Band Aids
Okay, I know this one sounds a little strange at first,
but Band Aids are actually something that most children can easily identify
with, and that can be a lot of fun to play with. Remind children that we only
play with Band Aids when we are instructed to do so, and that we do not play
with them, without asking our parents first. Here is an idea to use Band Aids in
Sunday school.
Healing - the theme of healing can be expressed in this fun game that is
very similar to Pin The Tale On The Donkey. You will need a large sheet of paper
or poster board, and one Band Aid for each child. Draw a large circle on the
piece of paper. Give the circle eyes, a nose, and a frown or sad expression. On
the chin (the part of the circle beneath the mouth), use a red marker to draw a
little line (this will be the cut, boo boo, owie, whatever you want to call it).
Children take turns closing their eyes and trying to stick the Band Aid as close
to the red line as possible. Helpful Hint: Take the Band Aids out of their
wrappers ahead of time, most preschoolers can peel the little white tabs off
themselves, but cannot open the wrappers. Talk about how Jesus heals.
Bean Bags
Preschoolers love to play games with beanbags, whether
they are store-bought or homemade. You can purchase bean bags at most learning
type toy stores, as well as Toys R Us. Some bean bags even come with mini books
that are full of easy to play games. To make your own beanbags you will need two
squares of felt, burlap, or fabric cut to the same size, sewn together on three
sides (best to turn the material upside down first and work inside out), once
the sides are sewn together, turn it right side out, fill with beans or rice,
and sew the fourth side shut. You can make basic square beanbags, or cut the
material you are working with in various shapes using cookie cutters as
templates. You can have everything from Christmas Trees to circles, and
everything in between. Just keep in mind that the more intricate the design you
chose, the more sewing that you will have to do. Here are just a few ideas of
things to do with bean bags
Thank you God for - in this game, children sit in a circle and pass the
beanbag to each other, whoever is holding the beanbag says "thank you God
for ______" and then says something they are thankful for and passes the
beanbag to someone else. Encourage children to give everyone a turn with the
beanbag and not just pass it back and forth to the friends next to them. Also,
when children say something, never criticize what they are thankful for.
Preschool aged children often think of things we forget about/take for granted
from pets to pillows, to their beds to thank God for.
Thank You God For My Friend - this is a good game to help children learn
each others names. Kids stand in two lines, facing each other, and pass the bean
bag back and forth, the child with the beanbag says "Thank you God for my
friend _______" and the child standing across from him/her says his/her
name. Then the child passes the beanbag to that child and repeats the name. Kids
pass the beanbag back and forth, and then change partners. You may want to make
small groups of four - six kids and see how quickly children can learn
everyone's name in their group.
Basket of Beanbags - for stories that include a basket, such as the story
of baby Moses, put a basket on one side of the room, take about six steps from
the basket and mark a masking tape tape line on the floor, have children take
turns tossing the beanbags into the basket.
Jonah Beanbag Toss - Paint a cardboard box light blue, black, or gray. If
you are not interested in painting, cover the entire box in light blue, gray, or
black wrapping paper. You will need a square of rectangle box that has
"flap style" lids on both the top and bottom of the box. Flip the box
sideways (so that the bottom of the box becomes the front of the box (the
whale's mouth), cut a large circle (trace around a paper plate) using a pencil
to trace it, and then an X-acto knife or craft saw to cut out the hole. Add two
large eyes, cut from white construction paper with black marker dots in the
center. Attach these with tape or glue above the circle you cut for the mouth.
On the top of the box, take a thumb tack or needle and poke two or three small
holes into the box, then put a white chenille stem (pipe cleaner) in each hole,
slightly curved at the end that sticks up to look like the whales spout. Lastly,
add a tale to the whale by cutting a paper plate in half, and stapling the two
halves, flat sides facing inward top to bottom to resemble a V shape. Tape or
staple the tail to the back of the box (top of the box), the end opposite the
circle mouth. Walk about six steps from the whale and put a masking tape line on
the floor. Children stand on the line and try to throw the beanbags into the
whales mouth. Children can then go and get the beanbags out of the whale by
pulling them out of his mouth. When children throw the beanbags into the mouth,
talk about Jonah being swallowed, when children take the beanbags out of the
whale's mouth, talk about Jonah being spit out.
