Who Is Glad, Who Is Sad?: A Fun Christian Preschool Activity

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kathy_Vincent]Kathy Vincent
Psalm 5:11 says this: "Let all who take refuge in You, be glad. Let them ever sing for joy." A refuge is a place of safety. The Bible says several times that God is our refuge. He promises to protect His children. Our little ones want and need to know they are safe. Security is very important to them. Preschool is the perfect time to introduce to them that they can always be safe with God. In fact, being with God should make them very glad. Here is a fun Christian preschool activity to help your little ones learn this important truth. I call it "Who is Glad, Who is Sad?"
Here's what you do:
For this activity, you will need to prepare some paper plates with happy faces on them and a few paper plates with sad faces on them. I made mine from small dessert plates and glued a tongue depressor onto each one so the children could easily hold them. The other thing you need to prepare is a Scripture board which showcases Psalm 5:11. By the way, you might want to only teach the first part of this verse: "Let all who take refuge in you, be glad." I always make mine from half of a poster board. I make my words on my computer in a large font and then I usually add a couple of pictures to the board to give it some color. Finally, laminate it for long-term use.
Here's how to play:
After introducing your lesson and Psalm 5:11, you will explain to the class that they are going to say the Bible verse. After saying Psalm 5:11, you will give most of your children "happy faces" to hold and a few children "sad faces" to hold. One child will have neither face. He becomes the child who gets to find all the "sad faces". While he collects the "sad faces", you, the teacher, can say, "Let all who take refuge in You, be glad." Before letting the child look for the "sad faces", instruct all the other children to hide their faces with their plates. Then say the following:
"God is our refuge
So we can be glad
He is our safety
We don't have to be sad.
OK, (say the name of the child looking for the sad faces), Find all faces that are sad." At this point, the child is allowed to find and take the "sad face" plates. He should give them to you, the teacher. After this, have the whole class say, "Let all who take refuge in you, be glad." Collect all the plates. Pick a new child to be "It", then pass out the plates again.
Before playing this Christian preschool activity, you might want to introduce the lesson in the following way:
Everybody show me your happy or glad faces. (Wait for responses.) Now, everybody show me your sad faces. (Wait for responses.) We are all happy or glad sometimes and we are all sad sometimes. There are lots of reasons for being glad. For example, you might be glad because Grandma is going to visit you. Or maybe you are glad because you get to go to McDonald's for lunch. Do you know one of the best reasons for being glad? The Bible says we can be glad because we know that God will always keep us safe. Psalm 5:11 says this: "Let all who take refuge in You, be glad." A refuge is just a fancy word for someplace that is safe. I hope your home is safe and I hope your school is safe. Being with God will ALWAYS keep you safe...and happy! Let's play a fun game called "Who is Glad, Who is Sad?" to help us learn all about this Bible verse.
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Kathy Vincent is the director of a performing ministry for children called The Scripture Lady and has been traveling around Southern California for the past 15 years ministering to preschoolers and elementary aged children with the Word of God through musical, thematic presentations.
She is also a regular seminar speaker, author/creator of over 30 products for the Christian children's worker and a veteran homeschooling mom of two.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Who-Is-Glad,-Who-Is-Sad?:-A-Fun-Christian-Preschool-Activity&id=6605243] Who Is Glad, Who Is Sad?: A Fun Christian Preschool Activity