Temptation of Jesus Cookie Activity Workshop
Summary of Lesson Activities:
Children will play three games with Oreo cookies to remind them of the three temptations.
Supplies Needed:
- Two or three stones
- Multiple bags of Oreo cookies
- Milk
- Paper plate or napkin, cups
- Baggies for taking the cookies home
- Permanent marker (for labeling bag)
- Paper Easel and markers (for leader)
- Paper and markers (for children)
- Bibles
Before class starts, arrange chairs in two groups for the scripture reading:
Group 1, World: 4 or 5 chairs (one per student) side by side at the other end of the room. Group 1 Temple: 2 chairs back to back at one end of the room.
NOTE: The second activity will be really messy. Leave ample time for everyone to pitch in and clean up. Since there is no actual cooking going on, you may find it easier to hold this in a location where there are no stoves and refrigerators for cookies to roll under.
Lesson Plan
Opening:
Greet the children and explain what they'll be doing and learning about today.
Read the Bible Story by traveling to three locations in your room as you read the appropriate part of the story:
1. Stones -- take everyone to the pile of stones
2. World -- have everyone stand on a chair to "overlook the entire world" while you stand
3. Temple -- have one student stand on the chairs with you while everyone else lies on their backs looking up at the two chairs (to imagine the crowd at the Temple who would have seen Jesus being saved by angels if he had jumped).
After the interactive reading, go to the board and have students help you list the three temptations/promises Jesus was tempted by, and what they think those temptations were about.
“Bread from Stone” (Luke 4:1-4). Jesus was tempted to use his divine power and do miracles for his own gain, rather than to help others. Temptation of selfishness.
“All this will be yours.” (Luke 4:5-8). Jesus was tempted with power and fortune and controlling everybody. Temptation of power and possessions.
“The angels will catch you.” (Luke 4:9-12). Jesus is tempted with the power of fame and reputation, "showing off." What will Jesus ultimately become famous for?
Return to the tables with your chairs...
Activity #1 – Tempt them with cookies
First temptation – loaves from rocks
Ask the children if they like Oreo cookies. Pass out napkins and tell them you are going to give them each a cookie, but they must do exactly as you say. Go through a guided imagery such as this:
The Teacher's Temptation Patter: First, look at the dark cookie against the white plate. How does it make you feel to see a cookie there? Pick the cookie up and hold it in your hand. Do you feel like eating it? Turn the cookie over and look at the decorations on each side. Imagine how that dark chocolate cookie tastes. Now look at the creamy middle. Do you like to eat the middle first by twisting off the top? Imagine twisting apart those two sides and licking the middle. Or do you like to eat it all together? Maybe you like your cookies dipped in milk.
Close your eyes and smell the cookie. Imagine how it will crunch in your mouth. Imagine how the how good it will taste. Will you eat it fast, or enjoy it nice and slow?
Now open your eyes. Put your cookie on the plate in the middle of the table and write your name next to it.
Here are the rules. You cannot touch or eat that cookie until I give you permission. You cannot eat that cookie or any other cookie during the whole class time unless I give you permission. I want you to keep your minds off of cookies and focus on the things we are teaching. Do you think you can do that?
Why am I doing this to you? Review Jesus’ first temptation. Do you think after 40 days of not eating anything Jesus was hungry? Do you think he wanted some bread? But he wouldn’t turn those stones to bread. What did he say to Satan? We cannot live by bread alone, but instead we LIVE by being nourished with God's word -- which our lesson is teaching. So we will not eat our cookies until it is time -- even if we are tempted to eat it. Do you think you can resist that temptation? Let's try!
Activity #2 – A Greedy Cookie Grab
Second temptation: All the kingdoms of the world
Count out a pile of cookies in the middle of the table and explain the rules:
1) You have one minute to grab all the cookies you can.
2) You can only use one hand, the other hand must stay behind your back.
3) When you take a cookie, you have to KEEP it in front of you and you CANNOT cover it or hide it.
4) You MAY take cookies from another player – in fact that’s what’s fun about this game. Messy is allowed.
5) And you MAY NOT touch the cookies we put on the plate during our first activity! (If you do, you will loose all your cookies.)
Ready? Go!
At the end of one minute, count how many whole, unbroken cookies each child has. Throw out any that are broken or dropped on the floor.
Who got the most cookies? The least?
How did it feel having your cookies stolen?
