Prepare:
- Purchase sheets of emoji or emoticons from a dollar store. I found the ones pictured at Dollar General – over 250 stickers for a buck!
- Go through your lesson and look for places you can ask the kids to characterize a key player in the story with an emoji, how they feel about an event in a story, or how the characters themselves may have felt.
Lesson:
- When each item comes up ask the children to choose an emoji that best fits. They can stick it on their forehead, on a dry erase board or on a learner’s guide.
- Ask them to explain their choice. Comment back to keep the conversation going in the direction you need to have it go.
Example:
Opener – Think about your high point of the last week. Find an emoji that shows how you felt at that high point or that shows what you did. Discuss choices. Think about your lowest point during the last week. Choose an emoji for that moment or event. Discuss choices. Now, whether you were excited (put a matching emoji on your forehead) or frustrated (place a frustrated emoji on your forehead) did it cause you to think, say, or do something you normally wouldn’t do? Sometimes we let our decisions make our choices instead of our hearts or minds. Does this path usually go well or poorly? Let’s look at someone who made decisions based on what he was feeling and how God gave him a second chance to be a part of what God was doing.
During the lesson of Samson and God giving second chances, we characterized the key players in the story with emoji’s. First, were they acting in a way that was “good” or “bad”? We included Samson’s parents, Samson, the Philistine bride he wanted, the wedding guests, the bride’s father, and the Philistine leaders from Timnah. We assigned them an emoji and stuck it next to their name on our list.
Endpoint – Find an emoji that shows how it feels to be loved. God loves you. God wants the best for you. God wants your choices to be guided by the Holy Spirit, not just by emotions that blow up quickly. God loves you so much, that even when we make a mistake (like thinking with our feelings) He gives us second chances. Stop, think about God, do His right thing.
Unwrapped Conference August 5- www.mrmarksclassroom.com/unwrapped
