Bible Story: the Creator (Creation Story Part 1) Genesis 1:1-25

252 GroupsJune 2017, Week 1

Small Group, 2-3

The Creator

Bible Story: The Creator (Creation Story – Part 1)• Genesis 1:1-25

Bottom Line: God made everything.

Memory Verse: “How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that.” Psalm 139:14, NIrV

Life App: Creativity—imagining what you could do because you’re made in God’s image.

Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.

GET READY

Prepare ahead of time for 2nd–3rdgrade Small Groups this week:

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

Early Arriver

An offering container

Challenge Creations

Paper
Pencils or markers

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 #1.

*1. God Made That(application activity / review the Bible story)

Paper
Pencils or markers
Bibles
Timer or mobile device
Die or Lead Small app
Whiteboard
Dry-erase marker

2. Alphabet Tiles(application activity)

Print the“Alphabet Tiles” Activity Page and cut apart; 1 set for each small group
Paper bag (or other opaque container); place the tiles inside this container
Timer or mobile device

3. Three in a Row(memory verse activity)

Bibles
6 Bean Bags
Masking tape
Make 2 sets of “Verse Bean Bags”:
Printthe “Memory Verse Cards” Activity Page onto 2 different colors of paper.
Tape each set of “Memory Verse Cards” tothe bean bags; one card per bag.
Separate the bean bags by color.
Provide hula hoops to create a 3x3 grid (i.e., a giant tic-tac-toe board) on the floor. For example: use 9 hula-hoops or 9 carpet squares.You can also make a grid on the floor using masking or painter’s tape.
Check out this video to see how the game should work:

Prayer

Print the “Prayer CardsWeek 1” Activity Page and cut apart; 4 cards for each kid
Hole punches and brads, key rings, yarn, or another way of your choosing to connect the cards together and create a booklet
Markers or pencils

Note: Keep the Kids booklets and continue to add to the booklets each week this month.Send them home at the end of the month.

The Creator

Bible Story: The Creator (Creation Story – Part 1)• Genesis 1:1-25

Bottom Line: God made everything.

Memory Verse: “How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that.” Psalm 139:14, NIrV

Life App: Creativity—imagining what you could do because you’re made in God’s image.

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. Pray especially for the kids who don’t feel like they are creative. Pray that God would change their perception of what it means to be creative. Ask God to speak to the kids through today’s story—that they would be encouraged by the fact that they were made by a creative God, which means they can also be creative!

1. Early Arriver Idea

What You Need:Offering container

What You Do:

Invite kids to put their offerings in the offering container as they arrive.
Engage kids in conversation.Use the optional questions below to facilitate discussion.
What does it mean to be creative?
Can you think of someone who is creative?Why do you think they are creative?
What are some examples of things you have created?

2. Challenge Creations

What You Need:Paper, pencils/markers

What You Do:

Give kids paper and markers.
Challenge kids to draw objects using only one shape.For example, a cat using only circles, a flower using only squares, a bird using only triangles, a form of transportation using only diamonds, etc.

What You Say:

“I love how no two drawings are the same.But there is something all the drawings have in common; they are all very creative!You came up with your own way to use the shapes to create the objects.[Transition] Let’s head to Large Group to hear about what our creativity tells others about God.”

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. God Made That(application activity / review the Bible story)

What You Need: Paper, pencils/markers, Bibles, timer, a die or Lead Small app, whiteboard, dry-erase marker

What You Do:

On the whiteboard or butcher paper, write the heading, “In the beginning God created . . .” Below the heading write, “Day 1.”
Ask kids, “What did God create on Day 1?” (light) and write the answer on the whiteboard.If kids need prompting, look up Genesis 1:3-5.
Repeat for the other days of creation.
Day 1: light (Genesis 1:3-5)
Day 2: sky (Genesis 1:6-8)
Day 3: land, plants, seas (Genesis 1:9-13)
Day 4: sun and moon; greater and lesser lights (Genesis 1:14-19)
Day 5: sea creatures, birds (Genesis 1:20-23)
Day 6: animals (Genesis 1:24-25)
Give kids paper and pencils.
Select one of the days by rolling a die or using the spinner in your LeadSmall app.
Give kids one minute to make a list of things related to what God created on that day. Be sure to challenge kids to be creative with their lists and come up with as many unique items as possible.
For example:
If you rolled a 3, kids could write:flowers, corn, dirt, grass, maple trees, etc.
If you rolled a 1, kids could list items that produce light: lamps, flashlights, matches, etc.
Similar to the game Scattergories®, if there are any duplicate items, kids mark those off of their lists.Any item that appears only on one kid’s list counts as a point.You can skip days two and four, as there aren’t enough unique items to play the game.
The kid with the most points at the end is the winner.

