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Welcome Experience 1Balloon JailSupplies: 2 colors of balloons (inflated, at least 5 of each color), sturdy paper plates (1 per kid), 4 conesGoal: To help kids connect and belong, while also getting them to think about the story for today. Quick Instructions: Split the kids into two teams and assign each team one color of balloons. If you have a group of larger than 20, consider splitting into smaller groups and running more than one game at a time. Use two cones to designate one area on each side of the room that is balloon jail for each team. Mix up the balloons in the center of the room, and give each kid a paper plate. Be mindful of any latex allergies. They will use their plates to fan the other team’s balloons into the balloon jail. They can’t touch the balloons with their plates or their hands. Once the balloon goes into the jail area, it can’t be touched, and jail areas cannot be guarded. The first team to have all of their opponent’s balloons in balloon jail wins. End by discussing their experience. Tell them that today they are going to hear about someone in the Bible who was unfairly put in jail, but continued to trust God.Expanded Instructions: Split the kids into two teams and assign each team one color of balloons. Use two cones to designate one area on each side of the room that will be balloon jail for each team. Mix up the balloons in the center of the room and give each kid a sturdy paper plate. Tell them to use their plates to fan the balloons into the other team’s jail. They can’t touch the balloons with the plates or with their hands. Once a balloon goes into balloon jail, it can’t be touched, and the jail areas cannot be guarded. The first team to have all of their balloons in jail, loses. Ask and Say: Was it frustrating when your balloons were in jail and you couldn’t do anything about it and couldn’t stop them? We’re going to hear about someone from the Bible who was put in jail and he didn’t deserve it, but he trusted God!Optional Discussion Questions:How did you feel when your team’s balloons got put into balloon jail?What would have made the game easier? Why?What was the best part of your week? What was the hardest part? Welcome Experience 2Would You Rather: Bad DaySupplies: NoneGoal: To help kids connect and belong, while also getting them to think about the story for today.Quick Instructions: Tell the kids we all have days when it feels like nothing is going right. Play the game Would You Rather by having kids vote on some silly “bad day” situations to see which they would rather experience. Read the statements, and have the kids raise their hands to vote for the bad day they would rather have. Would you rather …Eat a worm, or step on a slug with bare feet?Sleep in the mud, or shower in juice?Sneeze all day, or hiccup all day?Lick a trash can, or lick the bathroom floor?Be chased by a clowder of cats, or a flock of geese?Lose your favorite toy, or your favorite outfit?Get sprayed by a skunk, or bitten by a squirrel? End by discussing how our Bible story is about someone who had some bad days, but he continued to trust God.Expanded Instructions:Say: We all have bad days when it feels like nothing is going right. Let’s take a poll and see which silly “”bad day situations you would rather experience, if you had to choose one.Read the bad day situations, and have the kids raise their hand to vote for the one they would prefer to experience. Eat a worm, or step on a slug with bare feet?Sleep in the mud, or shower in juice?Sneeze all day, or hiccup all day?Lick a trash can, or lick the bathroom floor?Be chased by a clowder of cats, or a flock of geese?Lose your favorite toy, or your favorite outfit?Get sprayed by a skunk, or bitten by a squirrel? Say: Our Bible story is about someone who had some bad days, but he still trusted God.Optional Discussion Questions:Which of those situations do you think would be the worst thing to happen?Have you ever had a day when things seemed to go wrong? What happened?What was the best part of your week? What was the hardest part? Believing Experience 1Memory Verse ChainsSupplies: Bible, printable page, scissors, tape or staplerGoal: Have kids do this activity to become more familiar with the Bible verses so they can better remember it.Quick Instructions: Remind the kids that in the Bible story, Joseph was thrown in prison even when he didn’t deserve it, but God was faithful to him and carrying out His place. As a group, kids will make paper chains with words of their verses, Proverbs 3:5-6, on each strip of paper. Cut out the strips of paper from the printable page and tape, or staple or glue each link through the next one, making a paper chain. Look up the memory verses in the Bible and talk through the verses as they are making their chains. When the strips are all connected, have the kids say the verses aloud. Discuss the verses and the meaning. Remind the kids that even if they are facing something difficult right now, God has a plan for them. Expanded Instructions:Say: In our Bible story, Joseph was thrown in prison even when he didn’t deserve it, but God was faithful to him even in prison. To help us remember God’s faithfulness