1. family and parenting
2. children

KICKRiCKulum presents the Ten Commandments
Preschool
Lesson One: For Your Own Good Exodus 24:12-18, Exodus 20:1-17
And the Lord said to Moses, come up to Me into the mountain and be there; and I will give you tables of
stone with the law and the commandments, which I have written that you may teach them.
Support Verses: Deut. 5:29-33 (Also Exodus 30:9-16 & Deut. 10:12-14)
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear Me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go
well with them and their children forever!
Puppet Skit
Materials needed: Chart with your class rules
(Puppet enters at the conclusion of the reading of the main verse.)
Puppet: Hi class! Hi teacher!
Teacher: Hi, (insert puppet’s name), how are you today? Children, please meet my friend, (insert
puppet’s name).
Puppet: I am doing great! Glad to meet all of you!
Teacher: You are just in time. We are starting a new set of lessons today called God’s Ten
Commandments.
Puppet: Commandments?
Teacher: Yes, commandments are rules.
Puppet: Rules are important. You have to have rules!
Teacher: That is right, (insert puppet’s name), God gave us 10 rules that are very important to Him. If we
follow them, we will live in God’s blessings and protection.
Puppet: Just like the rules for our classroom. I know them by heart. That means without having to read
them.
Teacher: Okay. Let’s hear rule # 1.
Puppet: At this point the puppet can recite the first rule of your classroom from your classroom list of
rules but have the puppet misread the class rules. This will be the tactic in later lessons. The
puppet will introduce the commandment incorrectly each week in this series. This is deliberately
used to establish memory through repetition and exaggeration. For this lesson, allow puppet to
read the class rules one at a time. However, the puppet misreads the rules. For example, if the
rule states “raise your hand to speak,” the puppet would say, “raise your foot to speak.” Correct
puppet’s error and then instruct children to repeat the true rule. Follow this for each class rule to
familiarize children with the concept of rules.
Teacher: Why are rules necessary? Possible answers may include: to keep us safe, so we know what to
do or to keep our class in order. Rules are created to keep things organized, to protect us, and
to bring fairness.
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Puppet: I better get going. I don’t want to break the rules at our house. I have to be home for lunch. Bye!
Materials needed: copies of clip art signs provided at the end of this lesson. Please
feel free to do whatever manipulation of signs you feel is necessary.
Hold up various signs. First ask the children: What is this sign saying? Then ask: Where would you see
this sign? How does this sign help us?
Emphasize that rules give information that will help us, protect us and keep order. Say: God’s
commandments or rules were given to help us, protect us and keep order, too.
Read: Exodus 24:12-18 as paraphrased below in the object lesson
Materials needed:
 Create a tablet of the 10 commandments. Place the first 4 on
the left side and the last 6 on the right side of the tablet. Please
paraphrase the commandments to take them down to the
preschooler’s level. For example: Make God #1, Worship
God, Handle God’s name carefully, Rest on the Sabbath, Obey your parents, Watch you
anger,
Keep a promise, Don’t steal, Tell the truth, Want God’s things
 Tool manual, game instructions, toy manual
 Article of clothing with wash and wear instructions
 Bible
 Cheerios
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me in the mountain. Stay here with Me.” Moses stayed with
God on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. That is a long time. Let me show you what 40 is
like. Slowly count out forty Cheerios with the children. Encourage them to count along as they see
the quantity of forty. Then God said, “I have something very important to give you. I have some
stone tablets to give you. On them, I have written rules called the Ten Commandments. This is
what I have written.” (Hold up the commandments. Read the commandments as you chose to write
them on your tablet.) God said, “You will need them to teach My people.” God wrote the first 4
commandments (point to the left side) to show us how to treat Him. He wrote the next 6
commandments (point to the right side) to show us how to treat our family, friends, and neighbors.
Say: Let me show you why it is a good thing to follow rules. Spread out manuals, instructions and
clothing on table in front of the children. Choose the tool manual and turn to a page that shows rules for
using the tool safely. Read any cautions or warnings. Hold up the manual. Say: By following these rules
we have just protected ourselves and others from danger.
Hold up the Bible. Say: By following God’s rules we have just protected ourselves and others from
danger.
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Choose the toy manual and turn to a page that shows a diagram of the features of the item. Read the rules
for using the special features of this toy. Hold up the manual. Say: By following the rules of how to use
this toy we will be able to receive every special feature that this item has for us.
Hold up the Bible. Say: By following God’s rules we will know how to receive every special promise that
God has for us.
Choose the game instruction sheet. Read some of the rules of the game. Hold up the game instructions.
Say: By following the rules of the game we will be able to get the most fun and enjoy playing the game.
These instructions will keep fairness and order.
Hold up the Bible. Say: By following God’s rules we will be able to get the most fun and enjoy our lives.
God’s rules also create fairness and order.
Choose the article of clothing. Read the wash and wear instructions on the tag. Hold up the tag. Say: By
following the rules of care on this tag, we can be sure that our clothes will look nicer and will last a long
time.
Hold up the Bible. By following God’s rules of caring for Him and others we will be happier and live a
long time. We can be sure that we will have blessings.
(Present questions for discussion)
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Where did God ask Moses to come and be with Him?
