Below are lessons on Nicodemus for preschoolers.

This material was created when a group of folks collaberated in the "Lesson Writer's Forum". (Many thanks to Mary Jane and Melissa.) The material is being moved here now that it is "complete". Feel free to add your ideas for Nic for preschoolers.

Bible Passage: John 3:1-17

For Bible background on this passage please go to BACKGROUND

Key Bible Point/Verse: God Loves Me

Rotation Objectives — children will:
 Hear the Bible story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus to ask questions.
 Jesus is our friend - it's ok to ask Jesus questions.
 Jesus teaches that God loves each one of us. God sent his son Jesus to live with us, and to die for us so we can be a part of God’s family forever.

Overview of Workshops:
• Art – Create an “I’m part of God’s family” picture frame.
• Games – play games to reinforce story concepts.
• Creative Writing – Ponder questions for God. Create books to take home.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CreativeCarol,

Moved Reply:

Activity: Art
Teaching method: Talk about families. Create an “I’m part of God’s family” picture frame.

Leader Preparation:
Read the scripture for this lesson.
Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.

Materials:

Picture: baby Jesus (& family) in manger scene

A Bible

Story paraphrase (see post further down)

Polaroid camera & film (produces picture about 3x3 inches)

Frame material (one per child)- green poster board, used a circle cutter to cut 3" diameter circle from center

Tacky Glue, paper plates, Q-tips

Markers

Decorative items (stickers, buttons, puzzle pieces, etc)

Pre-printed stickers: “I'm Part of God's Family” and “God Loves Me”

Adhesive magnets

Tape

Preparation Required Before Start of Class:

Bring from home a family picture.

Cut pieces of magnet.

Pour a small amount of glue on several paper plates. Set out craft supplies.

Open/Dig
Whenever it is appropriate (after music) gather children in a circle on the rug. Show your family picture.

Ask: At your house, do you have pictures of your family?
Display the manger scene picture.

Ask: What do you see in this picture? (allow all answers)
Say: This is a picture of baby Jesus with his family. We talked about baby Jesus at Christmas time. Just as you are growing, baby Jesus grew. Baby Jesus grew up to be an adult who taught us about God. Our story today is about how God loves us and wants us to be a part of his family. Listen to our story from the Bible.

Hold open a Bible.
Read the story from the paraphrase (attached).
Note: hold the paraphrase in the open Bible as you read.
As the Rotation progresses, ask the students to tell you the story they’ve been hearing.

Say: Let’s hear those words Jesus said again:
“God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son.”

Ask: How does it feel to know God loves you?

Take a minute to talk to the children about what they are going to be doing today.
Say: Today you may make a picture frame. We have a camera to take your picture to put in the frame. You decide how to decorate the frame. There is a sticker we have that you can put on your frame. It says: “God Loves Me” and “I’m Part of God's Family”. When you take your creation home you can put it on your refrigerator to remind you that God loves you and wants you to be a part of his family.

Take a photo of each child with the Polaroid camera.
While the photos “develop”, allow students to decorate their frame; let me choose where to adhere the pre-printed sticker to the front of the frame.
Adhere the magnet to the back of the photo.
Secure the photo in the frame with tape.

Closing:
Say: Jesus teaches that God loves us. When we love Jesus we can be a part of God’s family. That makes us feel good.
Ask children if they have anything they would like to pray for. Include these requests in your prayer. Optional words: Jesus, thank you for loving us! It makes us feel happy to know you love us. We love you Jesus! Amen.

Resources:
Lesson written by Carol Hulbert.
Creator of this art idea: Lisa Greek-Donnellan.

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Activity: Games
Teaching method: Play games to reinforce story concepts: God loves us and wants us to be a part of his family.

Leader Preparation:
Read the scripture for this lesson.
Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.

Materials:

Bag for dollhouse people

Some dollhouse people - characters to represent different family members (a pet is ok too)

A Bible

Story paraphrase (see post further down)

Preparation Required Before Start of Class:

Find a fingerplay about families

Open/Dig
Whenever it is appropriate (after music) gather children in a circle on the rug. Display the dollhouse people.
Say: I have some dollhouse people here and I thought we could use them to talk a little bit about our families.

Put the dollhouse people in a bag. Allow a child to draw one character from the bag and tell about that member of their family. (Example: boy drawn, tell about brother or cousin) Allow all the children to draw one character and share about their family.

Say: Our families come in all different sizes. Help me with this rhyme about families. We need our fingers to talk about our families.

Do the fingerplay.

Say: God provided us with families of all different sizes to love and care for us.
Ask: Isn’t it great to be a part of a family and know that God loves you?

Say: Our Bible story today is about how much God loves us. God loves us so much! He wants us to be a part of his great big family. Listen to this story.

Hold open a Bible.
Read the story from the paraphrase (attached).
Note: hold the paraphrase in the open Bible as you read.
As the Rotation progresses, ask the students to tell you the story they’ve been hearing.

