Week 3: Gender Equality
Focus Prayer: "Your Kingdom (kin-dom) come."
Bible Story: Mary Magdalene and Mary meet the resurrected Jesus
Focus Prayer: "Your Kingdom (kin-dom) come."
Bible Story: Mary Magdalene and Mary meet the resurrected Jesus
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STORY ACTIVITIES
SKIT: VBS Day 3 Skit
STORY: Story Day 3 - Guatemala BIBLE STORY & JOURNAL TIME God created each of us with different skills, gifts, likes and talents — all of us are part of God’s “kingdom”! When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are asking God to remind us that we are all part of God’s plan for the world and that each of us has gifts and skills to share! In today’s Bible story, we will hear about the important part Mary Magdalene and Mary played in God’s plans. Opening Activity For the opening activity today, read together the Lord’s Prayer (use the translation on the Lord’s Prayer cards or the translation preferred by your family or congregation; more translations on the Lord's Prayer page). As you read the prayer together, ask children to think about who is included in God’s kingdom. Read the Lord’s Prayer and talk about the questions below. Questions for Conversation (all ages):
Journal Activity: The Reign of God In this activity, invite children to think about the reign of God or God’s kingdom [kin-dom]. What might it look like? How would people treat each other? For your journals use the following prompt: what gifts do I have to share as part of God’s kingdom? Write or draw in the journal. If you want to do this as a family, use the same prompt, and write each response down on poster board; take a photo to share on the WLLC Facebook page (or WLLC Parent page). Remind everyone in your family that God has given each of them gifts and talents to share with others. Bible Reading As you read the story today, think about how Mary and Mary Magdalene were part of sharing the good news. What gifts helped them be part of God’s story? Read together Matthew 28:1-10. (For younger children, use an accessible translation, such as the Sparkhouse Spark Bible.) Questions for Conversation (all ages): • What did the angel tell Mary Magdalene and Mary to do? • Why did the angel tell them to do this? What special skills or gifts might they have had? (Examples: They were early risers and were at the tomb; they were fast runners and the angel needed someone who could run quickly; they were good at spreading good news and the angel needed people who were good at talking and sharing — there are lots of possible answers!) • What special skills or gifts do you have that make you good at sharing the good news of Jesus? Prayer Thank you, God, for creating each of us different and special. Help us today to share our gifts and to be open to others sharing their gifts with us. Amen. |
CRAFT
CRAFT: PRAYER JARS
Craft Connection: These prayer jars are designed to help everyone practice leading prayers. Sometimes, we don’t know what to pray for or where to start. These prayer jars will be filled with prayer prompts and suggestions to make leading prayer more fun and less scary. PRAYER JARS Materials needed: • Canning jars • Paint (liquid watercolor, acrylic or washable paints will work), brushes and small cups • Elmer’s glue • Decoupage sealant and finish (such as Mod Podge) • Markers • Jumbo craft sticks • Twine • Scissors • Colored paper and other small items to decorate the jars Directions: 1) Invite the children to add color to their jar with paint. Below are a few ideas: For a sea-glass look: Pour glue into a paint cup. Add a few drops of liquid watercolor paint. Mix it into the glue. Add more watercolor if you want a darker color. Next, use a paintbrush to brush the mixture onto the jar. NOTE: It will look streaky at first but dries smooth. For an opaque, shiny look: Pour acrylic paint or washable paint into a paint cup. You can mix colors if you’d like. Paint the entire jar, then wait until it dries. Add a coat of Mod Podge to add some shine and prevent the paint from chipping off the glass. 2) Invite the children to decorate their jars. You can add craft trim, fabric scraps, gems, ribbon and other items. Cut triangles from the colored paper and write the letters P-R-A-Y on them. Glue the triangles to the twine and, when dry, attach to the jar. 3) Use the craft sticks to fill your prayer jar. Invite the children to write a prayer suggestion/ prompts on each craft stick. Here are a few suggestions to get you started: • Pray for someone in your family. • Pray for first responders. • Name three things for which you are grateful. • Pray for an ELCA World Hunger project. • Recite the Lord’s Prayer. 4) When all are done, place the sticks into the jar. At your next meal or bedtime, draw one stick and use the prayer suggestion on the stick. |
GAMES
The games here can easily be played with a small family or group. You can also use this time for other board games, outdoor activities or puzzles that can reinforce the theme:
Week 2: “Your kingdom (kin-dom) come.” o Game Theme: Everyone can lead MYSTERY MAZE Materials needed: • Open space • Masking tape, painter’s tape or chalk (if playing outside) • Paper and markers to make “start” and “end” signs and create mystery maze paths • Optional clipboard to hold mystery maze path Directions: If the weather is not bad, you lack sufficient space or you need something that requires less setup, you can play this game on paper, with coins or small toys representing the players. To set up, create a 5-by-5-foot (or larger) grid for the maze on the ground. Grid squares should be one square foot. Create “start” and “end” signs and place them wherever you wish. On a piece of paper, draw a grid to match the one on the ground and mark the start and end points. Then, on your paper grid (and without showing the other players!), draw a path that the other players will try to discover. When it is time to start, invite the players to line up at the start square. Tell the other players that in front of them is a mystery maze, and they will have to work together to find their way through it. Then, invite the first player to step on the start square and take their turn at guessing a square