35Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

Praise Jesus!

Bible Point

Bible Verse“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

Growing Closer to JesusChildren will n experience temptation, n learn that rules are made to protect them, n learn that nothing they do is bad enough to keep God from loving them, and n discover ways to make things right when they do wrong.

Teacher EnrichmentThe Bible Basisn Adam and Eve disobey God.

The first thing we read about regarding the temptation described in Genesis 3:1-24 is the craftiness of the serpent. Knowing he had made Eve question God, the serpent proceeded to take his deception further, suggesting that God had lied to her and insinuating that God didn’t have Eve’s best interests in mind.

Adam was to blame, too, though. He had heard God speak the words of prohibition. He wasn’t deceived by Satan’s agent, the serpent. He simply took the fruit from Eve.

Adam and Eve didn’t “become like God” but instead were hit in the face with reality: They had disobeyed God. The beings God had created and provided for so bountifully had turned against him. But God came looking for them, knowing well what had happened. Here God showed his character and established what would become a pattern: When people sin and turn against God, God seeks them out and draws them to himself. God loves his people—no matter what.

Prayer• Read Romans 5:6-11.• How has God demonstrated his love to you today?• Pray: Lord, thank you for loving me and the children I teach no matter what we do. Help us obey you and give love

back to you by…

God loves us no matter what.

Genesis 3

Adam and Eve Disobey God • Lesson 3

Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

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0 pt0 What Children Will Do Classroom Supplies Learning Lab Supplies

Welcome Welcome!—Receive a warm welcome from the teacher, and make name tags.

“Tree Name Tags” (p. 23), scissors, markers, tape

Attention Grabber

Temptation!—Face temptation while drawing the Garden of Eden.

Newsprint, markers, crayons, bowls, candies, white frosting, graham crackers

Bible Exploration &

Application

Adam and Eve Disobey—Use graham cracker puppets to act out the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis 3.

Bible, graham crackers, candies, frosting, plastic knives, drawings of the garden from the “Temptation!” activity

Never-Ending Love—Play a game in which they learn that even when they do wrong, God’s love for them never ends.

Impossible Obstacles—Win an award even though they don’t complete an obstacle course, and then learn of God’s unconditional love from Romans 3:23-24.

Bible, “God Loves Me Medals” (p. 45), scissors, tape

What to Do?—Hear about forgiveness from Matthew 6:12, and then decide how to make amends for doing wrong.

Bible, CD player

Closing I Feel Like…—Act out how God’s love makes them feel, and thank God for his love.

Before the Lessonn Collect items for the activities you plan to use, referring to the Classroom Supplies and Learning Lab Supplies listed in

the chart.n Make photocopies of the “Growing Together” handout (at the end of this lesson) to send home with your children.n Pray for your students and for God’s direction in teaching the lesson.

This Lesson at a Glance

37Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

Adam and Eve Disobey God

WelcomeSUPPLIES: “Tree Name Tags” (p. 23), scissors, markers, tape

• Greet each child individually with an enthusiastic smile.• Thank each child for coming to class today.• As children arrive, ask them about last week’s “Growing

Together” activities. Use questions such as “What fun bedtime stories did you hear?” and “How did singing songs about God’s creation with your mom or dad make you feel?”

• Say: Today we’re going to learn that God loves us no matter what.• Hand out the name tags children made during Lesson 1, and help children attach the

name tags to their clothing. If some of the name tags were damaged, or if children weren’t in class that week, have them make new name tags using the photocopiable handout.

• Tell the children that the attention-getting signal you’ll use during this lesson will be blowing the bird whistle. Ask children to respond by raising their hands. Rehearse the signal with the children, telling them to respond quickly so you’ll have plenty of time for all the fun activities planned for this lesson.

Attention Grabbern Temptation!SUPPLIES: newsprint, markers, crayons, bowls, candies, white frosting, graham crackers

Before class, scatter sheets of newsprint on the floor. You’ll need one sheet of newsprint for every four children.