Well Beanbag Toss - You will need a cardboard box with "flap style
closures" on both the bottom and top of the box. First, cut the two flaps
off of the top of the box, save these flaps for later. You can cut them off with
a strong pair of scissors, a craft knife, or an X-Acto knife. Then, cover the
entire box with gray construction paper, wrapping paper, or paint. Cover two
paper towel rolls and the two flaps you removed from the top of the box with
either the construction paper, wrapping paper, or paint. Then pinch the bottom
of the two paper towel rolls and staple the pinched bottom to the side of the
box so that it stands up next to the wall. Staple it on the inner wall of the
box, just at the top of the box. Do the same on the other side. Using packing
tape, tape the two flaps together at the top to form a triangle or V shape.
Then, use some masking tape to attach the v shape to the top of the two tubes to
make a well shape. Take six steps back from the well and place a masking tape
line on the floor. Have the children stand on the line and try to throw the
beanbags into the well.
Coloring
One of the best things about the Internet is all the
free coloring pages that are out there. Preschooler's have a really hard time
staying in the lines, and therefore, I think that it is best to provide them
with something called no-lines coloring pages that have a basic shape that they
can color in anyway they like. You can also use these coloring pages to let the
children glue fun foam shapes, felt shapes, glitter, sand, cotton balls, or any
other material to them. If you plan to use them solely for coloring purposes,
they can be printed on regular white paper. If you plan to use glue and add
3-dimensional objects to them, I would recommend using either construction paper
or light-weight cardstock. Some regular coloring pages for older kids: Bible
Coloring Pages.
My favorite site for these no-line coloring pages, which
are also known as patterns or templates is at first-school.ws
in fact,
that link will take you directly to the no-line coloring pages. Here are just a
couple of ideas of crafts to do with these special coloring pages:
Angel - spread a thin layer of glue onto the angel shape, and let the
children cover it in gold or silver glitter.
Apple - pre-attach the leaf to the apple (a task most preschoolers find
too challenging) let children color it in and use with the theme of Adam and
Eve. Another idea is to print out one per child on construction paper, take a
photo (whether Polaroid, digital, or regular 35 mm) of each child, attach the
photo to the apple with double stick tape or acid-free glue sticks, and put them
up on a piece of green butcher paper or poster board on a wall. Use letters to
spell out "Sunday School Is Barrels Of Fun" across the top of the
paper. Then add a construction paper barrel shape, on it's side to the side of
the apples to make a cute bulletin board, even if you don't have a bulletin
board. Another alternative, for a take home craft, is to take the photos as
suggested, and put each photo on an apple using double-stick tape or an
acid-free glue stick. Then cut out a mini barrel shape and have the kids use a
glue stick to put it on the side of the paper with the apple close by. At the
top of the paper, use a marker to write "Gods Word Is Barrels Of Fun!"
Bell - spread a thin layer of glue onto the bell shape, and let the
children cover it in gold or silver glitter. For a cute, fun, Christmas gift
that children can make for their parents, trace the pattern onto light-weight
cardstock or cardboard (such as the kind that cereal boxes are made from) or
poster-board. Take a photo of each child and center it in the middle of the bell
(Polaroid's work really well for this, or digital photos where you can crop them
to a small square size), and then spread a thin layer of glue all around the
rest of the bell and let the children put gold or silver glitter on it. Once it
dries, use a one-hole-punch to put a hole in the top of the bell. Attach 6
inches of red or green ribbon or yarn, and tie it in a knot to make an ornament
suitable for hanging.
Butterfly - spread a thin layer of glue onto the butterfly shape, and let
children cover it with tissue paper squares, construction paper scraps, or foam
mosaic tiles. Or children can color it in with crayons, can be used with the
theme of Creation.
Candy Canes - have the children color the candy cane shape (Hint: only
set out red crayons, and print the pattern on white paper). You can leave it on
a whole sheet of paper, and add the Candy
Cane Poem.
Clover - spread a thin layer of glue over the clover shape, and let
children cover it with green glitter. Or, you can have the children color them
in. On the backside, on each leaf, write the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Great
project for Saint Patrick's Day.
