The Bestest News Ever!

December 14, 2014 .:. Tiger Room

Pathways Church Early Childhood Ministry

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This Weeks Scope

Theme: The Bestest News Ever
Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever.
Key Question: Why is Jesus special?
Bottom Line: Jesus is Gods Son.
Memory Verse: God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. John 3:16, GNT
Bible Story: Not everyone knew Jesus is Gods Son.
Jesus Born in a Stable Luke 2:1-7

Worship
LEADER: Hello there! Its almost Christmas time! I love Christmas because its when we can celebrate
that [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son. I have a fun song that we can sing about that right now!
Whos ready? (Pause.) Yay! Lets sing together.
Lead children in singing Best News Ever.
LEADER: That sounded AMAZING! Thanks for singing with me today. Lets get our listening ears
ready so we can hear another TRUE story from the Bible about Christmas.

Bible Story
What You Need: A Bible
STORYTELLER: Come here, everyone, and sit with me! Its story time! Yay for story time! Our story
comes from this very special bookthe Bible! (Hold up Bible, give it a big hug, and lay it down.) Can
you say, Bible?
CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: Bible!
STORYTELLER: We love the Bible because it has Gods stories in it. And Gods stories are always
TRUE! Todays were going to hear more about the bestest news ever! And YOU are going to help me
tell it! Just say what I say and do what I do.
(Lead the children in saying the part of the story rhyme you learned during Week One, one small
section at a time. Repeat the rhyme a few times.)
The angel came down (make a flying motion)
From God to say (cup hands around mouth like you want to say something)
Mary will have a baby (pretend to rock a baby in your arms) on Christmas day
His name will be Jesus (make a V with both arms up and fists closed)
Gods only Son (point a finger and arm straight up)

To show that God loves everyone (hug yourself)

And now were going to add the new part of the story.
(Lead the children in saying the new part of the story rhyme, one small section at a time. Repeat it a
few times and then say all of the rhyme together.)
Mary and Joseph (walk in place) traveled far, far away.
When they got to Bethlehem, there was no place to stay (hold hands out and shake head no).
God gave them a stable filled with cows and sheep (make a roof over your head with your
hands).
Jesus was born, and on hay He did sleep (pretend to hold a baby and then fold hands under
head like you are sleeping).
Yay! (Clap.) Now Lets try and say it aaaaaaallllll together!
(Lead the children in saying all of the story rhyme, one small section at a time. Repeat all of the rhyme
a few times.)
STORYTELLER: Yay! You did it! The bestest news ever is that [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son!
Thats why Jesus is SO special! [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son! Why is Jesus special?
CHILDREN and STORYTELLER: [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son.
STORYTELLER: Thank you for being such great listeners today. Now lets put our hands together,
close our eyes, and talk to God.
God, thank You for helping us learn the true story of Christmas. I hope we never forget it. Thank You
for my friends (name each child). And thank You for our best friend, Jesus. He is so special because He
is Your Son. We love You, God. In Jesus name, amen.

Dear God,
You for making animals. [Bottom Line] Thank You, God, for
Memory
In thank
Motion
Our Memory Verse for this month goes like this:
We have a new Bible verse and its one of my favorites! I cant wait for you to learn it. It says: God
loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, John 3:16. That is the bestest news ever!
Now lets try it with the motions. Watch me and try to follow along the best you can.
God (point up) loved (hug yourself) the world (raise your arms overhead to form a circle) so much
(stretch your arms out as far as possible) that He gave (place your hands together with palms up in
front of you as if youre offering something) His only (point up) Son (hold your arms as if youre
cradling and rocking a baby), John 3:16. (Open your hands like a book.)
Great job! Lets say it again! (Repeat as many times as desired.)
The angel told Mary in our story today that God was sending His Son, Jesus, to be our friend forever.
That is the bestest news ever! Do you remember why its the bestest news ever? (Pause.) I mean, why

is Jesus so special? (Pause.) [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son! Yes, He is. Jesus is Gods only
Son and that makes Him very special.
Repeat with the children several times until you feel they have learned this months verse.

Make It Fun
Inside, Outside
Inside, Outside is an activity that introduces this weeks Bible story while enhancing positional
understanding.
What You Need: Little People Nativity Set (or similar)
What You Do:
Before the activity: Place all the pieces of the nativity set on the table.
During the activity: Ask the children to put different pieces of the nativity inside, outside, above, and
beside others. Let children have time to free play with the objects.
What You Say:
Before the activity: Look what we have to play with today! This is called a nativity. What all do you see?
(Pause.) I see a sheep, a cow, and a baby!
During the activity: Lets play! This is called a stable. (Point to the stable.) Can you find the cow?
(Pause.) Great! Can you put the cow on the outside of the stable? (Pause.) Great job! Can you find the
sheep? (Pause.) There he is! Can you put the sheep beside the cow? (Pause.) Super! Do you see a
baby? (Pause.) This is a special baby. Do you know who this baby is? (Pause.) Its baby Jesus! Can
you put baby Jesus inside the stable? (Pause.) Good job! There are some other people we need to put
inside the stable. Can you find the mommy and daddy? (Pause.) Can you put the mommy on one side
of baby Jesus? (Pause.) Great! Now can you put the daddy on the other side of baby Jesus? (Pause.)
Super!
At the end of the activity: You did a super job putting all the animals and people in and around the
nativity. The Bible story we heard today is about baby Jesus born in a stable. And we learned that God
gave us the bestest gift ever by giving us His Son, Jesus. Why is Jesus special? (Pause.) [Bottom
Line] Jesus is Gods Son!

Make It Fun
Pass the Baby
Pass the Baby is an activity that has the children recite this months Memory Verse while they pass
the baby doll around the circle.
What You Need: Baby doll
What You Do:
Before the activity: Sit down in a circle.
During the activity: Say the Memory Verse as you pass the baby around.
At the end of the activity: Say the Key Question and Bottom Line together.
What You Say:
Before the activity: Hey, friends! Come sit down with me in a circle.
During the activity: We learned in our Bible story today that a very special baby, baby Jesus, was born
in a stable. Lets pass this sweet baby doll around as we say our Memory Verse. (Start passing the
doll.) God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, John 3:16. (Repeat as many times as
desired.)
At the end of the activity: Why is Jesus special? (Pause.) [Bottom Line] Jesus is Gods Son! And
that is the bestest news ever!

Need More?
If you happen to finish up with these activities early feel free to use any of the activities in the preschool
game binder. If you are unsure as to where to find this binder, please contact your service coach.