Free Children's Ministry Curriculum Written by Sheryl Coats
Bugs Bugs and More Bugs
Hillbilly Days
Wonderfair
The Wacky Worship Workshop
The Celebration Medical Centre
The Celebration City Courthouse
Growing in God's Garden
The Armour of God
The Wild Wild West
The Body of Christ
We are in Hill Billy days. All of the characters are dressed in flannel shirts, cowboy hats or bonnets, overalls, etc. The stage is set up with a clothes line with long underwear and flannel shirts on it. A rocking chair with a patch work quilt is on the porch scene. An old metal wash tub can add effect. A jail house is made out of an old refrigerator box. Wanted posters are hung around the room. Use your imagination.
We are all a part of the body of Christ. Each of us is important to God and to the church. We all are an indispensable part of the family of God. We must stick together, help each other, serve one another, work together and fulfill the role that God has given us. The children will learn who the church is, what God expects of the church body, and how they fit into the family of God.
To teach children that:
Puppet song about the family of God.
The sheriff will review the rules with ENTHUSIASM (write them on the inside of your hat if you need help remembering them.
1. stay put or yall be lassooed to yur chair 2. Don't bother the cowpoke next to ya or distract ellie may. 3. Have a goood ol hoe down time
This is an important part of the program. It sets the tone for the program. When we faithfully pray for our service God is faithful to show himself in our services. Take prayer seriously! Also, prayer time in service is important. It prepares the kids for entering into worship. Prayer requests are important, make time to pray for the things that are concerning the children. We are the ones who are teaching the kids to pray. They need to see the relationship involved in prayer and not a recitation.
Offering--bring out the scales this week
Encourage the kids to enter into worship....encourage them to have fun and enjoy praising God. Remember that the enthusiasm we reflect will be the same as what they model. If we worship, they will.
Piggy bank. this could be done as a character skit. Clementine could bring in her piggy bank and talk about how much money she has.
Money is something that we think is very important. Talk about what we use a piggy bank for. If you had 40 dollars in your piggy bank you probably would not be careless with it and lose it. It is very important to you because of what is inside. You are more important than that to God because of what is inside of you. When you have a clean heart you are very important to God.
This could be done as a character skit. Billy Jo comes in eating M&Ms and says he doesn't like the green ones. M&Ms...they are different on the outside, but the same on the inside. Christians are all different on the outside, but God loves them all. On the inside they are all washed by the blood of Jesus. Each one is special. Each M&M candy is different on the outside but it is still an M&M.. Each Christian is different on the outside but still a part of the body of Christ. You are important to God regardless of how big you are or how talented you are. You are his child and he loves you for who he made you to be.
Dress Up Relay
Select three boys and three girls. The members of each team line up in single file and the first contestant is handed a costume. The costume consists of a cowboy hat, a bandana and a plaid shirt. The first child puts these on, grabs a stick horse, and gallops up to the pylon and back. The child then removes the costume and hands the equipment to the next contestant. The first team to have all of their players complete the run wins.
All stewed up
Ellie may comes in harpin about havin to cook up some stew. She gets the children to volunteer to help her fix up a couple of big pots of stew. Select four kids from each team. They will line up single file. The first contestant races to the other side of the room where there is a recipe and ingredients. Each ingredient has a portion of a memory verse written on it. They grab the first ingredient which has the first phrase of the memory verse on it and ride their horse back to the stew pot and put it in. The next contestant then rides the horse over and obtains the next ingredient and so forth until all the items are in the stew. First team with complete stew wins.
( for this activity you will need potatoes, carrots, onions, water, and stew pots)
The "Memory Verse Bandit" is back. The memory verse is delivered by the "Pony Express" and unwrapped by one of the characters in the presence of the Sheriff. The Bandit is fast and manages to steal the verse right out from underneath their noses after they have read it two or three times. Now the Sheriff is offering a reward to anyone that assists in the capture of the Bandit. He hangs a wanted poster up of the bandit.
