Story Time Lesson for Teaching About God's Sufficient Grace
Summary: Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta and Paul Stickland.
In this simple book, large colorful happy-looking dinosaurs accompany antonyms that will help children understand opposites. A perfect opportunity to introduce the concept of God's strength and our weakness.
Preschool Themes: Opposites, descriptive words, dinosaurs.
Christian Themes: God is strong when we are weak.
Opener:
Play an "opposites" game with the children. Give a few examples of opposites to demonstrate or remind children of the concept. Then let the children guess the opposite of a word's meaning by acting the opposite out. For example, say "up." The children guess "down," by saying it and acting out "down" in their own way. Say "hard" and let them act out and say "soft." Try "cold" and let them dramatize "hot." Give them cues as needed and have fun.
Story: Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta and Paul Stickland. See if the children can act out some of the dinosaur actions during the story. Reinforce the concept of opposites using examples from the story. Ask the children to give some examples of things that are strong, then things that are weak. Ask them if they've ever felt weak. (Perhaps when they've been ill or afraid.) Explain that God is always strong. Nobody is stronger than God! And when we feel weak and realize we're not very strong, we can remember how much He loves us and is strong for us!
Song: "Jesus Loves Me" (See if the children can catch when the words "weak" and "strong" are sung during the song, by acting out the words as they are sung.)
Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (a) (NKJV)
(Print out, on a brightly-colored sheet of paper, today's verse repeated down the page. Cut between each verse so that you have 10-15 strips, each with the verse printed on it. Ask the children to form a line, and using tape to stick the ends together, wrap a "Bible Verse Bracelet" round each little wrist. Some children do not want to wear it; in that case, hand it to them and tell them to use the verse as a bookmark. The children love these, and come to expect them at each session! The verses also find their way home to parents and siblings, and help to spread the news about that day's storytime.)
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Explain the verse to the children by saying that God is very strong. He is stronger than anything we can imagine. He knows that we are weak compared to Him. And because He is so strong, we are made strong through Him. So no matter how little or weak we feel, God is strong enough for everything and everyone!
Art: Dinosaur coloring pages. Please see the authors' and illustrator's website for free printables of dinosaurs from their book. This site also has templates for creating your own dino pop-up mouth! Choose any of these, make copies for the children, and let them color and decorate them as they wish.
