Teaching the Gospel through centers
The SojournKids.com blog is running a series of posts about using nursery centers to teach the gospel. Here are the links
Preschool Story Circle
This center provides a place for story-telling. Transition kids to Bible Time each week by using a few simple props. Show the kids your largestory bag (in which you have visual aids and other items you will use to tell the story) then hold up your Bible, open to the Scripture passage and keep it open as you teach.
Use the Center:
- Be expressive. Memorize the story and tell it with enthusiasm.
Be familiar enough with the story to tell it without reading it.- Maintain eye contact and react to the children’s body language. Are they interested? Do they understand?
- Explain the terms and describe the setting, but beware of adding extra-biblical thoughts to the story characters.
- Use the visual aids to keep the kids’ interest.
Clean Up: Stack the pillows neatly near the teacher’s chair.
Block City Center
“Dramatic play” centers like the “block city” & “train/city center” provide opportunities for children to recreate life experiences—exploring the roles of people and structures in their family and community. This is the teacher’s opportunity to learn about the child, and relate the gospel to all of life.
Use the “Block City” Center:
- Ask Questions: What are you building (tower, fire house, church, school)? Where have you seen that kind of building before? Have you ever been there?
- Block buildings fall down. Teach kids about how things in this world break, but God will build everything again so that it never falls down.
- Kids knock down block buildings. When this happens, encourage asking for and extending forgiveness.
Clean Up the “Block City” Center: Have the children straighten the blocks, and put toys in the box.
Train/City Centers
- Ask Questions: What are you building? Have you ever traveled on a train? Where have you seen that kind of building before? Have you ever been there?
- Toy trains derail. Tracks break. Teach kids about how things in this world break, but God one day will make all things unbreakable.
- Encourage sharing and cooperation. When kids argue, encourage asking for and extending forgiveness.
Clean Up: Have the children put the tracks, cars, and buildings away in the center drawers.
Kitchen Center
“Dramatic play” centers like the “kitchen center,” “dollhouse,” and “home/baby” centers provide opportunities for children to recreate life experiences—exploring the roles of people and structures in their family and community. This is the teacher’s opportunity to learn about the child, and relate the gospel to all of life.
Use the Kitchen Center:
- Ask Questions: Do you like to help your mom and dad with chores? What do you help with? What is your favorite food? What kind of food are you making?
- When kids set the table to eat, ask them to pray before their “meal.”
- Encourage the kids to take turns and share at the table. When a child takes a toy from another, encourage asking for and extending forgiveness.
Dollhouse Center
Use the Dollhouse Center:
- Ask Questions: Do you want to be a mommy or daddy? What do mommy and daddy do each day? What do you do when you wake up? What do you do before you go to bed?
- Teach about Christian practices—prayer, Bible reading, meeting with the church—in the midst of their “home” routine.
- When a child takes a toy from another, encourage asking for and extending forgiveness.
Clean Up: Have the children put dollhouse toys away in the designated basket.
Home / Baby Center
Use the Home / Baby Center:
- Ask Questions: Do you want to be a mommy or daddy? What do you want to name your baby? Who lives in this house? Can you feed the baby, burp it, and put it to bed? Can you rock the baby? Can you pray for the baby or sing to it?
- Teach about nurture, and help the children practice gentleness with the “little ones.”
Clean Up: Have the children put the home center back in order. Put the toys away in the designated basket or doll crib.
Library Center
Library Center
This is a combination reading, puzzle, and games center. It provides a place for quiet individual play or group activity.
Use the Center:
- When reading to kids, be certain to engage them by reading the story in an expressive way—use facial expression and voice inflection.
- Be sure to show the pictures, and encourage the children to find and point out objects on the pages.
- After you are finished, ask kids to retell the story in their own words.
- When playing games, encourage the kids to take turns, and teach about sharing.
Clean Up: Have the children put the books, puzzles, and games away on the shelves as they found them. Put puzzles together before putting them away.
Toddler Pocket Chart
This center provides a place for working on Bible and doctrine memory. Toddlers can’t yet read, but they need the encouragement and comfort of God’s word. Teach one word at a time and use the provided pictures on the back of each card. The Show Me Jesus! curriculum teaches 18 verses and 15 doctrine questions yearly.
Use the Center:
- Fall: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 53:3b; Matthew 1:23b; Luke 1:37; 1 Thess 5:16-17; Psalm 30:10b; Questions 1-5
- Winter: Luke 2:14a; 1 Cor 8:6b; Acts 9:20b; 1 John 4:19; Questions 1-8
- Spring: John 17:17b; Acts 16:31a; Matthew 22:39b; Psalm 23:1a; Questions 1-11
- Summer: Psalm 9:1a; Psalm 143:10a; Psalm 150:6; Psalm 25:4; Questions 1-15
Clean Up: Put verses and questions away in the proper envelope after each memory session.
Puppet Center
This center can also be called the “Story Re-telling” center. Here children will re-tell today’s Bible story or perform their own skits using puppets. Sometimes the lesson will call for creating puppets, which can be used at the puppet stage.
Use the Center: Ask a group of students to create a puppet show about today’s lesson theme or story then perform it for you.
- What puppets will you use? Who should be part of the story? Who will have each puppet?
- What happened first in the story? What happened next? How did the story end?
- What did you learn about God in the story? What did you learn about people?
Clean Up: Have the children put the puppets away in the basket after each playtime.
Elementary Art Center
This is a place to make art. Work together to create something beautiful that reminds you of today’s lesson. Remember, God creates good and beautiful things. When we create, we imitate him and give Him glory.
Use the center:
- Draw what you remember from the lesson. Make a timeline of events from the story using pictures and words.
- Think about today’s memory verse: (1) Draw what you imagine. (2) Write out the verse with different colors for each word (or shapes around each word) to help you remember it. (3) Write the verse using pictures instead of words.
- Use the easels together to create a large piece of art. Work together. Remember that God has made each of us uniquely creative.
Clean up: Wipe down whiteboards and put markers or paint supplies away neatly
Sword Drill Center
This is a place to practice using your sword (God’s word). Practice finding memory verses and Bible books. Always be prepared to talk about God’s word and what it teaches about how to live. Who do we fight for? Jesus! What do we fight with? The Bible! What do we fight against? Satan, Sin, & Death!
Use the center:
There are 3 kinds of drills, and all 3 are called in the same way:
- Attention!—Your hands should be at your sides, Bible closed, and cupped on binding of Bible.
- Draw swords!–Hold your Bible out – 1 hand on top and 1 below – no fingers on pages.
- “Charge!”—Find the reference called.
Quotation Drill (quote from memory):
- One person gives the reference.
- If you know the verse, step forward 1 step, then be ready to quote the verse and give the reference if you are called upon
Completion Drill (quote from memory):
- The teacher reads part of the verse
- If you can complete the verse, step forward 1 step, then be ready to quote the verse and give the reference.
Book Drill (Bible is used)
- Any book in the Bible may be used
- The leader calls a book of the Bible (ex. Exodus)
- After calling “Charge”, find any page in the book called, place your finger on the page, and step forward.
- If the teacher calls on you, give the name of the book before the one called, the book called, and the book after the one called. (ex. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus).
Clean up:
Neatly stack the Bibles on the shelf