What You Say:

“WOW!You came up with a ton of things God made, and that was only the beginning.[Bottom Line]God made everything!It would be impossible to list everything God made; we would be here forever if we tried.God certainly is creative and the cool thing is He made you in His image, so He blessed each of you with the ability to be creative.Imagine what you could do because you’re made in God’s image.Maybe you will be an inventor, or an artist, or an engineer.Maybe you will write poems or encouraging notes to people.There are so many possibilities, and all because you have a creative God who loves you so much He made you in His image.”

[Make It Personal] (Share with the group one of your favorite things God made.Maybe it is the ocean or a mountain.Maybe it is the stars or snow.Explain why it is one of your favorite creations.)

2. Alphabet Tiles(application activity)

What You Need: “Alphabet Tiles” in a paper bag or container, random timer or mobile device

What You Do:

Instruct kids to sit in a circle.
Kids pass a bagor container filled with alphabet tiles around the circle.
When the bag is passed to them, they draw one alphabet tile and say, “God made everything, even . . .” and fill in the blank with something God made that starts with the letter on the tile they drew.
Once they say something God made, they quickly return the tile to the bag/container and pass it to the kid sitting next to them, who then draws a tile and does the same thing.
Set a timer at the start of each round. The kid holding the bag when the timer goes off is out.
Continue playing until there is only one kid left.
Be sure to set the timer to varying times each round so kids can’t predict when it will buzz.

What You Say:

“Everything that is made can be traced back to God.Look at these alphabet tiles.Someone made the tiles by copying the letters on paper and cutting them apart for this game.But where did the paper come from?(wood, trees) Who grew the trees used to make the paper? (farmer, whoever planted the seeds) And where did the seeds come from? (Continue with the questions until there is no other answer but God.)Yes, [Bottom Line]God made everything.He made trees, rain, sun, dirt, seeds and ultimately, He is even responsible for the creation of these alphabet tiles.”

3. Three in a Row(memory verse activity)

What You Need: Bibles, 2 sets of “Verse beanbags,” prepared 3x3 floor grid(use hula hoops if available), masking tape

What You Do:PLAY THIS GAME IN ONE LARGE GROUP (DIVIDING ALL CHILDREN INTO 2 TEAMS)

To see a demonstration of the game being played, go to:
Create a 3 X 3 grid on the floor using hula hoops
Read the Bible verse together from cardstock. Psalm 139:14.
Then place a piece of masking tape 15-20 feet away from the 3x3 floor grid. (If space allows, place the tape even further away, to make the game more challenging.)
Divide the group into two teams and instruct teams toeach stand in a line behind the starting line.
Give each team a set of “Verse beanbags” and point out that part of the verse is on each bag.
Teams will race to be the first team to get three bagsin a row (in correct verse order) either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
When you say, “Go!” the first person from each team will race down to the grid and place their team’s first beanbag.
They will then run back and tag the second person in their line, who will then do the same, but with the second beanbag.
After the first three people from each team have placed their beanbag, if there is no winner, teams continue to send one person at a time down to the grid too change the location of one beanbag to a different spot on the grid until a team achieves three in a row, in verse order.
Make sure to be clear that a player can only move his own team’sbeanbag and can only move one beanbag each turn.

What You Say:

[Bottom Line]“God made everything: the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and you!Just like it says in Psalm 139:14, How God made you is amazing and wonderful.I praise you for that,God made you in His image and our creative God gave you the ability to be creative too.And we should praise God for the way He made us.What are creative ways we can praise God for how He made us?(sing worship songs, thank Him, use our talents He has given us)Those are some great ideas of how you can praise God for making everything and creating you in His image.”

Pray and Dismiss

What You Need: “Prayer CardsWeek 1” Activity Page;staplers, brads, key rings, or yarn; markers/pencils

What You Do:

Give kids four “Prayer Cards” and a connector.Show them how to use the connector to connect their cards.
Tell kids to use the pages in the booklet to thank God for something specific He created, such as their pets, summer, the moon, rain, etc.
Kids can either draw what they are thankful for or write a note to God thanking Him.
Keep kids prayer booklets in your folder, and add things they are thankful God created to their bookleteach week.
[Make It Personal] (Create your own booklet with the kids.)
Keep kids booklets because they will be adding to them next week.

What You Say:

[Bottom Line]“God made everything, and one way we can praise God is to thank Him for all He has created.Remember what you wrote in your booklet, and during the week, try to think of more things you are thankful God created and next week we will continue to praise God and share some of the things we thanked God for during the week and add them to our booklets.

“Let’s pray:Dear God, You made everything!Thank You, God, for creating . . .(list some examples kids put in their prayer booklets).You are so creative, God, and I thank You for making us creative.Help us to imagine all we can do because we are made in Your image.Amen.”

As adults arrive to pick up explain today we learned God made everything.Encourage kids to share their prayer booklets with their parents and challenge them to add to their booklets during the week.

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