I have no greater joy...: March 2016

If you haven’t read the introduction to this series yet I recommend going here.

Patriarchs Era
(Abraham / Isaac / Jacob / Joseph)
For more ideas check out my Pinterest Board: HERE

Timeline of the Patriarchs Era

Giant 10 Foot Bible Timeline

Abraham:

"Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them - so shall your descendants be."

Genesis 5:15

Hands-On Activities:

Stars were a major theme this week as we talked about the above verse

One of my favorite activities was painting glitter on paper.

I asked the kids to count the stars...obviously there were too many to count

Then we cut out several stars and wrote names of all our family members.

This helped them realize that the stars represented people

This is a flashlight toy we got in a CFA kids meal. You can also make your own constellations with a flashlight and paper with holes poked in it. The kids had fun trying to count the stars at bedtime.

God promised Abraham 3 things:

Land (Promise Land),

Seed (Jesus born through his line),

Blessing (Large family that God would bless)

**I do not have a template for this...I just cut out a large "3" and made pics to represent the promises

We used 2 brown paper bags to create a tent for Abe and Sarah

This was part of us acting out the story

Media:

I love this video because it's kids telling the story of Abe

We read the story of Abraham several different ways: Books, different Bibles, videos, interactive apps. The Bible for Kids app has comprehension questions throughout the story.

A fun song with motions

Coloring Pages:

Comprehension Questions to ask while kids color:

Name the people in this story.

What did God promise Abraham?

Did Sarah believe God? Why?

Abraham and Sarah had to be patient for God to do what He said. Did God give them a baby?

What was the baby's name?

Story Review:

Print and cut sequencing cards Here

Picture Quiz: Print Here

Isaac:

"The Lord will provide" Genesis 22:14

Hands-On Activity:

Making stones for our alter out of crumbled newspaper

We built alters all week long...too bad Hannah thought they were snowmen - Ha!

Acting out the story:

Riding donkeys to the mountain

Binding Isaac with rope and laying him on the alter

Finding a ram caught in the thicket

Replacing Isaac with ram

I printed and laminated these characters which we used as another way to act out the story.

Print Here

I have found that my kids listen better when their hands are busy. These are great times to read the story aloud and ask questions.

Coloring pages:

Print Here
You can cut out the ram and glue cotton balls on it for texture

Print Here

Comprehension Questions to ask while kids color:

What did God ask Abraham to do?

Did Abraham obey God?

What did Isaac ask his father on the way to the sacrifice?

What did God provide for the sacrifice?

Jacob and Esau:

"...The older will serve the younger." Genesis 25:23

Media:

God's Story is a great video series that tells the stories of the Bible in a fun way for kids

Hands-On Activity:

Making Jacob and Esau puppets to discuss the differences between the brothers

Jacob: Younger, Shepard, smooth skin, cooked, loved by his mother

Esau: Older, Hunter, hairy man, loved by his father

We used the puppets to act out the story

Coloring Pages:

Comprehension Questions to ask while kids color:

Which brother was a hunter?

Which brother did Rebekah love the most?

How did Jacob get Esau's birthright?

What does it mean to have a birthright?

How did Jacob steal Esau's blessing?

Acting out the Story:

Esau comes home from a hunt and is hungry

Jacob makes a pot of soup

Esau sells his birthright to Esau for soup

Jacob puts on animal skin to trick his Father Isaac and steals Esau's blessing

Story Review:

Picture Quiz: Print Here

Sequencing cards Print Here

Joseph

Joseph's Story is ?? chapters in Genesis. You could easily spend weeks on his story but for the purposes of the era study I decided to hit the highlights (Colored coat, sold into slavery, jail, becoming 2nd in command in Egypt)