Human Responses
Week 78
Memories cause us to respond in many different ways
A precious part of our humanity is that we become aware, we recognize (or are affected) and we respond to the world around us. Through our senses, we touch, smell, taste, hear, and move responding to what’s around us in a variety of ways. God has endowed us with the ability to respond in ways that are well beyond any animal. Animals typically do not exhibit any responses to what they see, hear, touch, and taste outside the realm of their survival. We, of course, have many responses to the world around us.
Point to emphasize
We enjoy seeing pictures of when we were younger.
Sample content and conversation with children
We have been discovering how God made us so differently than the animals. Now we will discover that God made us in a marvelous way so that we are pleased to look at family photos.
- [Contact parents ahead of time to get photos of the children. Ask for photos of the children that they think would elicit a good response or happy memories, such as a memorable family vacation (try to avoid photos of amusement parks), a trip to see their grandparents, play time with their cousins or friends, a favorite pet, or some other people or things that are special in their lives.]
- [Show a family picture (of one of the children) with a new baby sibling.] Whose family is this? Yes, it is (name of child)’s family. And who is that baby? Yes, it is (name of child)’s baby sister/brother! Now (name of child), do you remember when your mommy came home from the hospital with your baby sibling? [Let the child answer and prompt them to tell you any memories the photo generates.]
- [Show a photo of one of the children during a family vacation.] (Name of child), I see a smile on your face! Can you tell us where you went on this vacation? [Let the child answer.] When you look at this picture, what does it make you think of?
- [Show a photo of one of the children with their grandparents.] (Name of child), who are these in the picture with you? Oh, your grandparents! Tell us about your time with them when you took this photo.
- [Continue in this As you show a photo of each child, have the child in the picture tell you about the time and what their response is to that picture, if they feel happy, if it makes them laugh, if it helps them remember the people they were with, and so on.]
- It’s amazing how looking at our family photos gives us so much happiness! We remember special times and special people. We enjoy seeing pictures of our family members and of the places we’ve visited or the things we’ve done with our family. God made us so that it makes us happy when we look at photos of our family.
- Animals don’t keep track of their life with photos like we do. Look at this picture. [Show picture #1.] What is this a picture of? What might the ewe be thinking? [Let children discuss.] Do you think the sheep is fondly remembering the day her little lamb was born? No! Are they posing for a picture to keep in their photo album? [Let children discuss.] No! God did not create sheep in this way. He did not create them to consider or record memories of earlier times. Animals mostly live in the present, thinking only of what they will eat and how to survive.
- I am so glad that God created me so that I can look at a picture and remember what happened and how it makes me feel.
Songs
We’re in a house
Suggested activity
- Have each child take the picture they brought and make a photo frame for it. They can use popsicle sticks to make the frame and decorate it.
- What you need:
- Your photo cut to about 4×4 inches
- Popsicle sticks – can be colored or not
- Glue
- Gems, stickers, pom poms, or other decorations
- Newspaper
- Glitter glue (optional)
- Ribbon or string (optional)
- What you do:
- Protect your work area with some newspaper.
- Lay 12 popsicle sticks so that they are all touching one another lengthwise (the long way). Do not glue them together.
- Get two more popsicle sticks and put glue on them. Place one popsicle stick across the top of your row of 12 sticks and place the other one across the bottom. These 2 sticks will hold the 12 sticks together. Wait for the glue to dry. [See picture #2.]
- Flip your frame over.
- Place your photo in the center of the popsicle sticks. You don’t need to glue the photo to the sticks.
- Get 2 more popsicle sticks and put glue on them. Place one across the top of your photo so that it is glued onto both the photo and popsicle sticks. Place the other one across the bottom of your photo in the same way. Now your photo is held in place.
- Put some glue on the ends of the popsicle sticks you just glued down. Place 2 popsicle sticks so they connect the top and bottom popsicle sticks and form a frame around the photo.
- Once the glue dries, you can decorate your frame with glitter glue, washi tape, gems, pom poms, stickers, and other craft supplies you like.
- Optional: Using glue, attach a ribbon or a string to the back of your frame so the photo frame can be hung up. [See picture #3.]
Pictures
#1: Ewe and lamb
#2: Craft (1)
#3: Craft (2)
