Scripture: Genesis 12, 15 and 20
Learning Objectives:
- Students will review the story of Abram.
- Students will learn who important it was for Abram to follow God’s directions..
- Students will participate in an activity allowing them to practice writing, reading and following directions.
Guiding Question: How can you write directions so someone else can create something?
Materials: photographs of famous pieces of art, sheet of blank paper for each student, pencils, crayons/markers
Procedure: Review the story of Abram, focusing especially on how God gave Abram directions to follow to find his new home. Explain how important it is for us to be able to not only read and follow God’s directions, but sometimes we will also need to be able to write those instructions and encourage someone else to follow God’s plans too. Give each student a photograph of a famous painting. Tell the students not to let other students see their photo. They need to write instructions for another person, so that if the other person follows them, they can recreate the masterpiece. They cannot use the name of the artist or the painting. To make the activity more difficult, you can instruct students they cannot use words like flower, but must describe objects using only shapes, colors and directions. Younger students can use nouns, colors and directional words. Once students finish writing their instructions, have them give them to another student. The student should attempt to follow the written instructions and draw the painting. After completing the activity, have the instruction writer compare the original photo of the painting to the drawing completed by the student who followed their instructions.
Additional Question: What are some ways Christians repeat God’s instructions to other people?
Supplemental Activity: Have more advanced students research instructions God gives us in the Bible. Have them investigate ways Christians repeat God’s instructions to other people. Are the ways they repeat God’s instructions always accurate? Why or why not?