Teaching
Love Your Neighbor Lessons
In the Classroom
How can we use the one precious hour in our classroom to help children understand that "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is more than just a Bible verse stamped onto a yellow ruler in the prize basket?
When tasked with creating the children's lesson and activities for a local missions conference, I knew engaging them in an activity that would become the backdrop for our "Love Your Neighbor" lesson would be important. I started our lesson in the place they were most familiar with...
OUR Neighborhoods!
This is where we begin. The place where we live. It’s easy to think about loving the people in our neighborhood. They’re people like us. If there are those we'd rather not mingle with, we simply close our garage door and look the other way.
I wanted children to start at this place. My goal was to expand their vision beyond the entrance gates to the places they live and to sharpen their vision of needs within them. Instead of beginning the hour with a formal lesson, we would start with a craft... I would invite children to design houses for our neighborhood model.
Devising a practical plan to supply a large group of children with house construction materials was challenging. Our project needed to be cost-friendly, easily assembled, and suitable for various age groups.
Hmmmmm....
What about gingerbread houses? It doesn't have to be Christmas time for children to enjoy assembling houses from graham crackers, icing, and candies. My grandchildren decorated these for spring festivities. Graham cracker houses could be the perfect option if you're working with small groups...but perhaps too complicated and time-consuming for larger groups comprising children of various ages.
A vision of small, unfinished wooden houses popped into my imagination. They would be perfect for decorating and populating our classroom neighborhood. I searched the internet and found houses that came close to what I envisioned, but the cost was high, and not ideal for our project.
Sooo...
At last, I did what any former Children's Ministry Director would do. I dragged my wonderful, supportive husband to Lowes in search of the perfect piece of lumber.
Craft Time
We purchased two 2x6 boards and made 30 house-shaped blocks for less than $15.00.
(If you don't own a saw, you can be sure someone in your church or friend group does. Woodworkers are usually happy to take on a project that gives them an excuse to cut wood!)
Supplies
I supplied materials for the children to decorate their houses.
A colorful variety of craft foam sheets
Enough scissors to share
Magic markers
Glue sticks
Sprigs of artificial greenery and tiny artificial flowers
Green Playdough to secure greenery and flowers to boards and inside Playdough cans (trees and flowers for neighborhood lawns)
Grey duct tape to make neighborhood streets on the floor. Black center lines drawn with a permanent marker added detail.
Some children enjoyed creating houses that looked like their own. Others used their imaginations to design their dream homes.
Lesson Time Discussions
After a set amount of time, we gathered around the neighborhood they had created. With the lovely display in front of them, I had a captivated audience ready to engage in conversation about what it means to be the kind of neighbor Jesus wants us to be.
We began with a bit of show and tell about their neighborhoods and the people who lived there... and then spent time discussing the story of the good Samaritan.
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:29-37
I allowed the children time to talk about:
the things they like about their neighborhood
the kids they enjoy playing with
the ways they are like each other
This made it easier for them to relate to the priest and Levite, who walked past the wounded man in the story of the good Samaritan. A display of posters reminded children that our neighbors aren't just the people who live in the house next door. They are also the people who live in other places and are different from us in many ways.
Encouraging the children to apply the lesson was the most important part of our time together. I pointed to the houses in our model neighborhood. Even behind the pretty doors of those houses, there could be people who are sad, lonely, and hurting. How does what we do, or not do, make a difference?
I presented them with various scenarios and challenged the children to ask themselves, "What would I do if.....?"
What if:
A boy at school doesn’t seem to have any friends. Would you offer him a seat next to you at the lunch table?
You hear juicy gossip about someone. Would you find joy in passing on that gossip to other people?
The cool kids make jokes about someone they see on the playground. Do you: o Join in with funnier jokes to make everyone laugh? o Be quiet and ignore the jokes? o Stand up for the child who was being laughed at?
While it is easy to shake our heads at the priest and the Levite, we must admit that we're often guilty of walking past the wounded too.
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" Matthew 22:37
Jesus said the two most important things we can do are to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor just as much as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:36-40) That’s the kind of love Jesus has.
Can you imagine that? Jesus loves the poor, the weak, and the dirty just as much as He loves Himself. That's why He died on the cross. When we cause pain to the people He loves, He feels that pain. When we show love to them, He feels that love!
Read Matthew 25:34-46
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40
Our neighbors are not just the people who live next door. Their houses might not look like ours. They might not dress like us, or talk like us. People near and far need to know the love of Jesus. Jesus wants us to share His love with others.
Game Time Application
This version of freeze tag gives kids an opportunity for fun while providing a valuable opportunity to understand how it feels to be wounded, helpless, and dependent on a good Samaritan to bring joy. It also provides an opportunity to show children the difference they make when they sacrificially reach out to help those in need.
Joy Tag
Instructions:
Start by picking one or two players to be “Joy-Takers”. The other players will be “Joy- Givers”. (A small group needs one Joy-Taker. Larger groups need two or more)
Set a timer or choose a song to play the game's length. (Approximately 2 minutes.)
Takers try to tag and freeze the Givers when the timer starts, or the song begins.
Takers shout “No joy!” each time they tag a Giver.
After being tagged, the Giver must freeze and stay in that position until another Giver taps them and says, “Joy!”
After the timer has sounded or the song has ended, “measure” the amount of joy remaining in the group by counting the number of those who aren't frozen. Encourage a big celebration cheer if the game ends with every Giver keeping their joy.
After a few rounds, bring the children back together and point them to the lessons we learn by playing this game.
Bring Home the Message
Explain:
You had joy until a tag from a Joy-Taker "froze" you. Your joy was gone. Without the help of someone else, you would stay frozen. You didn’t have the power to get your joy back on your own.
It wasn't easy to be a Joy-Giver. It meant forgetting about yourself for a while. Slowing down to help someone come out of their sad, cold, frozen state meant risking getting tagged by the Joy-Taker yourself. When Givers put themselves at risk to help you, you were grateful. Your joy returned.
God loves us. His Spirit brings us joy. He wants us to love others and take His joy to those who are suffering. Reaching out to those who have lost their joy isn't always easy. It might mean giving away money, material things, time, energy, popularity.
Deciding whether to help someone who is hurting requires an answer to the question:
What would I want someone to do for me if I were in their situation?
We do the right thing when we follow God’s instructions:
“Do to others what you would have them do to you!” Matthew 7:12
Want to teach your children a "Love Your Neighbor" lesson at home? Check out this blog for a fun activity that engages children in serving people around them. A delicious and simple sugar cookie recipe is included to get them started!
