The First Passover
Group Activities

Sermon Title: "The First Passover"

Scripture Reading: Exodus 12:1-14

UPS AND DOWNS:

When the teacher has the class divided into two teams, the teams will be named and then the teacher can call out one team's name to stand UP and another teams name to sit DOWN.. and go back and forth .. or the teacher can have all the children play together and just stand UP when the teacher shouts UP, or DOWN when the teacher shouts DOWN. Any variation of UPS and DOWNS will be fine and will lead into the lesson today.

YO YO TO GO GO:

Give each child a yo yo to see how long it can go go (UP and DOWN). Let children do other ideas with their yo yo's before getting in a circle to listen to today's story.

BLANKET COVERING:

Let children put sheets or blankets over tables put together. Children can take turns going under the table to hide from the plagues or for any other reason that can be added through out the story time.

ACT IT OUT:

Let the children dress up as Moses or Pharoah in crowns made from wide strips of paper and taped on the child's head after decorating with markers and glitter. Children can use water and add red food coloring for the water turning into blood, or small pieces of ice for the hail plague, or a dark room when darkness covered them, etc -- Use imagine and let children make a memory of today's lesson that they will never forget. A large stick for a staff for Moses and also a rubber snake could be included for the children in acting out the story.

PAINT IT RED:

Give children paper plates to color or finger paint RED, to stand for the blood in today's lesson, as a sign over the houses or the water turning to blood. Children can write, GOD'S LOVE AND PROTECTION on their red plates.

HOUSE SHAPES:

Each child can be given a piece of construction paper and many shapes in other colors that the teacher has cut out before class time.The children can glue all the shapes into a form to look like a house or several houses and write words from today's lesson such as THE FIRST PASSOVER, or GOD'S LOVE AND PROTECTION, or THANK YOU JESUS, etc.

CROSS CUTTINGS:

The children can run this as a relay if desired or each child just take the cross strips and form a cross of their own. If this is done as a relay, then the teams will take as many strips of paper as they can have time for, to form crosses on a long piece of white paper (butcher paper, etc) on a focal wall. When the time is up, the teacher can count how many crosses each team form in the alloted time. Just provide tape or glue to the strips of paper in the form of crosses. Let children know that the cross stands for GOD's Love and Protection for us in caring for us just like He cared for His children in Egypt long ago and HE DIED on the CROSS for all the wrong things we do!

LOVE AND PROTECTION HEART:

Give each child a large red heart to cut out and decorate. Glue a small square piece of paper to the front of the heart as a "door" and draw a small stick person or happy face behind the door to stand for the child that God loves and protects. Children could write, LOVE AND PROTECTION, or COME INTO MY HEART JESUS, on the outside of the heart.

FORGIVENESS ACROSTIC:

Write FORGIVENESS down the left side of a large poster board for children to work together to write a word or phrase about today's lesson, beside each of the letters of FORGIVENESS. Let children tell the class what that word or phrase means from today's story and in our lives as well.

CHALK TALK:

If there is an area outside where the children can do a chalk talk of today's lesson, then let all the children spread out in a certain area with their chalk and draw parts of today's story that they remembered and ones that meant the most to them. Then take a short CHALK TALK WALK to each child's area and let them explain what they have drawn.

SING A SONG:

MY GOD IS SO BIG, SO STRONG AND SO MIGHTY; JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN; THANK YOU LORD. (The internet has many "funny passover songs for children", if desired.)

SHARE A SNACK:

Children could be given a choice of many types of crackers (to stand for the unleavened bread). The teacher could have toppings for the crackers if desired, though, such as peanut butter, jam, cheese ball, etc. Of course some red juice would fit right in as well!!

Song: "My God Is So Great"

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track

Song: "I Am Coming to the Cross"

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track

The above song may be downloaded and reproduced for religious or educational use by churches, schools, home schoolers, and other non-profit organizations.