This will be a three week lesson series designed to look at some of the very basic concepts a child will need to know in order to make a decision to accept Christ. This is Constructing a Christian Life. (It will hopefully provide some background to the Easter program which will stress the life and death of Jesus and its significance to us.)

 

Props

This theme includes anything to do with construction. The puppets were dressed in painting clothes, hard hats, goggles, tool belts, aprons, plaid shirts etc. Signs were constructed. Things were made out of wood. Signs for safety decorated the puppet stage. It was intended to look as though they were on site. Tools were scattered around. Anything along this line would be appropriate.

Lesson #2 - Prayer

The Christian life begins with obedience to God. We will stress the fact that the Bible contains the rules God wants us to obey in our lives. We want to emphasize the fact that we should follow these guidelines because God knows what will work best for us.

This is the second lesson in the series and it introduces the idea of prayer. In order to build a Christian Life we need to know and obey Jesus and we need to learn to communicate with God through prayer. This lesson will simply look at the importance of prayer.

Opening

As the children are entering the program area (The Zoo Bus), they remove their footwear and get settled. The Construction Video is played on the TV/VCR unit. This was not specifically a Christian video. It talked about building. It is very important to screen the videos before the children view them. You may find them inappropriate. Be wary! This time helps us to set the theme if possible.

Rules

Since an indoor program has limited space it must be run a little different. We have discovered that we need to be more strict with enforcement of rules.

Prayer

It might be a good idea to ask the children if they have any concerns that they want to pray for. This is a teaching moment in which they can learn to bring any and all concerns to Jesus.

Singing

This is an exciting part of the program. It allows the children to learn a little bit about praise and worship. Songs tend to stay in the minds of children and they will learn them quickly and communicate them to their families and friends.

Games

Bubble Gum Blowing Contest

Pick two or more kids. Each kid is timed to see how many bubbles they can blow in one minute.

Tongue Twister

Pick two or more kids. Each kid is timed to see how many times they can repeat the tongue twister in one minute. e.g. "Purple leather, yellow leather".

Memory Verse

The memory verse is an interaction between the audience, a helper and a construction puppet. The Construction worker is simply a regular puppet dressed in construction clothing. He brings in the broken memory verse and asks the children to help him rebuild it. Then the helper will assist the children in learning the verse. "God is near us whenever we pray." Deuteronomy 4:7.

Object Lesson - Zoo Construction Zone

"The Zoo Zone"

Purpose - To illustrate that God knows what is best for us. We should obey him. His standards are the only standards.

Theme Music: (Low echoing voice) "Welcome to the Zoo Zone The Zoo Construction Zone! Let's welcome everybody's favourite Construction workers... Jim and Hal:

Jim: Hi everyone, welcome to "The Zoo Zone". This is a construction zone where Hal and I work each day. Today we have left the Zoo Zone and we are on site in the garage of a guy who helps us out. Whenever we have a problem with construction or any other building project we always go to Rob.

Hal: That's right Jim. Rob the fixit man lives not too far away from "the Zoo Zone" so we went to visit him.

Jim: Let's look at the video of our trip to Rob's. (To this point Jim and Hal have been in the puppet stage and then a video comes on. Prior to the program we actually taped the puppets on location at a garage. This has become an interesting idea for the indoor program It allows the puppets to go anywhere and it really helps with the theme).

Video:

Jim: Welcome to Rob the fixit man's garage. Let's see if Rob is here!

Hal: Hi Rob! Rob: Hi guys, glad you could make it.

Jim: Now, this is the garage of a man who knows his tools.

Rob: Well let me show you some of the interesting things I have. (At this point Rob will give Jim and Hal a brief tour and Jim will react.)

Jim: Look at all this stuff. I think I'll move right in, this is a cool place.

Hal: Rob sure has a lot of stuff. You know Jim, I just thought of something. We always go to Rob when we need some answers, well I wonder who he turns to when he has a problem.

Jim: So Rob what do you do when you have a problem, but you know everything about tools, I doubt if you ever have any trouble.

Rob: Jim, that's where you are wrong. I do know quite a bit about tools but I still have problems that I have trouble handling.

Jim: Well, who do you turn to? We always went to you Rob because you are the smartest and the toughest tool guy around, you mean to tell me there is someone smarter than you?

Rob: You guys, I do know someone who can help me with tools but not just tools, any problem that I might have. That's God. I turn all of my problems over to God.

Hal: Are you serious?

Jim: He can't be, that's a good joke Rob

Rob: It's not a joke guys. I pray when I have a problem. That always helps. God listens to all of our prayers and is always there to help us out. Praying is an important part of my life. God is like my best friend, in order to be friends we have to talk, so I talk to God through prayer.

Jim: Can anybody do that? Even us?

Rob: Anyone can pray anywhere, anytime.

Hal: That's cool, now we can have the help you have.

Jim: Thanks Rob.

(The video cassette ends and the conversation picks up live in the puppet stage).

Jim: That Rob is pretty cool. He has a real cool garage.

Hal: And some pretty good advice.

Jim: That's the truth. Join us next week on "the Zoo Zone".

Story

Construction Workers and The Boss

Phoebe, Ann and Julie were construction workers. One day they arrived at their office and found a piece of paper on Ann's desk. Anytime there was a new job to be done "The Boss" would leave them a note and ask to meet with them. They would look at the note and go talk to the Boss about the plans. This particular day Phoebe, Ann and Julie were tired. They had just finished building an apartment building the day before. They picked up the note and saw that the Boss wanted them to build a house. Ann looked at the others... "I am so tired", she said. " I don't feel like talking to the Boss it is a waste of time. Let's just get to work so we can get this over with." Phoebe and Julie agreed. They trudged off to work without even talking to the Boss. Each started with their part of the job. Julie started one wall, Phebe started the roof and Ann started another wall. They worked almost the whole day.

Then the Boss arrived. He wanted to see how they were doing. He looked at their work and it looked great but none of it was the right size. It would never fit together. The Boss reminded them that they should have discussed it with him first because he had the plans.

In our lives we need to take time to pray. When we are tired God can help us get through. He is there all the time , all we have to do is talk to him.

Dismissal

The children are given treats after prayer. They exit according to the order they came in.

Copyright 1996, Bread of Life Ministries