How long did Moses stay with God?
What did Moses get from God on the mountain?
What were the commandments written on?
Name some of these commandments. Some teach us how to treat God. What do the others
teach us?
Why are rules or commandments important?
Do you have rules in your school, your house, the library, a restaurant?
What would happen if we didn’t have rules in school, in your house, in the library, in a
restaurant?
What promises come to us when we obey God’s rules?
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Tripper the Rule Ripper and the Ten Commandments
Tripper: (Tripper knocks on the door and the teacher lets him in. He enters with several sheets of paper
in his hands, tearing them as he goes. On the sheets of paper are classroom rules. He is
laughing and excited about what he is doing.) Hey everybody, watch this! (Tripper slowly rips a
sheet of paper in half.) And watch this one! (Tripper frantically rips up another sheet of paper,
throwing the pieces in the air. Tripper laughs excitedly.)
Teacher: Wait, wait! What are you tearing up and why are you so excited about it?
Tripper: (Tripper holds up a sheet of paper for all to see.) These are rules I have to follow in
school…and I don’t like them. They tell me all kinds of things I can’t do. I don’t like being told
what to do so I decided to rip them up into a thousand pieces! You see, I figure if they are ripped
up, I don’t have to follow them. (Tripper rips up the piece of paper gleefully and tosses the
pieces in the air. He begins to jump up and down on the pieces of paper strewn across the floor.)
Teacher: What? Oh my…I’m afraid you are mistaken. Just because you tear up a piece of paper with a
rule written on it, doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow it.
Tripper: (Tripper abruptly stops jumping and looks at the teacher confused.) What…I don’t like these
rules…you mean I still have to follow them?
Teacher: Yes, and the rules aren’t meant to stop your fun. We have rules to help us and to protect us.
Rules are good. Did you know that God has rules to help us too? He has the Ten
Commandments.
Tripper: Wow, God has rules too…and they are meant to help me? That’s cool!
Police: (Enter suddenly and seize Tripper.) There you are! We’ve been looking for you, Tripper the Rule
Ripper! You’ve been breaking rules all over town and leaving a paper trail everywhere you go!
You’re coming with us! (Tripper exits with the police, dropping a list of classroom rules to be
used as the KIDnabber object.)
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Activities
Kids Rule
Children will get an opportunity to experience “giving rules” and abiding by the rules.
Children love to be in charge and rarely get the opportunity to do so. This thrash gives them the
experience as the one who rules and the one who obeys the rules. Appoint one child to be the “Ruler.”
This child will give commands to the rest of the class. The other children are to respect the rules given
by this child and to follow them. Some suggestions of rules or commands appear below. Please give
every child the opportunity to be the “Ruler.”
Commands:
Stand up, raise your hands and say, “Hallelujah.”
Walk around the table 3 times, close your eyes and say, “I will obey God’s Ten Commandments.”
Hop on one foot to the door, turn around twice and walk backwards to your seat.
Shout “Happy Birthday,” tickle your toes and try to touch the ceiling.
Tell another child something you like about them, laugh out loud and sit beside your chair.
Climb the mountain like Moses did, write the commandments in the air and say, “Forty.”
Add as many as needed for your class.
They Are Tasty, Too!
Children will decorate and eat their own tablets of stone.
Materials needed: box of graham crackers or saltines and tubes of gel icing
Tell children that they are going to make their own tablets of stone. Distribute crackers to each child
making sure they each have a cracker with 2 sections connected. Handle them carefully so as not to
break sections into two pieces. Ask children to pick any two numbers from 1 to 10. Pass out tubes of
icing and help children write one number on the left side of the cracker and the other number on the right
side of the cracker. Let them eat and enjoy. You may want to include a drink.
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Bring out the KIDnabber object so children may associate with it one more
time.
Prepare in advance two heart shapes (one set for each child in your class) of
the same size cut from construction paper. Lay the hearts evenly on top of each
other. Punch holes through both hearts at the same time along the sides and
bottom of the hearts. Be careful that you do not punch holes along the top.
This will be the opening of the heart. Cut pieces of yarn long enough to be
threaded through the holes in the heart.
Turn to John 14:15 in the Bible. Show children the words even though they may not be able to read, so
that they know you are telling them something from the Word of God. Read: Jesus said, “If you love Me,
keep My commandments.” Say: It is out of love for God that we obey Him, not because we are afraid or
“because we have to.” We know the commandments were made to help us and protect us. Turn to
Proverbs 3:1-2. Again show them the words on the page. Tell them that you are reading in another part of
the Bible called Proverbs. Say: “My son, do not forget my teaching but let your heart keep My
commandments; for length of days and years of life, and peace they will give to you.”
Give each child a piece of paper and some crayons. Ask them to draw a picture of themselves obeying the
Ten Commandments or holding the tablets of commandments. When they have finished give them the yarn
and hearts to thread. When they have finished threading, tie a knot for them in the yarn. Ask them to fold
up their picture very small. Say: Always keep the commandments in your heart. Show them how to
place the picture in the opening of the heart at the top.
Once again show the children the list of class rules and the commandments used earlier in the lesson. Pray
with them that they will remember God’s commandments from their hearts just as they remember this list of
class rules.
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