We are excited to be able to share with you a sample lesson from our curriculum, An Illustrated Earth: Celebrating God’s Creation. In the lesson, you’ll find some introductory comments, the lesson, our Illustrated Story Cards for the lesson, as well as the two 8.5×11 versions of the coloring posters that will be included with each lesson. You can download the sample lesson here.
This is a curriculum that we hope will require little to no effort on the part of the person planning it (other than making some photocopies and getting crayons/markers out), and can be led by anyone without any necessary time for preparation. Whether you’re looking to give your regular Sunday School teachers the summer off, or just want something that won’t require any planning on their part, An Illustrated Earth is going to be a great product for you.
Each of the twelve lessons is broken up into five main components: Gathering, Story Time, Imagining Together, Coloring and Closing.
Gathering
Since much of the lesson is focused on listening, discussing and coloring, this gathering time gives you a chance to lead an activity that might be more active. We provide you with a sample gathering activity, but you are welcome to come up with your own that suits the children’s needs and temperaments in your ministry. Though this doesn’t need to be overly involved, it’s a good opportunity for movement and for the children to introduce themselves if that is necessary in your context.
Story Time
This is the time set aside for becoming familiar with the biblical story for that week. There are a variety of ways you can introduce the kids to the story. First, we have provided you with a paraphrase of the passage that has been written specifically for children.
Second, we provide you with that same paraphrase broken up into a script. If you have some older children in your group, this would be a great opportunity to allow them to stand up and act out the story. Depending on the story, you may choose to have some of the younger children act out the story while it’s narrated and directed by the older children or teachers.
Finally, we have created Illustrated Story Cards for each lesson. These story cards each have a very simple line drawing that depicts one part of the story. The goal is to offer children the opportunity to put their cards in the proper sequence, matching the illustrations with the story in scripture they’ve just heard.
Imagining Together
This is not so much a time to make sure they got the information or facts of the story, but rather, an opportunity for the children to share what stood out to them and what they imagined when they listened to the story. Depending on the time you have set aside for this lesson time, you may choose to do this portion while coloring the poster or sheets, or you may want to spend a little time imagining with the children first, and then move over to the poster.
Coloring
If you purchased our Illustrated Earth Coloring Posters, you will have a poster that corresponds with each lesson. Each poster has a word, phrase or portion of the biblical passage incorporated into the design.
Coloring is an opportunity to continue talking about the story, while asking questions and seeing where the conversation takes you. Because many of the story’s elements are integrated into the coloring design, it may be fun to encourage the children to search out as many symbols as they can that communicate an aspect of the story.
If you didn’t purchase the large coloring posters, you can use this as time for individual coloring with the included coloring sheets. We have provided you with both the design of the poster, and a simplified coloring sheet for your younger children.
Closing Prayer
Whether you simply read the prayer, or have the children repeat after you – use this as a chance to “close” your time together as you wait for parents to come pick up their children. As you approach the end of your time together, this is a great short ritual to do with the children; it creates a sense of community and preparation as they enter back into the world.
Sample Lesson Available
We hope you’ll take some time to look through our Sample Lesson and share it with your friends. The curriculum is available for immediate purchase and download on our store here.