Jesus Blesses Little Children

I view the story of Jesus blessing the little children as a template for my ministry.  Let me explain. The children were not going to Jesus on their own, people were bringing them to Him.  To me, the parents, grandparents and teachers who brought the children to Jesus, are the heroes of this story.  They recognized the importance of bringing the children to Jesus, and they were willing to face adversity for this cause.  Precious children received the incredible love and touch of the Savior because of the faith and perseverance of those who loved and cared for them.  

Our calling as teachers is to lead the children in our care to Jesus, so that He might "take them up in His arms, put His hands on them and bless them."  That is the ultimate goal of every interaction, lesson, story, song, game and craft in my classroom.  A touch from Jesus is what will make the difference in a child's heart and life.  I simply want to be one that brings the children to Him, and if you are reading this, I'm sure that you do too.   Join me this week as we lead our children to know and experience the indescribable love of Jesus!

Bible Truth: Jesus loves me all the time.
Bible Story: Jesus blesses little children.
Bible Study: Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17

teach

 

interactive story-telling 

For an interactive way to tell the story of Jesus blessing the children, print out these visuals onto card stock. Cut them out and attach each one to a craft stick.

Gather enough child-like figurines (such as dolls from a dollhouse, or Lego people) for each child to hold during the lesson.

As you tell the story, have your Bible open your lap, hold up the Jesus figure.  Invite the children to move their figurines towards Jesus.  Hold up the stop sign to stop them, as you explain that the disciples thought Jesus was too busy with other important people, and didn't have time to be bothered by children.

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me."  Hold up the happy heart as you motion for the children to move their figurines to Jesus.  Show a picture of Jesus, with the children in His lap, as you explain that Jesus loves them, and always has time for them.

power point visual

Here is a power point slideshow of the story that could be shown from a laptop or tablet as you tell the story.  The slideshow is part of a beautiful collection of 100 Bible story power points, which can be purchased here for $39.99.  With accurate depictions, at less than a dollar per story, I think this is a worthwhile investment for your ministry!

sing

Two of the ultimate classics in children's songs are great to sing for this lesson.  

• Jesus Loves the Little Children
• Jesus Loves Me (traditional style)
• Jesus Loves Me (upbeat - fun to dance along!)

This is fun way to emphasize that we know Jesus loves us because the Bible tells us so.  Before singing "Jesus Loves Me" say to the children, "Let's sing Jesus loves me this I know for Spiderman tells me so.  Is that right?"  Assuming the children know the song they will say no, and try to correct you.  Say, "Oh! Oh! Ok.  Jesus loves me this I know for Frozen tells me so!"  The children will stop and correct you again.  You can use other characters or movies that your children find appealing.  Say, "I'm so glad that God gave us the Bible to tell us how much Jesus loves us!"  By substituting the word Bible in the first line of the song with other characters or movies that are appealing to the children, you are reinforcing the idea that they may enjoy these things, but the Bible is special and different, because it tells us that Jesus loves us.  (This is a clever little trick that I learned years ago from Cheryon Unruh, who pioneered the preschool ministry in our church.)

 

play  

 

Jesus loves me pass

This is a game similar to the concept of "Hot Potato."  It's a simple game to reinforce the love of Jesus for each child in your class.  For this version of the game in this lesson you will need:

• a heart-shaped object such as a pillow or candy box
• music such as one of the songs listed above 

The children sit in a circle and pass around the heart-shaped object while music is playing.  When you stop the music, whoever is holding the heart stands up.  Say to the class, "Does Jesus love ___________ (child's name)?"  The class responds, "Yes!  Jesus loves ____________ (child's name)!"  Cheer for the child as they sit down.  Start the music and continue passing the heart until each child has a had a turn.  Instead of a heart-shaped object, you could pass around a Bible, reminding children the children that we know Jesus loves us because the Bible tells us so.

 

craft

coloring page

Print this coloring page. 

Jesus loves me watches

Kids love having their own watches to wear!  For this craft you will need:

• this watch face print out
• card stock
• scissors
• Foamies
• Velcro
• glue
• crayons, markers and/or glitter

To prepare, print out the watch faces onto card stock, and cut one out for each child.  Cut Foamies into approximately 1" x 6" strips.

In class, provide crayons or markers for kids to color their watch faces.  It would be fun to a little red glitter to the heart if you are so inclined.  Help the children glue the watch face to a Foamie strip, and attach Velcro to each end of the strip as the fastener.

Now they can wear their watches to remember today's lesson and Jesus' love for them!

tracing fun 

Here is a tracing worksheet that I created for children to color and work on basic writing skills as they trace the lines leading the children to Jesus.  This activity would be a little easier and more fun to do with markers!

 

Jesus loves me paper dolls

Here is the link to these cute and simple paper dolls.  She has costumes for them too, but for our purposes, I will just use the black and white versions of boy and girl as they are.  Print them onto cards stock, and cut them out.  Children could color them, and/or glue small pieces of fabric to them as clothes.  Attach a "Jesus Loves Me" sticker to each paper doll.  If no such sticker is available, cut out small hearts, write "Jesus Loves Me" on them, and glue them to each paper doll.

Find more ideas for teaching your child about Jesus love for them at home this week here!