Bible-based resources for small groups
of children with a wide age range
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for small groups of children with a wide age range
The first thing I have seen that really affi
rms
that what we do with our small mixed-age
group is not just possible but worthwhile.
Joan, children’s worker in rural Shropshire
is ideal for:
■ Small rural churches
■ Small urban churches
■ New church plants
Have you
seen…?
This
book gives you:
■ 12 children’s group session outlines
■ Activities suitable for 2- to 14-year-olds,
all meeting together
■ All the photocopiable resources
you need to run your sessions
■ Help and information for you,
as you prepare to lead
■ A bonus all-age service for the
whole church to enjoy together
■ Advice, tips and wisdom from
expert practitioners
www.scriptureunion.org.uk
ISBN 978 1 84427 796 4
9 781844 277964
COVER God’s power.indd 1
£11.99
is part of the
Light range
12 Bible-based sessions + a bonus all-age
service
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Copyright © 2013 Scripture Union
First published 2013
ISBN 978 1 84427 796 4
Scripture Union
207–209 Queensway,
Bletchley,
Milton Keynes, MK2 2EB
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.scriptureunion.org.uk
All rights reserved.The artwork and
resource sheets in this publication may
be photocopied for use without reference
to current copyright legislation or any
copyright leasing. This arrangement
does not allow the printing of any of the
other published material in permanent
form. Nor does it allow the printing of
words or illustrations for resale or for any
commercial use. Outside of the provision,
no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of Scripture Union.
British Library
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Original content from www.lightlive.org
Compiled and edited by
Christine Wright
Design by kwgraphicdesign
Printed in Singapore by Tien Wah Press
Scripture quotations are from the
Contemporary English Version (©
American Bible Society, published by
HarperCollins Publishers) or from the
Good News Bible.
0 Scripture Union is an international
Christian charity working with churches in
more than 130 countries.
Thank you for purchasing this book.
Any profits from this book support SU in
England and Wales to bring the good news
of Jesus Christ to children, young people
and families and to enable them to meet
God through the Bible and prayer.
Find out more about our work and how you
can get involved at:
www.scriptureunion.org.uk (England and
Wales)
www.suscotland.org.uk (Scotland)
www.suni.org (Northern Ireland)
www.scriptureunion.org (USA)
www.su.org.au (Australia)
TEXT Gods power.indd 2
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Contents
What is Mosaic?
5
How to run a Mosaic session
6
Mosaic bookshelf
7
CREATION
Be astonished by the creativity
and love of God
■ Introducing ‘Creation’
■ God makes light, day and night
Genesis 1:1–8
■ Learn and remember verse poster
■ God makes land, sea and plants
Genesis 1:9–13
■ God makes sun, moon and stars
Genesis 1:14–19
■ God makes animals and people
Genesis 1:20 – 2:25
■ Creation praise Psalm 104
Mosaic clinic
Top tips from ministry practitioners
to help you make the most of your
small group with a wide age range
65
JOSHUA
8
9
15
16
21
27
32
Be encouraged to know that God
is with us
■ Introducing ‘Joshua’
■ Power with you Joshua 1
■ Learn and remember verse poster
■ Help for spies Joshua 2
■ Across the barrier Joshua 3:1 – 4:9
■ Breaking the walls Joshua 6
BONUS All-age service
Remember, remember
Joshua 4:1−24; Luke 22:7–20;
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
66
67
73
74
78
85
92
Case study: Making connections
38
Dave Martin considers how small, rural
congregations can nurture their children
JESUS IN COMMAND
Discover the power of God shown
in Jesus
■ Introducing ‘Jesus in command’
■ Power to heal Matthew 8:1–4
■ Learn and remember verse poster
■ Officer’s orders Matthew 8:5–13
■ Storm stopper Matthew 8:23–27
■ 4,000 for lunch Matthew 15:32–39
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40
41
46
47
53
58
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What is
Mosaic?
Scripture Union has been providing
resources for people working with children
in church settings for over sixty years.
