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Many of the crafts and activities are Bible-based and are great for use in Sunday school, preschool, home school, and on special occasions.
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Free Sunday School Lessons for Children The following Sunday School lesson for children is a free sample Sunday School lesson.
Ladybug Friends
Printable Bible Verse Cards - Print out onto card stock, cut apart, and send home with each child. (Large file or small file) Teaching concepts: Ladybugs are helpful insects. People like to see them around because they know that they can help save their plants from being destroyed by aphids. Jesus also helped many people. He was sent to save the world. We should follow Jesus' and the ladybug's example. We should be ladybug friends.
Outreach
What you will need: Green paper, different colors of paper for the flower, red paper for the ladybug, markers, paper glue, and stamps. What to do: Print out the patterns. Cut the leaf pattern from green paper, the flower pattern from different colors of paper and the ladybug from red paper. Draw black spots and a head on the ladybug. Glue the flower to the center of the leaves, and the ladybug to the flower. In the center of the card write a special message to each student. Around the sides write what you will be doing in class. Fold in the leaves to make a square and secure them with a cute sticker. Copyright - Even though this is a free lesson it is still copyrighted. It is for personal use only. It may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, or home use. It is illegal to copy this material and publish it on another web site even if you include the copyright notice. You must have permission to copy the material. To request permission to copy this material for any other use contact me by email. Opening Activities
1. Make Ladybug Memory Verse Cards - Before class cut out six ladybug shapes (ovals) from red construction paper for each child about 3" x 4". Cut out one flower and leaf shape for each child also. (Use the pattern for the outreach activity above.) If you have young children who are still learning to read and write, write one word of the memory verse on each ladybug shape. If you have older children let them write the words. Glue the flower shapes onto the leaf envelope shapes and fold the envelopes. In class have the children draw black spots on their ladybugs. Give them each an envelope and show them how to place their ladybugs in the envelope. Tape the envelopes closed or use ladybug stickers to keep them closed. Tell the children they can use the ladybugs at home to help them remember their verse. Write the complete verse on the outside of the envelope. You can also buy ladybug stickers to give as reward to the children for remembering their verse.
What to do: 1. Before class print out the ladybug pattern onto red or yellow paper (Large file or small file) and cut the patterns out on the solid lines. Also cut the solid white line on the face.
4. Hand out the search and find sheet (small file or Large file). Have the children see how many ladybugs they can find and then color the picture.
6. Practice printing and writing - This lesson was designed to go along with the ABC worksheets using the Bible verse. Children practice writing the letter A in print or cursive or write the complete verse in cursive. (Available to members of The Resource Room.) The Lesson (Preparation: If you are doing this lesson in the spring or summer, you might want to bring in some real ladybugs for your children to look at and hold. If you can't find some in your yard, you can usually buy them at garden stores.) How many of you have ever seen a real live ladybug? Did you pick it up? Were you afraid of it? Not very many people are afraid of ladybugs, are they? Ladybugs are kind of pretty, aren't they? When you see one it is hard not to want to pick it up and look at it a little closer. They kind of tickle when they walk on your arm, don't they? Most people dont mind having them around especially people who like to grow fruits and vegetables and flowers. They are glad to see them because they know that ladybugs are very helpful. Along time ago the farmers in California had a big problem. Some very harmful insects, called the cottony-cushion scale, were eating and killing all their orange trees. They found out that the bug had been brought over from Australia by mistake on some ships. The insects werent so bad in Australia because Australia had ladybugs that ate the cottony-cushion scale. These farmers knew that they needed the Australian ladybugs to help them save their trees. So 500 ladybugs were sent to California. When they arrived they started eating the cottony-cushion scale and within two years the trees were saved. Yes, those ladybugs were very helpful. The trees were no longer dying. This story reminds me of another story. A long time ago someone was sent to save a world that was lost and dying. This person cared about people very much. He helped people every where he went. He healed people who were sick and he helped them when they were in need. He was very gentle and loving to every one. As a matter of fact, he loved people so much that gave up his life for them. Do you know who I am talking about? Yes, I am talking about Jesus. Have you every held a ladybug? They don't bite do they? Jesus wants us to be like the ladybug. He wants us to be like him. He wants us to be good friends to people, to be gentle, kind, and helpful just like he was. What are some ways that you can be helpful and kind? Let the children come up with as many ideas as they can. (Older children ) Have older children look up the following verses and tell the class how they can be a friend by following the advice of the following verses: Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 4:29, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Proverbs 12:18, Leviticus 19:18 Jesus doesn't like to see you fighting and being mean to each other. He gets very sad when he sees you doing things that aren't nice. It makes Jesus very happy when he sees you helping others and being like the ladybug. Let's try to be ladybug friends today. Today we are going to make a ladybug to remind us to always be helpful and kind. And next time you see a ladybug in your garden or on a plant you can remember to be helpful like Jesus. (Optional) Read the Story, Ladybug Logic from Keys for Kids Devotionals on 9/9/99. Prayer Father, we thank you for sending Jesus to show us how to be helpful and kind. Help us always to remember to be a good friend. Amen
Crafts and Activities
What you will need: Red and black poster board, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, paper fasteners, milky pens, glue, tape, black magic markers, scissors, and a hole punch. What to do:
2. Make a Pony Bead Ladybug - (Older children) For directions to this craft go to Making Friends Web Site. 3. Make a ladybug refrigerator magnet and reminder sheets.
