Good Shepherd Group
Group Activities

HIDE AND SHEEP: The children will all find a good hiding place and one child will be the "Shepherd" and will try to find the sheep. When a sheep is found, that sheep will join with the "Shepherd" in finding more sheep.

SHEEP TAG: The children will play a game of tag. One child will be designated as "The Shepherd" and will try to tag the other children who represent the sheep. When one of the "sheep" is tagged, that child will lie down right where they were tagged. Continue to play until all of the sheep are lying down. Children can make the Baa-baa sheep sound while laying down. Allow different children to be the "shepherd" if time allows.

SHEEPS VOICES: Have the children sit in a circle representing sheep in a pen. One of the children will wear a blindfold and will be the shepherd. The teacher will point to one student at a time to make a baa-baa sound. The shepherd will listen to the baa-baa sounds of the sheep and will try to guess what sheep is "calling".

SHEEP RELAY: Divide the children into two teams. The teacher will provide a cut-out of a sheep for each team and tack it to the wall. The teacher will give each team exactly the same number of cotton balls. Each child will take a turn running to their team's sheep and gluing one cotton ball to their sheep. The child will then run back to tag the next team player who will go and glue a cotton ball on the sheep. When the relay game is completed, the teacher will place the cotton ball sheep on two large poster boards with John 10:11 written on the board but with several words missing. Let the children provide the missing words.

COTTON SHEEP: Let the children trace a picture of a small sheep, cut it out, and glue cotton balls on it. Then the teacher will let the children place their sheep on a poster board with a drawing of a sheep pen. The children will then find words written on cards to the Bible verse (John 10:11 or John 10:14) around the room and place them in the correct order on the poster board.

HAND PRINT SHEEP: Items needed are white tempera paint, a sponge applicator, construction paper, and a fine-point black marker. Step by step procedure: 1) The children will use the sponge applicator to spread a thick coating of white tempera paint to one hand. 2) Place the hand on a sheet of construction paper and press down. 3) Lift the hand and wash it off. 4) When the hand print has dried, use the marker to draw details such as eyes, ears, nose, on the sheep. Note: The thumb forms the neck and head area, the palm is the body, and the four fingers are legs.

YARN SHEEP: Let each child cut out a black sheep from card stock. Then, beginning at the neck of the sheep to the tail of the sheep, wrap thick white yarn around the sheep and tuck the end of the yarn into the body of the yarn/sheep. Add wiggly craft eyes if desired.

SHEEP MASK: Give each child a white paper plate with the center cut out. Have the children cut out ears from construction paper and glue them to the edge of the plate. They will then glue pieces of cotton all around the edge of the plate. The children will them hold the plate up to their face allowing their face to show through. Explain to the children that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep!

CLOTHESPIN SHEEP: The teacher will provide each child with two clothespins, a magic marker, and a piece of poster board to make the body of the sheep, black construction paper for the ears, and some cotton balls. Using a pattern provided by the teacher, the children will trace the body of the sheep (no legs) and cut it out. They will then cover the body with cotton balls, glue on the ears. Use the magic marker to color the clothespins to create the legs. Attach the clothespins to the bottom of the sheep's body which will enable the sheep to stand alone. (Click here for more.)

SING A SONG: SAVIOR LIKE A SHEPHERD LEAD US; JESUS LOVES ME; JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN

SHARE A SNACK: MARSHMALLOW SHEEP - Give each child a large marshmallow with four small pretzels as legs.

Song: "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us"

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track

Song:  "Jesus Loves Me"