Lesson 2: God loves me.

1. Verse - God is Love.  1 John 4:16b

2.  Lesson

• Start by praying with your child about the lesson.
• Review the verse from the last lesson, then read the new verse and practice saying it together.
• What did you learn about God last time? (God made me.)
• God made you and God loves you sooo much.
• He loves everybody - Jenna, Madeline, mommy, daddy, everybody in our family, all of our friends, and even strangers that we don't know.
• What does it mean to love somebody?  (get ready for some cute answers here!)
• If you love somebody it means they are are really, really special to you.  You really like them and you want to be with them all the time.
• Who loves you tons and tons?  (this is phrase we use a lot in our family!)
• Who do you love?
• God loves us even more than mommy and daddy love you, etc. (fill in with the answers your child gave.)
• He always loves you and will never stop loving you.
• And because He loves us, He wants us to love other people too.

3.  Craft - "God loves me" heart chain
     Instructions for making a heart chain (in case you don't already know how:)
         1.  tape two pieces of paper together long ways:

          2.  Fold the papers along the tape.  Then fold it in half two more times.  It should look like this when 

               you are finished folding:

 

          3.  Draw a heart on the folded paper, making sure the edges touch the sides of fold:

 

         4.  Cut out the heart, making sure you leave the space on edges to hold the hearts together, and
              unfold!

 

         5.  On the eight hearts write:  God, L, O, V, E, S, me!, (smiley face)

         6.  Then have your child color it and hang it up somewhere.

         *note - When I did this, I taped and folded the paper the night before.  Then during the lesson, I drew and cut out the heart and wrote the words.  Jenna was very excited that the scrap looked like a crown!

       And then I let her hang hers in her room above her bed!

4.  Song - Praise Him, Praise Him
     "Praise Him, Praise Him all ye little children.  God is love. God is love."
     This is #31 on the Wee Sing Bible Songs CD.  If you don't have this CD or don't know this song, pick your own song!  I'm really big on using what you have!  So far I haven't bought anything new to use for these lessons!  BUT, if you are looking to purchase a kids bible songs CD, we love this one.  Jenna listens to it everyday during nap time and it has 63 tracks! 

5.  End by reviewing today's verse one more time!
  
Cute moments from our lesson - When I asked, "What does it mean to love somebody?"  Jenna said, "It means that you trust him."  It was super sweet to hear her say this, not sure she knows what trust means, but precious nonetheless!  Then when I said, "Who do you love?"  (I KNEW what her answer would be this time.) She shouted, "CHA-CHA!" and went running to get her favorite bear, Chaucer.  She is 500% in love with this bear, so I knew I could get the love concept across with him! 

So, friends, again, I'll be doing my lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays and posting them shortly after!  Check back for two lessons a week and pick which days are best for your family to do the lessons.  I would love to hear how your lessons are going or any input you have to offer.  I hope you and your family can enjoy a restful weekend!  Bye for now...