Here a Little;There a Little

The Lord is Good to All – Bible Stories and Activities

Here a Little, There a Little is a compilation of Bible activities I created years ago to use with my preschool children.  It was designed to spend a week memorizing one verse and reinforcing it through 5 Bible lessons and 5 activities.  I hope you find this week’s lesson helpful to intentionally notice the ways God is good to us.

God is Good

Psalm 145:9  The Lord is good to all.

Bible Stories: (I suggest you read the stories from the Bible and then tell them in your own words with expression.  Also find them in your children’s Bible and read them to your children.)

  1. Genesis 2 God made the first man and named him Adam.  He was good to Adam.  He gave him all kinds of animals to keep him company.  But Adam was still lonely so God made Adam a wife to be his best friend, to talk to, and to share the garden with.  God made Eve to be Adam’s wife.  God was good to Adam (Proverbs 18:22)
  2. Exodus 14 God’s people were being chased by some bad people who didn’t love God and wanted to hurt His people.  When they came to a great big sea, they had no way to cross the water, so God parted the water in the center and the people of God walked on dry land right over to the other side of the sea without even getting wet! Then the bad men started to cross over after them, but God caused the waters to go back together and all the bad men were drowned.  God protected his people; He was good to them.
  3. I Samuel 1 Hannah was so sad because she wanted a baby very badly.  She asked God for a baby and God answered her prayer.  He gave her a baby boy named Samuel.  God was good to Hannah and wanted her to be happy.  God was good to us so He gave us a special gift from Him – He gave us you!  The Bible (Psalm 127:3) tells us that children are a gift from God.
  4. Matthew 8:20, Matthew 6:25-34 God is good to the birds; He gives them nests to live in. God is good to the foxes; He gives them holes to live in .  God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers and the grass.  Jesus said that if God takes care of these, how much more will He take care of you and feed and clothe you too. He is good to all!
  5. God is good to you; The Bible tells us that He thinks about you (Psalm 139:17).  He is with you always (Joshua 1:9).  He even knows when you are crying and catches your tears (Psalm 56:8).   He gives you good things to eat (Psalm 103:5). God is good to you!!

Prayer: Thank You, God,  for being so good to us. (Lead your child to thank God for  specific things as they come to mind)

Activities for baby:

  1. Sing the songs in the videos below and change the words to fit what you might be doing that reminds you that God is good.
  2. While rocking, name the ways God is good to us.
  3. Let baby look in a mirror and talk about how good God is to have given him to you
  4. Feed the birds and talk about how God takes care of them and us.
  5. Share the verse while he eats.

Activities for older preschoolers:

  1. Creatively write or illustrate the verse.  Hang it on the fridge or in a prominent place all week.
  2. Lead him to name ways God is good to us and sing the songs below, fitting the things he named into the songs.
  3. Look at pictures of when he was born and talk about how good God is to have given him to you.
  4. Feed the birds and talk about how God takes care of them and us.
  5. Make cookies and say “God satisfies our mouths with good things to eat (Psalm 103:5).

Songs:


Books:

Check out these:

Children’s Bibles

My Awesome God Bible Story Book



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Saying Hello

Greet each other in Christian love.
1 Peter 5:14 (NLT)

Have you walked past someone on the street or in a store and just went on by as if no one was there?  This scripture points out we should greet everyone with love.  My Dad thought this was just plain good manners; he would never walk past a person without saying ‘Hello’ or ‘How are you?’   You never know when a simple smile and friendly greeting from you will be the encouragement a troubled person needs at that moment.

I feel we should train our children to greet others with love.  Now to a stranger that can be just a ‘hello’ accompanied with a smile.   But to friends – children and adults – it could also be a handshake or a hug. However, we have to set the example.

Make an effort to speak to those you come in contact with.  In so doing you teach your children that each person is important to God and shouldn’t be ignored by us.

“realize that all human beings are really members of  the same family and that being members of the same family they owe each other some measure of warmth and solace.” (Scrooge’s nephew in the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol)

Here’s a song adapted from “Hello” on the album Especially for Children…of all ages by Bill Gaither you might sing with your children to get them in the habit of saying ‘Hello’.

 

 

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Putting God First


Exodus 20:3
You shall have no other gods before Me.

Here’s a simple way to illustrate the meaning of this verse.  I used these cards with my children 30 years ago, so don’t laugh at the TV with rabbit ears 🙂  We made cards illustrating things we might be putting before God such as friends, money, and TV.

We also read from The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, the Bible story recorded in Exodus 32:1-6 about when God’s people turned away from God and started praying to a golden calf that they had made.  We talked about how this caused God much sorrow,  just as it makes Him sad when we put other things or people before Him in our lives.

Let your children help make your own cards with pictures of things that tend to take your family’s time and attention away from God.  Place the cards face down and mix them up.   Then take turns choosing a card to see who picks God first.