Gingerbread Man/Woman - these are great to decorate for Christmas, and
make into ornaments using the same idea you would if you were doing the bell
ornaments, minus the glitter. Also, I love to use these at Halloween time to
make into scarecrows by letting the kids glue raffia (straw - colored,
inexpensive at Wal Mart) and googly eyes on them to make an adorable scarecrow.
House - give the children magazine pictures of people at them use a glue
stick to glue them onto the house shape. You can write "God made
families" on the roof.
Oval/egg - let the children color in bright colors to look like an Easter
egg, write "Jesus "Dyed" for our sins".
Snowflake - spread a thin layer of glue on the snowflake shape, and let
the kids sprinkle it with white or clear sparkling glitter. On the backside,
write "Jesus Loves You Snow Much"
Stocking - give the children magazine cut-outs of toys, games, and other
items that they would ask for during the holiday season. At the top write
"The Greatest Gift Of All Is Love". Let the kids glue the magazine
cut-outs using glue sticks.
No Lamb/No One Left Behind
Lay a green table cloth (paper or plastic, check local
dollar stores) on the floor at one end of the room, put a masking tape line down
at the other end of the room. Inflate 20-25 white balloons (more or less
depending on the size of your class) you can use a permanent marker to add faces
to these if you want, or leave them as is. Put the balloons behind the masking
tape line. Have the children crawl on the floor and use their head to push the
balloons from one end of the room onto the sheet (field), tell the children not
to use their hands, to stay crawling on all fours, and to not leave any sheep
behind.
Cotton Balls
Cotton balls are an inexpensive way to have a big
affect, and a large number of craft projects. You can purchase cotton balls at
most drug stores, and they can also be found at most dollar stores. Here are
quite a few crafts that can be used with cotton balls.
Handprint Lambs - these are easy and inexpensive to make, and is a really
cute general project that can be used for many Bible stories. To make a
handprint lamb you will need a half sheet of white construction paper for each
child. I recommend purchasing construction paper at a Learning or Teacher Supply
store (in our area it is Lakeshore), as it costs less than $1 per pack of 50
sheets and you can purchase individual colors when you don't want a multi-color
pack of paper. Trace the child's hand using a pencil, and then outline the
traced handprint with a black marker. You can let the kids do this themselves
with a Crayola Washable Marker, or you can trace the handprint's with a black
permanent marker. Do not trace the kids hands directly with the Crayola Markers,
as when they lift their hand up, the marker ink will smear all over the place.
Squeeze small drops of glue (if you are using bottled glue) all over the
handprint, and let the child stick cotton balls to it. Or, using a paintbrush
paint a thin coat of glue all over the handprint and then let the child put the
cotton balls on. When it is finished, you can draw an eye with permanent marker
on the thumb, or you can glue a googly eye on to make the eye move. If you are
using these as gifts for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, etc for the kids to
make for their parents. You can write the following on the back of the paper
using a marker, or type it onto a piece of regular 8 1/2 x 11 white paper, cut
it out, and scotch tape or glue it to the back:
This is a very special lamb
as you can plainly see
I made it with my hand
which God made a part of me
It comes to you with lot's of love
especially to say
I hope you have a very special (Easter holiday; Mother's Day; Father's Day;
Christmas Day: etc...should end in day to rhyme)
Lamb paper craft - another idea using cotton balls is the Paper
Lamb. It is easy to make all you have to do is print a copy of the template
for each child, you can print it directly onto a sheet of construction paper to
make it sturdier. I like the idea of printing them ahead of time and then
trimming around the shape of the lamb, either before or after the children cover
them in cotton balls, this way the parents can still tell that it is a lamb,
even after the child has covered the entire thing in a thick mountain of cotton
balls.
God made clouds - give each child a piece of blue construction paper,
drop a few random drops of glue on the paper, and let them cover the paper in
cotton ball clouds.
Feelings And Senses
Preschooler's love to explore things, especially things
that are slimy, sticky, gooey, squishy, soft, hard, rough, etc. Provide plenty
of opportunities for children to feel new things, try new things, and use all of
their senses, here are just a few ideas:
Taste - for the lesson of Jonah or any other lesson that involves a sea
or ocean, fill a small cup with water, add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to the
water, and stir it up using a popsicle stick or spoon. Provide children with
plastic spoons to taste the salt water, to know what it would have been like to
swallow salt water, like Jonah would have done when he was almost drowning
before the whale swallowed him.