Have children form groups of four, and have each group gather around a sheet of newsprint. Tell children to use markers and crayons to draw the Garden of Eden.

While the children are working, bring out bowls of colorful candy, such as Skittles and M&M’s, and an opened can of white frosting. Set them on a table near the children. Call their attention to the snack.

Say: I need to go get part of our snack. Keep working while I get it. Don’t eat any of the candy or frosting while I’m gone.

Leave the room for a couple of minutes, and then return with a box of graham crackers. Set the crackers on the table with the candy.

Give children three or four minutes to complete their drawings. Then blow the bird whistle to get children’s attention, and wait for their responses. Gather them in an open area of the room, and sit down with them.

Ask: • While I was gone, were any of you tempted to eat the candy? What happened? (Yes, Riley ate some, but I didn’t; yes, but I didn’t eat any; no, you told us not to eat any of the candy, so I didn’t.)

• What did you think might happen if you got caught? (You might have gotten mad; I would have gotten in trouble.)

Say: Today we’re going to learn about the people who lived in the garden you drew. They were tempted to eat something, too. God loved the people in

It’s important to say the Bible Point just as it’s written in each activity. Repeating the Bible Point over and over will help children remember it and apply it to their lives.

Make sure you’re gone long enough for the children to want to take some candy or taste the frosting.

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the garden even though they were tempted to do wrong. Today we’re going to learn that God loves us no matter what.

Bible Exploration & Applicationn Adam and Eve DisobeySUPPLIES: Bible, graham crackers, candies, frosting, plastic knives, drawings of the garden from the “Temptation!” activity

Have children wash their hands, and then give each child a graham cracker and a handful of candy. Have children take turns spreading frosting on their crackers. Tell the children not to eat anything yet. Explain that they’ll be making cracker puppets to use during the story time.

Have children return to their small groups from the “Temptation!” activity. In each group, have children choose one person to be Adam, one to be Eve, one to be the snake, and one to be God. Then have children decorate their crackers with the candy so the crackers look like their characters. If you have a group of more than four, let more than one child be Adam or Eve. If you have a group with fewer than four, assign more than one role to a child.

Give children two or three minutes to finish, and then tell the following story. Have each small group use its cracker puppets to act out the story, using the drawings of the Garden of Eden.

Open your Bible to Genesis 3, and put the Bible in front of you. Say: This story comes from the book of Genesis. That’s the first book of the Bible. Listen carefully while I tell you what happened so you can act it out with your puppets.

When God created the world, he made a beautiful garden. In it he put plants, trees, rivers, and animals. Adam and Eve lived in the garden, too. God told them to enjoy the garden. They could eat fruit from any tree in the garden except one.

That one tree gave knowledge of good and evil. God said eating fruit from that tree would make people die. So Adam and Eve stayed away from the tree.

One day the snake said to Eve, “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat any fruit in the whole garden?”

Eve said, “No, God said we can eat all the fruit except the fruit of one tree. God said we shouldn’t even touch that fruit or we would die.”

But the snake said, “You won’t die if you eat it. God knows that if you eat it, you’ll know the difference between good and evil. That means you’ll be like God.”

Eve looked at the tree. She saw that it was beautiful. The fruit looked like it tasted good, and she wanted to be wise like God. So, even though God had told her not to, she picked fruit from the tree and ate it. Then she gave some of the fruit to Adam, and he ate it, too.

The fruit gave them knowledge, just as God had said it would. They realized they weren’t wearing any clothes, and they were embarrassed. So they gathered leaves and sewed them together to make clothes for themselves.

Bring plastic knives from home, or use butter knives from the church kitchen.

Bible InsightOne theological view of the fall of man states that the fall was not predetermined by God but was foreseen and provided for by divine grace. Although Adam and Eve were forced to leave the perfection of their lives in the Garden of Eden, they fell into the arms of redemption and mercy. Thus, humans today can still find freedom from the bondage of sin through God’s grace and mercy.

39Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

Adam and Eve Disobey God

Then they heard God walking in the garden. Adam and Eve hid from God because they were afraid. God called out to Adam, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you coming and was afraid because I wasn’t wearing any clothes, so I hid.”

God asked, “Who told you that you weren’t wearing any clothes? Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat?”

Adam said, “This woman that you made for me gave me the fruit, so I ate it.”

God said to Eve, “How could you do this when I told you not to?”Eve said, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”God looked at the snake and said, “Because you did this, I have to punish

you. From now on, you’ll have to crawl on your stomach and eat dust.”God punished Adam and Eve, too. He told Adam and Eve that they

couldn’t live in the Garden of Eden anymore. Because they disobeyed, God said they would have to work hard to gather enough food to eat and someday they would die.

Have the children act out the story with their cracker puppets and drawings of the garden. Then allow the children to eat their cracker puppets while they discuss the following questions in their small groups. Ask volunteers to share their answers with the rest of the class.

Ask: • Who did something wrong in this story? (Adam; Eve; the snake.)• What did they do that was wrong? (Adam and Eve ate the fruit; the snake

tried to get Eve to do wrong.)• How do you think Adam and Eve felt when they knew they had done

wrong? (They were afraid; they were sad; they were wise; they were glad because they were like God.)

• How do you think God felt when Adam and Eve disobeyed him? (I’ll bet God was mad; I think God was disappointed.)

• Have you ever decided to disobey? What happened? (Yes, I ate cookies before dinner when my mom told me not to; no, I always do what I’m told.)

Say: God was disappointed when Adam and Eve chose to disobey him. We disappoint God when we disobey, too. But God still loved Adam and Eve. And

God loves us no matter what.

HANDS-ON BIBLESay: Adam and Eve did something they knew was wrong, and

they tried to hide from God afterward. Sometimes when we do something we know is wrong, we try to hide, too. But we don’t really get away with it, do we? Let’s look in our Hands-On Bible and see what that’s about.

Help children locate Genesis 3 in their Hands-On Bibles and find the “Thumb-thing to Think About” activity. Distribute plain white sheets of paper for each child and washable markers for children to share. Have children take turns scribbling on the bottom of one thumb with the marker and then pressing the thumb on a clean, white sheet of paper.

First- and second-graders have a good understanding of the consequences of their actions, but they can be stubborn and willful anyway. They may not completely understand that God loves them unconditionally, no matter what they do. You can encourage and support your students by helping them remember that they will always be children of God and that nothing at all can separate them from the love of God.

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Say: Look at your thumbprint! Did you know that even when you don’t have ink on your fingers, you leave fingerprints on everything you touch? You can’t see them, but they’re there.

That’s what it’s like when we do something wrong and try to hide from God. We can’t hide anything from God—God sees everything.

Ask: • Can you think of a time you tried to hide something from your parents? What happened? (I broke a dish and tried to hide the pieces in the trash, but Mom found them; I fed my vegetables to the dog, but when he ate them, he threw up and I got in trouble.)

• What should you do if you know you have done something wrong? (Tell my dad; admit it; ask my parents to forgive me.)

Say: We can’t get away with doing wrong things. God sees our sins as clearly as we see the thumbprint on our piece of paper. But God wants to forgive us. If we believe in Jesus and tell God we’re sorry, we will be forgiven because God loves us no matter what.

Replace caps on markers. Have children wash their hands thoroughly before continuing to the next activity.

n Never-Ending LoveSUPPLIES: none

Say: In our Bible lesson today, the snake tricked Adam and Eve into eating the fruit on the special tree. The snake was not just any snake but was Satan pretending to be a snake. Eve thought she could trust the snake, but she didn’t know that the snake was really Satan.

