David is a Shepherd

Last week we shared 4 lessons of Nehemiah that we have used as VBS lessons as well as Bible school lessons. This week we want to share with you 4 lessons on David. Again, these were used as VBS lessons and then taken to the Bible classroom.

David is a Shepherd Boy

Attendance/Memory Item: lamb
Bible Time:

Songs (Little David Play on Your Harp, Pop! Goes the Giant, King David (verse 1))

We put the songs in a David's Song Book to use during these lessons.

Bible Facts

David is a Shepherd Boy:
Talk about what David did as a shepherd and how he trusted God to deliver him from a lion, bear and Goliath.

We created a babbling brook in the room out of plastic blue tablecloths. It was a great place to eat our snacks as well as gather all the students together to read, sing or get ready to go home.

Activities:
Snack – shepherd bag with shepherd food (goldfish, pretzels, cheerios, etc); bread and cheese

Role-play – dress as a shepherd and collect the paper bag sheep from around the room; take them back to the sheep fold.
Craft – paper plate sheep – add cotton to the paper plate
Memory Verse - 1 Samuel 16:7b; Paper doll boy with memory verse
on the front. Opened it up and placed a heart sticker inside; Went over the memory verse
Game – Answered questions and bowled Goliath down

Nehemiah Memories

For our VBS lessons on Nehemiah, we came up with a memory for each lesson to help the children remember that lesson. We used these memories also as each child's attendance chart for VBS. We had small box for each child. Each night we would talk about the item we were placing in the box and, then, allowed each child to place their item in their box. These are the items we used as memories as well as attendance:


Lesson One: a small cup (you could use a communion cup)


Lesson Two: a sad face or praying hands


Lesson Three: tool fruit snacks from Oriental Trading


Lesson Four: a small scroll (use flat ended toothpicks with paper cut to fit rolled between the toothpicks)

Attendance Charts

I was recently asked what I thought about attendance charts being used in the Bible classroom. The answer, "I don't know." I go back and forth on this so much. At times I don't like them because the kids really are not in charge of when they come to class, but, then, I think they might inspire the kids to beg Mom and Dad to bring them to class. I do use attendance or motivation charts in most of my classrooms. Here are examples of some: My friend, Kim, teaches the 4 year olds and she has them add a small die cut fish to their "pond" each time they come to class. These are easy to make if you have access to a die cut machine.

My friend, Sasha, and I taught 2nd grade last year and she modified their attendance charts to this idea - which I think is great for older kids. Each child has a bag labeled with his/her name and they "catch" fish for doing different things.

This picture shows how many fish they get for doing different things in the classroom.
In my classroom, my friend, Sandy, and I have a circus theme (more coming on that later). For our attendance charts, we have popcorn bags. Each time a child comes to class they get to put a scoop of real popcorn seeds in the bag. They also get a scoop of popcorn seeds if they bring their Bible to class. At the end of a determined time, we will replace the unpopped popcorn seeds with bags of microwave popcorn for them to take home.

So, should you use attendance charts, that is for you to decide, but if you do make sure your attendance charts are

1. kid friendly
2. interactive
3. colorful
4. motivational

Have fun!