Leaders Notes

The story of Noah is well known – songs are sung when children are in nursery school and almost all adults have some idea that animals went into an ark two-by-two!

The challenge is to teach this story in the context of the big picture of the Bible. The story of Noah is not simply a ‘nice’ story about a God who saves His animals from the rain! It is about a God who hates sin, acts in judgement, yet who is so rich in love that He promises never to destroy the earth again – despite knowing mankind would continue to sin.

The story of Noah is found in Genesis chapters 6 to 9 and reading through these chapters is the best way to prepare fully for this session. It is also worth recapping where Noah fits in the bigger picture of Genesis:

Creation: Genesis 1-2
Fall: Genesis 3
Spread of sin (Cain and Abel): Genesis 4
Flood: Genesis 6-9
Spread of sin again (Tower of Babel): Genesis 11
Start of rescue plan (Abraham): Genesis 12

By knowing the context of Noah within the Bible, it is possible to see why God destroyed the things He created and described as ‘good’ just a few chapters earlier. It is also possible to understand the ‘rainbow promise’. God knew that mankind would continue to turn away from Him after the flood – just as they had beforehand. He hinted that a radical rescue plan would be needed after the Fall (Genesis 3:15b). The flood wasn’t a mistake or action that God regretted doing – it was part of His bigger plan to save His people forever.

This meeting plan also challenges the children to love God and obediently walk in faith – just like Noah did. Following God is not easy and sometimes means standing out from the crowd like Noah did. Noah stood out by building the ark and he stood out for being someone who loved God. As Hebrews 11:7 says:

‘By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.’

Noah was one of God’s children – an invitation that God has opened up to us and the children in our group.

The meeting plan closes by encouraging the children to respond to the ‘rainbow promise’ (God will never flood the earth again), reminding the children that God keeps His promises and loves them immensely as ‘children of God’. The challenge is to live like Noah did – loving God and trusting Him. 

Game: Sharks And Lifeguards
Duration: 5 mins Equipment Required: Small parachute. Description: Prior to playing this game the children need to take off their shoes and put them away from the playing area (to avoid players tripping up on them). Spread the parachute out on the floor and ask the children to sit around the edges. Make sure there is some room (at least 1m) behind each child. Ask for a volunteer to be the ‘shark’. At the start of the game the shark crawls under the parachute and all the other children sit with their legs underneath the parachute. If this game is new to all the children, don’t send the shark under the parachute until you have explained the rules of the game! Ask for another volunteer – to be the ‘lifeguard’. The job of the lifeguard is to save the other children from being eaten by the shark! Explain to all the children that the shark will try and pull them under the parachute – if they feel their legs being tugged they are to scream and the lifeguard will run round and try to rescue them. If the lifeguard manages to tag them before they are pulled totally under, they are ‘saved’. If they are not tagged in time they stay under the parachute and become sharks! Play the game until there are only a couple of children left above the parachute. Then swap the roles round until all those who want a go have had one – or time runs out! The Point: Just for fun.

Game: Happy Herds!
Duration: 5 mins Equipment Required: None. Description: This game can be played in two different ways, depending on the size of your group. With a larger group: Decide on four animal noises (that are reasonably easy to make). Get the children into a circle and go around the group whispering the name of one of the four animals into their ear. When the game starts the children have to find all the other animals in their ‘herd’ – by walking around the room making the noise of their animal. When they are sure they have a full herd they are to sit down together. The winners are the first group to sit down AND be sure they aren’t missing one of their herd (or flock!). When a group sits down, stop the game to check that it is a full herd and either declare the group the winners…or play on if they weren’t a full group (that particular group of animals remains seated and don’t continue to play). With a smaller group: On small slips of paper stick a picture of an animal (and write its name too). There needs to be two copies of each animal name and enough pieces of paper for each group member to have one (leaders will need to take any spare ones to make the game work!).  It may be helpful to allow time for leaders to check that all the children know what their animal is (the younger ones are unlikely to be able to read longer words). Put the slips of paper into a bag and ask each child to take one. The aim of the game is to reunite the pairs of animals – by making the sound of your animal as loudly as possible.  The children should sit down when they have found their ‘partner’ animal. Start the game by blowing a whistle – and finish it when all the animals are paired up. If time permits, play the game a few times, with the last animals to be paired up being ‘out’ each time. The Point: Just for fun – with a slightly tenuous link to the story of Noah!