Ask: • Have you ever been tricked by someone you thought you could trust? (Yes, my brother put hot sauce on my

food and it burned my mouth; yes, my friend said it would be all right to come to her house after school, but I got in trouble because I didn’t tell my mom.)

• How did you feel when that person tricked you? (I was hurt; I don’t trust my brother anymore; it made me mad.)

Say: Sometimes other people trick us, and it makes it hard for us to trust them. But we can always trust God. God loves us no matter what and knows what’s best for us. We should always do what God wants, even when it isn’t what other people want us to do. We’re going to play a game now in which we practice following God’s voice and not someone else’s.

Have children stand in a circle, clasp their hands behind their backs, and close their eyes. Choose two volunteers, and lead them away from the circle. Give one child the wiggle snake and instructions to tell the other kids in the class to pretend to do something bad, such as tease another child or steal a candy bar, during the game. Give the other volunteer a twist coil bracelet, and instruct him or her to tell the other kids to pretend to do something good, such as be nice to all the kids in class or pay for the candy bar, during the game. Have the volunteers hide their objects behind their backs and then rejoin the circle.

Say: OK, you can open your eyes now. Two of you are hiding something behind your backs, and it’s up to the rest of you to figure out who has what.

41Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

Adam and Eve Disobey God

One person is holding a pretend snake, like the one we heard about in our Bible story, and one person is holding a bracelet like this one. Hold up the other twist coil bracelet. See how the circle shape goes around and around but never ends? Trace the bracelet with your finger. The circle represents God because it never ends, just like God’s love for us never, ever ends. God loves us no matter what! Now let’s try to guess who has which item.

Have the two volunteers follow the instructions you gave them earlier, and then let the rest of the class guess who is holding the wiggle snake and who is holding the twist coil bracelet. Play the game several times until each child has had a turn holding at least one of the objects.

Say: The snake reminds us of the bad thing the snake in the garden asked Eve to do.

Ask: • What wrong things were you ever tempted by someone else to do? (Stick my tongue out behind someone’s back; poke my neighbor in the arm.)

• What happened when you disobeyed? (I got in trouble; I hurt my sister’s feelings.)

Say: Sometimes it’s hard to know what is the right thing to do. But we can trust God to help us. We can learn how to do right things through what we learn in the Bible, through our parents, and through other grown-ups we trust. And, even when we do something wrong, we can still ask God to forgive us, because God’s love never ends. Hold up the twist coil bracelet, and use your finger to trace around the circle again.

Ask: • What are some other things that seem like they never end? (The sky; the ocean; heaven.)

• What are some things that we know will end or that we can run out of? (Food; life; toys because they might break.)

Say: Many things in this world will end, but we know that God’s love for us will never, ever end. Hold up the twist coil bracelet again. Even when we do wrong things and get in trouble, we can know that God loves us no matter what. Now let’s see if we can earn a prize by trying to do something really hard.

n Impossible ObstaclesSUPPLIES: Bible, “God Loves Me Medals” (p. 45), scissors, tape

Before class, photocopy and cut out the “God Loves Me Medals.” You’ll need one medal for each child. Put the medals out of sight.

Spread the checkered mat upside down on the floor. Together with the children, use other gizmos to create an obstacle course on top of the mat. For example, line up the washable markers like a slalom course. Then create a winding lane lined with the linked hearts and stars. Lay out the fake fur. Create a tunnel by propping the cardboard pieces up with pieces of the modeling clay. Mark the course with a washable marker.

Have children take turns blowing a wooden bead through the obstacle course. Tell kids they have to get through the obstacle course with no mistakes if they want to get a prize. Explain that the bead must never fall off the mat and can never get off track even a little bit.

To save time, you may want to create this obstacle course before class.

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Have all the children who make it through the course perfectly gather in one group while all the children who make mistakes gather in another. Make sure the children who’ve taken a turn sit where they can watch the rest of the class members take their turns. Chances are, no one will be able to get through the course without the bead getting off track at least once.

