Free Sunday School Lessons for Children

The following Sunday School lesson is a free sample lesson. There are many more lessons available on The Resource Room

What Kind of a Friend are You? - Part I

Memory Verse: Leviticus 19:18 ". . . Love your neighbor as yourself."

Scripture References: Proverbs 12:18, Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 4:29, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Teaching concepts: True friends are helpful; not harmful.

Outreach

Send out ladybug cards at the beginning of the week to tell the children what they will be learning this week in class and to encourage children that don't come regularly to come and join you.

What you will need: Green paper, different colors of paper for the flower, and red paper, markers, paper glue, and stamps.

What to do:

1. Print out the pattern.

2. Cut the leaf pattern from green paper, the flower pattern from different colors of paper and the ladybug from red paper.

3. Draw black spots and a head on the ladybug.

4. Glue the flower to the center of the leaves, and the ladybug to the flower.

5. 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.

The Lesson

Preparation: Learn about Ladybugs and mosquitoes. Enchanted Learning has information and a diagram of a mosquito.

Ask if anyone has every been bitten by a mosquito or other insect? How did it feel?

The mosquito has a long mouth called a proboscis. (Hold up a sample of the mosquito craft or a picture of a mosquito and point out where the proboscis is located.) On the proboscis are sharp cutting tools called stylets. The mosquito uses her stylets to cut open her victims skin. She then pushes in her long mouth and injects saliva into the wound to increase the blood flow and sucks the victims blood. She leaves a small wound that starts to itch within two minutes which is caused by an allergic reaction to the mosquito's saliva. (I use the word "she" because only the female mosquito eats blood. They need the protein to produce eggs.)

Did you know that our mouth can be used in the same way the mosquitoes mouth is used? It can be even more hurtful than a mosquito bite. In Psalm 52:4 the tongue is described as a sharpened razor. Have you ever been cut with a razor or knife? They are very sharp and can make a very deep cut that can bleed a lot. In the same way you can cut with your tongue hurting someone's feelings and making them "bleed" or cry. Lying and calling names can be very hurtful and the effects can last a lot longer than a mosquito bite Once you say something you can't take it back. You can say you're sorry, but the words are still there. Is the old rhyme "Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me" true? No. Words can not hurt you physically, but they can hurt your feelings. Can you think of a time when someone hurt you with their words? How did you feel?

Read Proverbs 12:18 - "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Be careful what you say. Even if you don't really mean what you say, you can hurt someone very badly. Instead of putting people down, use your words to encourage and lift people up.

Ask if anyone has every gone on a hike or down to the lake or into the woods where there were bugs everywhere. How did that make you feel?

2. Mosquitoes are pests. They bother you. They fly around in front of your face which can be very irritating. People can be that way too. No one wants to be around someone who is constantly bothering them.

Can you think of ways you can bother other people. (Let the children share their ideas and write them down on the board).

1. Not sharing
2. Yelling
3. Not listening or always talking or interrupting
4. Whining
5. Being bossy
6. Being a sore loser
7. Getting mad easily
8. Wanting things your way all the time.
9. Always having to be right, arguing
10. Getting others in trouble
11. Messing up things, not taking care of things that belong to others.
12. Always wanting something from someone, but not willing to give.

What do you think of when you see a ladybug? Do you want to get rid of them?

Ladybugs are very different than mosquitoes. People don't mind having them around. In fact, most people who understand them are glad to see them. They know that ladybugs are very helpful. In fact, back in the 1880s, just a few hundred ladybugs saved all the orange trees in the state of California. Some very bad insects, called the cottony-cushion scale were brought to our country from Australia aboard a cargo ship. They spread rapidly and started eating and killing all the orange trees in California. The insects weren't so bad in Australia because Australia had ladybugs that ate the cottony-cushion scale. Californians 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.

1. Ladybugs Are Very Gentle - Have you every held a ladybug. They don't bite do they? Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."

