Families
Week 92
God made the first man and woman so that they could become a family
The complete family unit is found only among human beings. Very few animals have strong parent/child or male/female relationships, but none have the complete family unit for life that man has. Some animals have strong social relationships, mostly based on instincts and hierarchy.
Genesis 1:28 says, “And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” The family unit with father, mother, and children was instituted by God. Since this thought is under severe attack in our society, we felt we must address the truth of families with the youngest among us. This will instill the simple truth into them so that as they grow, they can remain firm in this truth.
Note to the serving ones: While we faithfully present God’s view of a family, we recognize that some of our children’s families may not relate to what is being presented in these topics due to different types of situations. (For example, there may be children whose parents have passed away, children whose parents are not involved in the family/church life, children who are adopted, children who were raised by step-parents/grandparents, etc.) The serving ones need to be careful/sensitive in how they address these matters so that the children don’t come away from the story feeling bad because they may not have a mom and a dad to do the things that we are presenting. We don’t want them to feel like their families aren’t “real” families, but rather, we want to give them an appreciation for the complete family unit from God’s view. In your time with the children, please be sensitive to their personal circumstances. Be careful that no child feels that his or her family is wrong or worse than the others.
Point to emphasize
A family is when a man and a woman begin to have children.
Sample content and conversation with children
- Today we are talking about how families grow.
- [Show picture #1 or a picture of your family.] What is this a picture of? Yes, this is a family! There is a dad, a mom, and children. This is a family!
- Everyone who has a family, raise your hand. [Have everyone raise their hands.] Yes, all of us are part of a family!
- God created a man and a woman so that they could become a family. After they get married, they begin to have children. When a man and a woman get married and begin to have children, that is a family.
- [Show picture #2 or your wedding picture or one of your parents.] Here’s a picture of a husband and his wife on their wedding day, when they got married.
- [Show picture #3 or of you and your spouse with your {first} child as a baby. If you have more than one child, continue showing pictures as each child is added to the family.] Now here’s a picture of them with their first child! Now their first child is growing up and he has a little brother/sister [second child]! The family is getting bigger. Now they have a third child with her older brother/sister and her older brother/sister. How many children are in your family?
- [Pick a few children, one at a time, and ask] Who are the people in your family? [Daddy, Mommy, brothers and sisters. If a pet is mentioned as a family member, you can respond that though it lives with your family and you care for it a lot, the pet is only a pet, not one of the children of the family.]
- [Get some play-doh out.] In the Bible, God created a man named [let the children answer if they know] Adam, yes. [Create a simple little figurine of a man, with a head, body, arms, and legs.] And then God made a woman named [let the children answer] Eve, that’s right. [Create a little figurine like the man but add some hair.] God put them together [place the figurines next to each other] so that they could be a family. [Start making a few smaller figurines and then place them with the first two.] Then they started having children–look at that, a beautiful family! God had a clear, definite thought when He created Adam and Eve; He wanted them to be in a family. Adam, Eve, and all of their children formed a family, which was what God wanted. [You may also want to include the children in this activity. See the “Play-doh family” activity below.]
- In the same way, God also desired that we would be in a family. God has placed each one of us in our family. God placed you in your family. God placed me in my family. In each of our families, we are cared for and protected. We are so thankful that God placed us in our families! We can say, “Thank You, God, for my family!”
- [Show pictures #4 and #5 or show video #1 or bring a live lizard.] What kind of animal is this? Yes, a lizard. It has a male and a female. The female lizards lay eggs that hatch into little lizards. But did you know that the female lizards do not take care of the little lizards after they hatch? Neither do the male lizards! They don’t care for the little ones nor protect them! [Show a few seconds of the video without audio.] Look at this little lizard right after it hatched. Its mother is not around, nor is its father. The young lizards have to take care of themselves as soon as they hatch. We are not at all like those lizards. God gave us a dad and a mom to care for us and to protect us! We all can say, “Thank You God for my dad and my mom!”
Suggested song
God placed me here
Suggested activity
Play-doh family – Have the children form play-doh figurines for each family member. You could also use air-dry clay. This activity can also be done during the conversation, especially at the same time the serving one is speaking about Adam and Eve’s family, and forming their figurines. [See picture #6.]
Pictures
#1: Family
#2: Wedding picture
#3: Dad and mom with children as being added to the family
#4: Lizard
#5: Little lizard right after it hatched
#6: Activity
Video
#1: Baby Lizard
https://www.youtube.com/embed/5aUCILwZ-Xg?rel=0
Video
#1: Baby Lizard
(https://www.youtube.com/embed/5aUCILwZ-Xg?rel=0)
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