2

Make an edible sheep

You will need a bag of large marshmallows and a bag of stick pretzels. Give each child two marshmallows, and six pretzels. Instruct them to turn one marshmallow hamburger style for the body, turn the other one hot dog style for the head, use a pretzel and join the two. Put four pretzels in the bottom of the body and add one pretzel at the end of the body for the tail. Use small pieces of candy for the facial features.

Chapter Four

Zaccahaeus, Come Down (Based on Luke 19:1-9)

Would you like to be Jesus' friend? Zacchaeus met Jesus and was quickly changed. When Zacchaeus heard Jesus was traveling Jericho, he made plans to see him. Zacchaeus was a very important man in Jericho. He was tax collector. He was very short in stature. The streets of Jericho were crowded with people from all around. Zacchaeus decided to climb a sycamore tree so he wouldn't miss seeing Jesus as he passed by. Jesus wanted to see Zacchaeus too.

As Jesus passed through the city of Jericho, he spotted Zacchaeus high in a tree. Jesus stopped and asked him to come down because he wanted to go to his house. Zacchaeus came down and made Jesus welcome to go to his house. Zacchaeus told Jesus how he had cheated the people. He also said he would give half of his goods to the poor, for he was quite rich. He also promised Jesus that he would give back four times the amount of money he had gotten dishonestly. This was his way of saying "I'm sorry for my sins", to Jesus. Zacchaeus wanted to be right with Jesus. Jesus forgave him and he became a Christian that day. This can happen to us today.

Zacchaeus knew he hadn't been an honest tax collector. He knew that was not the right thing to do. So he told Jesus what he had done, he repented and became Jesus' friend. When we have done wrong, we can tell Jesus and he will forgive us too, and we can be his friend.

Discussion Questions

1. What would you have to do to get ready for Jesus to come to your house?

2. How can you become Jesus' friend?

Activity 1

Write the following phrase on the board: What if Jesus Came to Your House Today -. Give each child a sheet of paper and ask him/her to respond by describing what needs to be done before Jesus arrives.

Activity 2

Pass out drawing paper. Have children illustrate this story.

Chapter Five

Good Fruit! Bad Fruit! (Based on Matthew 7:18-19)

Jesus taught his disciples with little stories called parables. He once used a story about two trees, a good tree and a bad tree. Each tree produced its own kind of fruit.

Let's pretend these were apple trees. The good tree made nice, big, red juicy apples. The bad tree made tiny, hard, wormy apples. Which tree would you like to eat from? Of course we would all like the nice big, red, juicy apples! Jesus compared these trees and their fruit to us and the way we live.

Boys and girls that are obedient, kind, caring and honest could represent the good tree and its fruit. Some boys and girls are disobedient, dishonest, mean and hard to get along with. They could represent the bad tree and its fruit.

In his teachings, Jesus said "a tree is known by the fruit." Boys and girls are known by their actions. Their actions are just like the tree's fruit. Good fruit indicates a good tree. Good behavior indicates a good boy or girl. Jesus wants us to be bearers of good fruit - behavior. Bearing good fruit brings favorable consequences. Bearing bad fruit brings sadness, shame and punishment. What kind of fruit are you bearing?

Discussion Questions

1. What does a good apple look like?

2. What does a good apple taste like?

3. What does a good apple feel like?

4. How would you compare a good apple to a good boy or girl?

Activity

Use poster paper to make two trees. Put the trees on the bulletin board. Pass out red or yellow construction paper to each child. Instruct them to draw a good apple and a bad apple. Cut them out and attach them to the trees on the board (good on the good tree, and bad on the bad tree).

Chapter Six

Children Can Work for God (Based on Ecclesiastes 12:1)

The Bible says, "Remember your creator while you are young, before the days of trouble come and the years come when you will say, 'I find no happiness in them' ..."

As children we are full of energy and every part of our body works well. Our mind is sharp. We can think many wonderful things. We can remember stories, songs, games, and everything we need to have fun. Our eyes are strong and we can see well. Our ears are clear and we can hear well. Our mouth is full of good healthy teeth and we can eat anything we wish. Our legs are strong. We can walk, run and jump for hours without getting tired.

As we grow older, we have less energy. All of our body parts that use to work well begin to fail us. Our mind can't think and remember as well as it once did. Our eyes are dimmer. We might even need glasses. Our ears don't pick up sounds as well. We might need a hearing aid. Our teeth are decaying and we might need false teeth. Our legs are getting weak and we might need a walking cane. All the things our bodies once did well without problems have changed. We don't enjoy ourselves like we once did. We need to remember God while we are young. When we are young and full of energy and all of our body parts are working properly we can use them to do God's work. So invite Jesus to come and live in your heart while you are young and able to do what HE wants you to do. There are lots of jobs children can do for God.

Discussion Questions

1. What kind of jobs can children do to show they are working for God?

2. What kind of people can you help?

Activity

Allow children to play physical games such as: Tug of War, London Bridge, Tag, etc. They can also play sensory games like Pin the nose on the Clown, and Gossip. Place several items of different textures in a bag (call it a feely bag or touch bag) let children take turns touching and describing what was touched.

CH7[ The Widow and the Unjust Judge (Based on Luke 8:1-8)

Jesus used the story about a widow (a woman whose husband is dead) and the mean judge to teach us to pray and never give up.

In the story the judge was so mean that he didn't care about anyone - even God. The woman wanted her enemies to stop pestering her. She made trip after trip to the judge, begging for help. When the judge decided the woman was not going to give up asking for help, he finally granted her wish. Remember this was a very mean judge that cared only about himself. But the widow felt that if she would keep asking, he would finally grant her wish, and he did.

God is our loving Heavenly Father. He cares about us and everything that happens to us. However he wants us to make our requests known to him. He wants us to ask him to take care of our needs. Even when it seems like he is not listening, he wants us to keep asking. God is always listening and he knows what we need, but when we ask him for what we need and want, it shows that we honor him as our father.

If the mean old judge could finally say yes to the widow, then how much more can our loving Father answer our prayers? PRAY AND NEVER GIVE UP!

Discussion Questions

1. How do we ask God for what we want or need?

2. What kind of things do you need or want from God?

3. What is a widow?

Activity 1

Allow children to respond to this question: What do you want God to do for you? Give each child a sheet of paper. Instruct them to write or draw what he/ she wants from God.

(Continues...) ]CH7

Excerpted from Shaping Little Minds for the Futureby Elnora Holloway Connie Lamb Copyright © 2009 by Elnora Holloway and Connie Lamb. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1438972776
• ISBN 13: 9781438972770
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72