As times have changed, so have the
resources, of course. Where once ‘Sunday
School’ was the highlight of the week for
many children, today many other exciting
activities compete with the events that
churches provide. Where once school
life was largely dull and mainly sedentary,
today teachers have a vast range of ways of
engaging children in the learning process. It
is hard now for churches to ‘compete’ with
You told us…
You only have a few children in
your group and you have a wide
age range. Maybe there is a 3-yearold, two 7-year-olds, a 10-year-old
boy and a couple of girls who will
soon be 14. Buying the whole
range of Light products would be
much too expensive and it would
be time-consuming to go through
each product looking for suitable
activities for your session each
week. You need a flexible printed
product which enables you to
choose suitable activities that will
work across the age-group.
all the opportunities and activities that fill
the 21st-century child’s life.
Yet Scripture Union still wants children to
have the best resources to help them learn
about God, decide to follow Jesus and grow in
faith. This applies to children in churches both
large and small, as well as those who have no
contact with churches. We publish a range
of resources to equip children’s workers
whatever their situation. This includes the
Light range which has resources for different
age groups from 3 to 14.
Settings where Mosaic
works best…
■ Many churches begin Sunday
worship with all ages together.
In other churches, everyone
arrives together, but separate
into adult and children’s groups
and meet together again for a
final time of worship. Mosaic
can be used in either of these
scenarios when the number of
children attending is too small to
make the provision of separate
age-groups practical.
■ Mosaic could be used where
the premises in which children
meet are limited so that it is
impossible to provide more than
one group.
■ Mosaic would also be useful
where there are few adults able
to work with the children. (Of
course, there should, for reasons
of safety and child protection,
always be at least two adults
with CRB clearance with the
children.) In this case, most
of the activities can be done
together, with separate, targeted
activities for younger and older
children later in the session.
■ Mosaic would be ideal if you are
starting a new children’s group
and want a simple programme to
work with.
5
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HOW TO RUN A MOSAIC SESSION
How to run a
Mosaic session
WHAT YOU GET
Mosaic is a flexible resource designed to
give you a structured programme.
There are also extra ideas which you can add
to suit the time you have available and the
Introduction
Each series of two to five sessions
begins with essential Bible
background to the passages you will
be using with the children. There is
also an important paragraph giving
insights into how the series can be
tailored to the children in your group.
Core programme
Four activities are provided as the
basic template for each session
– a way of exploring the Bible, a
worship response, and two options
which help the group apply the
Bible teaching to their own lives.
Extension ideas
Three extension ideas are suggested
to provide more targeted activities
for younger (perhaps under-8s) and
more challenging things for older
children to do (perhaps those aged
10 and over). Obviously, abilities
differ and you will have to direct
individual children to the activities
best suited to them. Fresh ideas are
suggested for each session for the
series ‘Learn and remember’ verse.
group you are leading. Some of the extra
resources can be downloaded from the
LightLive website at www.lightlive.org.
But even if you cannot access the website,
this book provides all you need for 12
exciting and meaningful sessions.
BONUS All-age service
For an occasion when adults and
children meet together for worship
Mosaic provides a bonus all-age
service in keeping with the theme of
one of the three series in this book.
More all-age services and service
starters can be found in The All-Age
Service Annuals (Volumes 1–4),
available from Scripture Union.
Case studies
Advice designed to inspire and
encourage you in your work – from
a writer experienced in working with
small churches.
Tips
Helpful advice for working with your
mixed-age group can be found in
the Mosaic clinic.
LightLive
Create a group on LightLive online
(www.lightlive.org) and you will
have access to a huge choice of
resources for your group. The
database is searchable by topic and
Bible passage so that you will never
be short of an idea for your grouptime or special event!
Helpful resources
Look on page 7 for targeted
recommendations of other Scripture
Union titles which will supplement
your programmes, provide ideas to
help your group grow in faith and
help you increase your confidence.
Every week online
You can enhance your weekly
sessions with downloads including:
■ ‘Bible story picture’: a regular
activity for 2–7s (These are also
available as photocopiable pages
at the end of each session.)
■ ‘Audio Bible story’: a regular
audio Bible story for 3–7s
■ ‘Learn and remember’: a
PowerPoint of a Bible verse to
learn, for 5–11s
■ ‘Presentation’: an activity with
animation for 11–14s
6
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MOSAIC BOOKSHELF
MOSAIC BOOKSHELF
Ultimate Craft
£12.99
Ultimate Creative Prayer
£9.99
Ultimate Quizzes
£9.99
Ultimate Visual Aids
£9.99
Ultimate Craft is bursting with
creative and imaginative ways to
help you and your group explore
the Bible through cutting, sticking,
painting, drawing, sewing and, well,
you get the idea!
