Jesus Walks on the Water
Actividades del grupo

Sermon Title: "Walking on the Water", "Keep Your Eyes on Jesus" and "When You Need a Helping Hand"

Scripture Reading:Matthew 14:22-33

WATER WAVE NAME TAGS:

Give the children name tags cut out of cardboard stock and have them draw waves and write their names on the waves and pin them to their shirts.

WATER PAINTING:

Let the children brush or finger paint a picture of today's lesson on a large poster board and then write parts of today's Bible verse on their painting after it dries(during class) and review the verse!

PETER on the WATER:

Give each child a ping pong ball to draw a face on with permanent marker and give them each a small plastic bowl with water in it to float the ping pong ball. Write parts of the lesson or today's Bible verse on a slip of paper to glue or tape to the glass or bowl to take home to tell the story to someone else and to remind them to have FAITH!

BOAT BUILDING:

Give each child a sponge and toothpicks to stick in the sponge to hold the sails that they will cut out of white paper. Float the sponge in a large bowl of water and talk about today's lesson and how Peter's Faith allowed him to get OUT of the boat and walk to Jesus—until he took his eyes off of Jesus!

FAITH DRAWING:

Let children work together to create a chalk drawing of FAITH and believing (on one side of the chalk board for one team of children) and NON FAITH and doubt on the other side of the board. Give the children ideas for their "drawings" such as happy or sad faces, Peter ON the water (FAITH) and Peter sinking (non-faith/doubt), FAITH=floater, DOUBT=sinker, etc! Title their drawings and let each team explain their drawings!

WATER WALKING:

Let children take off their shoes and socks and take turns placing their feet in a shallow pan of water and then the first child will walk on the floor or on the sidewalk and make foot prints. Then the next child will put their feet in the water and try to walk on the exact same footprints as the first child. Each child will follow after and see if they can walk on the same prints. If they happen to make a new print, then the children following can choose which foot prints they want to follow. Tell children that today we'll be talking about walking on the water!

WATER RING RELAY:

Divide the children into two teams. The teams will take turns running to the far side of the room and putting on a swim ring and run back to their team. The next player will be handed the swim ring and will put it on and then run to the far side of the room and take the swim ring off and run back to their team, where the next player will run to put on the swim ring and continue to play until all the players have run.

WATER BALLOON ART:

If children are able to go outside, give each child a water balloon to throw and let it "splat" on the sidewalk. Then each child will be given sidewalk chalk to trace around their water mark to create sidewalk art. Let the children walk around to see everyone's water art!

WATER SQUIRT GUNS:

Give each child a squirt gun (inexpensive guns may be purchased in season at a dollar store) and buckets of water. Children can all write words from today's lesson with their squirt guns on the sidewalk or parking lot. Bible words such as Faith, Peter, Lord, Jesus, doubt from today's lesson may be suggested to the children. Let children tell how their Water Words fit in today's lesson.

PICNIC AND/OR "WATER"MELON SNACKS:

Did you know that watermelon is 91% water by weight? To keep with the theme of today's lesson, let children enjoy some WATERmelon chunks and if they're doing that outside - they could see who can have the FAITH that "THEY" could spit the WATERmelon seeds the farthest!! WATER taffy could be another snack treat for the kids! This could be enjoyed on a blanket or at a picnic table like a picnic together while discussing today's story and FAITH!

ROLL OUT THE WATER:

Roll out a LONG sheet of paper on a table and let children draw waves with blue markers on the lower half of the paper. Draw a boat, Peter, and Jesus and tell the story again while the children draw pictures as the story is told. Write the Bible verse in the waves.

Song: "Walkin' on the Water" by Charles Kirkpatrick

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track

Song: "Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus" by Helen H. Lemmel

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Demo Track