The ideas below may help you when teaching your preschoolers a lesson about the Beatitudes. Feel free to use these ideas to supplement your current curriculum or to make your own lesson.
Story Suggestion
Matthew 5:1-12
Game Ideas
Balloon Sweep
Directions: We have times in our lives when we need to sweep out the sin and make our souls clean. Arrange teams in parallel lines. Place a balloon and a regular house broom (or smaller one that you can find at a toy store) on the floor in front of each team. At the signal the first player in each team sweeps the balloon to a designated goal line and back, giving the broom to the second player in the line. The first team to complete the sweeping and sit down is the winner. The broom handle is not allowed to come into contact with the balloon.
Throw a Smile
Directions: Have the children sit in a circle. One player who is "It" starts the game by smiling widely, while all the other players are somber. "It" then uses his hand to wipe the smile off his face and throw it to another player who has to catch the smile with his hand and put it on. This new "It" can then wipe off the smile to throw to someone else when he is ready. He may choose to grin for a while, trying to make other children giggle. Once a player is caught with a smirk and they are not in possession of the smile, they are out of the game.
Snacks
A good snack for this lesson would be:
"Bee" Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup soft butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Mini chocolate morsels
- Toothpicks
- Cocoa powder
- Sliced almonds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Beat the butter, sugar, and egg in a large bowl until smooth.
- In another mixing bowl add flour, cornmeal, and baking powder, and mix to well blended. Add this mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix until dough feels like clay.
- Now form the body of the bee. Roll dough into small balls. You need two balls for each bee.
- Press the balls together and place on greased cookie sheet.
- Place two mini chocolate morsels on the first ball to make the eyes.
- Dip toothpick in the cocoa powder and press lightly on the second ball to make three bees stripes.
- Tuck two almond slice sticking up between the two balls to make the wings.
- Refrigerate bees for 30 minutes.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
Another good snack for this lesson would be:
Bee Snack
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/3 cup of dry milk
- 2 tablespoons wheat germ
- Cocoa powder
- Almond slices
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, mix peanut butter and honey until blended.
- Stir in dry milk and wheat germ, mixing well.
- Lay this mixture on wax paper on a baking sheet. Using one tablespoon at a time, shape peanut butter into ovals to look like bees.
- Dip a toothpick in cocoa powder and press lightly across the top of the bees to make stripes.
- Stick on almonds for wings.
- Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Art Center Ideas
Fingerprint Bee Craft
Materials:
- Black ink pad, washable
- Yellow colored pencil
- Black fine point marker
- Blank greeting card with a memory verse already written on it
Directions:
- Have the children press their fingers onto the stamp pad, then press lightly onto the paper to make the bee body.
- With a fine point marker draw the wings, stripes, antennae, and face.
- Color in the tail and wings with a yellow colored pencil.
- Have the children keep the card to memorize their memory verse.
Bee Craft
Materials:
- Bee print out sheet (see below)
- Crayons
- Glue stick
Directions:
- Print one bee print out sheet from below. The craft will work best, if printed on cardstock paper.
- Have the children color the bee yellow and the other parts the colors they want to use.
- Cut out the patterns, and let the children glue the pieces to the appropriate places.
Suggested Prayer (or use your own)
Thank you Jesus for giving us rules to live by. Thank you for showing us how to be blessed. We love you with all of our heart and soul. To us, Jesus, you are the best!
See the full list of Sunday School lesson ideas on both the Old Testament and the New Testament!
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