Joseph - Genesis 37-46
Here are some good videos
Idea 1
Talk about forgiveness.
Think about a time when you forgave someone and share that story with the kids. How did it feel before you forgave them, and what changed inside of you after you forgave them.
Ask the kids if they have any stories to share.
Idea 2
Play a game of catch with the kids.
Use a large ball and throw it towards a group of kids saying the first one to catch it will get a letter.
Explain that you are spelling the word forgiveness and each time they catch the ball they get another letter towards the word. The first person to spell the whole word wins.
Once you have finished the game. Ask them if they have ever been forgiven? Have they ever forgiven someone else? What did it feel like?
Idea 3
Play a game of forgiveness tag.
Choose someone to be “it” and all of the other kids can run around trying not to get tagged.
Once a kid have been tagged, they need to go over and pick up a heavy book and carry it around as they keep playing the game.
Each time a kid is tagged they need to pick up another book. (by the end of the game, there should be some kids running around while carrying with 3 or 4 books)
End the game when there are no books left.
Have a talk with the kids about forgiveness. Ask them questions like…
How did it feel to run around while carrying so many books? Was it easy or hard?
What do you feel when you are mad at someone and you think about how mad you are all the time? Do you feel light and free, like at the beginning of the tag game? or do you feel heavy and things are just a bit harder, like when you were carrying around a few books and playing tag?
How do we feel when we forgive someone? Do we instantly feel better? Does it take some time to feel better?
Idea 4
Read this story with the kids.
While they are colouring it, go through and ask them questions about the story.
Who is Joseph?
How did Joseph get out of jail?
What did Joseph’s brothers do to him?
What did Joseph do when he saw his brothers?
Idea 5
Play pictionary with the kids.
One at a time give the kids different scenes from the story to draw, and ask the others to guess the scene.
Once all the scenes are drawn ask the kids to put the pictures in sequence order and talk about the story.
Idea 6
Read “The Forgiving Prince” on page 76 of the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Idea 7
Make flags that have the word forgiveness on them.
Get white sheets and cut them to make a large flag for each kid. Let them write the word forgiveness on them and then they can colour the rest of the flag however they like.
Once the kids are finished creating their flags, hot glue them to sticks and let them wave their flags around.
Tell them that these flags stand for freedom. When we are forgiven and when we forgive, then we are free.