and remember the memory verses, we’ll make chains like Joseph may have worn in prison. Pass out the printable pages, scissors, and tape to each kid. Have them cut out the strips and tape each one into a link through the others, making a chain. When their chains are completed, have the kids say the memory verses aloud.Say: Joseph leaned on God and trusted Him, even when things were going badly and he didn’t deserve it. God made Joseph’s path straight because He had a plan for Joseph. Even if you’re going through something difficult right now, God has a plan for your life too.Optional Discussion Questions:What do these verses teach us about God?What difference would these verses make in your life in how you love God?How can you remember to trust God and lean on Him even in hard circumstances?Believing Experience 2 Joseph’s Journey Supplies: Printable page (1 per kid), markers or crayons, Bible or Bible Story scriptGoal: Have kids do this activity to become more familiar with the Bible story so they can better remember it.Quick Instructions: Give each kid a printable page and markers or crayons. Go through the page together, and have them draw pictures of Joseph’s journey from out Bible story in the captioned boxes on their page. Use the Bible or Bible story script provided to go over the story with them again. After they finish their pictures, have them show each other, and tell the story in their own words. Remind them how Joseph was faithful to God, and God was faithful to Joseph even when things were going badly. End by discussing what they learned from this story about God and what it means to follow Him.Expanded Instructions:Give each kid a printable page and markers and crayons. Have them draw pictures of Joseph’s journey from the Bible story. Ask them what happened to Joseph in his journey? Use the Bible or the script provided to go over the Bible story with the kids. Let them share their pictures with the other kids, and tell the Bible story as they share their pictures. Say: Joseph was faithful to God, and God was faithful to Joseph even when things were going badly. Can you share something hard you’re going through and one way you can trust God in that situation?Optional Discussion Questions:What did you learn about Joseph’s relationship with God?What did you learn about God from this story?How can you trust God in a difficult circumstance you’re going through right now?Becoming Experience 1Balloon Keep It UpSupplies: Balloon (inflated), permanent marker ( prep only) Goal: Help kids see how this Bible story and ideas from it could apply to their life. Quick Instructions: Prior to the playing the game, write three scenarios on a balloon that are about hard situations involving a kid doing the right thing. Gather the kids in a circle and have them play Balloon Keep It Up, where they need to keep the balloon up in the air using only their hands until you call “Stop!” Be mindful of latex allergies. The kid who catches the balloon will choose a scenario on the balloon for the group to discuss. Remind kids that even when our circumstances doesn’t feel okay and the situation doesn’t seem fair, trusting God in the hard times is what we can do in response. End by talking about how God is with those who trust in Him. Remember that He can work through any situation, and we can be faithful to Him no matter what happens. How might this change how you respond in a situation when things seem to be going badly? Expanded Instructions: Prior to the playing the game, write three scenarios on a balloon that are about hard situations involving a kid doing the right thing. Scenario suggestions include: You lose your backpack at school, and your mom asks where it is. Someone tells you that they cheated on a test by looking at your answers. Your food gets knocked onto the floor by another kid that didn’t see where they were going.Gather the kids in a circle. Say: We’ve all had bad things happen to us. In our Bible story, Joseph did too! But He trusted God. Let’s do this challenge to see if we can keep the balloon in the air using only our hands.Have them play Balloon Keep It Up, where they need to keep the balloon up in the air using their only hands until you call “Stop!” Be mindful of latex allergies.The kid who catches the balloon will choose a scenario on the balloon for the group to discuss. Say: Even when our circumstances don’t feel OK and the situation doesn’t seem fair, trusting God in the hard times is what we can do in response.Say: God is with those who trust in Him. Remember that He can work through any situation, and we can be faithful to Him no matter what happens. Ask: How might this change how you respond in a situation when things seem to be going badly? Optional Discussion Questions:? Have you ever been in a hard situation like the ones we talked about today? What was it?? What does being faithful to God look like when you are in a hard situation? ? When bad things happen to us, how can we know God is still carrying out His plan?Becoming Experience 2 page Bad Day Beanbag Toss Supplies: Printable page (1 per group), scissors (prep only), beanbags (1 per group)Goal: Have kids think about how they can respond and turn to God during