Ultimate Quizzes is crammed full of
creative and imaginative ways to
help your group explore the Bible
through using quizzes.
Ultimate Creative Prayer is full of
creative and imaginative ways to
help you and your children’s group
get praying.
Ultimate Games
£9.99
Ultimate Games will help you and
your children’s group explore
the Bible through playing games.
Active games, quiet games, team
games, individual games, games for
children, games for young people –
they’re all here.
Open up the Ultimate Visual Aids
CD-ROM and find a whole treasure
trove of ideas to help you illustrate
stories for children’s groups,
holiday clubs, all-age services and
more. With drawings and pictures
for use in activity sheets, OHP
slides, presentations, banners, etc
covering the whole Bible.
7
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SERIES
1
SERIES INTRODUCTION
CREATION
Be astonished by the creativity
and love of God
BIBLE BACKGROUND FOR YOU
This series celebrates God as Creator.
When we think of creation our attention
naturally turns to Genesis 1 and 2, and
these chapters feature strongly. But the
theme of God as Creator runs through
the Bible.
Psalm 104 is an inspiring and moving
reflection on all that God has made. It also
reminds us that God is still active in his
creation. He didn’t just wind it up, set it
running and then walk off. Many other psalms
celebrate God as Creator, as does Isaiah 40.
Move into the New Testament and we find
passages like John 1:1–4 and Hebrews 1:2.
The Bible does not tell us exactly how God
made the universe, which leaves room for
Christians to adopt different views, but there
For your small group
with a wide age range
Explore the ‘Wow!’ factor as you think
about the power and majesty of God
and his creation!
For the youngest, the wonders of
creation are still new. Encourage older
ones, who might take things for granted,
to get alongside the younger ones and
rediscover their sense of wonder. This is
a great opportunity to have fun together.
Help everyone respond and praise God
for the marvels around us.
Opportunities for creativity are included
in each session. Help everyone treat
these as expressions of worship, not
merely chances to show off skill or
achievement. Show your appreciation
for every child’s contribution – from the
least to the most able.
can be no doubt that the Bible tells us that
God made it and is still actively involved in it.
The children in our groups, especially the
younger ones, will naturally marvel at the
things they find around them and we will
want to capitalise on that during this series.
We will want to help them see the variety and
respond in worship and praise. We will want
to encourage their natural desire to explore
and to ask questions.
Many of us as adults have lost the ability
to wonder. We have focused too much on
debate about creation rather than being
amazed by it and responding to the Creator.
What would happen if you made time to listen
to children and to learn from them? How
might you enter into their enjoyment of the
world and experience God in fresh ways?
Resources for ministry
Scripture Union Bible Timeline
How well do you know your Bible
history? What’s the big story all
about? Scripture Union’s Bible
Timeline will help you answer all
these questions at a glance. The
16 panels each illustrate a key
person or event in Bible history –
from the creation of the world in
Genesis to the promise of Jesus’
return in Revelation. Underneath
each picture,
key dates and
characters are
highlighted.
Bible
references
will help
you locate
the stories in the Bible quickly and
easily. Using the Bible Timeline
is often suggested in the Mosaic
programme.
ISBN: 978 18442 764 31
Highlights from LightLive
Go to the ‘Search LightLive’ tab at
www.lightlive.org and enter this
session’s Bible reference to find:
■ ‘Bible story picture’: a regular
activity for 2–7s
■ ‘Audio Bible story’: a regular
mp3 download for 3–7s
■ ‘Learn and remember’: a
PowerPoint of a Bible verse
to learn, for 5–11s (see also
page 15)
■ ‘Presentation’: an activity with
animation for 11–14s
8
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SERIES 1 CREATION
SESSION 1
God makes light,
day and night
Bible:
Genesis 1:1–8
er more
Aim: To discov
or
about our Creat
re our
God and explo
response to him
CORE PROGRAMME
For 3–14s
Bible story with shout
⑮ – ⑳ minutes
Why: to discover more about our
Creator God and to explore our
response to him
With: SU Bible Timeline, creation
shout from page 10
1 Bible Timeline
Look together at the picture of
creation on the Bible Timeline or
in an illustrated children’s Bible.