Touch - for lessons about roads (the road to Damascus comes to mind
immediately), bring in a piece of smooth sand paper, and let the children walk
barefoot on it, explain to them, that the sandpaper is probably how the dirt
roads felt. Do not use really course sand paper as you would not want anyone to
get hurt.
Soft - for lessons about sheep, lambs, and other animals that are soft,
bring in a piece of furry (plush) felt. It is like regular felt, but it is
furry, with hair, and really soft. You can purchase it at Wal Mart or craft
stores. Cut the felt into the shape of the animal you are talking about by
tracing around a coloring page or cookie cutter.
Ocean in a bottle/storm in a bottle/wave in a bottle - make an ocean,
wave, or storm in a bottle by filling a two-liter soda bottle with the label
removed 3/4 of the way with water. Then add about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and
three-five drops of blue food coloring, screw the lid on tightly, and then
reinforce with a piece or two of packing tape. Let children shake the bottles up
to make storms. For young children, 1 liter bottles or the small single serve
water bottles work well and are easier for them to shake themselves.
Squishy - for lessons about storms, waves, and other parts of the ocean
or seas, make blue Jell-O and then put it in Ziploc bags once it has hardened,
dump in some fish confetti (party supply or craft stores), or some fish cut from
construction paper, or small boats cut from construction paper. Then, zip the
bag shut, and use a piece of packing tape to reinforce it closed. Let children
squish and feel the bag. If you are worried about leaks, double bag it, zipping
and using tape to seal both bags.
Finger plays and Songs
Finger plays are a great way for preschoolers to play
along. However, some finger plays have so many finger motions that it is
difficult for even adults to keep up with them. Here are some easy Bible
finger plays that can be used for a variety of lessons. This section also
includes standard and play-along songs, most of which are sung to familiar tunes
(the songs) so that preschoolers will have no trouble learning them.
Check out the Bible Songs
from this site and here are a few others from other sites:
The Adam and
Eve song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The Here Is The
Church song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The God
Made song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The I Have Two
Eyes song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The I Open My
Bible song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The God Will Always Love
Me song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The Bible
says song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The Praise
March song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The You are Gods
Creation song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The I open my
Bible song from Kidz Under Construction fingerplays
The Jacob's Ladder
song from gbgm-umc.org
The Jesus Loves The Little Children
song from gbgm-umc.org
Even more fun songs can be found at Preschool
Education and songs fingerplays.
Fruit Loop Necklaces
A great project to use during lessons about food or
Noah's Ark (rainbow). You need a length of elastic cording (Wal Mart or craft
supply stores down the bead isle) approximately 12" long for young
children, and 18" long for adults and older children. Take a Fruit Loop
(purchase generic, they usually come in a large bag at most grocery stores,
taste just as good, you get more, and they are a whole lot cheaper), and knot
one end of elastic cording around it. Let the children string Fruit Loops onto
the other end of the cording. When it is finished, tie the other end of the
cording just below the end with the Fruit Loop already tied in place for an easy
and edible necklace. Older children can be encouraged to sort by colors, follow
patterns, or follow the colors of the rainbow.
Painting
Painting is a great way for kids to express their
creativity, however with preschoolers, you have to worry about them putting it
in their mouth's, eating the paint brushes, etc. If you make your own paint, you
can control the ingredients, which will also allow you to control what is/is not
put into the paint to make sure that it is 100% safe. If you choose to purchase
store-bought paints, make sure that you always use non-toxic, washable paints
(tempera paint works well) or water colors to prevent children from becoming
sick should a brush make it's way into a mouth when you are not closely
supervising. Any of the paint recipes below can also be made into "mess
free" no-brushes required paints by purchasing envelope sealers (the kind
that are the plastic tube with the little sponge on the end that you add water
too) or dish washing sticks (plastic tube with large sponge at the end). Just
fill the tube up with paint for mess-free painting.
