Sleep Does a Body Good!

Scripture: Genesis 27-28

Learning Objectives:

  • Students will review the story of Jacob’s blessing and dream.
  • Students will learn Jacob had to rest for the night because he could not complete his trip in one day.
  • Students will learn that sleeping helps the body stay healthy.
  • Students will learn the benefits of getting enough sleep.
  • Students will participate in an activity to encourage them to sleep an age appropriate amount of time each night.

Guiding Question: Why is it important to get enough sleep at night (and how much is enough)?

Materials: plain and colored papers, markers, staplers

Procedure: Review the story of Jacob focusing on the idea Jacob needed to stop his journey and get some sleep so he would be strong enough to finish his journey. Ask students why they think it is important to get enough sleep and how many hours they believe is enough sleep for someone their age. Share with students the benefits of getting enough sleep and the problems people can have when they don’t get enough sleep. (This is a good health article on children and sleep.) Share with the students that most new medical research shows that children their age should be getting ten to twelve hours of sleep each night. (Evidently, students with higher IQ’s need more sleep than their peers.) Ask students what kinds of things sometimes keep them from getting enough sleep for example: noises, staying up too late, dreams which awaken them, etc.)

Have students create a sleep journal. The journal can be as decorative as they would like. Inside it should have a place for them to record the date, the time they went to bed, the time they woke up the next morning, how many hours of sleep they had and what if anything woke them up or kept them from getting enough sleep. Students who have sleep issues may also want to record what they ate before going to bed and the time they ate it, dreams that they had, etc. Have the students take the sleep journals home and keep records for two weeks. At the end of two weeks have the students bring the journals back to class and discuss the results. What can you do as a class to help everyone get enough sleep? Does understanding their days may go better, they may feel better and their grades may improve encourage your students to try and get more sleep?

Additional Questions:

  • What roles do diet and exercise play in the amount or quality of sleep?

Supplemental Activity: Have more advanced students research the roles of diet and exercise in the amount and quality of the sleep we get. Have them draw some conclusions and share the results of their research and their recommendations with the rest of the class.

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