Abraham and Sarah Bible Skills and Games Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Participants will follow the journey of Abraham and Sarah and participate through games in some of the major points in Abraham and Sarah's lives.

Scripture Reference:

Genesis 12:1-9, 17:1-8 and 15-22, 15:1-7 21:1-7

Leader Preparation:

• Read scripture ahead of time.
• Gather the materials.
• Set up chairs in a circle.

Supplies List:

• one soft ball
• deck of playing cards for every two students, remove jokers
• index cards & pencils
• sticker nametags and markers
• Bible map clearly marked to point out "stops" on the journey (the New Interpreter's Bible has a GREAT map of Abraham's journey on page 423 of vol. I or find a map on the internet such as this one)
• Optional: 5 separate places within the church that can serve as "stopping points" along the journey. If using option, make signs for locations and carry map with you to each spot.

LESSON

Welcome and Introduction

Gather in a circle. Greet the children and Introduce yourself. Explain that today they will be taking a journey with Abraham and Sarah.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection

Lesson Plan:

I. The Call to Canaan
Location: Haran

• Distribute Bibles. Talk about where the book of Genesis is found (hint: it means "beginning"). Show students how to find the chapter numbers and find chapter 12.
• Read Genesis 12:1-9.
• Discuss what the participants know about being "called" and the situations they are called to and from.
• Play "The Calling Game".
• All participants place their hands in front of them. The leader calls the name of someone across the circle and throws the ball to that person. The leader then puts his/her hands behind her back. (The hands in front helps know who's received the ball and who has not.)
• The person with the ball (person #2) calls out someone else's name who has their hands in front of them and throws that person the ball. Then person #2 puts their hands behind them.
• Play continues until all players have been called (received and thrown the ball) - the last person to receive the ball calls and throws to the leader.
• No player should receive the ball more than once.
• You must call out the person's name to whom you are throwing AND establish eye contact with that person BEFORE you throw the ball to them.
• Remember who you threw it to and who threw to you - you are establishing a pattern!
• Once through - try again a bit faster - then again a bit faster.
• For an extra challenge, try to do it by sending the ball through the pattern backwards.

II. You shall be an ancestor of nations
Location: Oaks of Mamre

1. Read Genesis 15:1-7.
2. Discuss with participants what they think of those verses. How many stars do they really think there are? How might we count all of them? Do you think there are more than one hundred? Let's see what one hundred looks like!
3. Play "The Counting Game"- a race to 100

• Divide the class into pairs and give each pair a deck of cards. (If you have an odd number of students, one group can have three.)
• Partners take turns flipping over a card in their deck and start adding (or counting) a running tally based on the card value (jacks, queens, and kings count as 10).
• They need to reach 100 exactly. As they get closer, they will need to discard cards until they reach 100 exactly.
• Students should keep the cards spread faceup in front of them so they can see what 100 looks like.
• The first pair to get to 100 (or a smaller total such as 20 for younger students) wins!
  

III. And you shall be called "Abraham"
Location: Canaan

1. Read Genesis 17:1-8, 15-22.
2. Discuss why God changed Abraham's name and how Abraham felt. See if any participants know what their name means. (You might have a baby book on hand to help just in case!)
3. Play the "Guess Who I Really Am?" Game.

• Hand everyone an index card and a pencil.
• Have each of them think of a new name they would like to be called and what that name means. (Things like "always wins baseball games" and "lover of cats." You will have to help younger learners.) Have them write their new names on index cards. MAKE sure they keep their names secret!
• Gather the cards and read the new names and have everyone try to guess who is each name.

ASK: What name might God give you? (things like "Helper of teacher" or "servant to all" or "singer of praise songs") Does that name change how you feel about yourself?

Give everyone a nametag with their new name, and use it for the rest of the class time.

IV. And Sarah laughed
Location: Oaks of Mamre - Hebron

1. Read Genesis 18:1-15.
2. Discuss how Abraham felt when these strangers began to tell him about his wife having a baby. Why did Sarah laugh when told that she would have a baby? Why did she deny the fact she laughed? Why would Sarah not want anyone to know she laughed?'
3. Play "I Never" Game.

• Everyone sits in chairs in a circle.
• One person goes into the middle and their chair is removed.
• The player in the middle truthfully completes the sentence, "I never ..." (For example, "I never went to a baseball game" or "I never put dressing on my salad.")
• For those who are seated, if the statement is false for them, they must get up and change seats. If it is true, they stay seated.
• When those who are switching seats get up, the person in the middle tries to take one of their seats leaving a new person in the middle.

V. Isaac is born
Location: Hebron

1. Read Genesis 21:1-7.
2. Discuss the reasons why they think Sarah and Abraham named Isaac laughter.
3. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. Play the "HA" game. The object of "HA" is to see how many times the word "HA" can go around our circle without anyone laughing.

• Participants hold hands in a circle.
• The first player in the chain says, "HA." The second player repeats, then the third, and so on through the chain.
• Then the first player says, "HA HA." The second player repeats, etc.
• See how many "HA"s can go around the circle. How quickly can you get to five "HA HA HA HA HA"? Can your group set a record?

Closing:

See the Verse Sorting Game in a post below for a great suggestion to tie all the events from this lesson into a final wrap-up game.

End with a prayer, praying for each student using their new name.

A lesson written by St. Elmo's Choir Rotation Writing Group.

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.