Tell parents to ask their kids about the ear and mouth stickers they are wearing; what are they for?

First 10 minutes of the service hour: Engage kids in cooperative play activities to help them connect to other kids. Next 5 minutes: Connect Time Next 25 minutes: Large Group Last 25 minutes: Snack and Small Group

Ten minutes before you head into large group, ask kids if they have to use the restroom. It should help eliminate the number of kids who ask to go during the story.

Today is all about prayer! We’ll hear how important it is for our relationship with Jesus to be strengthened through speaking to him, and letting Jesus speak to us.

We can talk to Jesus!Books of John and Revelation

PrayerMay 26/27, 2018

GOAL: Connect time is all about engaging kids in a short, interactive game to prepare them for Large Group.

● Clean up! (10 minutes after the service start time, when you get the 5-minute warning from the presenter)

● Line up.● Tell kids to listen carefully; then begin to play “Simon Says.” They should ONLY

obey your commands if they hear you say, “Simon says.”● Give kids simple tasks, like “Simon says touch your toes.” Occasionally, leave out

“Simon Says.” Be creative and have fun, but here are a few ideas to get you started: ○ Spin around○ Talk to God (“Hi God!”)○ Reach as high as you can○ Reach as low as you can○ Give a friend a high five○ Pretend you’re an elephant○ Sit on the ground○ Stand on one foot○ Quack like a duck○ Make up your own!

As you walk into Large Group, encourage kids to put on their listening ears! Remind them that HOPS will be showing us how we should act in Large Group, so we have to listen!

Goal: (1) to provide kids with a tangible reminder of what prayer is, so they can share it with their families and (2) to help kids understand that prayer is accessible to them.

Why? Prayer is essential to staying close to Jesus, and we can start no matter how old we are!

Tip: During prayer today, make sure to ask kids what they heard from God. God really does want to speak to all of us—even little kids!

REVIEW THE STORY1. What is praying? (talking and listening to God)2. What kinds of things can we SAY to Jesus? (list ideas like how we feel, what

happened in our day, asking for help…anything!)3. When can we talk to Jesus? (anytime!)4. Where can we talk to Jesus? (anywhere!)

*Pray together with kids right now!

MAKE IT PERSONAL● Remind kids that prayer is TALKING and LISTENING (use the motions from large

group). ● Set out markers, and give each kid an ear sticker and a mouth sticker to color

and wear, along with a story card.○ You’ll need to cut apart the stickers before handing them out.*

● Afterwards, pray with the kids, telling God simple things like how much fun you’ve had in Kids’ Club today. Then ask him to speak to you. See if you can get the kids to spend even 10 seconds listening, and ask them if they heard anything.

● It’s okay if kids don’t really understand, or don’t “hear” anything. We just want kids to know that it’s okay to talk AND listen to Jesus.

Extra time? Give kids a coloring sheet.

Today is all about praying. You’ll see a lot of repetition of the words “talk” and “listen”—as well as a motion. This repetition will help kids grasp what prayer is!

Here’s today’s God’s Story video:

God’s Story / Prayer:https://youtu.be/ZrdlXOk_QdQ

WELCOME AND INTRO

Main Goal: Review the beginning of God’s story and rescue plan.

Notes:

● *Click to play intro music.● Say: Hi Friends! Welcome to Kids’ Club. I'm ____________

and I'm really glad you're here today. Before we get started, I want you to meet my friend HOPS.

● Video: HOPS Put your listening ears on!● Say: (Holding up the Bible.) This is God’s story. Out of all

the stories in the world, this is the most important. Do you know what it’s called? (Let kids respond “the Bible”.) That’s right, the Bible! It’s God’s Rescue plan. It shows us how He rescued us from all the wrong things in the world.

● Say: In the beginning, God made the whole world and everything in it. He created the sun and the moon, the water and the land, the plants and the animals, and people like you and me! Everything was good. Give me a big thumbs up! (Let kids respond. Then change your tone.)

● Say: But THEN, something bad happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and all the wrong things came into the world. Things like sadness and death. Show me your sad face. (Let kids respond.)

● Say: Even though Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God loved them anyway! He planned a great rescue so that Adam and Eve, and you and me, could be close to God again! Do you know who the Rescuer is? (Let kids say: Jesus!)

