God is Love - You are Loved

Mark 10:13-16

Idea 1

Make a list of all the people who love you

  • Put people on the list like your Mom and Dad, Grandparents, friends, brothers and sisters

  • Talk about why you think they love you? Did you do anything that makes them love you?

  • Do they love you when you are really good or have done something great? Do they still love you when you have had a hard day?

  • Come to the conclusion that they love you because you are family - and they will love you no matter what.

  • Your family loves you because you belong to them, and God loves you because you belong to Him as well.

Idea 2

Read “A Friend of Little Children” in The Jesus Storybook Bible on page 256

Idea 3

Make a list or draw pictures of all the things that make you feel loved

  • hugs

  • being told “I love you”

  • presents

  • spending time

  • Ask the kids how they feel the most loved.

  • Ask them if they have ever felt loved by God?  What did it feel like?

Idea 4

Talk about different ways that God loves us.

  • share with the kids a story of when God gave you something that you needed just at the right moment.

  • or talk about some time that you spent with God and you felt loved.

  • Ask the kids if they have anything to share.

Idea 5

Play a game of “Darling if you love me won’t you please please smile”

  • Sit in a circle and choose one person to be “it’

  • They can choose another person and walk up to them - the goal is to make them smile.

  • They need to say the words “Darling if you love me won’t you please please smile”  In return the recipient needs to say without a smile “Darling you know I love you but I just won’t smile”

  • The game keeps going until the person who is “it” makes someone smile.

Idea 6

Let the kids draw portraits of themselves on nice paper.

  • put the portraits in frame and on the frame write the words “God loves You”

Idea 7

Give each of the kids a mirror

  • In mirror markers let the kids write “God love me”

Idea 8

Talk about people who are easy to love and people who are hard to love.

  • What makes someone easy to love?

  • What makes someone harder to love?

  • Does God love the people who are easy to love?

  • Does God love the people who are hard to love?

  • How can that help us love people who are hard to love?

  • Does God only love the easy to love people?

  • What does it look like to love hard to love people?

Idea 9

Play “Red light Green Light” with the kids

  • Red means stop and green means go

  • Have all the kids line up on one side of the room. Let them know that when you say green light they can walk towards you, but if you say red light, then they need to freeze.

  • Put your back to them and call out “green light” let them walk for a bit, then call out “red light” and turn around and see if everyone is frozen. If they are moving then send them to the start line to begin again.

  • Play this game before you read the story to the kids, after the game is finished mention that today’s story has a bit of a red light and a green light in it. Someone gives some kids the red light, but Jesus gives them the green light.