Edible finger paint - this is one of my favorite finger paint recipes,
because it can also be a paint brush recipe. You need Vanilla pudding and food
coloring to make it, just follow the instructions on the pudding package, separate
it into small containers (cupcake liners work wonderfully and can be thrown away
when you are finished painting) and let the kids either paint with their fingers
or with foam applicator brushes. If you are going to let the child paint with
their fingers, provide them each with their own "set of paints" to
avoid spreading germs. As for the surface they can paint on parchment paper, wax
paper, and freezer paper all work really well. You don't have to worry about
brushes in mouths with this paint recipe.
Non - toxic finger paint - Here's a great finger paint recipe that you
can make yourself that can be used on standard white paper, construction paper,
or finger paint paper. This paint is 100% non-toxic, so you do not have to worry
about the kids putting it in their mouth. If you want to use it as a regular
paint, purchase foam applicators from Wal Mart or a craft store. Store the paint
in baby food jars for the best results, and the longest shelf life.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 cups cold water
food coloring
Directions:
Mix flour and water together and cook over low heat until thick. Let cool
completely. Add a small pinch of salt (prolongs shelf life). Separate the
mixture into baby food jars. Stir 3-4 drops of food coloring in each jar and
stir until the color is well blended.
Kool - Aid Finger Paint - here's a cute little finger paint recipe, that
can also be used with foam applicators as regular paint. I would strongly
recommend storing it in baby food jars.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 packs unsweetened Kool-Aid
1/2 cup salt
3 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions: combine all wet ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl,
combine all dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients slowly into dry ingredients
and mix well. The color of Kool-Aid that you use will determine the color,
scent, and "taste" of the finished paint.
Puffy Paint - this recipe make three dimensional paint that is non-toxic
and great for products that require texture. Kids love it because it puffs up
when it dries for a bumpy feeling.
Ingredients:
Flour
Salt
Water
Food Coloring
Directions:
Mix equal amount of flour, salt, and water. Add food coloring for color. Pour
mixture into baby food jars and use foam applicators or brushes to paint with.
Roll on deodorant dispensers that have been washed out, can be used to make this
paint into a roll on paint. Simply remove the roller ball, bleach out the
container, pour the paint mixture in, and put the roller ball back into place.
Paper Bag Vests - Joseph's Coat Of Many Colors
This project sounds like a lot of prep-work, since as a
teacher you would have to prepare the paper bags ahead of time, but honestly,
once you make one, it doesn't take more than a few minutes to master the art of
cutting them out, and they are so effective for teaching the lesson of Joseph's
Coat Of Many Colors to preschoolers. You need a grocery paper bag (ask for paper
instead of plastic next time you do your grocery shopping, hey, you are
recycling them!), and a pair of scissors to prepare the vests, following the
directions found at Danielle's
Place.
When it comes time to decorate them, you can either let
the children color them with crayons, or you can purchase Crepe Paper (a.k.a.
party streamers) and cut them into short lengths and let the children use a
mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 white glue and foam sponge applicators (Wal Mart,
less than $0.50 each) to paint the glue mixture on the bag and put the strips
down. This really makes a bright, colored, coat of many colors that the children
can really wear. You can also use construction paper strips, but you will need
to use regular white school glue (no water added to make them stick). Another
cool way I found to do these, is to purchase inexpensive Washable Highlighters
from Wal Mart or Office Supply Stores (on sale in late September when
back-to-school is over and there are clearance items. Take the lids off the
Highlighters ahead of time, and let the kids color all over with them, they make
cool straight lines, even if they color randomly, to make it look like a striped
coat of many colors.
Paper Plates
Paper plates are an inexpensive crafting tool that is a
great "canvas" for many cool craft projects for preschoolers, here are
just a few of my favorites:
Fish - make a fish by cutting out a triangle "slice" from a
paper plate, then, take the pointed end of the slice and staple or tape it to
the backside of the paper plate, on the opposite end of the opening that the
slice came out of. The slice becomes the fishes tail and the opening becomes the
fishes mouth.
Rainbow - Cut a paper plate in half, and let children color it in, or
glue fruit loops on it to make it look like a rainbow. You will need one paper
plate for every two children
Noah's Ark - Cut a paper plate in half, from one half of the paper plate,
cut out a simple shape of a house (square that comes to a triangle point on
top), staple the house shape to the flat side of the other half of the paper
plate, let children color it in, and add animal stickers, animal crackers using
glue, or small magazine pictures of animals.