Say: Let’s hear those words Jesus said again:
“God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son.”

Say: God sent his son Jesus for us, to teach us about God’s love. We have our families – big families or small families; we are also a part of God’s family. Let’s play some games....

(see the following post for game ideas)

Closing:
Say: Jesus teaches that God loves us. When we love Jesus we can be a part of God’s family. That makes us feel good.

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Activity: Creative Writing (Books)
Note: since Nicodemus is not found in most children's Bibles, I decided to tell the story using puppets.

Teaching method: Ponder questions for God. Create books to take home with children’s “questions to God.”

Leader Preparation:
Read the scripture for this lesson.
Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
Materials

Two puppets

Puppet skit (attached)

“Book” cover & last page (one each per student) - created ahead of time

Markers, Pens

Hole Punch, Yarn, Masking tape

Book Pages (colored paper)

Open/Dig
Whenever it is appropriate (after music) gather children in a circle on the rug.
Ask: Do you like to go to a friend’s house to play? Who else do you visit – maybe Grandma’s house?
Say: It’s fun to visit family and friends.
Ask: Have you ever gone to visit someone at nighttime when it was dark? What was that like? Was it hard to see things in the dark?Why did you go at nighttime?

Say: Our Bible story today is about a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus visited Jesus at nighttime because he didn’t want anyone else to see him! Nicodemus visited Jesus to ask him questions. Today we’ll hear the Bible story with puppets.

Present the puppet skit.

Hold open a Bible.
Say: Let’s hear those words Jesus said again:
“God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son. By believing and following him, everyone can be a part of God’s family.

Take a minute to talk to the children about what they are going to be doing today.
Say: Today you may make a book to take home. Nicodemus asked Jesus questions. We can think about questions we might have for Jesus.

Gather the children around the table. Give them the coloring page. Show them the completed book sample.
Say: Nicodemus wanted to learn more about God so he asked Jesus questions.
Is there anything you want to ask God about?

Record each question and child's name per colored paper page. Allow them to color pages if they want.
At the end of gathering questions, put together the book front and back and the pages. Hole-punch and assemble the books with yarn. (Masking tape the end to help thread the yarn – allow older students to help in this process.)

Closing:
Say: We can have questions for God. Asking questions is OK. The important thing is to learn about Jesus and follow him.
Ask children if they have anything they would like to pray for. Include these requests in your prayer. Optional words: Jesus, thank you for loving us! It makes us feel happy to know you love us. Help us always to come to you with our questions. We love you Jesus! Amen.

Resources:
Lesson written by Carol Hulbert.
Creator of this book idea: Lisa Greek-Donnellan.

Puppet skit:
Nic at Night for Preschoolers
A story retold with puppets

Audience: 3, 4 and 5 year olds
Two puppets required – Nicodemus and Jesus.
Note: As you perform this puppet skit, expect some participation by your audience!

Nicodemus appears, “walking” across stage, pausing to speak.
Nicodemus: Hi, my name is Nicodemus. I’m on my way to visit Jesus. Have you heard of Jesus? Well, I want to find out more about Jesus. And what better way to find out something than by asking! Yes, I have questions. You see it seems like Jesus is somebody really special – he’s done miracles you know? Have you heard about that?
Walks
It sure is dark out tonight. I wanted to visit Jesus at night.
Looks around.
I don’t want anyone to see me. Oh, you guys are ok. It’s just that … I’m a little afraid to ask my questions. Have you ever been afraid to ask a question?
Walks
Well, here I am.
Nicodemus knocks. Jesus appears.

Jesus: Come in.

Nicodemus: Jesus, it seems that God has sent you to teach us.

Jesus: To be a part of God’s family you must be born again.

Nicodemus: What a strange thing to say! I am an old man; I can’t be a baby again!

Jesus: No, Nicodemus, I don’t mean that you are to become a baby again. You just need a new way of looking at things. You need to know how much God loves you! And not just you – God loves the world!
Faces audience – says dramatically
This is how much God loved the world: he sent his Son, his one and only Son.
By believing and following him, everyone can be a part of God’s family.”

Nicodemus: God loves me that much? I still might have questions now and then, but I know how happy God’s love makes me! How about you?

The End

Hulbert, Carol. “Nic At Night for Preschoolers: A Story Retold with Puppets”. Copyright 2004.
With help from:
Trimboli, Kim. “Rotation.org Writing Team Lessons on Nicodemus – Drama 2.” 2003.
http://rotation.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=120606712...05602732&m=800609732
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CreativeCarol,

Moved Reply:

Music Ideas:

The most obvious song is "Jesus Loves Me".

Family-themed songs:

The Barney "I Love You" song (lyrics & music)

"He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)".
Use family members in the lyrics (He's got mommies and daddies in His hands...)