Encourage the children to imagine
they are going back in time.
Invite them to close their eyes
and imagine different parts of the
creation picture removed in turn.
Say: ‘The first thing to take out of
the picture is the story of Noah:
remove the rainbow, ark, animals
and Noah, leaving just the sea. Now
take away wars and arguments. The
snake that tempted Eve to disobey
God is no longer there. As we go
back in time take out all the people
and all the animals. Then take out
the stars, the moon and the sun and
leave the sky totally empty. Next
remove all the trees and plants and
leave the land completely bare.
If we go further back in time then
even the land must disappear. Just
one bright light shines through
that water and the power of God
is moving over the roaring, raging
ocean. Take the light away and
think about a universe that’s empty
except for God. Try to imagine the
scene – there is NOTHING BUT
GOD!’ Ask the children if they found
it hard to imagine ‘nothing but God’.
2 Check out the Bible
Ask the children if they know where
to find Genesis in the Bible. Say that
‘Genesis’ means ‘Beginnings’. That’s
a clue! Invite two confident readers
to read Genesis 1:1–5. Encourage the
rest of the group to follow the story
in their Bibles. Ask the children to
describe in their own words what
happened on the first day, but edit
out anything that didn’t happen! If
you have a large group, do this in
twos or threes. Read verses 6–8 and
encourage them to describe what
the world might have been like at
the end of the second day.
3 Describe God
What sort of God could do this?
Invite the group to think of different
words to describe this amazing God
of ours.
4 Creation shout
Divide the children into two
groups. Practise a ‘backing track’
with one group first, repeating ‘In
the beginning God’ over and over
again. Then practise the shout with
the other group, pausing when
the words ‘and that was the first/
second day’ are heard. Put the two
parts together.
God made the heavens,
and God made the earth.
Dark and lifeless and
covered by water and over
the water blew the wind
of God.
God said, ‘Light!’ and light
appeared.
That was the first day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God made a dome to cover
the earth. He called it sky.
That was the second day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
If there is time, swap the two groups
over. (There are more verses of the
creation shout on page 10. Why
not perform the shout to the whole
church?)
9
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SERIES 1 CREATION
PHOTOCOPIABLE PAGE
Creation shout
God made the heavens,
and God made the earth.
Dark and lifeless and
covered by water
and over the water blew
the wind of God.
God said, ‘Light!’ and
light appeared.
That was the first day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God made a dome to
cover the earth.
He called it sky.
That was the second day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God made the land,
he called it earth.
And on the earth the
plants all grew.
That was the third day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God made lights appear
in the sky.
The sun and moon marked
day and night.
That was the fourth day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God put fish into the sea.
And God put birds into
the sky.
That was the fifth day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
God made the animals
to live on the land.
And then he made people
to rule the earth.
That was the sixth day.
And God was pleased
with what he saw.
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SESSION 1 GOD MAKES LIGHT, DAY AND NIGHT
CORE PROGRAMME CONTINUED
Move and praise
⑩ – ⑮ minutes
Why: to remember that God made
the universe and to praise him
With: percussion instruments
1 Play some percussion instruments
that make high- and low-pitched
sounds, such as bells and drums.
Listen to the sounds together and
discuss how they portray God
creating light and darkness.
2 Ask the children to make
movements or shapes with their
bodies to portray light and darkness
being created. If some are reluctant,
suggest they play the instruments or
make actions just with their hands.
3 Divide your group into two. As
the instruments play, ask group 1
to make movements while group
2 reads the Learn and remember
verse aloud slowly. (You can find
a poster of the verse on page 15.)
As they finish reading, encourage
group 2 to begin to move while
group 1 reads the verse.
4 Practise the routine several times.
Try to find another group of people
to watch and praise God with you.
Sensing God’s world
3 Praise God for the different
materials he has created. Invite
everyone to think of something to
praise him for. Make a list then pray
about them.
