Unit 1: Lesson 23 ELIJAH and the Prophets of Baal

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... praise God for his power over all things.

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 the prophet Elijah. Elijah was a regular man who made mistakes, who was afraid sometimes, yet when it really mattered he trusted God. Elijah did amazing things with God's help and God did amazing things for Elijah and always took care of him


5) Bible Story: Today’s Story is about Elijah. Read pages 180-185 from the Read and Learn Bible (Scholastic).


6) Text: Today’s Text is: "Answer me, O Lord... so that these people will know that you ... are God. " 1 Kings18:37

7) Craft:

• Pop-Up Altars: Have children decorate the outside of a paper cup (foam will work, but it's more difficult to color. Experiment at home to find out what coloring tools work best with the cups you have) to look like stones. You can also cut circles of grey/brown paper and have the children glue the stones on the cups. Poke a craft stick through the bottom of each cup. Have the children glue strips of yellow/red/orange tissue paper to the end of the craft stick that is inside the cup. Show the children how to pull the tissue paper flames so that they are inside the cup, and then push the stick up to make the flames appear. If you have time, retell the story using the felt board and have the children demonstrate the altar bursting into flame with their pop-up altars while you are telling the story.
• Tissue Paper Flames... print out a picture of Elijah and the altar for each child. Allow them some time to color the picture with crayons first. Then, pass out paint in red/yellow/orange and have the children cover the altar with flames. If you don't have paint, provide strips of tissue paper and diluted white glue and allow the children to paint the glue on the picture and add lots of tissue paper.

8) Closing Prayer... say the Lord's prayer together with the children
9) Going Home: Sing the closing song together with the children. 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



Elijah and the altar: http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/classmat/mountcarmel.htm

http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/pdf/Old/Curr099.pdf