INTRO: PRAYER

Main Goal: Understand that prayer means we talk AND listen to Jesus!

JOHN PRAYED

Main Goal: Understand how John stayed close to Jesus by praying!

● Say: And guess what else? Jesus wants us to be close to him! Everybody close your eyes. (Let kids respond.) Think about your best friend, or maybe a favorite babysitter, or somebody you love, like mom, dad or grandpa or grandma.

● Say: Now open your eyes. If you like to go visit or spend time with the person you love, give me a thumbs up (let kids respond). Me too! One person I love is _______ (name the person) and I LOVE to be close to them.

● Say: Well, Jesus loves US and wants to be close to us. The good news is, we CAN be close to him… all the time. One way to stay close to Jesus is by praying. Praying is just talking and listening to God!

● (Image: Mouth) On the count of three, tell me what this picture is. Ready? 1-2-3: (Let kids say: mouth.) Yes! And we (cup your hands around your mouth) TALK with our mouths. Can you guys do that with me? We (lead kids in cupping their hands) TALK with our mouths.

● (Image: Ear) On the count of three, tell me what this is. Ready? 1-2-3: (Let kids say: ear!) That’s right! And we (put on listening ears) LISTEN with our ears. Can you guys do that with me? We (lead kids in putting on listening ears) LISTEN with our ears.

● Say: Praying is when we TALK (cup hands) and LISTEN (put on listening ears) to Jesus!

● Say: Today, we’re going to see how we can TALK (cup hands) and LISTEN (put on listening ears) to Jesus. As you watch, see all the different ways we can pray!

● Video: God’s Story / John ● Ask: Hmmmm….so can we pray any time we want? (Let

kids respond.) Yes! Can we pray anywhere we want? (Let kids respond.) Yes! We can talk to God anytime and anywhere.

○ We can PRAISE Jesus, and tell him how much we love him

○ We can say sorry to Jesus for our wrong choices.○ We can ASK Jesus for what we need!○ We can LISTEN to Jesus, and obey what he says!

● Let’s pray together now—and practice talking (cup hands) and listening (listening ears) to Jesus.

● Say: Let’s pray together (break into small, repeatable phrases):

● Pray: Hi God! Thank you that we can talk to you. Help us to listen to you. Please talk to us! (Here, take a few seconds and ask kids to listen quietly to God—see if you can get a couple seconds of quiet. Then, wrap up): We love you! Aaaaaaa-MEN.

● Set up worship: Let’s sing some songs to tell Jesus he’s our king, and that we want to follow him!

● Music Video: Be Strong● Music Video: God is Always Working● Music Video: Jesus Loves Me

Dismiss kids to small groups. (Be creative as you dismiss them. Ask them to come give you a high five first, or maybe tiptoe or hop--like Hops--to their groups.)

WRAP UP AND WORSHIP

Main Goal: Help kids interact through prayer and worship!

Notes:

What is prayer?How can we pray?

PreschoolMay 26/27, 2018

Small GroupItem Usage Details Provided by

Coloring Page - Prayer 1 per kid Page 8, white paper, black & white site

Markers1 set per group,

reusedsite

Mouth Sticker 1 sticker per kidAvery 5294, Black and white,

Page 9site

Ear Sticker 1 sticker per kidAvery 5294, Black and white,

Page 10site

Story card 1 per kid8.5x11 cardstock cut into quarter

sheets, color, Page 11site

Large GroupItem Usage Details Provided by

Jesus Storybook Bible1 per large group,

reusedBiblesbytheCase.com site

Connect TimeItem Usage Details Provided by

No supplies needed

What is prayer?How can we pray?

Read more about prayer in the book of John!

Mouth Sticker

Ear Sticker

1. Song slide: for when kids enter the room (All that You Need instrumental; mp3 only; can be downloaded on website)

2. Video: HOPS Put your listening ears on! (https://vimeo.com/67408013) 3. Image: Mouth4. Image: Ear5. Video: God’s Story / John (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJy0mfnUDjM) 6. Music Video: Be Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZFMgFre__c) 7. Music Video: God is Always Working

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiaRAXhGS0U) 8. Music Video: Jesus Loves Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tguQFR95Nms)

Preschool