Unit 3: Sing a Psalm of Joy - Psalm 30

1) Welcome Activity: 

• play dough would be great today.  Pile all the playdough in one lump and ask the children to form it into a mountain. Provide small people and animals to climb up the mountain

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 strength - He alone can make us stand strong

4) Theme: Remind the children of the theme of the unit: Our joy in the Lord. “Sing of psalm of joy!” Tell them that they are going to learn about a psalm today that teaches us about our joy in the Lord.

5) Reading the Psalm: In order to simplify things for the children, first summarize the main point(s) of the psalm. In Psalm 30, the psalmist is praising God for his strength.  When we feel weak and helpless, or when we are in trouble, then we can look to God for protection.  God promises to make us strong like a mountain when we trust in him.  Then, read the psalm from the Bible. Then, repeat the main point(s) again.

6) Sing the Psalm: Sing today’s psalm with the children. You may sing all or only one stanza depending on what is appropriate for your psalm. If possible, include some hand motions to highlight key words. In this psalm (stanza 3), try:
shake...shake your body back and forth
you, Lord... point to heaven
mountain... make a mountain peak with your arms, fingertips together
hid your face... cover your face with your hands


7) Text… you may use a verse from the psalm in the Bible or choose a key line or two from the stanza that you chose to sing with the children. “You made my mountain stand firm” Psalm 30:7

8) Crafts:

• Mountain of Strength... provide each child with a large triangle of paper in grey (mountain), a smaller triangle of white (the snow cap) and several small triangle in green (stack 3 to make a pine tree) and have  them arrange the triangles to make a mountain.  For the older children, encourage them to draw themselves on the mountain... how small we are compared to God;s great strength!  And yet God promised to make us like a mountain, firm and strong!

9) Closing Prayer... say the Lord's prayer together with the children

10) Going Home: Round up all the children around the table or sit in a circle again. Sing today’s Psalm together and then sing the closing. 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?