What you will need: Plastic spoons, Plaster of Paris, 3/4" round magnets, small black pompoms (optional), tiny wiggly eyes, hot melt glue gun, red paint or markers, black paint or markers. What to do: 1. Set the spoons up so that the cup of the spoon will hold the Plaster of Paris evenly without spilling out. You will need to use a book or something to lift up and set the long ends of the spoons on. You can also use play dough to keep the cup of the spoons from moving when you are pouring the plaster, but it isn't really necessary. 2. Mix the plaster according to the directions. Pour a spoonful of plaster into each plastic spoon and then place a magnet in the center. 4. Print out the ladybug notepaper pattern (Small file or large file) copy it onto light green paper, and cut the papers apart. 5. In class have the children paint or color their ladybugs. 6. Hand out four notepapers to each child. Encourage them to write on the notepaper reminders of special things they can do for their friends. 3. Make Ladybug Rocks - Paint smooth round river rocks with acrylic paint. Add pipe cleaner antennae and googly eyes. Activities
2. Play a memory verse game. (Older Children) Cut out and draw eight ladybugs from red poster board. Make one game for every 3 to 4 students you have. If you have too many players the game will go too slow and the children will lose interest. Color spots on the ladybugs so they all look different. On the back of each ladybug write one word of the memory verse. Turn the ladybugs over so the words can't be seen. Have the children take turns turning over the ladybugs in order to spell out the verse. Let each child turn over as many cards as he can until he gets one out of order. If the child misses, the next child takes a turn. 3. Find the Ladybugs - If it is possible for the children to leave the room for a few minutes or if you can hide the ladybugs outside. Play a game of find the ladybugs. 4. Observe real ladybugs and release them - You may be able to buy real ladybugs at your local nursery or go to www.ladybuglady.com to order some online. Children will enjoy watching them fly away. Or you can send some home with each child to release at home. 5. Play "Fly In and Out of the Window Little Ladybug" - Have the children stand in a circle holding hands. Pick a child, or more than one child if you have a lot of children, to be the ladybug. Keep singing the following song over and over until the "ladybug or ladybugs" find their way back to their place by weaving in and out of the children's arms around the circle. "Fly in and out the window, fly in and out the window, fly in
and out the window little ladybugs."
5. Make and read 'I Can Help" Itty Bitty Book - Go to the Christian Printable Books Page to print out this book. (The pages to this book is avaiblae to members only.)