How many would each of you have gotten if you had divided them up and shared, rather than playing the grabbing game?
If I had given ___ all the cookies and nothing to anyone else, how would all of you have felt?
Ask ___: Would you have felt good if you got everything and saw that everyone else had nothing?
Activity #3 – A contest to build the tallest cookie tower
Third Temptation: The angels will catch you.
Divide the children into teams of about three, and give them each a bag of cookies. Explain that the team that builds the highest tower will get to divide up the cookies in their bag and take them home. Remind them that nobody can eat a cookie until the teacher gives them permission!
I will ask each team a question about the story. If you get it right, I will tell you to either add 1, 3, or 5 cookies to your tower, or you can tell the other team to add 1, 3 or 5 cookies to their tower.
Cookie Tower Rules:
1) You must take turns adding cookies – no fair having one “master builder” with a steady hand doing all the building.
2) You cannot touch the stack that is already built; only the new cookies you are adding.
3) As towers fall, children restart the building process on the ORIGINAL FOUNDATION – whatever is left after the fall.
4) If you are supposed to add 3 cookies, and the tower falls after the first cookie, your turn ends. You start rebuilding on your next turn.
Cookie Tower Game Questions:
(Teacher: You decide whether to award 1, 3, or 5 cookies to build with depending on the skill and height of the tower and who's ahead.)
- What word means “something you want, but know you shouldn’t have.” (temptation)
- What chapter of Luke tells the story of Jesus’ temptation? (Chapter 4)
- Name another book of the Bible, besides Luke, that also mentions Jesus’ temptation. (Matthew, Mark).
- Where does this story take place? (wilderness, desert)
- How long was Jesus in the wilderness? (40 days)
- What everyday activity did Jesus NOT do during that 40 days? (eat)
- Who tempted Jesus? (the devil)
- What was the first temptation of the devil? (turn stones to bread)
- Why did Jesus say he would not turn stones to bread? (You cannot live by bread alone/ OR/ He wanted to trust God /OR/ This was not the way God wanted him to use his power)
- What was the second temptation of the devil? (all the kingdoms of the world)
- What would Jesus need to do to get all the kingdoms of the world? (worship the devil)
- What does Jesus say to the devil about the second temptation? (“Worship the Lord your God and serve only him)
- Where did the devil take Jesus for the third temptation? (the pinnacle of the temple)
- What does the devil tell Jesus to do in the third temptation? (throw himself off the top)
- Why does the devil say Jesus can throw himself off the pinnacle? (scripture says, the angels will catch him.)
- What does Jesus say about the third temptation? (“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
- What happened to the devil after the last temptation? (He left).
- What story comes in the Bible directly before the story of the temptation? (Jesus baptism)
- What story comes in the Bible directly after the temptation? (Beginning of Jesus’ ministry)
- What was Jesus “full of” while he was in the wilderness? (he was full of the Holy Spirit)
[NOTE: The questions should be read approximately in order, but you can read only the EVENS, and then go back and read only the ODDS or BOTH ODDS AND EVENS, depending upon how well the game is going. You can also periodically backtrack and ask a question again, particularly if it was missed the first time through. Repetition builds understanding.]
Check to see whose tower is tallest and divide the cookies between the children on that team.
What strategy worked best – to build slow and steady or to add as many cookies as you could?
What strategy worked best – to build your own tower, or try and get the other team to overbuild their tower?
It was kind of funny when the cookies fell down, wasn’t it? But did it help you win the game?
Do you think it would have been fun for Jesus to fling himself off the pinnacle of the temple and have an angel catch him while he was falling? Would doing that have helped the people of the world know about God’s love?
The tower cookies will have had a lot of hands on them, so toss them out and give each student TWO COOKIES to ADD TO the ONE they saved on the plate at the beginning of the activities.
Invite them to eat their cookies one at a time as you ask them to summarize each cookie and you reinforce each with these observations:
God wants us (and wanted Jesus) to be:
Cookie 1: Focused on God's Word instead of just our own needs.
Cookie 2: Focused on doing good instead of desiring power and possessions.
Cookie 3: Focused on showing God's Love, not showing off or trying to impress others with our faith.
Close with a prayer asking God to help us resist temptations and forgive us when we sin.
A lesson idea originally posted by Lisa Martin from: Trinity UCC, Pottstown, PA
Updated by the Rotation.org Content Team