Listening Ears - one of my favorite paper plate crafts (smiling) a great
way to get children to pay attention during story time. You will need one paper
plate for each child, cut in half. Children color the paper plate halves anyway
that they like. When story time is about to start, tell children to put on their
listening ears, (holding the halves flat side facing their ears) up to their
ears to prepare for Bible story time. Repeat this poem with children, and then
collect the listening ears before telling the story.
Turn on your listening ears
Zip up your lips
Give your hands a clap clap clap
And put them in your lap, lap, lap.
Encourage children to criss cross applesauce (sit Indian style) like they would
in Awana's, Girl Scouts, preschool, etc.
Plastic Toys
Many Sunday School preschool classrooms already have
plastic toys in the classroom for children to play with. Here are some ways to
incorporate the existing toys into your lessons and playtime.
Toy people - a couple of toy people (check dollar stores) and some
butcher paper makes it easy to create new story play times each week. Lay a
sheet of butcher paper out on the floor or a table, and give children crayons.
Talk about the days Bible story, if the story is on creation, encourage children
to color the sky, grass, animals, plants, people, etc. If the story is on the
road to Damascus for instance, draw a road down the middle of the paper. With
preschooler's, you can draw the items out ahead of time and let them color them
in, or you can have them use stickers to decorate something you have already
drawn, such as a black line to mark off the sky, they can color above the line
black and then stick sticker stars in the sky. Have the children play with the
people on the story scenes.
Blocks - small blocks are great to build small buildings, walls, and
wells out of. Give the children a theme, such as a city to build, a wall to
build, or whatever else the story is about, and help children use the blocks to
build the city, wall, well, etc out of. Large blocks can be used to build
towers, the wall of Jericho, etc. We use the cardboard blocks (already in the
classroom) to build entire cities and walls out of, of course the funniest part
at this age is when it can all come tumbling down.
Play Doh
Play Dough always works for preschoolers, however clean
up can be exhausting if you do not use a little ahead of time preparation.
Purchasing a roll of inexpensive painter's drop cloth from Wal Mart, Target, or
K Mart, will give you enough painter's drop cloth for months of Play Doh fun
without having expensive cleanup. Putting the painter's drop cloth on the floor
where children will be playing with it, covering tables where children will be
playing with it, and underneath a table where children will be playing with it,
will make for easy clean up. When children are finished playing with Play Doh,
simply start at one end of the painter's drop cloth, roll it up, and throw it in
the trash. For a reusable method, if you are on a budget, plastic tarps can do
the same exact thing that the painter's drop cloth can do, and when they are
finished, you just wipe it down with a wet sponge. I would not recommend
purchasing store bought Play Doh, instead, make your own Play Doh using the
following recipe:
2 cups plain flour
2 cups cold water
1 cup salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 tsp cream of tartar (white powdery stuff in the spice section)
food coloring or pack of Kool-aid for good smell and color
Cook on low to medium heat while stirring all the time. Cook until it makes a
lump like thick mashed potatoes. Dump out and let cool down. Then knead until it
feels like Play-Doh. This makes a little over 2 pounds of Play Doh.
You can make it in any color you use, you will need to
add enough food coloring to make the color you desire, or add some Kool-Aid to
the Play Doh to make it colored and smell good. This Play Doh is also 100%
non-toxic, and if kids put it in their mouth, it is completely edible, and if
you use Kool-Aid, it will actually taste good, just don't tell the kids that
*laugh* This Play Doh keeps best in butter containers with lids, or in
disposable ZipLoc or Gladlock plastic containers. Do not store it in a Ziploc
style bag because it will stick to the edges if it gets too hot or too cold. It
will keep for months and stay soft, if it is kept in an airtight, lidded
container, not to mention the fact that it costs a fraction of the cost to make
then store-bought Play Doh.
Play Doh can be used in a variety of ways with Bible
lessons. One of my favorite ways is to make Play Doh cubes and let the children
build walls, wells, and buildings with the cubes. To make Play Doh cubes, spray
some ice cubes from a dollar store with some non-stick cooking spray and stuff
Play Doh into the tray, use a plastic knife to trim off the excess Play Doh.