Junk modelling
⑩ – ⑳ minutes
Why: to remember and thank God
for making the universe out of
nothing
With: junk and collage materials
1 Pile all the materials on a table
and admit they look a mess – just
‘nothingness’. Remind the children
that God started with nothing and
created something beautiful. They
are going to create something to
remind them of that.
2 Invite the children to make
whatever they like. Assure them
it doesn’t need to be anything in
particular – the idea is that they have
fun.
3 Put all the creations in the centre
and admire everyone’s efforts.
Remind the children of what God
did, and say together, ‘Thank you,
God, for creating the universe out of
nothing.’
4 Encourage the children to take
their models home to remind them
to praise our creative God.
⑤ – ⑩ minutes
Why: to appreciate what God has
created
With: items to smell and touch, a
blindfold (optional)
1 Pass the objects round, one at a
time. Invite the children to describe
how they look, feel and smell. If
appropriate, blindfold them and
invite them to guess what one of the
items is by touch and smell.
2 Discuss how each item was made.
What raw materials were needed?
Say that people can create things
when they use raw materials that
God has provided.
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SERIES 1 CREATION
EXTENSION IDEAS
Bible story picture
For older children
Activities for younger
children
⑤ – ⑩ minutes
The big debate
Make a book
⑤ – ⑩ minutes
Why: to think about how God made
the light and the sky
With: copies of page 13, scissors,
sticky tape or stapler; paper and
glue (optional)
1 Give out copies of the four scenes
from page 13 for each child.
2 Help the children to cut the
paper into four pictures. Order the
pictures from 1 to 4 and attach them
together to make a book using the
sticky tape or stapler. Alternatively,
you could fold a long strip of paper
into a zigzag. (Fold it in the middle
and then fold back the edges to
make an M shape.) Glue the pictures
on in order to make a different style
of book.
3 Let the children use their books to
tell each other the story of how God
made the light and the sky.
Why: to discover that God made
light and the sky
With: a copy of the picture on page
14 for each child or enlarged copies
for group use, art and craft materials
1 You can use the picture as an
introduction to the Bible story or to
help you review the story together.
Show the children the picture and
encourage them to describe what
they can see. Read the heading
aloud: ‘God makes light and sky’,
pointing to the words as you do so.
Can the children find the ‘light’ in
the picture? And the ‘sky’?
2 Give each child a picture to
decorate. They could colour, paint
or use collage materials to fill
the picture with bright and shiny
effects.
3 As a group activity, enlarge the
picture and complete it together.
4 Display all the finished pictures
together, to make a mural. (Add
more pictures to the mural, from
other sessions in this series about
‘God makes the world’.)
5 Look at, and admire, the pictures
you have made. They are good!
Tell the children that God looked at
what he had made and said, ‘That is
good.’ Thank God for making such a
wonderful world!
⑤ – ⑩ minutes
Why: to understand what the
creation story teaches us about God
1 Ask the children to imagine the
creation story being told in the
ancient world. It would probably
be told around the campfire,
passed down from generation to
generation.
2 Invite the children to sit in a
circle on the floor and ask them to
imagine they are huddled around
a campfire in ancient times, about
to tell the creation story. What
do the group think were the key
points in the story? (The world was
no accident. God created it. God
made everything out of nothing.
Everything God made was good.)
3 Ask the children what they could
say to people who don’t believe the
creation story in the Bible.
THE LEARN AND
REMEMBER VERSE
‘O Lord, our Lord, your
greatness is seen in all the
world! Your praise reaches
up to the heavens.’
Psalm 8:1
Display the words of the verse for
everyone to see. Invite the children
to stand in a circle and each say a
word, starting again each time they
finish. Keep this going several times.
Remove the words on display and
challenge the children to say the
verse from memory.
Find a poster for the Learn and
remember verse on page 15. The
song ‘Your greatness’ is available on
the Bitesize Bible Songs 2 CD.
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PHOTOCOPIABLE PAGE
SESSION 1 GOD MAKES LIGHT, DAY AND NIGHT
Scenes for Make a book Light and sky
13
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PHOTOCOPIABLE PAGE
God makes light and sky
Genesis 1:1–8
SERIES 1 CREATION
14
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PHOTOCOPIABLE PAGE
SESSION 1 GOD MAKES LIGHT, DAY AND NIGHT
Psalm 8:1
15
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