Abraham Bargains for Sodom

Genesis 18

This lesson encompasses Sarah laughing at God's message that she would birth a son in about a year and Abraham's bargaining with God for Sodom.  The binder project is search-a-word that can be downloaded here or you can make your own search-a-word puzzle at http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/ and include the names of the children in your group.

Our take-home project is a football field with the yard markings matching the number of righteous necessary in Sodom for the city to be saved.  You can download the football field here.  If you would like field goal 'poles', simply fold a piece of paper in half, then cut it to be just a little taller than the height you want for your 'poles'.  Fold the bottoms of the paper out like feet.  One foot can be taped to the football field and the other foot will support the paper from the back.  Then simply cut out a square for the actual goal space.  To make a paper football, cut a strip of paper about 1-1 1/2 inches wide.  Fold the top corner down into a triangle so the top of the paper lies flat against the side of the paper, then fold that triangle straight down leaving a flat top again.  Then fold the top corner down into a triangle the other direction, then fold that triangle straight down leaving another flat top.  Continue this process until all the paper is gone, then fold the extra paper inside the football and tape the football to sturdy it.  The picture below is courtesy of www.tbs.com with the original website here.  For youtube instructions click here courtesy of "foldsomething".

Hagar & Ishmael

Genesis 16 and 20:20

The take-home project for this lesson consists of 2 sets of dominoes.  One set features the banners of the 12 tribes of Israel and can be downloaded here.  The other set features cute animals but represents the 12 princes descended from Ishmael as promised by God in Genesis 20:20 and can be downloaded here.  I chose animals because Genesis 16:12 describes Ishmael as a 'wild donkey of a man.'  The main concept behind this project is that God gave Abraham a great nation through Ishmael consisting of the same number of princes (or tribes) as through Isaac/Jacob--12 from each of Abraham's sons.  Some of the children had trouble with the concept of cutting only along the dark lines and leaving the two pictures connected, so a bit of guidance may be necessary for children not familiar with the concept of dominoes.  Also, we found it helpful for the kids to color all of the same pictures the same color.  For instance, all of the elephants were colored gray, all of the dogs were colored brown, and all of the tigers were colored orange.  This helped them actually play the game of dominoes much easier.  It is recommended to print the dominoes on cardstock for easier handling.  The websites for the pictures are at the bottom of the blog.

The Covenant

Genesis 15

This lesson focuses on the dream God gave Abram, reminding him that God would give him many descendants and a great land for them to possess.  God also tells of the Israelites' 400 years of slavery in verse 13 as the Amorites are given more time to respond to God's love (which they will fail to do, and God will give their land to Israel.)

This binder project illustrates the smoking fire pot with the blazing torch that passed through the animals.  Using the first page, cut a long strip the entire length of the page that includes the fire pot with the blazing torch.  Then cut another long slip out of the same piece of paper approximately the same width as the first.  Tape one end of these slips together to make a very long slip of paper.  Next make two horizontal slices in the second sheet, in between the animals just above the cows and below the birds.  Feed the very long slip of paper through the top slice and back out through the bottom slice so that the firepot can be seen.  Tape the last ends of the slip together to make a complete circle.  The firepot can now be moved between the animals.  Download the first page here (you may want to trace the pot to make it more visible) and the second page here.  The original websites for the pictures can be found at the end of the blog.

Our take-home craft was a stand-alone star courtesy of Enchanted Learning, as God promised Abram's descendants would be as numerous as the stars.  You can find the instructions here.  Don't forget that the star templates can be decorated before slipping one star into the other.

Abram Saves Lot

Genesis 13 & 14

This lesson takes us through Lot's choosing of the 'best' land, his capture by invading kings, his rescue by his uncle Abram, and Abram's tithing to the king of Salem.  This binder project requires a little bit of doing, but the children had very few issues.  The first page can be downloaded here and the second page can be downloaded here.

The pictures of the slaves and the party are to be cut out together and folded in half so that the slaves show on one side and the party shows on the other.  Those pictures are then taped in between the two army pictures on the second sheet so that when flipped to the right the army men from Aladdin and the slaves are both visible.  When the sheet is flipped to the left, the party and the potato men army should be visible.  This tells the story in miniature.  The army men from Aladdin represent the kings that invaded Sodom.  The slaves represent Lot and his family being taken by the kings.  The party represents the celebration of the kings, which was interrupted by Abram and his men represented by the potato men.

The bottom portion of our binder project focuses on the tithe that Abram paid to the king of Salem, and that we should pay to God.  The coins from the first sheet can be laminated with clear shelf paper, then cut apart.  A slice should be made on the second sheet in three places--across the neck of "our money" bag, across the neck of "God's money" bag, and just above the head of the proud paycheck holder.  A pocket is made on the back of the second sheet in those three places to hold the coins that are dropped through the slices.  This can be done by cutting a square out of a ziploc bag and taping all 4 sides against the back of the paper.  Children can drop and retrieve their coins through the splits.  All coins can be stored in the paycheck slit, and children can divide the coins between their money and God's money.  The websites for the pictures can be found at the end of this blog.