Songs
Copyright - Even though this is a free lesson it is still copyrighted. It is for personal use only. It may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, or home use. It is illegal to copy this material and publish it on another web site even if you include the copyright notice. You must have permission to copy the material. To request permission to copy this material for any other use contact me by email. Bulletin Board Display
"What kind of Friend
are You?" title banner - Print on legal size paper and color in
the ladybugs and mosquitoes Copyright 2000, Carolyn Warvel, by The Resource Room All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information or storage retrieval system, except for local church or school use only. This copyright notice must be included on all copies. Requests for permission to copy this material for any other uses should be addressed to Carolyn Warvel, 588 Duran Street, Henderson, NV 89015 or e-mail me at care@daniellesplace.com
Comments We would love to hear your comments about this lesson. If you have done this lesson with your class we would love to hear how it went, if you changed anything, added anything, what age you taught and was it appropriate. Any comments that would help other teachers would be greatly appreciated and posted here for everyone to read. I taught this lesson during Children's Church to our 3 - 5 year olds. I think it was a really wonderful message and the kids were able to relate well to the concept of helping one another using the ladybug craft. I made my prototype of the ladybug from construction paper glued to poster board for added strength. Spray adhesive works really well and makes your gluing jobs much faster. Children this age have trouble being "neat" with glue, so to avoid using a really thick glue to hold the ladybugs antennae and the mess, I punched two holes near the top of the ladybug and inserted the pipe cleaner from the back to front, over and through the hole on the other side to the back. The result is the same, but less mess and a very cute ladybug. The kids just loved it. Instead of sending out letters using the flower, I used it as a craft as well. Again, I glued the construction paper to poster board for the leaf pattern and small ladybug (my own hand-drawing). I used construction paper only for inside of the flower and the petal. Layering all of the above together and punching a hole in the center (using an ice pick), I inserted a paper fastener to hold it all together. I added my own pen embellishments and wrote the memory verse "Help One Another" on the back. I hope these ideas are found useful and that you enjoy this lesson as much as I did. Donna I did the ladybug craft project with moveable wings with my 3- year-old preschool class. They loved the ladybugs. I opened the wings and placed their names on the black part with red glitter glue. They looked terrific. We all enjoyed doing this craft project. Thank you. Sharon I teach a 2 to 6 year old Sunday school class. This week I used the "Ladybug Friends" idea for my lesson. My lesson was entitled "Helpful Friends", because we talked about several useful insects: Ladybugs, butterflies and honeybees. Before class, I hung butterflies and honey bees from the ceiling (on string) all around the room and taped ladybugs to our class table. This helped to spark my children's attention. We then discussed our helpful insect friends and how they help nature and people, concluding the lesson with how Jesus was helpful (like your lesson) and He wants us to be helpful too!! We made the ladybug craft. The kids had a little trouble putting it together, but they were very happy with the end product. We also used the ladybug card, but I modified it some. I used the pattern for the card, but I printed the different parts separately onto construction paper (leaves on green and the flower petals and the center circle on multi-colors). I used more of the scripture verse (...through love help one another.) Printing one word of the verse on each petal of the flower and the reference (Galatians 5:13) on the center circle of the flower. I use double-stick tape on most of my craft projects, instead of glue. My children really love it, and there is no cleanup. The children got to pick their flower colors, and then used double-stick tape to put them together. We then stuck bug stickers to the leaves (butterflies, ladybugs and honey bees). They enjoyed the card more than the ladybug craft, because it was a little more on their level and is more of what they are used to. All and all, the lesson and the crafts went over great!! Thank you for providing such wonderful lessons and ideas!! Theresa I taught the "Ladybug Friends" lesson to my Sunday School Class, ages 2-6. They really enjoyed making the ladybugs and the lesson. I got several compliments on the craft from members of the congregation. Sheryl We attend a small church and I am teaching Children's church ages 3 to 8. I have had a hard time finding lessons. I am so thrilled that I found your web site. I love the fact that the lessons and the crafts go together. I did the story about the ladybug. The kids loved it as we had been talking about being friends. We made the ladybugs with the memory verse inside her wings and I got each child a file box for them to keep the memory verse cards in. Thank you so much. You are truly a blessing. Shirley Lynch Just wanted to say hi and what a blessing The Resource Room has been to my life and my Sunday school class. I just had to comment on the latest lesson I did. My class is really small, the most I get are 8 students, and they range from ages 2 to 6. We did the story and the children really loved and enjoyed the craft where they got to make their own ladybug. I was afraid to use the wiggly eyes because if they come lose some of the children might be tempted to put it in their mouths so I just drew eyes on with milky white pens and it was a very nice craft I did the lesson "Ladybug Friends" for children's Bible hour Sunday and it went over pretty well. The kids ranged in age from about 4 - 9 years old. The older ones may have thought it was on the young side but they seemed to enjoy making the ladybugs. Since I have kids that are too young to turn loose with the scissors, I precut out the patterns and punched the holes for the wings to make things go faster. Using the regular hole punch made holes too big for the