in the path of the mystery maze. They may move either forward or to the side but not diagonally. If the player guesses correctly, they may guess again. If the player guesses incorrectly, they go back to the start and another person in the household gets to try. If there is only one child, they can try multiple times. Helped by the leader or other members of the household, the next player must first successfully navigate to where the last player left off. (Younger children can skip this step, starting where the previous child ended their turn.) If the new player chooses a wrong square while finding their way to where the last child ended, that player’s turn is over, and they must go to the end of the line. If the new player successfully navigates to where the last player left off, the new player may attempt to guess the next square. The player may move either forward or to the side but not diagonally. If the player guesses correctly, they may guess again. If the player guesses incorrectly, their turn ends, and the cycle repeats. This continues until one person from the team can successfully walk the correct path from start to end. This game may be played for multiple rounds with different invisible maze paths. For older children, invite the first child who successfully completed the maze to draw the next path. To make it more challenging, you can eliminate talking and/or repeat squares in the path. To make the game easier, mark the discovered squares in the path as you go. EVERYONE CAN LEAD OPTION A: YOUNGER CHILDREN AGE RANGE: Preschool to first grade Materials needed: • Dry spaghetti noodles • Mini marshmallows • Shape images • A timer Directions: Before you play, print out some images of shapes and set out the dry spaghetti noodles and mini marshmallows. This can get sticky, so you may also want to put out something to cover your play surface. To begin, designate one child or one adult as leader and provide the leader with a shape card. Give the other players spaghetti noodles and mini marshmallows. The leader now has 30 seconds to describe the shape to the other players. However, if the shape is a square or triangle, the leader may not say the name of the shape. The leader can only describe the shape using words. After the leader is done describing the shape, the other players, working together, have 60 seconds to construct the shape. If the other players have not successfully constructed the shape after 60 seconds, the team leader may provide 30 more seconds of instruction. Continue play until the players have constructed the correct shape. Repeat the game with different leaders and shape cards. To make the game more challenging, ask the leaders to instruct their teams silently. Debrief: Use the script below, starting with the questions, to guide conversation. • For leaders: What do you think you did best as a leader? • For the other team members: What did the leaders do well? • For the leaders: Was it hard to help your teams repeat the building? Being a leader can be hard sometimes, but everyone has gifts they bring to being a leader. One of the ways we can help is by remembering that God calls lots of different people to be leaders — and God wants us to support and encourage them. In the skit for today, Sage’s friend would not allow others to lead because of their gender. I wonder if that has ever happened to you? Or was there a time when you were not allowed to play because of another reason? Sometimes, the situation is more serious than not being included in a game. In some places, people are not allowed to go to school or lead their communities because of their gender. I wonder how you would feel if you were not allowed to go to school because of your gender. [Allow time for responses.] I wonder how you would feel if you were not allowed to have a job that you wanted or be a leader because of your gender. [Allow time for responses.] Sometimes we can forget that God calls people of all genders to be leaders. When we keep people from being leaders, we aren’t acting the way God expects us to, and we are losing out on the gifts each person can bring. But there is a lot we can do about it! How can we remember that God calls people of every gender to be leaders? Ask: [If a round was conducted silently:] What were some of the things that made it harder to be a leader? Tell: One of the important things for leaders is to be able to share their thoughts and ideas with other people. Could you be a leader if you couldn’t share your ideas with other people? Making sure everyone has a chance to be a leader is part of the work our church does with other churches and partners. This means making sure that everyone can go to school and get an education, so they can get new ideas and know how to share them. It also means helping other people in the community learn to listen to each other and to see the gifts each person can bring. |
SERVICE PROJECT
SERVICE PROJECT IDEAS: Gender Equality
• There are some great books available about women who faced inequality as they grew up to be leaders in their communities — and helped change things for other women and girls. Reading these at bedtime can be a great way to see the hard work people are doing to create opportunities for women and girls. • Read Bible stories about women whom God called to be leaders. Some suggestions include: o Deborah — Judges 4-5 o Esther — Book of Esther o Ruth — Book of Ruth o Shiphrah and Puah — Exodus 1:15-21 o Mary, mother of Jesus — Luke 1:39-55 • West Linn Lutheran Church has a “Reconciling in Christ” (RIC) Team that helps the church learn about LGBTQIA+ issues and how to be a supportive public church for gender and race issues. Take a look together at the RIC page of the church website. Learn more about the “reconciling” process at the Reconciling Works website. |
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SNACK TIME CONVERSATION STARTERS
Where did your snack come from? (Farm, processing plant, store, etc.) How many people do you think helped bring your food from a seed (or other starting point) to your plate? What are some traditional foods in your family? Who prepares them? 
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