hard times or unfair situations. Quick Instructions: Cut out the cards from the printable page and spread them out on the floor. If you have a large group of kids, consider splitting them into smaller groups. Have the kids make a circle around the cards and take turns tossing a beanbag into the circle with their eyes closed. They will read the card the beanbag lands on, or lands closest to, and share a way they could trust God or grow in that situation. Remind them that Joseph had to go through many years of difficult situations before he saw God’s plan carried out and saw the good God was doing. End by discussing how we can trust God and His plan, even when bad things happen. Have them name one difficult situation they’re going through and share how they can trust God in that situation.Expanded Instructions:Cut out the cards from the printable page. Spread the cards on the floor and have the kids make a circle around them. Say: We all face difficult situations. We can choose to get upset about them, or we can trust God and grow through them. Let’s talk about some ways we could trust God in some difficult situations. Let the kids take turns tossing a beanbag onto one of the cards with their eyes closed. Have them read the card their beanbag lands on, or lands closest to. Then ask them to share one way they could trust God or grow during that situation. Say: Joseph had to go through many years of hard situations before He saw God’s plan carried out and saw the good God was doing in him and through him. We can trust God and His plan even when bad things happen. Have the kids name one difficult situation they’re going through and share how they can trust God in that situation.Optional Discussion Questions:When bad things happen, is it easier for you to trust God or get upset? Why?Why should we trust God during hard times?How can God help us grow stronger when bad things happen?Challenge Experience 1 Choose Your Challenge Supplies: Printable page (1 per kid), pencils or crayonsGoal: To help provide kids with an active way of applying what they have learned from the Bible story and allow them to choose real ways of practicing it during the week.Quick Instructions: Give each kid a printable page that gives them options about which way they will choose to apply what they learned. Encourage them to think about which challenge they want to try this week, and have them check the box for that challenge. Have the kids tell the story through the illustrations provided.Expanded Instructions:Pass out the Choose Your Challenge page to each kid and give them a pencil or crayon. Show them how to fold it to look like a greeting card.Say: Let’s think through some of the experiences we have had today in small group. We all know that what we learned is not meant to stay here but to help us build God’s kingdom out there! Let’s look over our challenge page. Ask: Which one of these challenges do you think you could practice this week and why? Have the kids look at the Bible story illustrations.Say: I think that God is going to do something amazing in you this week through these challenges. I can’t wait to hear about how it went next week when we are together. Remember, God is always with you. Discussion Questions:When could you practice one of these challenges this week? Is there one of the challenges that you find easier to do? Which one and why?Whom could you ask to do the challenge with you?Challenge Experience 2Knot PrayersSupplies: Yarn pieces for each kid (at least 12 inches long)Goal: Kids will tie knots in yarn to remind them that even when things aren’t good, we can still trust God and grow stronger, and pray asking God to help them trust Him.Quick Instructions: Give each kid a piece of yarn and tell them when hard things happen in our lives, it’s like a knot in the yarn. It seems messy and hard, but it makes the yarn strong and holds the pieces together. We can trust that God is working even when bad things happen in our lives, and we can let God make us stronger through those times. Have the kids’ think of hard situations they’ve been through or things they’re going through. Have them tie a knot in their yarn for each situation, and have them pray to God about it. End by having them present their knotted yarn to God and ask Him to help them trust Him no matter what is happening.Expanded Instructions: Give each kid a piece of yarn.Say: When bad things happen in our lives, it’s like a knot in yarn. It seems messy and hard, but it makes the yarn strong and holds the pieces together. We can trust that God is working even when bad or hard things happen in our lives. We can allow God to make us stronger through those times. Have the kids think of hard situations they’ve been through or are going through, and tie a knot in their yarn for each one. Then have them hold onto their yarn and pray, asking God to help them trust Him even in those hard situations. Discussion Questions:What can God teach us through the hard times we face? How do you feel when you go through something difficult? What can you do to remember to trust God next time you go through something hard or get treated unfairly? ................
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