Game: Where’s My Twin?!
Duration: 10 mins Equipment Required: Paper or card, felt pens. Optional: Memory card game (1 game for every 6 group members). Description: Give each child two pieces of paper or card and ask them to draw two identical (or as near as they can!) pictures of themselves. Allow them about five minutes to complete their pictures. If they are able to, encourage them to write their name on too. Ask leaders and helpers to draw some pictures too (this is needed to get a large enough volume of playing cards). Once they have done this, divide the children into small groups of about six. In these smaller groups, collect in the cards and muddle them up. Include some of the pictures of leaders to provide enough cards to play the game. Lay them face down and play a memory game – the aim being to find a pair of matching pictures. The winner is the player with the most pairs at the end of the game. A simpler version of this activity could involve playing a children’s memory game that involves matching pairs of cards up. Set up a number of games around the room and play them in small groups. The Point: Just for fun – with a loose link into the story of Noah (pairs!).

Craft Ideas: Arty Ark
Duration: 15 mins Equipment Required: Children’s Bible, felt-tip pens, crayons, lining paper or large sheet of paper, marker pen, glue sticks, tissue or crepe paper, foil, wool (or similar collage materials), pictures of animals printed onto paper, scissors. Description: Before the session, draw a large picture of Noah and the ark on lining paper (or similar). If your group is large you may need to draw a couple of versions. Only draw the outline of the ark and leave plenty of space for the children to draw animals, people and a rainbow. For leader’s reference, the story of Noah is found in Genesis chapters 6 to 9. Sit the children on the floor with the picture in the middle. The story of Noah is likely to be quite familiar to a number of them so encourage them to contribute the parts they know as you tell the story. You can either tell the story verbally or use a children’s Bible. ‘The Beginner’s Bible’ (Candle Books) has a good version in it. Start the story with Noah by explaining the background/context of Noah: God created the world perfectly – it was wonderful. He made Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. However, they disobeyed God and broke His rules…so they had to leave the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden, more people were born and they kept on doing bad things…things that made God very sad. Eventually they forgot about God altogether. However, there was one good man who loved God – he was called Noah. God was very sad that everyone had forgotten about Him and He made a plan. At this point ask a couple of questions: Does anyone know what God’s plan was (to flood the world, destroy all the bad things and start again)? What did God ask Noah to do – and where did he have to do it (build an ark – a massive boat, but nowhere near a river or the sea)? Why do you think Noah did this (Noah loved God and trusted Him)? Who got onto the ark (All Noah’s family and at least two of each kind of animal – seven of some sorts but that is probably too much detail for unchurched children)? Carry on telling the story… So Noah built the ark and just as God said it would, it started to rain. It rained and rained – for 40 days and nights (imagine it raining for the entire school summer holiday!). The whole earth was flooded and everything. Eventually it stopped raining and after a very long time the flood waters all went away. They were on the ark for almost at year! If the group know the story quite well, it may be worth asking if anyone knows how Noah knew that the flood waters had gone down (sending out a dove and waiting until it didn’t come back – Genesis 8:6-12). Then finish telling the story: When the earth was dry again, Noah and his family got off the ark and praised God for saving them from the flood. God made a special promise to Noah (called a covenant) that He would never flood the earth again. And to be sure that no-one ever forgot this promise He put a beautiful rainbow in the sky. After you have finished telling the story, ask the children to complete the big picture you have drawn in advance of the session. Some children can colour in Noah and his family, others can decorate the ark (using the collage materials) and others can colour in the printed out animals, cut them out and stick them on the ark. Once the ark is completed, use the picture to re-tell the story asking the group questions as you go along. At the end of the story, draw the rainbow onto the picture – reminding them of God’s promise, never to flood the earth again. Focus on the fact that God has kept His promise. Note for leaders – if the children ask why God promised not to flood the earth again, even though people continue to do bad things, explain that God had another plan that we learn about in the Bible. God used the flood to destroy all the bad things in the world that stopped people being God’s friend. Eventually, Jesus came to earth to take away sin (bad things) so that we can be God’s friend again. The Point: To teach the story of Noah, focussing on why God flooded the earth and the promise He made afterwards; never to flood the earth (and therefore destroy everything) again.