God will give you all the things you need and enjoy if you give Him first place in your life and live as He wants you to. (Matthew 6:33)

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Teaching As You Go

Deut. 6:7
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

You can’t expect a young child to sit down for very long in order to teach him. His attention span is about a minute for each year of his life.   That’s why you have to catch teaching moments like this verse says – while you sit, walk, lie down, rise up.

A walk around the block can become a lesson on safety and obedience by holding an adult’s hand in traffic. It also is an opportunity to sing about and thank God for His beautiful world.

Blowing bubbles affords the opportunity to sing “Jesus’ love just bubbles me over.”

Playing ball allows the teaching of concepts of up and down and the idea of sharing.

Picking up trash can be a lesson on helping and caring about those who come after you.

Here a little, there a little – teaching time is any time . . . and it’s fun!!

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.

Deut. 4:9 “But watch out! Be very careful never to forget what you have seen the Lord do for you. Do not let these things escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.

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A Lesson on Kindness

Train Up The Child is dedicated to helping you fulfill God’s commands to parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to teach our children as we go; Isaiah 28:10 instructs to teach ‘here a little, there a little’.

Begin this lesson by creatively making a poster of Ephesians 4:32 and place it on the fridge all week.  Read the suggested passages for Bible stories and tell them in your own words.  I have given you suggested things to share about each.  Do at least one of the suggested activities each day.  I am sure you can come up with better ideas on your own – this is just to get you started.

You can find more helpful information and songs related to kindness in a previous blog http://www.trainupthechild.org/?s=my+preschooler+hit+me.

Kindness

Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another

Bible Stories:

Luke 10:30-35 A man was walking down a road and some bad men jumped on him and beat him up and hurt him so badly he couldn’t move.  Then they left him all alone.  A man came by later but he would not help the hurt man.  Another man came by, but he wouldn’t help either.  Finally a man came by and felt sorry for the hurt man so he stopped and helped him.  He bandaged his hurt places and took him to a nice, warm place to stay.  Which man was being kind?

 

Ruth 2 Ruth and her mother-in-law had just moved from another country to Bethlehem.  They didn’t have a garden to raise any food, so they were hungry.  Ruth went to a man’s field of wheat and asked if she could have the left-overs from his field. The man’s name was Boaz. Boaz told her she didn’t have to get the left-overs, but she could have whatever she needed.  Was Boaz kind?

 

Daniel 1 The bad King Nebuchadnezzar had put Daniel in prison.  He was being mean to Daniel and his friends.  But one of the king’s men felt sorry for Daniel.  Instead of being mean to Daniel like the king wanted him to, he was kind to Daniel and helped him to show the king that God is good.

 

1 Samuel 18 through 2 Samuel 5 King Saul had been chasing David everywhere.  He wanted to kill David because David was so good.  David hid in a cave.  King Saul came into the cave and didn’t see David.  This was David’s chance to get Saul back for being so mean to him.  He could have hurt him but would that have been kind?  No, David let Saul go unharmed.  When Saul found out, he told David, “You have been kind, but I have been evil.”

 

John 4:6-29 Jesus was sitting at a well where people came to get their water.  A lady came to get water while he sat there.  She was a Samaritan lady and Jesus was a Jewish man.  The Jews did not like the Samaritans and would not talk to them or have anything to do with them at all.  In fact they were sometimes very mean to them.  But Jesus wasn’t mean to the lady.  He began to talk to her and tell her about God and how she could be saved.  Jesus was kind to the lady.

 


Prayer: Help us to show kindness by hugging, helping, sharing, and saying kind words to one another

 

 

Activities for younger preschoolers:

Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides

Feed birds or ducks or pet animals and share the verse

Share the verse while changing diaper and point out the kindness you are showing by
caring for him.

Teach him to hug and kiss – share the verse.

Play with ball and talk about playing kindly and sharing

Activities for older preschoolers:

Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides

Make a bird feeder out of a pine cone covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.
hang outside in a tree.  Watch for birds and share the verse.

Have him draw a picture and send it to someone just to show kindness.

Bake cookies and take to someone – share the verse as you work

Make or buy playdough and tell them you did it just to show kindness to him.

Describe situations or show pictures of different situations and ask if it is showing
kindness or unkindness –ex. Pushing, sharing, listening to parents, helping someone who falls down, telling someone, ‘I love you’, kicking someone

Songs:

Be Kind to One Another

Kindness, Kindness is God’s Idea you see (tune of Goodness on Music Machine: The Fruit of the Spirit)

Books:

The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes Gift Edition

The Story of the Good Samaritan – Arch Books

The Angry King: 1 Samuel 18-2 Samuel 5 for Children

Jesus and the Woman at the Well – Arch Books

Jesus Teaches Me Kindness (An Arch Books Series)

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