VBS Day 1 - Magnify God

Overview

The Big Truth 

God created everything there is, and yet He still wants to spend time with me.

Zoom In 

I am important to God. 

Bible Verse

Proclaim the LORD’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:3

Psalm 34:3 ESV

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Today’s Point

God sees me.

Bible Story

Jesus and the Children (John 1:1-3,12; Mark 10:13-16) 

BONUS VERSE 

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name. John 1:12 

Introduction

Older Kids

know it (5 MINUTES) 

Guide kids to find “Need for Seed” (Kids Activity Book page 3). Help kids solve the activity. Compare answers, then prompt kids to find the words on the “Theme Verse Poster” (item 8). (Note: While magnify is not in the CSB translation of Psalm 34:3, its definition will help kids understand its relationship to the VBS theme.) 

Direct kids to form a circle. Hand the stuffed animal to a volunteer, who will say the first word of the verse before passing the toy to his neighbor, who will supply the next word. Continue until kids have completed the entire verse. 

Say: “Magnifying God is what VBS is all about! You can learn for yourself how great God truly is, then you can proclaim His greatness to others.” 

FOR OLDER KIDS 

Bring a whistle or other noisemaker. As kids are passing the toy around the circle, at random times, whistle to signal them to reverse direction. After several repetitions of the verse, challenge kids to put Psalm 34:3 in their own words. 

NEED FOR SEED ANSWERS 

Proclaim—to tell about something important 

Magnify—to treat someone or something as very important 

Exalt—to honor someone very highly 

Younger Kids

CREATE FACES 

Supplies: Allergy Alert, paper plates or large paper circles, child-safe hand mirrors, trays with nature items of various sizes (twigs, leaves, stones, flowers, blades of grass, buds, seeds, stems, stalks) Choose items that are safe for your age group to use. 

Invite children to use the nature items to create faces. They can use items for eyes, noses, hair, ears, and so forth. They may want to create on the plates or circles or they can create directly on the table. 

Encourage children to think about the different parts of the face and what items could be used for each part. Suggest they look in the hand mirrors and create self-portraits. 

Encourage preschoolers to experiment with the materials and create funny or unusual faces. Tell preschoolers they will hear a Bible story about people who came to see Jesus. 

PLAY A GUESSING GAME 

Play “Magnified!” Instruct preschoolers to bounce on their toes as the music plays. Change the instruction to bouncing their shoulders, pumping arms over head, and other motions until the song ends. Invite them to sit down with you. 

Say: “Listen carefully. See if you can guess who I am describing.” 

Describe one of the other leaders (hair color, type of shoes, type of clothing, etc.). Lead preschoolers to guess the person. (You may need to help with names.) 

Describe one of the children. After that child’s name is guessed, continue describing other children. 

Bible Story

Bible Story - Older Kids

Learn It (8 MINUTES) 

Distribute copies of “Tree Ring Categories” (item 14) and buttons. Explain that as you tell the story, kids will hear at least one statement that matches each category. When they do, they should move the button to that section of the tree trunk. 

Open your Bible to Mark 10, display the “Day 1 Bible Story Picture” (item 1), and tell the story. 

When you finish, call for volunteers to share something from the story that fits each category (something Jesus said, something Jesus did, something the disciples did, a treemendous truth about God). 

Jesus and the Children 

Jesus was with God in the beginning when everything was created. Nothing was created without Jesus. God created a world that was perfect, but God knew that all people would sin (disobey God) and that sin would break the relationship between God and people. So at just the right time, He sent Jesus to earth to restore (fix) the relationship between God and people. 

During His time on earth, Jesus traveled around teaching people about the kingdom of God, healing the sick, and even raising the dead. He has the power to do this because He is the Son of God! 

One day, people brought their little children to Jesus to ask Him to bless them. But the disciples, Jesus’ helpers while He was on earth, seemed to think Jesus was too important to spend time with kids. They tried to stop the parents. 

Jesus saw what was happening and got very angry with His disciples. He said, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them. God’s kingdom belongs to people who will receive it like a little child.” 

Then Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them. 

