VERSES: Gen. 2:4-25
MEMORY VERSE: Genesis 2:6. Older students may learn the whole verse; younger ones perhaps the first phrase. Depending how much time you will have at the end of class, either write or type the verse out on slips of papers, or let the children write it themselves.
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Leviticus. It is a good idea to review the first three books of the Bible for a couple of weeks. You will know when they have learned them well. Remember to say the names of the books with the children. Songs help children remember well. Take a look at "The Books Of The Old Testament" song on this blog under "March: Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3. Repetition is the Bible teacher's friend!
PRAYER: Thank God for the rain and that the fact that God cares for us.
SONG: The Bible, The Bible (see "February - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #2" on this blog).
VISUAL AID: Chalkboard or whiteboard drawing. If you need an idea of what to draw, take a look at the above picture.
LESSON POINTS:
- Have you ever seen it rain? What is rain? That's right! Water falls out of the clouds in the sky and gives everything a drink, doesn't it? When it rains, the cows and horses get a drink, people can get a drink because the rain water is stored in lakes and ponds, even the grass and flowers and trees get a drink, don't they? Did you know that after God made the heavens and the earth, it didn't rain? Not at all! There was a mist that came up from the ground maybe like fog and it watered the ground. You have learned something today that many grown-ups don't know! Talk to your mom and dad and tell them what you learned today. How do WE know that? The Bible tells us so! How do know that God loves us, that Jesus loves us, that God created the heavens and the earth? The Bible tells us so! Let's sing, "Jesus Loves Me" (see on this blog under February - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #20). See if you can hear the words, "The Bible tells me so!" So, how do we know it didn't rain after God created the heavens and the earth? The Bible tells us so! Let's look in our Bibles and see if we can find if that is true. Let's look in Genesis 2 and verses 5 and 6. Let's put our bookmark right here and read it. It is true, isn't it? If we can read it in the Bible, then it's true.
- Short review of the days of creation. Dwell a bit on the man and the woman being created on the sixth day. God formed man out of the dust of the ground,breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. (Gen 2:7) He was created in the image of God. Adam was the first man who ever lived. (Gen. 2:19) Eve was the first woman who ever lived. (Gen. 3:20) God created a beautiful Garden for them to live in. It was called the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that every tree that was beautiful was in the Garden and every tree that was good to eat was there. Right in the middle of the Garden, God placed two special trees: The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We will be learning more about one of these special trees, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, next week.
- Adam had two jobs in the Garden of Eden. One was to take care of the Garden and the other was to name the animals. Can you think of some names of animals? Who can name an animal in the zoo? Yes! Lion, tiger, monkey, kangaroo, camel! Do you know who named those animals? Listen to this: Read Genesis 2:19, 20. Adam did!
- As Adam named the animals, there wasn't a helper for Adam, so God caused a deep sleep to come over Adam and God took one of Adam's ribs and made a woman. God is a great God! Adam was the one who named her Eve.
- Talk about God created one woman for one man. This was God's intent for the family. Children will come in a later lesson, but in this lesson is nice to bring out the fact that man and woman marry for life. If you have time, take time to sing "The Family In God's Plan" (see "March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4).
This activity is focused on 7-8 year old students, but can be altered to younger children by cutting small shapes out in advance and letting the students create their animals. Alternate idea: animals stickers. Remember all activities do not need to look perfect; they only need to reinforce the lesson. Let the child do as much of the work as possible. You will be surprised at their results!
Materials needed: Different colors of pieces of construction paper, glue, polyester batting (found in a fabric store or a department store such as Walmart or Kmart)
- Pass out a solid piece of paper to each child. This is the background.
- Take a green piece of paper and let the student tear it, so that it looks like grass. (see above picture.)
- Glue grass to the foundation paper.
- Student tears trees and flowers and glue them on the foundation paper.
- Student tears animals (two is fine) out of paper and glues then on the foundation paper as well.
- The student glues bits of batting to symbolize the mist at the bottom of the picture.
- Student writes, "How God watered the Garden", at the top of the paper.
- Student writes, "Genesis 2" and their name on the paper.
- Students may label their animals if there is time.
- The papers should look colorful and creative and the students should be proud to show and tell about them to their parents. Good job!
- Save your scraps of paper in a bag or box. We'll be using them!