Story: Zoo Time
Duration: 15 mins Equipment Required: Children’s Bible, Playdoh™, animal cutters, rolling pins, plastic cloth (or similar), wipes, plastic toy boat (medium-large sized). Description: Start the session by showing the group a toy boat and challenging them to make as many Playdoh™ animals as they can to fill it up. Don’t forget to mention that they need to make two of every animal! Give the group five minutes or so to make as many animals as they can and then start putting them onto the boat. Once the boat is full, stop the activity and ask the children to sit around in a circle (away from the tables if possible!) Use the boat to introduce the story of Noah. Ask the children to guess how big the real ark was. Give them some options that relate to buildings or parks that they are familiar with. The ark that Noah built was huge. It was at least 135m long, 22.5m wide and 13.5m high. Ask the children to imagine how many animals could fit on that! Lead into telling the Bible story– Noah features in almost all children’s Bibles. There is a particularly good version in ‘The Beginners Bible’ (Candle books). For leader’s reference, the story of Noah can be found in Genesis chapters 6 to 9. At the end of story ask the following questions: Why did God save Noah, his family and some animals? (Because Noah loved God and God didn’t want to destroy the world – just get rid of sin/the bad things in the world.) What was the promise God gave to Noah (recap the rainbow promise)? What does the rainbow promise mean for us? (It means that God will always want to be our friend and challenges us to be like Noah – and love God…if needed explain that God got rid of the bad things in our world through Jesus, rather than floods again.) The Point: To teach the story of Noah, focussing on how God saved His creation and promised never to flood the world again. To challenge the children to live like Noah – loving and trusting God.

Illustrations: Floating Or Flooded?
Duration: 15 mins Equipment Required: Children’s Bible, plastic bowl, items the represent things in the world (see suggestions below), toy boat, bucket of water, small watering can. Description: Before the session collect a number of items that represent things in the world. These items will get wet and also need to be quite heavy (i.e. not float). Ask the children to think about what the world would have looked like when Noah was around. If they are short of ideas a good suggestion would be to think of the things the Bible mentions in the creation narrative (Genesis chapters 1 to 2). Have a pile of items that represent these things in the world. Suggested items for the bowl could include: Small toy people (lego) Plastic animals, trees, flowers Items of food Shells or stones Suitable items the children or other leaders have with them As the children suggest things in the world, ask them to chose an item from your pile (that represents what they have mentioned) and place it in the plastic bowl. Once the bowl has a good number of items in it, explain the background to the story of Noah. God created the world perfectly. He made Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. However, they disobeyed God and broke His rules…so they had to leave the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden, more people were born and they kept on doing bad things…things that made God very sad. Eventually they forgot about God altogether. However, there was one good man who loved God – he was called Noah. Using a children’s Bible or story book tell the story of Noah. (The Beginner’s Bible has a good version in it). For leader’s reference, the story of Noah is found in Genesis chapters 6 to 9. When you get to the part where Noah builds the ark, get a volunteer to put the toy boat into the plastic bowl. Ask the group: What do you think Noah’s family and friends thought when he started building the boat? (He was a bit silly, had gone mad!) Why did Noah do what God asked? (He loved God and trusted Him.) Continue telling the story; when you get to the part where the rain started, ask for volunteers to tip small watering cans of water into the bowl. Continue doing this until all the items in the bowl are covered with water and the boat (ark!) is floating. This should give the children a visual image of what happened when the earth was flooded. Finish telling the story from the Bible. At the end ask the group the following questions. Why did God flood the earth? (To destroy all the bad things in the world – to give people a new start at being God’s friend and loving Him). What did God promise Noah once the flood water had all gone? (That He would never flood the world again – the rainbow promise). What does that promise mean to us today? (That God always wants to be our friend and challenges us to be like Noah – loving God and living for Him. If needed explain that God got rid of the bad things in our world through Jesus, rather than floods again.) The Point: To teach the story of Noah, focussing on how God saved His creation and promised never to flood the world again. To challenge the children to live like Noah – loving and trusting God.

Craft Ideas: Rainbow Beadies
Duration: 10 mins Equipment Required: Coloured plastic beads, elastic cord, key-rings, print out of designs (older group only). Description: Complete the statement below by listing titles of the ‘Teaching Time’ activities that this activity will work well with. This activity will work well with the following Teaching Time activities: All In this session the children can make a range of rainbow beadie items – including necklaces, key-rings or animals. This craft is very flexible and can be adapted to suit a whole range of abilities and preferences. Beads and cord can be bought High Street shops like Woolworths or from craft shops/websites (e.g. Hobby Craft or yellowmoon.org.uk). Rainbow-coloured necklaces and bracelets can be made by simply threading the beads onto the stretchy cord. Key rings can be made by threading beads onto cord and then attaching to a metal key ring. For older children, rainbow coloured animals can be made by following design patterns. There is a great rainbow lizard and selection of other animals on the website below: http://www.makingfriends.com/ponybead/ponybead_animals.htm Once everyone has made an item, take a few minutes together as a group to recap what the rainbow promise is and what is means for us today. The Point: To recap the message of the teaching session. Reminding the group of the rainbow promise and God’s everlasting love for His children.

