Trying to find ideas for this story. I have a bucket brigade activity - for watering the flock.

Exchange Volunteer modified title for clarity.

Janelle,
I usually point people to other places on this site where they can find ideas, but I can't seem to find anything. There is a lot about Jacob and Esau, but they tend to skip the period between Jacob's running away, and his reconciliation with Esau.

The big question is to decide exactly what you are wanting to teach because it is a fairly big story.

I think for storytelling it would be neat to have actresses dressed like Leah and Rachel come in and tell their story. What was it like to have a household with two wives? What did it feel like for Leah to not be loved in the same way as Rachel was? The children of these women give us the 12 tribes of Israel (more or less -- actually two of the tribes are named after two of Joseph's sons) and Joseph's favorite son status comes because he is the son of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. There are a lot of interesting snippets about ancient Hebrew culture in this story that could be explored with the children.

I can see you making wedding cakes in a cooking rotation and discussing what weddings meant then and now.

I can see playing games where you try and trick the children, leading into a discussion of how it feels to be tricked (Jacob tricked Esau, Laban tricked Jacob). Or perhaps playing a game and changing the rules as you go.

If you are looking for more sheep activities, go above to find, advanced search and look up sheep or shepherds and you'll find more than you wanted to know.

There is also a tension in this story about idolotry (Rachel steals her father's idols and sits on them) which is interesting and can bring in the theme of graven images.

For drama, retelling the story while children reenact the story would work well.

For computers Bibleland.com has home pages for all the major characters.

For movies, make a home movie by interviewing children of your church about sibling rivalry. Put it in context of Jacob/Esau or Rachel/Leah and how they didn't get along.

If you let me know specifically what workshops (art, cooking etc.) you are working with, and what part of the story you are lifting up, I can probably come up with some other ideas.

In any case, make sure you post your completed lessons here for others to learn by.

Peace,
Lisa