God Protects (Water Surface Tension)

Kids often ask for proof that God exists. Well, many adults ask too. The fun of teaching children God's message is bringing in object lessons and fun experiments. In our current series, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" we discussed how God protects us. We used the Bible story "Jesus Calms the Storm" in Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41. We used two water surface tension experiments as visual aides for the "oohs and aahhs" and to amplify that Jesus only spoke a word and the wind and the WATER obeyed. The following are the two experiments....

Anti-Gravity Water
This experiment was taken from : “Anti-Gravity Water” Steve Spangler, http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000075 , Jan. 2010. Steve Spangler has photos and videos to demonstrate the experiment.

Supplies you need a tall water glass, a wet napkin, a pitcher of water and a cookie sheet with sides to catch water spills.

After a long day of teaching many, many people Jesus and the Disciples got into a boat to rest (place cup in the center of the cookie sheet). Jesus rested in the boat and fell asleep (place the wet napkin over the top of the glass, make sure there is a depression like a little bowl in the napkin in the glass). While Jesus slept, a storm suddenly overtook the boat and the wind and the waves were very tall and strong and scary. (pour water into the cup, do not pour more than 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water). The Disciples were scared and woke Jesus up saying, "Jesus, help us!" (stop pouring and slowly pull the napkin tight around the glass) Jesus woke, looked around and with only a word told the wind and the water to, "Stop." (turn the glass upside down and the water will not spill out.) The wind and the water obeyed.

At this point you could ask a volunteer to come up and witness that the water is still in the cup. You can talk about the storms in our lives and if we ask Jesus, pray to God, He will help us. Turn the glass back over, remove the napkin and then pour the water back into the pitcher.

Anti-Gravity Water Experiment #2
This experiment I have seen on-line, in my son's science class and at a Cub Scout meeting.

Supplies you need include a dessert size party plate, a clear plastic cup and a pitcher of water.

In our lives we have storms spring up on us. (Pour a water into cup about half full.) We forget our homework. We have to take a pop-quiz. Mom won't let me play the Teen Video Game that everybody else is playing. I catch the flu. Etc. (place plate on top of cup, top surface down). What do you do? (With one hand flat on the plate and one hand on the cup, flip the cup and plate over at the same time, the water will not spill) Pray to God, and he will answer you. Just like the Disciples cried to Jesus. (balance on bottom hand and remove top hand). And Jesus answered their cries with a simple word, God will give you peace and comfort. He may not bless you with a T-Video Game, but He will answer you. He may inspire your heart to study or read or get involved in a sports activity or community event or something else that will fill your time and your heart with joy. (place hand back on cup and remove hand from the bottom, water will not spill out). BIG OR SMALL, GOD ANSWERS THEM ALL. God will answer your prayers. God will protect you. God will heal you.

God protects. Ask and He will answer. Have a Blessed Day.

Don't Worry, Be Happy (Ball Bucket)

Our family is under a lot of stress. I love to be a stay-at-home mom. But the reality of life is the expense of living is going up and salaries are not increasing proportionately. So am I worried? I am human, of course, I am a little worried. BUT I know God is good all the time. So Don't Worry, Be Happy.

The following is a sermonette called "Don't Worry. Be Happy." offered to a Children's group.

Before Class: You are going to need a bucket of balls, a paper cross and some tape and then ask for a volunteer.

Presentation: Ask your volunteer to jump up and down. Comment on what a great job they did. Now ask them if they have anything they are worried about. You may need to start the list by saying, "Are you worried about getting your homework done in time to see your favorite t.v. show?" Hand the volunteer a ball and ask them to hold it. Explain that the ball represents worry. Continue to say worries and pile a bunch of balls in the volunteers hands. Allow the audience to voice some of their concerns while adding balls to your volunteers ball. If the volunteer starts to drop balls, pick them up and give them back. This is probably the time to ask the volunteer to try and jump holding onto all those balls without dropping any balls. The volunteer may be a little frustrated, so ask them, "Do you want to hold onto all these balls, all these worries? No?" Pull out the paper cross and tape it to the bucket. The Bible says in Psalm 57:22 "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you." Now you can jump up and down and not drop one single ball. When you give your worries to Jesus, to God, everything becomes easier.

At this time you can go into Bible time and discuss Matthew 6: 26-34. Jesus told the disciples to look at the birds who never work a day, but still have plenty of food and shelter. You are more precious than the birds. Jesus told the disciples to look at the Lillie's in the field. The Lillie's do not sew on their leaves though they are dressed in the most beautiful colors. You are more precious than the Lillie's. God already knows your needs, and He will provide. Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own troubles. Today's trouble is enough for today."

A fun visual aide is a growing paper tree. This idea came from Steve Spangler Science, http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/how-to-make-a-newspaper-tree , Jan. 2010. Supplies: newspaper, tape and scissors. Tape 5-10 sheets of paper together end to end and then roll them up. At one end cut about 4 cuts to about half way down. Lay the pieces down so it looks like you are holding a flower. Reach into the center of the "flower" and demonstrate how God amply blesses. When you pull, your flower will grow and grow until it looks like a tree. Depending on the number of sheets you use, it may be taller than you.

So Don't Worry. Be Happy. God's got this one.

Wise Men / Happy New Year (Maze)

Happy New Year! A fun time of year that certainly means more to me as an adult than to my 4 year old Sunday school students. My students do understand fun, so when I found this object lesson on http://www.kidzmatter.com/ (submitted by Ryan Frank), I knew this would be a perfect way to wrap up the Christmas story, bring in the new year and have fun.

The Kidzmatter version says to give each student a maze and a pencil. Mr. Frank then says, "We are entering a new year. You may have some difficult days ahead and may not know what direction you should go. When you don't know what to do or where to go, all you have to do is ask God. Pray to God. God is always there to help us if we will just ask Him to guide us. In Isaiah 30:21, God said, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.' God wants to help us, we just need to listen!"

As is customary in many denominations, we review the wise men story after the birth of Christ. The belief is that it took the wise men several day (perhaps 12) to follow the star and find the Baby Jesus. Along the way, the wise men became confused and asked where the new born king could be found, thus creating a tie-in to the maze analogy.

To take the analogy one step farther, I used masking tape to create a round maze on the floor. In the center of the maze was a mini manger with a Baby Jesus. As I told the wise men story, I started to navigate a path through the maze suggesting that the wise men had to walk around houses and trees (turns on the path) to find Jesus. I placed a mini crown at a fork in the maze. The crown represented King Herod and I stopped a moment to discuss that portion of the story. Then I moved to the manger and discussed the wise men's reactions and gifts, but of course, God warned the wise men not to return the way they came. On the other side of the manger was another path offering a quick exit from the maze.

To offer life application for our students, I returned to the beginning and navigated the path again discussing the new year and the challenges ahead of us (someone cuts in line to the slide, your brother breaks your toy, Mom won't let you eat candy for breakfast, etc.). In the center of the maze I reviewed Isaiah 30:21 and offered a simple prayer. The quick exit was aligned with God's guidance. We then had some fun letting the kids navigate the maze themselves.

A tip, let the kids pull the tape up. They love to help and for a reason I don't know, they love pulling up the tape. Some kids made tape balls, and we had an impromptu game of catch. Catch is a good way to review the lesson. The student who catches the ball has to answer a review question. HAPPY NEW YEAR!