Then dump the tray over for some instant Play Doh cubes. If you want to be able
to create permanent walls, building, wells, etc with Play Doh cubes, then make
the cubes ahead of time, pop them out of the tray, and set them out for 1-3 days
until they are completely dry. If you plan to make permanent Play Doh cubes, mix
about 3 tablespoons of white school glue into the Play Doh recipe, this will
make the permanent Play Doh cubes hard without cracking. Play Doh cubes also
make great, lead-free building blocks for young children. One last note on Play
Doh...Play Doh cutters and tools can be very expensive. Go to a craft store such
as Michael's, or the craft department of a store like WalMart and purchase a
giant set of cookie cutters (I bought one at Michael's that has 100 cookie
cutters and paid around $10). If you plan to purchase it at Michael's, wait for
their sale ad that comes in the Sunday circular of the newspaper, it has a 50%
off any one item coupon that you can use to make the cookie cutters cost about
$5 instead of $10. This is much cheaper than purchasing Play Doh cookie cutters.
When I use Play Doh in my classroom I limit the number
of children that can play with Play Doh at any given time to eight. I set up
eight separate work areas on a table, each with a smile pile of cookie cutters
that is in their reach, and a ball of Play Doh. I have found that separating
Play Doh into individual balls ahead of time cuts down on the fighting over who
has more, and also cuts down on one child having all the Play Doh keeping others
from playing.
Puzzles
You can make your own Bible Story puzzles by pulling
coloring pages off of DLTK or other popular sites. If they have a colored
version, print the colorized one, if not, then color it yourself, or save the
file to an easy to find location (such as your My Documents folder or your
Desktop) and open the picture in Paint (usually found under Accessories in the
Start Menu). Then use the paint bucket tool to color in the areas, and print the
colored version. Once they have printed, use a pair of scissors to cut it into
two, three, four, or even five pieces (I wouldn't go more than six pieces), and
put the pieces in a Ziploc style bag, label the bag with the lesson or theme and
use them year after year. If you plan on using them year after year, a good idea
is to laminate them before you cut the pieces apart. You can have them laminated
at a copy store, a teaching supply store, or laminate them yourself using Clear
Contact paper. If you do not want the laminating costs, glue the finished
picture onto light weight cardboard, such as cereal boxes, or another light
weight cardboard item, and then cut the pieces out.
Snacks
While there are lots of Bible
snack recipes, and also at perpetualpreschool.com
for even more ideas. Everyday snack items can be used easily with a Bible theme.
For instance, goldfish crackers are perfect for Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the
Jonah lesson. Cheez - Its, Wheat Thins, and other square crackers are perfect
for lining up end to end on napkins for building roads. Marshmallows and pretzel
sticks can be used to build people for a cute snack for almost any lesson.
Marshmallows are also good for lessons with sheep or lambs in them. Do not give
Marshmallows to children who have not learned to chew their food well yet.
Vanilla wafers make good suns for lessons about creation, or Jesus is the
"Son" of God.
Stickers
It may come as no surprise that preschooler's love
stickers, but what may come as a surprise is that you can create simple, cute,
fun, easy, inexpensive crafts by purchasing stickers, lot's and lot's of
stickers. I like to keep my eyes peeled at dollar stores, Wal Mart, clearance
racks, and Oriental Trading Company
for
clearance sales on stickers. Office and teacher's supply stores are also a great
place to find stickers inexpensively. One of the best times to buy stickers is
immediately following a holiday, all of the brands of stickers (with the
exception of American Greetings) clearance out their seasonal merchandise and
you can find lots of dollar and two for a dollar packs of stickers during those
times.
Noah's Ark - Use the Simple
Animal Cracker Ark and let the children put stickers of animals in the ark.
Ten Commandments - Cut out an oval from a piece of gray construction
paper, then fold the oval in half and cut down the fold (make sure you fold it
top to bottom). Write the number 1 with permanent marker on the top of one of
the halves, the number 2 on another half, repeat until you have 10 of these half
ovals. For older children, you can write the commandment on the top next to the
number, preschoolers should not be as concerned with what the commandments are,
but just that they exist and how many of them there are, and that they are
special rules to follow. You can make these into a book by hole-punching the
left hand corner, and using a paper fastener (brass fastener), yarn, or ribbon
to attach them together. Have the children put the correct number of stickers on
each "stone". Small reward stickers such as smiley faces and stars
work wonderfully for this project, just keep an eye on the kids that tend to put
things in their mouths. A great way to encourage counting.
