Unit 3: Sing a Psalm of Joy - Psalm 42

1) Welcome Activity: play with animals

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

3) Prayer... confess our need for God

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 42, the psalmist is singing about how much we need God. Imagine that you are a deer and you are running away from a hunter. You are more and more tired and more and more thirsty. What do you need? A rest and a drink of water from a stream. Well, that is how much we need God! We need him so much that we will die without him, just like a tired, thirsty deer will die if he cannot find a drink of water! 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, try:
about to falter.. let your body sag as if you were very tired
streams of water… use your hand to trace a winding path like a stream of water
O God… point to heaven
Cry… trace the path of tears down your cheek
Temple… with your hands, make a peak, like the roof of the temple

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. “As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants fro you, O God.” Psalm 42:1

8) Craft:

• Deer Picture… have the children color the deer. Glue on strips on grass cut from construction paper and a wavy strip of blue construction paper to show the stream.

like this one: http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.myfreecolouringpages.com/animal_coloring_pages/deer.

or this: http://www.first-school.ws/t/cp_animals/deer_1.htm

or this: http://www.first-school.ws/t/cp_animals/deer_2.htm

• That's a Deer... just copy the template, cut the pieces and have the children assemble them. If you cut out the main template piece from heavy cardstock, you could attach a large craft stick to the back and use this as a puppet! see the template here: http://www.first-school.ws/t/craft/reindeerbw.htm

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?