paper fasteners and the wings flopped and wouldn't stay open so I ended up using a nut meat extractor to punch the holes. They also fastened magnets to the back so they could put them on their refrigerators at home. I also made the matching game and they had a lot of fun with that. I made a copy of the suggested bulletin board pattern, colored and cut it out and pasted it on a piece of construction paper for a visual aid. I wrote my lesson on the back of that with questions so I didn't appear to be reading from a slip of paper on the table. I got some very favorable comments from some of the parents. Yours truly, Lisa On Sunday, we had a 'friendship' day in Sunday School. The children had all taken home invitations the week before inviting a friend to come to Sunday School the next Sunday. Your lesson on the ladybugs was such an amazing story to tell children who had possibly never been inside a church, that I just had to do it with my group of 2 to 5 year olds. We did the ladybug craft out of red and black fun foam to make it a little more special. I made all the holes ahead of time to line up the wings with the body, and for the antennae. I couldn't find black circle stickers (easier than gluing for little fingers) so I colored some round, small, file folder labels with a black permanent marker to make the spots. I used labels to print out "Jesus loves _____________" and filled in the child's name on Sunday. They stuck these in the middle of the ladybug body, under the wings. We used pipe cleaners for antennae and glued on googly eyes. We stuck a magnetic strip on the back so the kids could keep them on their fridge. The kids loved doing the craft, and they all turned out well. We played some of the games on your site and ended with a party to celebrate friends. I made mini cupcakes and iced them with red icing. My daughter piped on the outline of the ladybugs: spots, wings and eyes with brown icing. They were very simple. She drew a horizontal line across the cupcake, about 1/3 of the way down from the top, and a vertical line from that to the bottom of the cupcake to split the body. She piped two eyes, and then spots on the body. So, not only did I have a wonderful morning with my Sunday School class and a great lesson to teach, I had a great mother-daughter time with my 17-year old! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful ideas. You are such a blessing to many. Elizabeth Just wanted to let you know that as a new subscriber to your website, I was really encouraged by the amount of effort and creativity put in to your every lessons. "Ladybug Friends" was the first lesson that I used for my Sunday School class that ranges from 2 to 4. I did the story and was amazed that children of that age already knew what this little insect was! They made their own ladybug and I drew the face and wrote the words with a white color pencil. I must say that it was indeed a very easy and nice craft. God Bless, Jocelyn Yip (from Singapore) I used your Ladybug Friends lesson on a relatively small class of about 6 ages from 4 to 8. I pretty much used the lesson in the Resource Room however I did make a few changes to keep the attention of the children. I started the class out asking the children if they knew what a mosquito was and a ladybug was. They did not know that in my pocket I had a jar of ladybugs. We had a little discussion of the usefulness of ladybugs and the hindrance of mosquitoes. After a brief discussion I pulled out the ladybugs and the children were in amazement, as was I to know that some children had never seen one. We passed them around after that sat in a circle and I read the story that went with the lesson. Went over very well and the children paid lots of attention. For the craft we did the ladybug. All in all I was very impressed with the materials and since then have become a member. I am glad I did, as my church does not supply me with a lesson when I teach. I recently did both your Ladybug and mosquito, “What kind of friend are You?” lessons together! Here are some changes I made to the lesson you might want to share with others. I teach in a home school co-op and I work with 2 - 6 year olds. The class before this lesson, I made up invitation cards and gave them to each child to get them really excited about the upcoming lesson. I used your ladybug cards pattern. I printed them on green paper and light purple paper. I cut out just the flower in light purple and glued (using glue stick) to the green leaf pattern which I then wrote: "Next class we will be learning what kind of friend Jesus wants us to be!" On each leaf I wrote some of the fun things we'd be doing. Then I folded it up and closed it with small round stickers. Then I added an Adhesive wooden ladybug from Oriental Trading Companyon top of the sticker. (The sticker was just to help keep the card closed better.) These cute little 3D ladybugs only cost $3.95 for 50. We did your ladybug lesson. We also used the Ladybug reminder pages that I printed on light green paper. They wrote one way (per page) of how to be a good friend. Then we stapled them together into a booklet with a card stock cover. On the outside of the cover, I had written at the bottom, "By love, serve one another!" They glued on a fun foam ladybug piece. (These are inexpensive at craft stores or Oriental Trading Company). We acted out the Ladybug poem twice and then played the Cottony-cushion game. They LOVED that game! Then I did the mosquito lesson. I made up a sheet of paper ahead of time that had the verse printed at the bottom and a drawing of a black squished mosquito. Each child used this paper and crayon-rubbed over a flyswatter to make the print. We played catch the mosquito game and then finished with one last simple craft from Oriental Trading Company, -- The Ladybug Catch Game Craft Kit (Type in #48/3766 in the search box at the top of the page to find this craft. I also made a tag to add to the handle that says "I was caught being a good friend!" They LOVED it!! Thanks for everything. This made the preparation so easy and the lesson was so fun for all, and profitable to the children! I am looking forward to our next lesson using your great plans! I love sending the verse sheet home for them to practice writing out their verses but you only have these for the ABC lessons. I'd love to see printable verse papers for all the lessons. Carol from PA I have viewed your