2 weeks ago
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Grades 1-3
Introductory Activity – Build the Wall
Materials: plastic interlocking bricks
Form two groups with your kids. Place the interlocking bricks on a table and have one group sit at the table. Instruct the other group to stand and surround the first group. Tell the first group that their job is to build a strong wall with the bricks. Inform the second group that they are to attempt to distract the first group in any way they can without touching them. Allow the groups to switch places after the first group builds their wall. Explain that in today’s lesson, Nehemiah and God’s people had to decide how to respond to people who persecuted them as they built Jerusalem’s wall. Write the Life Point on the board and say it together.
Live It Out
Game – Destroy the Wall!
Materials: plastic cups, paper
Form two teams of kids. Give one team 30 plastic cups and instruct them to build a wall with them. Give the other team a lot of paper and set them up 10 feet away from the first group. Tell them to crumple up their paper into balls. Inform everyone that the first team will attempt to build a wall with their cups while the second team will throw the paper balls to try to knock down the wall for a minute. Afterward, allow the teams to swap places. The team with the most cups standing at the end of their turn is the winner! Remind the kids that Nehemiah chose to respond to the enemies in a way that honored God.
Craft – Wall of Bricks
Materials: tan and brown construction paper, bulletin board paper, tape, markers
Tape a large piece of paper to the wall. Give each of the kids multiple pieces of tan and brown construction paper, and ensure everyone has access to markers and tape. Direct them to turn their paper sideways and decorate them to look like bricks. Tell them to write the Weekly Verse or Life Point on each brick. After finishing their bricks, instruct them to tape them to the butcher paper to form a wall like Nehemiah built.
Grades 4-6
Introductory Activity – Wall of Encouragement
Materials: plastic cups
Give every child a plastic cup. Direct the kids to say something encouraging to someone else in your class, one person at a time. When a child says an encouraging word to someone else, tell them to put their cup on the table. As each child places their cup on the table, direct them to stack the cups so that a wall is slowly built. (Ensure that every child has something encouraging said to them.) Explain that during difficult times, like when Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s wall, encouraging the people around you is a great way to ensure that others don’t give up.
Live It Out
Game – Lesson Review
Materials: review questions, plastic cups, beanbag
Form two teams of kids, and give each team a set of cups and a beanbag. Instruct them to build a wall by stacking the cups into several rows. Have each group set up on the opposite side of the room from their cups. Tell the teams you will ask review questions from today’s lesson, and the first team to get the answer correct will get to throw a beanbag at their wall. The first team to knock down their entire wall is the winner!
Craft – Jerusalem Wall Blueprint
Materials: paper, colored pencilsGive each child a piece of paper and some colored pencils. Tell the kids that a blueprint is a detailed drawing of how a structure will be built. Direct your kids to draw and color a blueprint of how they would rebuild Jerusalem’s wall. Instruct them to include the location of Jerusalem’s gates, houses inside the wall, and placement for soldiers, etc. Tell them to write the Life Point across the bottom of the page. Allow several volunteers to share their blueprints with the rest of the class.
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