God Made You Thumbody Special
Check out the Thumbody
Loves You craft. This craft is a big hit with preschoolers, you give
each child a piece of white construction paper turned sideways (so the long side
is the top of the paper) with the words God Made You Thumbody Special written
across the top. Let them dip their thumbs in washable ink pads and stamp all
over the place. With preschoolers the idea is not what they make, it's that they
enjoy making it, so if they choose to keep stamping one on top of another, don't
be discouraged. A great way to remind children that God made each of them
special and that God made every part of them including their thumb. I love to
use Lakeshore (a teaching supply store) jumbo washable ink pads for this
project. They are large enough for 4-5 kids to share at a time, come in bright
colors, and are 100% washable. Steer clear of washable inks that claim to be
"dye-based" because, even if it says washable, if it also says "dye-based"
it is in fact, not washable after all.
Here are a few things that I have found keep the attention of the
preschoolers in my class, most of these ideas have only been used with the four
year olds at the church I attend, but every once in awhile, I will try out an
idea with the three year olds, as I substitute in there occasionally.
Try adding basic sign language to songs, one of the songs we sing most often is
Jesus Loves Me, and the kids really enjoy using the sign language motions that
go along with it, if you do not know the motions, you can find them at creative-communication.org
Creation - cover one wall with a giant sheet of blue paper, and let the
children put glow in the dark stars (either the plastic kind or stickers) all
over it randomly. Provide the children with a basic person cut-out (you can use
a gingerbread man or scarecrow outline which works well for preschoolers) and
let them decorate it to look like them with crayons, markers, yarn, etc. Give
the children animal stickers to put all over a sheet of green paper or let them
color in animal coloring pages which can be cut out.
Jericho - have the children build a wall with blocks (we use the
cardboard blocks that resemble bricks) or with cardboard boxes. Then, have all
the children stand back and let one child touch the tower to knock it over. Or,
you can knock the tower over.
Jesus Calms The Storm - use a parachute or a large sheet and let the
children wave it really fast, if you can use a blue sheet, all the better. Have
one person yell stop and have all the children stop waving the sheet or
parachute and explain how Jesus calmed the storm. For older children, you can
put a ball or other soft object on the sheet or parachute and make the object of
the game to keep the ball from falling off the edges.
Jesus Is Alive - Set up a card table or use a large table in the
classroom, and cut out a giant circle (stone) from a sheet of foam (check the
floral department of craft stores. You could also use a piece of gray poster
board to make the stone out of, but it will not "roll away" like the
foam will. Cover the top and three sides of the table with a sheet or blanket
that you cannot see through, let children take turns going into the
"cave" while another child "rolls the stone away". You may
want to provide a flashlight for children who are scared of the dark.
The Chariot Of Fire - build a chariot that the children can "ride
in" by taking a square cardboard box and cutting off one side of the box.
Lay the box on it's side (so that the bottom of the box becomes the front and
the side of the box is touching the floor) and paint the entire box silver or
gray. Cut out large round circles (2) out of the panel you cut off of the box to
make wheels and use a brass fastener to attach them to the front (bottom of the
box) sides (sides of the box) to make the wheels. You can then take some thick
cording or string, hole punch two holes in the front (bottom of the box) of the
chariot, and thread it through to make the reins that would be attached to the
horses. If you want to get really creative, we drew two horses on cardboard with
wide hooves, cut them out, and used a toilet paper roll in between them to make
them stand up and three-dimensional, and tied them to the string to make it look
like a real chariot. You could use a disposable camera to take pictures of the
kids taking turns riding in the chariot.
The Last Supper - buy a large loaf of French bread (the long kind that
looks like a stick), and some red juice such as fruit punch. Have the children
sit down at a table for snack, and pour the juice into small cups or plastic
goblets, then have a teacher or helper walk around the table breaking the bread
and giving each child a piece. Explain the significance of the last supper.
