Preschool: Two Coats for Joseph

Today's story of Joseph and the coat of many colors came to us through theater. Our Director of Children's Ministry, Joseph (Joey) De Young played the part of Joseph and I played narrator.

We learned that Joesph's dad gave him a beautiful, colorful coat. His 11 brothers were sad and mad that their dad didn't give them a coat and because they thought their dad loved Joseph more than them. Another word for how they were feeling is, "jealous." The brothers got so mad that they dug a deep hole and pushed Joseph into the deep, dark pit. Joseph was scared and lonely, but he knew that even in the pit, God was with him. Our stopping point in the story was when Joseph met Pharaoh. Pharaoh gave Joseph an important job, a gold chain, and a new beautiful coat to wear. God was with Joseph during this good time and during the scary time in the pit.

Some of the kids made their own coat of many colors out of a paper grocery sack. If your child didn't get a chance to finish his or her coat and would like to make one at home, here's what you do. Have your child decorate the grocery sack with colorful art supplies of your choosing. To make it into a coat, cut a straight vertical line where you want the opening of the coat, then cut circles for the head and arms.

Today we had some of the most intent listening and participation that we've had all summer. Sanctuary preschoolers are amazing!

Preschool: Noah's Ark

Last Sunday was very special because we got to pretend to be Noah and build an ark out of cardboard boxes and legos. The story was reiterated through play in different ways such as this: the children climb into boxes and pretend to be animals, the teacher taps her fingers on the sides of the box to make rain sounds and says something like, "It's a rainy, rainy day out here, but it's dry and warm in there. God is taking good care of you."

We also made rainbows out of strips of paper and cotton balls to remind us that God made a promise to never flood the earth again, and to remind us that God keeps his promises.

Preschool: Taking Care of God's World

Our class began with the children all pretending to be various animals. We had kangaroos hopping around and a few dogs digging for their bones.

Next we redirected our imaginations to a story of how the animals got their names. We read that God gave Adam the special job of naming the animals. In that story, we also learned that God told Adam and Eve that all the trees, plants, animals, birds, fish, and all of creation were for them to care for and enjoy.

The tree crafts with finger painted (or crayoned) leaves are to help remind us that God wants us to enjoy and care for nature too.

We practiced taking care of nature by picking up some recycling items that were hidden throughout the room.


Next week: Noah and the Flood

Preschool: Follow Me!

Today we learned how Jesus called his twelve disciples to follow him. Jesus found Simon and Andrew fishing in the sea and he said, "Follow me." Immediately, they set down their net and followed Jesus. James and John were also fishermen. They were mending their nets when Jesus asked them to follow him. They too obeyed immediately.

The main focus of the story was the fisherman, but it also introduced us to Nathaniel, Matthew, and Philip--all followers of Jesus.

The children relearned the story by acting it out with props: a blanket as a fishing net and fish-shaped paper cut outs. We played a Simon Says type game in which "Simon says" was replaced with, "Follow Jesus by...". Through this game we learned ways that we can follow Jesus like prayer, listening to our moms and dads, encouraging our friends and siblings, etc. We also played follow the leader while listening to "We're Following Jesus" by The Donut Man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUiQMHEYAps

This week concluded our New Testament study. Next Sunday we'll start back at the very beginning with Adam and Eve.

Getting to know your kids has been a joy filled experience. I'm looking forward to a summer of fun and learning in the preschool class!