Activity: Build A Boat
Duration: 10 mins Equipment Required: Large selection of cardboard boxes, sticky tape, scissors, sweets or a similar small prize. Description: Complete the statement below by listing titles of the ‘Teaching Time’ activities that this activity will work well with. This activity will work well with the following Teaching Time activities: All Divide the group into at least two teams (depending on the size of your group). If possible work in groups of about four children with a leader/helper. Give each team a pile of cardboard boxes, several rolls of sticky tape and some scissors. The children will be familiar with ‘junk modelling’ from school. Their challenge is to build and ark from the boxes in the next 5-10 minutes. Once the arks are all built line them all up and judge them (you will need an independent leader to do this. Give points for creativity and design! You may like to award a small prize to the winning group. Ask the winning group to explain why Noah built the ark and why God sent a rainbow. The Point: To recap the message of the teaching session. Reminding the group of the faith Noah had in building the ark.  Noah loved God and trusted him enough to do something that made him stand out from the crowd! Our challenge is to love God enough to stand out for Him – just like Noah.

Craft Ideas: Make It Float!
Duration: 15 mins Equipment Required: Modelling clay, modelling tools or plastic disposable knives, rolling pins, plastic table protector, aprons, bowl of water (optional), tray. Description: Complete the statement below by listing titles of the ‘Teaching Time’ activities that this activity will work well with. This activity will work well with the following Teaching Time activities: All The aim of this activity is to build a boat that will withstand a flood! Each child will need an apron and access to hand-washing facilities at the end of the session. Give each child a ball of modelling clay and ask them to make an ark from it. It would be good to have an example you have made prior to the session to give them some ideas. If possible, have it floating in a bowl of water. It is possible to buy air-drying and oven bake clay products – but do check beforehand that the product is water-resistant. Once the ‘arks’ are finished, scratch the child’s initials onto the bottom of the ark and put them onto a tray for baking/drying. Keep the model ‘arks’ until the following week and use them to recap the teaching point at the start of the session. If possible, have a bowl of water handy to see which arks float and which don’t! The Point: To recap the message of the teaching session. Reminding the group of Noah’s faith in building the ark, the flood, the rainbow promise and God’s everlasting love for His children.

Prayer: Painting Prayers
Duration: 5 mins Equipment Required: Finger paints, large sheet of paper, wipes or bowl of soapy water, towel. Description: Praying out-loud can seem a bit boring or intimidating for small children. Interactive prayer can be used to encourage them to talk to God from an early age. In this activity the children are encouraged to say a simple prayer (either as a group or separately) such as the one below. As they say their prayer, they paint a rainbow-shaped arch on the paper using finger paints. It may be good to demonstrate to the group with a couple of leaders going first. Ask for volunteers and as the children add different coloured arches a rainbow should gradually appear! Have some water or wipes available for cleaning fingers. Suggested wording for the prayer: ‘Thank you God that you keep your promises. Help me to love you.’ The Point: To encourage the children to pray. Remembering that God keeps His promises and asking God for help to love Him and live for Him like Noah did.

Worship and Reflection: God Is Good
Duration: 5 mins Equipment Required: Jingly children’s instruments (optional). Description: Spend some time singing family worship songs that remind the children that God is a good God. He keeps His promises, loves us and challenges us to love Him back! If available, give the children tambourines, jingly bells etc to play as they sing along. Some suitable songs include: ‘My God is a Good, Good God’ ‘Blessed be the Name of the Lord’ ‘Be Bold, be Strong’ The Point: To worship God and thank Him for His goodness – in keeping His promises and loving us immensely.

Memory Verse: Remember That Rainbow
Duration: 10 mins Equipment Required: White card, felt-tips, memory verse printed onto paper or stickers, glue sticks, ribbon, hole-punch, laminates and laminator (optional). Description: ‘When a rainbow appears in the sky I will remember my agreement. Flood waters will never again destroy all life on the earth.’  Genesis 9:14-15 (International Children’s Bible – slightly shortened to reflect age of children. Prior to the session cut some card into bookmark sized pieces. Punch a hole at the bottom of each bookmark to thread a piece of ribbon through. Print the memory verse out onto small stickers or paper. The memory verse needs to be small enough to stick onto the bookmarks. At the start of this activity, say the memory verse as a group together several times – loudly, quietly, quickly, slowly etc…until the children have remembered it. Then give each child a bookmark and a copy of the memory verse. Ask them to stick the memory verse on to the bookmark and then decorate the bookmark by drawing rainbows onto it. When they have finished they can tie a piece of ribbon through the hole at the bottom. If you have the equipment, laminate the bookmarks at the end of the session so they last a little longer (if you are doing this, the hole-punching and ribbon will need to be done after laminating). Before the session ends, repeat the verse together a few more times and see if anyone is brave enough to say it (or part of it) out loud on their own. The Point: To learn Scripture by heart.

Additional Information/Activities (e.g. Birthday announcements):

   

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