Say: Now it’s time to hand out the prizes.Give each child a medal, but don’t explain why the children have received them or

what they’re for. Have children write their names on the medals. Read the medals aloud so nonreading children will understand what they say. Help children tape their medals to their clothing.

Move the obstacle course where it won’t distract children.Have children form pairs and ask each other the following questions.Ask: • Why do you think everyone got a medal? (Maybe you were feeling sorry

for us; we shouldn’t have because we all messed up.)• Did you deserve a medal? Why or why not? (Yes, we all tried hard; no, none

of us did what we were supposed to.)• Are there ever times in real life when you try really hard but you still

mess up? Explain. (Yes, I try to do my schoolwork perfectly, but I can’t; yes, I want to be able to do woodwork as well as my dad, but I can’t; no, I can always do what I try to do.)

Say: It was really hard to earn a prize in this obstacle course, but you all got a prize anyway. There’s something else that’s even harder to earn. In fact, it’s impossible! It’s God’s love. I’ll read Romans 3:23-24 to show you what I mean.

Read Romans 3:23-24 aloud. Then ask:• Why can’t we earn God’s love? (Because we sin; we do

wrong things; we’re not that good.)• If we don’t deserve God’s love, why does he give it to us?

(Because he just does; he loves us so much; he thinks we’re worth it.)• What’s it like to know that no matter what, God will still love you?

(Neat; amazing; cool; great.)Say: We all make mistakes, even when we’re trying to do good.

Our Bible verse for today comes from Romans 5:8, and this is what it says: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

God loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. We can’t get right with God by ourselves, but if we believe in Jesus and tell God we’re sorry for our sins, we will be forgiven.

I’d like to hear you say our Bible Point with me: God loves us no matter what. Repeat the Bible Point with the children. Nothing you can do will make God stop loving you.

Take apart the obstacle course, and put the Learning Lab items away.

43Hands-On Bible Curriculum—Grades 1 & 2

Adam and Eve Disobey God

n What to Do?SUPPLIES: Bible, CD player

Say: You’ve learned that God loves us and forgives us when we’re sorry for wrong things we do. But others may not be so loving when we do something that hurts them. Jesus told us what to do when people do things that hurt us.

Read Matthew 6:12 aloud, and then ask:• What should we do when people do things that hurt us? (Forgive them;

talk with them.)• What does the Bible say God will do for us then? (He will forgive us our sins.)Then say: Now let’s practice what we just learned. I’m going to read a

story. When I finish, I want you to decide what the characters in the story should do.

Ryan was busy working on a drawing of the United States for a class project. Ryan was tired of working and wanted to go out to play, but his mom said there would be no playing until his work was finished.

While Ryan was working, his 4-year-old sister, Emmy, walked in, picked up a marker, and started scribbling on his homework.

“Emmy!” Ryan yelled. “You’re ruining my homework! Stop it!”But Emmy just giggled and scribbled some more.Ryan got up and shoved Emmy so hard she fell down and burst out crying.Just as Ryan pushed Emmy, their mother walked in the room.Form three groups. Tell Group 1 to decide what the mother should do, Group 2 to

decide what Ryan should do, and Group 3 to decide what Emmy should do.Give each group a minute to decide what its character should do. Then have groups

share their ideas with the rest of the class. As each idea is shared, ask questions such as “What would happen if the person did that?” and “How would the rest of the family feel if the person did that?”

After every action option has been discussed, ask:• Who did something wrong in the story? What did he or she do that was

wrong? (Emmy ruined Ryan’s homework; Ryan pushed his sister.)• Would it be wrong or right for the mother to punish the children?

Explain. (Right, because they broke the rules; right, but Emmy should be punished and Ryan shouldn’t because he was just getting even.)

