Top 10 Posts from our first year: #3 - God's Big Picture Lesson 3 (The New Testament)

(This post has been pinned over and over again on Pinterest because of the cup stacking game I used with my kiddos.  I didn't make the game up, so I have no problem agreeing that it is an awesome way to teach kids the books of the Bible!  And if you are interested in the curriculum, I just compiled the whole thing as one download here.)




(To read more about the book we're using for our curriculum and a little more about why we chose it, click here.  Scroll to the bottom of this post to find the links to my lesson plans and printables.)

For lesson 3, we took a deeper look at the New Testament.  We went over the review questions from the lesson plan and then dove in to the New Testament stuff.

First, I asked "How many books are in the New Testament?"  It didn't take long for someone to answer correctly with 27.  We then went on to discuss how it was divided up:  Gospels, Acts (or Church History), Epistles (or Letters), and Revelation (or Prophecy).  We looked at the chart (like this -buy it OR this -free!) and discussed what kinds of information could be found in each section.  

I made sure to make a special note that the Bible did not originally have all the chapter and verses marked.  That was added later.  The Epistles would have looked much like a letter we would receive in the mail now (well, minus the stamp and add a scroll.  :)

Next it was time to introduce our catchy Books of the New Testament song.  Below you'll find a handful of our lovely group singing it.  Once again, just in case you're wondering, we're not on the cutting edge of hair fashion here in the Ozarks, I just happened to take the video of these adorable faces on Crazy Hair Night at club.  :)

We then spent a few minutes talking about how New Testament was originally written in Greek.  Again, not necessarily super spiritual, but the kids found it really interesting and I think it's good for them to see and hear that English is not the language God chose to reveal his written Word in.  I used my Greek Bible and read John 3:16.  Again, assuming you don't own one, you may be able to get a copy to borrow from a pastor or you can print John 3 in Greek from Biblegateway.com here.  If you want to hear it being read, go here.

We filled out our worksheet and it was time to play!  We organized it pretty much the same as last week.  Part of the group got down and played our cup stacking game with the New Testament cups this time (For a more detailed explanation, see Lesson 2).  The rest of the group did Sword Drills from the New Testament while they waited for their turn.  I like how this time gives them a chance to flesh out and practice what they've just been taught.

If you're interested the "technical stuff," below you'll find lesson plans, printables and links to various resources I've used.  If you're interested in the other lessons from this curriculum, go to our "More Ideas" page and scroll down to God's Big Picture Curriculum.

Note:  We're going to be making a notebook this year and adding to it each week.  (We're using 2 pocket folders with prongs).  By the end of the year, each child will have the material they've learned along with a timeline of the Bible and how it all fits together.  I'm sure they'll all take it home, hang it on their wall and study it everyday!  ;)  But, honestly, writing things down can help solidify things and help visualize the lesson, so we're going to do it anyway!  

If you'd like to print out my lesson plans, click here.  (They are designed to take between 15-25 minutes to go through.)  

If you'd like the supplemental worksheet, click here.

I couldn't find a books of the New Testament worksheet to fill in.  Let me know if you find one, please!  I may just end up making one myself eventually.

I also recommend having a Books of the Bible Chart handy.  This is the one we have in our classroom and the kids like it, but it doesn't need to be fancy.  You can print out one for free on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper here.

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