Week 1 - 4th Week of August

Items Needed: Bible
Color: Red
Worksheets: Apple Tree Number Posters, Circle Poster, ABCJLM Red Coloring Sheets, Creation Number Flashcards
Books: Llama Llama Red Pajama
CD: The Ultimate Bible Song Collection for Kids
Activities: Sidewalk chalk, water, sponge, apple stickers, red colored foods, coffee filter, washable markers, shaving cream, paint, cotton balls

Bible Theme: God Made the World Around Me

Lesson: Day, Night, Water, Sky

Bible Story: Creation Days 1-2
Scripture: Genesis 1
The Beginner's Bible for Toddlers: pg 7-9
Through the Bible in Felt: pg 1-2

Verse: Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Tune: Are You Sleeping
In the beginning, (2x)
God created (2x)
The heavens and the earth (2x)
Genesis 1:1 (2x)

Bible Song: This Little Light of Mine (Traditional) - The Ultimate Bible Song Collection for Kids
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine (repeat 2x)
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine (repeat 2x)
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.

Optional verse:
Don't let Satan blow it out…
Let it shine 'til Jesus comes…
Let it shine all over our (home, state, car church, etc)…

Poem: Pat-a-Cake (Traditional)
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.
Bake me a cake as fast as you can;
Roll it, pat it, and mark it with a B,
Put it in the oven for baby and me
Change the "B" to the first letter of the child's name and the word "baby" to the child's name.

Color: Red
Letters: A-G
Number: 1
Shape: Circle
Information: First Name
Self-care and Manners: Sitting Quietly

Book of the Week:
Llama Llama Red Pajama

Ideas:
• Book of the Week Ideas:
- Color the Red Shirt coloring sheet.
- Have a Pajama Day: Wear your pajamas all day.

• God Made the World Around Me Preschool Bible Story Activities & Color Sheets:
- Crafts:
     During the next few weeks, we will be looking at Creation. Each week's craft will include a page for "My Creation Book." At the end of the study, combine the pages together to create a book. Add other crafts if desired.
     My Creation Book - Use a piece of black construction paper as the background. Cut a piece of white construction paper in half. Glue the half white sheet vertically on the black sheet. Write "Day" on the white piece and "Night" on the black. Add the number "1" to the page.
Day 2 My Creation Book - Use a piece of blue construction paper. Add cotton balls in the sky for clouds.  Make waves with shaving cream and blue paint at the bottom. Add the number "2" to the page.
World Coffee Filter Coffee Filter Earth

- Ideas:
    Creation Flashcards Creation Number Flashcards  - Use these cards to introduce each day of creation, help in memory, or place in order of events.
     As you read the story, have the child give a thumbs up every time God says, "It is good!"

- Creation Fingerplay
On Day 1 (On numbers - put corresponding fingers in the air)
God created light (close fists and then quickly open in the air and bring down to side creating arches)
On Day 2
God created the sky (wave arms in the air) and water (make waves with hands)

- Do you Know Who Made the World?(Thank you, Connie, for this idea.)
Tune:  "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Do You Know the Muffin Man"
Do you know who made the day (night, sky, water),
made the day (night, sky, water), made the day (night, sky, water)?
Do you know who made the day (night, sky, water)?
It was God who made the day (night, sky, water).

• Circle Activities:
Red Circle - Circle Poster - Color, paint, or draw on the circle poster. Use the color red.
- Circle Song - (make big circles in the air as you walk and sing)
Tune: Up on the Housetop
Circle, circle big and round
Where it ends can not be found
Tires, balls, the earth, and sun
Making circles is so much fun.
- Do a Shape Walk: Walk around the house or neighborhood looking for circles.

• Red Activities:
- Color one of the ABCJLM Red Coloring Sheets: Red Balloon, Red Heart, Red Leaf, Red Stop Sign, Red Truck, Red Wagon
- Eat red food - apple, strawberry, raspberry, red licorice, lollipop, cranberry juice, watermelon, radish, beets, red popsicle, strawberry or raspberry jello
- Do a Color Walk: Walk around the house or neighborhood looking for the color red.

• Toddler Letter Activities:
The 2 Year Curriculum does not focus heavily on letters. The objective is for the child to learn to say the letters of the alphabet correctly. The letters are divided into seven groups - divided into sections according to the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" alphabet song.  Point out letters throughout the day and help the child say each letter (especially in the tough L-M-N-O-P section of the song). (Even in this learning, understand that the letters probably have no meaning yet.)

• Toddler Number Activities:
- Create an Apple Tree Number Book throughout the year. Add apple stickers and color the appropriate apple tree when used in the curriculum. Continue to count items throughout the day.

• Throughout the curriculum different "Information" ideas will be focused on. For the first four weeks, the focus is on the child's first name. Work on the child clearly pronouncing his/her first name. Teach the child to look the person in the eyes when he/she is asked his/her name.

• Self-Care and Manners:
While the attention span is very short for a toddler, the child needs to learn self-control and how to sit quietly for short moments at a time. Teach the child to sit with "criss-cross" legs and hands in his/her lap. Discuss how there are times when a child listens while the adult talks. Start with very short time intervals and increase until the child is able to sit through the entire Bible lesson. Begin each listening time with a saying such as:
     My legs are crossed,
     Together my hands go,
     My mouth is quiet,
     I'm ready to learn and grow!

• One Color at a Time:
In this curriculum, the child is introduced to nine colors. Each color is introduced individually and then slowly combined with other colors. Since the goal is to provide the child with time to work with the specific color(s) and improve fine motor skills, keep the objective simple and use only the color(s) of the week during craft and drawing time.

• Vertical Surface:
Vertical Paper Placement Children develop fine motor skills best when they work on a vertical surface. When holding a writing utensil or brush against a vertical surface, extra muscles in the wrist and hand are strengthened. These muscles are not used when writing on a horizontal surface. For this reason, place craft, writing, and drawing projects on a vertical surface as much as is feasible.