site for many months before I actually became a member. Since I have joined I have used just a couple of your lessons and have found them to be so rewarding to my Pre-K children. The lessons on the ladybug and mosquitoes were terrific because the children could compare their behavior and also learn about why God makes all things. Their eyes and ears were wide open as they listened to the lesson and were excited to be helpful and kind like a ladybug. This lesson was truly fun and we were able to include it in our review of letter L & M. Thank you again and I look forward to many more lessons like this. Darlene I just taught this lesson to my preschool class. They really love ladybugs anyway! We read the story of "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle. Comparing the two ladybugs in the story, the one who is always sweet and nice and ready to share, and the one the story is about who tries to start a fight with everyone she meets, then ends up back where she started and shares the aphids with the nice ladybug again. They love the pictures and the story, and I felt it tied into the lesson very well! Thanks again, Nancy Hart I used some of the ladybug ideas with a group of 3-year-olds while their older siblings were in Pathfinder Camp. We were out in a field on a lovely sunny morning. I made ladybug memory verse cards for them to take home and use with their parents. We also played the Ladybug matching game which was very well received. They enjoyed sorting out the pairs. We made ladybug cards and stuck a small wooden ladybug on each one. I asked for one positive comment about each child and wrote this on their card. I was pleased that the children had no trouble finding something nice to say about everyone. Finally we made ladybugs which the children loved; especially as the wings opened and they could run around pretending they were flying. I have been using your lessons for several months now and find that they are very helpful in teaching my 3 - 5 year olds on Sunday. We have been working on the ABC lessons for several weeks; and I am always inpressed with the amount of materials that I can choose from. My kids have especially liked the "L" lesson. The ladybugs have made the children think about the kind of person they want to be for the Lord. They keep telling me they want to be like ladybugs and be kind and helpful to others. Thanks and may God continue to bless you and yours. Kathie We did the lady bird theme in our Sunday School, ages range from 4 to 11.The kids loved this lesson. We made a poster board with lady birds velcroed on. Each lady bird had one word to the memory verse. We played a game where all the lady birds were mixed up (so the memory verse was all over the place) and the kids had to put the lady birds in order. The kids loved this game and wanted to play it over and over again, which was great because they certainly knew the verse by the end of the lesson. Thanks for all of these resources it has made Sunday School so much easier to prepare. Regards, Michelle
My preschool Sunday school class did the "Lady Friends" lesson. The children colored the "Helpful Ladybug" activity sheet from your website. For our craft, we made a Ladybug Thermometer that I ordered from Oriental Trading Company (Type in 48/1537 in the search box at the top of the page). The children had a wonderful time and loved talking about ladybugs. In our area, we have had a ton of ladybugs that have kind of invaded everyone's homes.....so they liked talking about them. Ella Price I noticed that in all the comments from others that no one did the craft where you make the ladybugs out of the plaster of Paris and a plastic spoon to make a refrigerator magnet. I loved this craft and it was so easy to do. I thought it would be time consuming but much to my surprise it wasn't. We colored them with markers instead of painting them (less mess). And they turned out darling. I would suggest this to anyone who does this lesson. With the craft with the moveable wings instead of using a gel pen to write with I used a white crayon or a paint pen and I used construction paper and laminated it for durability. Thanks, Courtney I am an alternate for a Wednesday night class at our church. The ages of children range from 2 years to sometimes 3rd grade. It is very difficult to find activities for such a wide range of ages. I recently did a teaching on Lady Bugs and how we can be helpful also just like the lady bugs are. I printed out the story of Vedalia the Helpful Lady Bug and the children made the lady bug craft from poster board. We put on wiggly eyes and pipe cleaner antennas. I read the story and we discussed how the lady bugs helped with the fruit trees and also ways we could be helpful in all situations. The children really came up with some really good answers and we had a very long discussion on being helpful. Sometimes I put the older children with a younger one to be helpful and that always works out well.
The lessons on this page can be found on The Resource Rooma subscription site designed specifically for Sunday School teachers and children’s ministry. Join the Resource Room today! You will receive online access to complete, easy to prepare, bible lessons, new craft ideas and patterns, outreach ideas to help you grow your Sunday school class, church bulletin board ideas and much more. Copyright Notice The craft patterns, ideas, songs, lessons, etc. on this web site are copyrighted. You may not publish a copy of them on any other web site. You may publish a picture of a finished project you made from this site (not the directions and patterns) on another web site as long as you state where you got the project and include a link back to the project on this web site for the directions and patterns. It is illegal to copy material from this web site without permission and publish it any where on the web even if you include the copyright notice and author's name. If you would like to publish something from this web site on your site email us (see link above) for permission. All rights reserved. While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, library, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.
For more Sample Sunday school lessons go to the Sample Sunday School Lessons Page. For free Sunday school lessons go to the Free Sunday School Lessons for Children Page.
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