2. Ladybugs are Helpful - They make people happy. They help whenever they can. Read Ephesians 4:29 "Don't use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing." TLB You can help people by doing nice things for them, but you can also be helpful by saying kind things and giving compliments to people.

3. Ladybugs Protect our Plants - How can we be like a ladybug and protect others? We can stand up for what is right and defend our friends if someone is picking on them.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Summary

Mosquitoes hurt and are pests. I know I'm glad when I get away from pesky bugs. Ladybugs, on the other hand, are very helpful. When people see ladybugs they thank God for them. What about you? Are you more like a ladybug or a mosquito?

Note: Mosquitoes aren't all bad. We need mosquitoes. The are an important food source for birds and many other animals. God created them for a purpose.

Prayer

Thank you for your words that teach us how to be a friend. Help us to be more loving, to treat our friends how we would like to be treated. Forgive when we aren't kind and treat our friends badly. And thank you for showing us the greatest kind of friendship by sending your son to die on the cross for us.

Crafts and Activities

1. Make a Ladybug Craft

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:

1. Use the ladybug pattern to cut wings from red poster board and the head and body from black poster board.

2. Glue the head on to the body and then line up the wings with the body so that the body is completely covered. Punch holes where indicated on the wing pattern and insert paper fasteners to connect the wings to the body.

3. Cut pipe cleaners about 6 inches long and fold in half for the antennae.

4. In class have the children write on the body of the ladybug characteristic of a good friend. (Use the Milky Pens because they will show up on the black background) Have them decorate the ladybug's wings, glue or draw on eyes, and tape pipe cleaner antennae to the back of the ladybug's head.

2. Make a Mosquito Craft

What you will need: Black poster board, tag board or white poster board, pipe cleaners, paper fasteners, glue, hole punch, milky pens, scissors and sequined material for the eyes (optional)

What to do:

1. Use the Pattern to cut out the body parts from black poster board and the wings from tag board or white poster board.

2. Punch holes in the body where it is indicated on the pattern.

3. Cut some pipe cleaners about 6 inches long and fold in half for the antennae. Cut some more pipe cleaners about 4 inches long for the proboscis. You will need 3 uncut pipe cleaners for the legs.

4. Attach the wings to the body with paper fasteners where it is indicated on the pattern.

5. In class let the children pick out what color legs, antennae, and proboscis they would like to use on their mosquitoes. Attach the legs by inserting one pipe cleaner through the top left hole from the front, pulling around the back to the top right hole, and inserting it through the hole. Pull the pipe cleaner through to make both legs an even length and then bend the pipe cleaner to look like legs. Do the same thing for the other two set of holes.

6. Insert the 4 inch pipe cleaner through the hole in the head and pull it half way through. Twist the ends together to keep it from falling out. Tape the antennae to the back of the head.

7. (Optional) To make the eyes shiny I glued on some sequined material cut to the shape of the eye. You can buy a 2" x 45" piece of the material at Wal-Mart for about thirty cents.

8. Have the children write on the body of the mosquito unfriendly characteristics. (Use the Milky Pens because they will show up on the black background) Have them decorate the mosquito's wings, glue or draw on eyes, and tape pipe cleaner antennae to the back of the its head.

2. Make a Pony Bead Ladybug - For directions to this craft go to Making Friends Web Site.

Bulletin Board Ideas

what kink of friend are ou bulletin board title banner love our neighbor as yourself banner bulletin board craft To make a bulletin board display print out the title banner and the verse banner onto legal size paper. Color the mosquitoes and ladybugs with markers. Tape them to the top of your bulletin board. Use a white or light color background paper. Print out the verse banners onto legal size paper and cut them apart. Have the children make extra ladybugs and mosquitoes to put up on the bulletin board to finish the display. Note: You can also add the ladybugs to the display from the ladybug memory verse game from the next lesson when the game is over.

"What Kind of Friend are You?" Title Banner - Print on legal size paper and color in the ladybugs and mosquitoes
"Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" Banner - Print on legal size paper.
Three verses - Print on legal size paper and cut apart.

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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 lady bug (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. God Bless, Donna Byrd