Unit 1: Lesson 17 RUTH

1) Welcome Activity:

2) Songs: Start the Story Hour with the learning our names song. Go around the circle or table and introduce each child.

3)Prayer... Thank God today for family and friends who love us.

4) Theme: Remind the children of the theme of the unit: God works among his covenant people to prepare the world for the Savior. Hebrews 12:1&2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us… look to Jesus.” Tell them that they are going to hear a Bible Story again today that shows how God works through Ruth. Ruth was from a county called Moab, not God’s chosen people, Israel. But God blessed her faithfulness by working through her to bring new life!

5) Bible Story: Today’s Story is about Ruth. Read pages 139-141 from the Read and Learn Bible (Scholastic). This story is told a bit too quickly for my liking! If you are comfortable with this, please feel free to flesh the story out a bit on your own.
6) Text: Today’s Text is: “ Where you go I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.” Ruth 1:16b
7) Craft:

• Gathering the Wheat: if you happen to teach this lesson in just the right time of year (like I did) you can do this craft. Print out the picture of Ruth with an arm full of wheat (see www.coloring.ws/ruth.htm .) Have the children color Ruth and then use masking tape to attach several pieces of wheat in her arms. I had some very interesting chats with my group about why Ruth would be doing thing and how this would be useful for feeding herself and Naomi. We talked about how the farm workers cut and gathered wheat and acted this out, too. A simple craft, but lots of learning. Can easily be combined with the friendship bracelet/necklace craft.

• Ruth… make of copy of the template pieces for each children. Cut out all the pieces ahead of time and put each set of pieces in a small zip bag so that you have the right number of complete sets.Allow them to color the pieces. Wrap a toilet paper roll with the rectangle to make Ruth’s dress. Glue on the head, arms, feet, belt and basket of wheat. Copying the template onto heavier paper or gluing regular paper onto construction paper will give the craft a bit more durability.
  You need: template, crayons/markers, scissors, glue, toilet paper rolls
  The template can be found here: http://www.dltk-bible.com/mruth.html
  My 7 year old did this one entirely independantly. Our 3-5 year olds in Story Hour would need the pieces cut out first, and will need some assistance with assembly.
  

• Friendship bracelets/necklaces… talk about the love between Ruth and Naomi. Ruth stayed with Naomi, even though that meant leaving her home! Now, make two simple necklaces: one for you and one to share with a friend. Necklace/bracelet suggestions: use curling ribbon for easy threading- just cut one end on an angle. Large plastic beads, large foam bead and “froot loops” all make easy bracelets for this age group.
  

(photo: 1st is the curling ribbon showing a bead tied on the end and the threading end cut on an angle. Foam bead are easy for 3-5 year olds to string and don't roll off the table. Bonus, eh? 2nd is a completed curling ribbon bracelet. This will turn out nicely regardless of whether the child strings on only a few bead, or as many as he/she can. 3rd is a similar bracelet, strung on a pipe cleaner. This is even easier than ribbon for the younger ones.)

Another variation is to do the full necklace. I printed today's text on cardstock and cut it into "tags" and punched a hole at the top to connect the craft to the lesson again.


8) Closing Prayer... say the Lord's prayer together with the children
9) Going Home: Sing the closing together. Then, check to see if all the children have collected their crafts and coloring sheets before they go home. Say goodbye and tell them that you enjoyed learning about God together and were happy to have them today! You were, weren’t you?

10) Optional Coloring Pages
There are a few different options here:
http://www.coloring.ws/ruth.htm
http://www.biblecoloringpages.org/showcover/Old_Testament/Ruth_And_Boaz