Every person, including every child, is important to Jesus. The Bible says that every person who receives the gift of salvation Jesus came to bring and believes in His name will be called God’s child. 

John 1:1-3,12; Mark 10:13-16 

Bible Story - Younger Kids

INTRODUCE THE BIBLE STORY 

Say: “I am so glad all of you came today! We will be learning stories in the Bible about Jesus.” Show the Jesus picture from “Peekaboo: Bible” (pack item 10). 

Show the peekaboo envelope. Say: “I have another picture inside this envelope. Look closely at the window in the envelope. Can you tell what the picture is?” Show the window to preschoolers or pass around the envelope. Instruct children to keep the envelope closed and just look at the window. 

TELL THE BIBLE STORY 

Tuck the envelope in your Bible as you open it to Mark 10. Say: “Listen to the story to see if you can figure out what the picture is. We will look inside the envelope after the Bible story.” 

JESUS AND THE CHILDREN 

John 1:1-3,12; Mark 10:13-16 

(Show sequence card with Jesus sitting teaching the people.) 

Jesus was with God in the beginning when everything was created. God knew that all people would disobey Him, so God sent Jesus to earth to tell people about God’s love. 

(Show sequence card with Jesus healing the woman.) 

Jesus traveled around teaching people about God, healing the sick, and even making dead people come back to life. Jesus has the power to do this because He is God’s Son! 

(Show sequence card of disciple holding up his hand to stop the people bringing children to see Jesus.) 

One day, people brought their little children to Jesus to ask Him to bless them. But the disciples, Jesus’ helpers, tried to stop the parents. Jesus saw what was happening and got very angry. He said, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them. God’s love belongs to people who will receive it like a little child.” 

(Show sequence card of Jesus with the children.) 

Then Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them. 

Every person is important to God, including each one of us 

THINK ABOUT THE POINT 

Remove the picture from the peekaboo envelope. Say: ‘It’s a picture of a family! Families came to see Jesus.” 

Display “Bible Story Picture 1” (pack item 1). Say: “Jesus said to let the children come to Him. Jesus knew that all people are important to God. Each one of us is important to God.” 

Tape today’s Zoom In and Point (from “Sunflower Add-ons” [pack item 7]) to the “Sunflower Wall (pack item 6). Read each statement. 

Repeat this statement, calling the name of each child: “Maya is important to God. Jacob is important to God.” 

Pray, thanking God that He loves and sees all people. He loves and sees each child. 

Activities

Older Kids

Live It (9 MINUTES)

Add the Day 1 add-on to the “Magnified! Banner” (items 6–7) and say: “God created everything there is. He created you. He sees you and knows everything about you. He loves you and wants to spend time with you, just like Jesus spent time with the children. These leaves will help you discover ways to spend time with God.”

Form several small groups. Give each group one or more “Hidden Message Leaves” (item 15). Encourage kids to find and read the phrases hidden on each leaf with or without the use of a magnifying glass.

Hide a button in one of your closed fists, then extend both fists to a volunteer. If he chooses the hand with the button, challenge him to describe a way to spend time with God that fits one of these categories: when you’re outside, in a large group, when you’re by yourself, in a quiet way, in a noisy way, in a creative way. 

If the volunteer guesses the incorrect hand, prompt the person to his right to answer the same question. Hand the kid who answers your question the button. Direct him to hide it in one of his hands and choose someone to guess which hand. 

Repeat steps 3 and 4. Continue until everyone has had an opportunity to hide the button and provide a response.

Encourage kids to silently finish this prayer prompt: God, I like to spend time with You because … . Close with a brief prayer of your own. Thank God for knowing and loving everyone He created.

Younger Kids

RECALL THE BIBLE STORY 

Mix the “Story 1 Sequence Cards” (pack item 11) and lay them on the floor (in mixed order). 

Say: “Let’s think about the story and remember what happened.” 

Choose a child to place the magnifying glass on a picture. Ask preschoolers to tell what is happening in the picture. 

Repeat with different children using the magnifying glass and talking about the other pictures. 