The leader teaches the verse before it is stolen. Have the children repeat the verse until they can do it without looking at the sheet. It is important to explain what the verse means. Romans 12:4 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, so in Christ we form one body"
Billy Jo comes runnin in with a large beautiful present...screamin "I got a present I got a present" He opens it to discover that it has a life size cut out of a person in it. The memory verse is written across his shirt. Have the kids brainstorm what each part of the body could be used for to glorify God...e.g.. The head could be the pastor, the mouth someone who sings, the arms someone who works in the nursery, the legs someone who takes up the offering, the feet someone who runs errands for the church, the fingers someone who types the bulletin, etc. Talk about how each body part is important. Not everyone can sing, but we all have something we can do for God.
Pa Jones comes up grumbling and mumbling
Leader: What is wrong Pa Jones?
Pa: Them shutters I just fixed is broke again! and Ma wants me to fix em again....I just hate them shutters!!
Leader: I remember...you promised her you would fix them several months ago. You did that didn't you?
Pa: Ya I got ‘em fixed jus like I promised. And now they're broke again. And this screw driver aint no good! Stupid ding bat thing. I'll jus have ta throws it away!
Leader: But that looks like a perfectly good screw driver, why would you want to throw it away?
Pa: Well, what do ya spect? I've been tryin to put nails in them there shutters fer hours and this thing aint workin at all. It's a worthless piece of junk.
Leader: You know pa, I think that the screw driver is a fine tool, it just isn't the right one for the job. You need a hammer to pound in nails. There are a lot of different kinds of tools and each one has a particular job.
Pa: why, I never thought of that. I bet this screw driver would work great to tighten the loose screws in ma's head huh?
Leader: Pa, that is the wrong kind of screws but it would work great to tighten the loose screws in the table legs of my dining set.
Pa: Well, I'll be!! That is just dandy. So I need to get a hammer ehh?
Leader: That is right pa. Even though each tool is different it is still very important because it has a certain job to do. It is kind of like the church. There are lots of people in the church but all of them are important. God has a special job for each of his children.
Pa: Wow. Ya mean that even I am important to God and he has something special for me to do?
Leader: You bet you are Pa. And each of these children are an important part of Gods family too and he needs them to use their talents for Him.
Pa: Why that's stupendous. Everyone of these kids is a part of the body of Christ...a part of his family! And he needs them..
Leader: that is right Pa. God needs each and everyone of them.
Pa: Well, now that I have that all straiten out I am going to go put this screw driver away and find me a hammer.
Leader: that sounds great Pa. See you later.
Sherriff is sitting by the jail guarding. He gets hungry and orders a pizza. When it is delivered it only has the crust. He is very upset and is storming around complaining about how a pizza is more than a crust. It needs cheese, and sauce and pepperonis, etc. One of the other characters can draw the parallel to the church. Jesus is the crust... we are the toppings. We are all important and add flavour to the church.
Billy Jo will come in whining about only gettin one penny for an allowance. Ellie May will ask the kids what you can buy with a penny. When they say you can't buy anything, the discussion can turn to the accumulation of pennies. One penny can't do very much but lots of pennies put together are very useful. From there you can draw the parallel that we are all needed in the church. We may feel small and insignificant but when put together can make a difference.
Coupons...Talk about ice cream and how it is so much fun to have your mom give you money for ice cream when the ice cream truck comes by on a hot summer day. Then talk about a coupon for ice cream. If you have a coupon for free ice cream, but you leave it sitting in your dresser drawer then it won't do you any good. Our talents are the same way. God gave us each talents and abilities to use for him. If we never use them then they are good for nothing. Use this one to tie into the alter call. Do you know what talents God has given you? Are you using the talents he gave you? You are important to God and you are important to the body of Christ which is the church.
Alter call and worship
Copyright 1998, Sheryl Coats
