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God Made Families

Teacher's Guide - this is just one possible lesson plan.  Visit the Cain and Abel Section for further ideas to supplement this.  You can also use the story of Abraham and Sarah, but I'll be pulling that into a lesson later on.

Introduction:

The Cain and Abel story can be a difficult one to teach children as it has a rather harsh ending.  But step back a second before teaching it and consider similar current day situations.  What child hasn't fought with their brother or sister or friends?  What child hasn't been jealous of the attention shown to others? 

The message:  
  
Preschool thru Grade 1:  God made families.  
  
Grades 2 and 3:  God made families so we could care for each other.  Am I my brother's keeper?

I've split this message into two separate ones depending on the age level.  For the younger children, the message continues the God as our loving creator theme from the first two lessons, this time in the form -- God made families.  Make sure you repeat the message many times during the lesson.  I'm pretty sure the kids won't finish coloring all of their family puppets during craft time, so you can send the unfinished ones home with them, including a little note that the message this week was "God Made Families".

For the older children, we expand on this message and ask the question "Am I my brother's keeper?".  The question is a quotation from Genesis and has two parts.  First, SHOULD we be our brother's (sister's) keepers?  Second, how are each of us doing at it?  Send the "Am I my brother's keeper?" Take Home Sheet home with the children to encourage parents to discuss the message during the week.  It includes a poster at the bottom that the children can color and hang on their wall or refrigerator.  

Preview of the lesson:

Some people like to do craft time first and story time second and some like to switch it around.  I like the first option, myself.

Always consider offering Coloring Pages for children who aren't interested in participating in the group activity (or if you get done the group activities very quickly and need something to fill in the spare time).  Everyone has a need for "alone time" once in awhile.  Also, sending home the coloring pages with the Take Home sheet provides parents with much needed help in reinforcing the lessons.  You can make a nice little booklet each week with the take home sheet on top -- I promise that most parents will appreciate the effort!