Do the same activity again (choosing different children as your group allows). This time after a child lays the magnifying glass on a picture, pick it up and place it below the other pictures. Continue until all the pictures are in order. 

Say: “God sees us. Each person is important to God. You are important to God.” 

REPEAT THE BIBLE VERSE 

Open the Bible to Psalm 34:3. Say the Bible verse paraphrase. 

Display the “Bible Verse Poster” (pack item 8) at children’s eye level. Use the magnifying glass to point to each word as you lead preschoolers to say the verse. 

Choose a child to use the magnifying glass to point to the words as the group says the verse. Repeat with other children as time allows. 

MAKE A MEMORY 

Turn to pages 2–3 in the Preschool Activity Book. Complete the maze together. 

Show the Memory Makers. Tell preschoolers they will add items to the Memory Makers throughout VBS. 

Give each child a Day 1 tag. Talk about the picture of the people. Say that the preschoolers can remember that God sees us. 

Play and sing “I Am Important To God.” 

Help the preschoolers add the Day 1 tag to their Memory Makers. Gather the Memory Makers as you prepare to transition to other activities. 

DRAW LARGE PICTURES 

Supplies: “Teaching Picture 1” (pack item 1), extra-large pieces of paper or bulletin board paper, washable markers or crayons, tape Extend: plastic rulers 

Tape paper to the floor. Paper width should roughly equal the children’s height. 

Lead a child to lie down at the paper so the he is partially on the paper. Give the child one or two markers. Tell the child to draw large pictures to fill the space. 

Encourage the children to reposition their bodies on the paper to reach new areas. Be sure the child understands that it is fine if his designs overlap and cover each other. 

Tell children that they can use their bodies to draw big pictures. Thank God for making the children able to use their bodies and do different things. Say the Bible verse. 

Show the Teaching Picture as you recall the story about Jesus and the children. 

EXTEND THE ACTIVITY 

Tape large paper to a wall, tall box, or cabinet. Tape markers to plastic rulers so that the ends of the markers extend beyond the ends of the rulers. 

Give the ruler/marker combo to an older preschooler or kindergartner. Guide the child to draw on the paper while standing a foot away. 

Encourage her to write her name and the name Jesus. 

Conclusion

Older Kids

End it (3 MINUTES)

Give kids Day 1 Memory Maker tags to place in their Memory Maker bags. 

Prompt kids to consider the outlines of an adult and two kids on the tag. Say: “Suppose you had to explain the picture to a three-year-old sibling or relative. What would you say? What could a three-year-old learn about God from today’s Bible story?”

Encourage kids to share the same story summaries with their families or friends. 

Younger Kids

MOVE AND FREEZE 

Play “Magnified!” and lead preschoolers to wiggle and move. Stop the music unexpectedly and hold up one of the “Stick Figures” pictures (pack item 18). Tell preschoolers to freeze in this position. (You may need to point out the parts of the stick figure for younger preschoolers before starting the game.) Restart the music to move. Stop and freeze in a different position (showing the stick figure). Repeat several times. 

REMEMBER THE BIBLE STORY 

Lay the sequence cards (pack item 11) on the floor. Guide the children to arrange the cards in order. Use the cards to remember the Bible story together. 

Display “Bible Story Picture 1” (pack item 1). Use the “Questions” (pack item 20) to lead preschoolers to think more about the Bible story. 

Point to the Zoom In and Point phrases on the focal wall as you say them. Lead preschoolers to repeat them after you. 

SAY THE BIBLE VERSE 

Open the Bible to Psalm 34:3 and say the verse paraphrase. 

Lay the “Bible Verse Words” (pack item 19) on the floor. Guide preschoolers to help you find the first word of the Bible verse (the card with only one shape). Place that card below the others. 

• Continue building the verse in order. 

• Touch each card as preschoolers say the verse with you. 

• Remove one or two cards. Say the verse again, touching each word and empty space as children say the verse, supplying the missing words. 

SING AND MOVE 

Sing “I Am Important To God” again. Add movements to the song. (See movements on page 47.) 

Repeat the song as time allows or sing “Magnified!” with movements. 

Dismiss the children according to your dismissal plan.