Some Families (To tune of "I'm a Little Teapot, words adapted from Jean Warren...be creative in use of hands, body & facial expressions to go w/words!):

Some families are big and some are small,
Some families are short and some are tall.
Families live near or far away,
But they love each other al-ways!

Some families are happy and some are sad,
They still love each other when they're mad.
Some families you're born to and some you're not,
However you joined, you're loved a lot!


Rhymes & Fingerplays:

Here Is the Family (traditional)

(Start with raised fist)
Here is Mother, kind and dear.
(Hold up thumb, point with opposite hand)
Here is Father standing near.
(Hold up pointer finger, point with opposite hand)
Here is Brother, strong and tall.
(Continue pointing to fingers in turn...)
Here is Sister, not so tall.
Here is Baby, sweet and small.
Here is the family, one and all!
(Wiggle all 5 fingers on hand)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CreativeCarol,

Moved Reply:

Game ideas:

Game 1: Have all the children make a "huddle" around teacher in center of the room. Teacher gives directions like "Take one giant daddy step backwards." or "Taken three baby brother steps backwards." After a few directions, teacher says "We are all part of God's big family!" When they hear that, the children run back into the center for a group hug. Tell the children "God loves you!" Start all over again...
(I think this might be adapted from the Augsburg Fortress Firelight curriculum...we didn't do it in our rotation, but I think I remember reading about it there)


The following game ideas have been adapted from the Gospel Light SS curriculum for preschoolers:

Game 2: Children will walk a line behind teacher, copying the teacher's actions while chanting:

Walk with Nicodemus
To visit Jesus.
Are you ready?
Here we go!
When I say stop,
bend down low.
1,2,3,4, STOP!

Repeat, moving your arms different ways while you walk or recite the chant with other forms of movement (hop, crawl, tip-toe, etc). If safety permits, dim the lights for older children. You could also "trick" older preschoolers by varying how high you count before saying stop once they expect you to stop after 4.

Game 3: Children sit in a circle. Select one child to stand in the middle by pointing to him/her and saying, "Name, God loves you!" The selected child turns around in the center of the circle 3 times, then points to another child. The child pointing says "Name, God loves you!" and gives the child s/he's pointing at a turn to stand in the middle, turn around, and point to a friend sitting in the circle. Repeat until all the names have been called. For younger children, help them with the names & Bible words. For older children, have them close their eyes while turning & pointing.

Game 4: This is a less active memory game and probably not suitable for children under age 4. Find several small toy people (from a dollhouse or the Fisher-Price Little People, for example). Lay them out on the table or floor in front of the children. Have the children help you identify the family members and talk about how God loves us, so he gave us families to take care of us. Then have the children cover their eyes with their hands. Remove one toy person and hide it from view. Tell the children to open their eyes and let them guess which family member was removed. For younger children, you could put all the toy people in a bag (one for each child), let them pull one out, and identify who the person is.

MaryJane

PS: I would guess the "Questions to God" booklet would not fly with the 2yr old crowd. We have tried doing this kind of narration periodically through the year with my 2 yr class at a weekday preschool and get either blank stares or totally unrelated responses. Might want to have a back up plan like "Tell me about your family (or more specifically mommy, daddy, etc)..." if you are working with the youngest ages. Sounds like it would make an adorable addition to a church bulletin board or newsletter if you could get the kids to cooperate, though!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CreativeCarol,

A story paraphrase
Nic At Night For Preschoolers
A Story Retold From John 3:1-17

Nicodemus had heard all about Jesus.
Everyone wanted to see Jesus.
They all wanted to hear what Jesus had to say.
When Jesus spoke, he talked about love.

“I wonder”, said Nicodemus, “just who is this Jesus?”
Nicodemus decided to talk to Jesus.
By asking questions, he could find out more.

So Nicodemus went to visit Jesus.
But because he was a little bit afraid, he went to visit Jesus at nighttime.
That way, no one would see him.

“Jesus, God must have sent you to teach us.”
“That’s right”, answered Jesus. “God is at work to bring you into his family.”

Nicodemus scratched his head.
He was a smart man but he didn’t understand what Jesus was saying.
“What do you mean?” he said.

Jesus answered, “God wants you to change.
To be a part of God’s family, you need to know how much God loves you!”
“Listen to this,” Jesus said.
“This is how much God loved the world: he sent his Son,
his one and only Son.
By believing and following him, everyone can be a part of God’s family.”

“Wow,” Nicodemus said. “God loves me that much?
I still don’t know if I understand all this,
but I know how happy I feel that God loves me.
I like being a part of God’s family!
God Loves ME!”


Hulbert, Carol. “Nic At Night for Preschoolers: A Story Retold From John 3:1-17”. Copyright 2004.
With a little help from: Trimboli, Kim. “Rotation.org Writing Team Lessons on Nicodemus – Drama 2.” 2003.
http://rotation.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=1206067121&f=905602732&m=800609732

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.