• What could Emmy have done to show she was sorry for ruining Ryan’s homework? (She could’ve said she was sorry; she could’ve helped him make a new drawing; she could’ve promised never to do it again.)

• What could Ryan have done to show he was sorry for shoving Emmy? (He could’ve said he was sorry; he could’ve promised never to push her again.)

• What could Ryan do if Emmy ruins his homework again? (Get help from his mom; remind her that she promised not to; leave the room so he doesn’t push her again.)

Say: God loves us no matter what. But when we do something wrong, we still have to face the consequences. Sometimes that means getting punished. We can say “I’m sorry” to help make things right again. Saying “I’m sorry” means we wish we hadn’t done the wrong thing and we plan to never do that same wrong thing on purpose again. That’s one way we

track 4

When you form groups, put outgoing children with quieter children. If some children encourage each other to be unruly, put them in separate groups during this activity.

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can show God how much we love him, too. Let’s listen to a song about God’s great love for us.

Play “His Great Love” (Romans 5:8), track 4 on the CD. Play the song a second time, and encourage the children to sing with the CD. Lyrics are at the back of this book.

Say: Let’s think for a moment now about what it feels like to be loved by God so much.

Closingn I Feel Like...SUPPLIES: none

Have each child complete the following sentence with an action word: “Knowing that God loves me no matter what makes me feel like…” For example, children might say, “singing,” “jumping,” “shouting,” or “being nice to others.” Take a moment for the class to act out each child’s response. Then pray, thanking God for his love and asking for his help in making things right when we do wrong.

Growing closer to Jesus extends beyond the classroom.Photocopy the “Growing Together” handout (at the end of this lesson) for this week, and send it home with your children. Encourage children and parents to use the handout to plan meaningful activities on this week’s topic. Follow up the “Growing Together” activities next week by asking children what their families did together.

45Permission to photocopy this handout from Group’s Hands-On Bible Curriculum® Grades 1 & 2 granted for local church use.

Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Ave., Loveland, CO 80538. group.com

God Loves Me MedalsMake enough photocopies of this page to give one medal to each child. Cut the

medals apart, and put them aside so children won’t see them.

46Permission to photocopy this handout from Group’s Hands-On Bible Curriculum® Grades 1 & 2 granted for local church use.

Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc., 1515 Cascade Ave., Loveland, CO 80538. group.com

Bible StoryAdam and Eve disobey God.

Genesis 3

Today your child learned that there’s nothing he or she can do that will make God’s love end. Children learned that God is disappointed when they disobey but he is gracious and willing to forgive. They also learned to say “I’m sorry” when they do wrong.

Talking to GodInstead of a spoken prayer at the dinner table this week, sing songs about God’s love for you and about your love for God. Sing songs such as “Jesus Loves Me,” “Love Him, Love Him,” and “Father, I Adore You.” You can even compose your own song about God’s love.

Love That LastsPlay this game with your child to reassure him or her that your love is secure just as God’s is. Ask your child to think of the silliest or “awfullest” things he or she could do. For example, your child

might say, “What if I was playing in the back yard and the ball went through the window, knocked over your favorite lamp, knocked out the cat, smashed a hole in the television, and hit you in the head?” To this you’d reply, “I’d still love you because I’ll love you no matter what.” Then turn the game around and ask your child what he or she would do if you did the silly or awful thing.

Lots of LoveHave your child tell you a story about what love is. It can be a story about God’s love, a parent’s love, or a child’s love. Then discuss Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God. Talk about how Adam and Eve must have felt

when they realized that God loved them even though they had done wrong.

Kids CraftsEven if it’s not Valentine’s Day, use paper doilies to make valentines with your child to send to family and friends. Your valentines could read, “I learned this week that God loves me no matter what. So I wanted to tell you that I’ll love you no matter what.”

God’s Creation 3:God loves us no matter what.

Key Verse“But God showed his great love

for us by sending Christ to die

for us while we were still sinners”

(Romans 5:8).