6^th July

Matthew 11:16-19 and 25-end

God’s Happy Helpers (single book)

Learning about different roles in Church.

-Discussion about who the different people are in Church (priests, servers, choir, flower arrangers, coffee ladies, congregation, children)

-Pairs game, sit in a circle and match photos, then try turning photos over if time.

Directed role-play outside, pretending to do each of the jobs in the Church.

13^th July

Matthew 13: 1-9 and 18-23, parable of the sower.

The Story of the Seeds, p.158

-Read story twice to begin, children acting out 2^nd time.

-Plant some cress seeds which children take home.

-After outside play, time to use godly-play resources.

Go out into the garden and let the children look around at all the things that are growing.

Role play about growing plants.

20^th July

Matthew 13:24-30

Parable of the weeds.

A Tiny Seed, p.181

Yeast, p.182

-Read Yeast

-Go out into the garden.

-Mix flour, water and flour and leave in a warm place.

-Read A Tiny Seed twice, children acting out second time.

-At the end of session, see how “bread” has changed.

Games outside, pretending to be bakers and farmers.

27^th July

Matthew 13: 31-33 and 44-52.

Parables of mustard seed, yeast and hidden treasure.

Hidden Treasure p. 160

A Beautiful Pearl p. 161

Read Story of Hidden Treasure, then treasure hunt outside.

Read story of A beautiful Pearl.

Time for children to sit and play with godly-play resources for the Great Pearl.

3^rd August

Matthew 14: 13-21

Feeding the 5,000.

Jesus Feeds Many People, p.172

Read story once.

Hand one child 1 sweet and ask them to share it out with other children.

When they can’t do it, explain that Jesus had same problem of not enough food, and he made more food appear so there was enough for everyone- talk about Jesus as God being able to do amazing things (miracles). Hand out larger bag of sweets and show how to share.

Children given pictures of people, and foodstuffs. Directed-play activities involve children seeing how they can share out items between the different people.

Pictures available of blank faces, and children draw on the expressions (happy/sad/hungry etc).

10^th August

Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus walks on water.

Jesus is Amazing, p.168

Read story.

Talk about whether the children can walk on water- bathtime/swimming pool etc. Jesus was very special for being able to do so.

Go outside to talk about floating and sinking.

Let children experiment with what floats/sinks.

Children can paddle, but only with very close adult supervision (holding hands to make sure they do not sit down/splash.

17^th August

Matthew 15:21-28

Faith of the Canaanite Woman

A Woman in Need, p.170

Read story.

Discuss differences between people- different languages/skin colours/ages etc. But everyone is just as important.

Draw pictures of Jesus.

Children show each other their pictures, and we show a few more images. No-one really knows, but the important thing is that God loves everyone and is accessible to all.

Dressing up activities, pretending to be different people.

Listening to different types of music.

24^th August

Matthew 16: 13-20

Peter’s Confession of Christ

Peter Knows Jesus, p.173

Read story.

Adult (known to children) comes into the room dressed up and children have to guess who adult is.

Relate their recognition to Peter’s recognition.

Discussion about Jesus’s life. Make a timeline together putting Jesus’s life in the right order.

(Outside) Boxes out with things inside, children have to reach in and guess what’s inside before they look. How did they know what it was? Close adult supervision.

31^st August

Matthew 16:21-end

Jesus the Leader, p.152

Read the story.

Count out 12 disciples pictures.

Follow-my-leader game outside.

“Jesus says” game, with children pretending to be the disciples.

Colouring in the disciples pictures.

Children can play with disciples pictures from earlier.