Our activity for this lesson was the classic game of freeze tag since those who are 'frozen' must be freed by other players--very similar to Abram risking his own safety to free Lot.  It begins with one person being 'it' who then tries to tag everyone else.  When someone is tagged, they are frozen in place and cannot move unless tagged by another player.  Play ends when everyone has been frozen or the person who is 'it' has spent a reasonable amount of time chasing everyone else.  Then someone new is chosen as 'it' (usually the first person who was frozen.)  Note that those who are frozen cannot unfreeze each other, even if they are within each other's reach.

Abram Lies to Pharoah

Genesis 12:10-20

This lesson shows that we can still make poor decisions, even after having a close encounter with God.  For our binder project, the children colored a picture of Abraham crossing the desert.  We bought a sheet of coarse sandpaper for each child to lay beneath their paper to give the coloring a look of sandy texture.  An alternative for the very brave is to let the children glue brown sugar onto the drawing after the coloring is completed.  A quick spray of hairspray over the finished product will help the sugar to stick together and to the page, or the coloring page can be inserted into a sheet protector to keep the mess in one place.  Download the coloring page here.  The original website for the picture is here.

Our craft is courtesy of Danielle's Place--an amulet similar to those worn by the Egyptians.  Simply print out the template found here (you will need to scroll down the page until you reach the falcon amulet and choose that link for the template.  The picture from the website is below.)  We used card stock, markers and yarn. 

God Chooses Abram

Genesis 11:27-32 and 12:1-9

This lesson marks the beginning of the section on Abraham's life.  We began with the summary pictures from the last section, then introduced Abram. We talked about God choosing him and how later God would change his name to Abraham.  We gave a brief overview of his descendants, showing that he would have Isaac who would have Jacob who would give us the 12 tribes of Israel.  After reading our Bible story, we found Waldo in our Binder Project (download here) and discussed the fact that God knows each of us personally even though there are so many people in the world.  (The original link to the Waldo picture is here)

We chose to involve the children in an activity instead of a craft.   Duck, Duck, Goose reinforces the concept of being chosen.  For this game the children sit in a circle with enough space between them so they can easily get up and sit back down without knocking into each other.  If you only have a handful of kids, sit them with plenty of space between them to make the circle larger.  Choose a child to be the duck, or if noone volunteers an adult can be the duck to start.  Duck then walks around the circle tapping each child gently on the head and saying "duck" each time, as if labeling each child as a duck.  Eventually Duck taps a child on the head and says "goose," then runs as quickly as possible around the circle to reach Goose's seat before Goose can catch up and tag him/her.  If Duck does make it to Goose's seat without being tagged by Goose, then Goose becomes the duck and the original duck becomes part of the circle. If Goose tags Duck before Duck can reach Goose's seat, then Goose returns to the circle and Duck must be "it" again.

To make the game more difficult for older children, replace the "duck" that is spoken each time with any other name except the child's actual name, and the name cannot be said more than once.  Then instead of "goose" the child must same "Abram."  For example, the person who is "it" will walk around the circle tapping children gently on the head while naming them "Steve," "Grant," "Isabel," "Frank," "Gertrude," (as long as those are not the children's actual names) and then finally the name "Abram."  The child called "Abram" must realize they have been "called" and give chase.

End of Section Celebration!!!

Since part of the focus in the Bible Binder is to help create a sense of chronology for the Bible stories, we chose to take a break with this lesson and create a delineation between 'The Beginning of the World' and 'The Beginning of the Israelite Nation'.  Hence Creation through the Tower of Babel has ended, and the next section will take us through the life of Abraham.

Our binder activity for this lesson is kept in a sheet protector.  The following sheets were printed out for each child.  Download the first sheet here and the second sheet here.  The original website for the pictures are the bottom of this post.

The children colored the pictures and marked the back of each picture with their initials.  Then each child cut the pictures apart and put them in chronological order as quickly as possible.  Every so often we order these pictures again, even adding the pictures from the next section when the children are able to handle the added challenge.  When not in use, the pictures are stored in the sheet protector with a single piece of double-stick tape at the top in the middle to hold the sheet protector closed and keep the pictures safely tucked inside.

The pictures represent the following stories from top to bottom and left to right with their chronological order following.
"God Created"=Creation (1)
Snake=the Fall (2)
Two men & baseball bat=Cain and Able (3)
Baby=Seth (4)
Two women and man with baseball bat=Lamech, first man mentioned in the Bible to have 2 wives (5)
Two men, clouds & bird=Enoch walking with God (6)
Noah (7)
Wine & glasses=Noah gets drunk (8)
Tower of Babel (9)

We chose an activity with a take-home treat for this celebration, using balloons, cheap hard candy, and permenent markers.  We inserted one piece of candy in each balloon (off-brand Werther's candy from Walmart, 30 pieces for a dollar), inflated the balloons and then wrote the answers to our questions on the balloons using permanent markers.  Then we circled the children outside on the grass and let the balloons loose in the middle.  We asked each child a question in turn, then the child searched for the balloon with the correct answer and popped it without using their hands or mouths.  The candy was then theirs to keep.  Obviously any treat can be substituted, such as stickers if desired.  The other children were kept busy by keeping the balloons coralled.  If the grass in your area is prickly and likely to cause balloons to pop, you can instead run a piece of twine or rope between two trees and tape or laundry-pin the balloons to the roap.  The children can then choose the correct balloon and pull it from the line, then pop it on the ground.

The questions we used are found here.  Feel free to ask the same question to more than one child, but make sure you have a balloon for each time the answer is used.