Free Sunday School Lesson for Children
The following Sunday School lesson for children is a free sample Sunday School lesson.
This whole series of Sunday School sessons is available to members on The Resource Room.

Watchdog
Written by Carolyn Warvel

Bible References:  "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. " Ps 39:1, KJV

Printable Bible Verse Cards -  Print out onto card stock, write the Bible verse on the cards and make copies. (Large file or small file)

Teaching Concept: We should keep watch over what we say so we don't sin with our tongue. Children will learn to be aware of what they are saying and learn how to control their tongues.

Early Arrivals Activity

1. Bible Verse Coloring Sheet - (Preschool children or not much time) Before class print out the coloring sheets and make copies. Have your children color them in class. (Large file or small file)

2. Moving Head Watchdog Picture - Before class print out the Dog Head Pattern (Large file or small file) and the Dog Body Pattern (Large file or small file) on to card stock (Heavy paper). (You will need four body patterns for every head pattern because there are four heads per page.) Cut out the heads. In class have your children color the head and body and then attach the head to the body using a brass paper fastener. Place the fastener through the nose and then through the dot on the body picture and open up the fastener from the back of the page. Your children will be using these during the lesson.

Preparation: Before class make a large watchdog puppet like the ones your children will be making in class. Print out the patterns onto card stock and then use paper glue (Elmer's Rubber Cement) to glue another piece of card stock to the back of the pattern. Cut out the patterns and use a paper fastener to attach the head to the body.) You can use this puppet during class each week to remind your children to "watch their ways". When a child is talking too loud or is talking during the lesson, etc. you can tilt the dog's head so that the ear is lifted up like the dog is hearing something. Tell your children that the watchdog is hearing something he is concerned about. Then tell them, for example, "He hears someone who is not watching his tongue. He hears someone who is being too loud, or talking when the teacher is talking". (If you don't have time to make the paper puppet, you can use a real dog puppet or stuffed animal.)

Colored Patterns - Body Pattern (Large file or small file) and Head Pattern (Large file or small file)
Black and White Patterns - Body Pattern (Large file or small file) and Head Pattern (Large file or small file)

Make Sample Membership Cards - Print out the patterns and cut them out. Do not cut the back and front of the card apart. Fold the card in half and glue the back to the front.

The Lesson

What do you think of when I say "watchdog"? Do you think of a dog that protects its family? Do you have a dog? Is it a good watchdog? (Give your children each time to respond.)

The best watchdogs keep alert at all times. They make sure you know when something or someone might be coming onto your property. They protect you by letting you know if anything is out of the ordinary.

Is your dog a good watchdog? Does it keep alert and bark when it hears a strange sound? Does it bark to let you know when a stranger comes to the door? Does it bark and growl when it thinks you may be in danger?

You think of dogs when I say "watchdogs", but did you know that a person could also be a "watchdog"? People can form watchdog groups. Watchdog groups watch certain things and alert others if they see something is wrong.

There are all kinds of watchdog groups. For example, there are watchdog groups that look out for people who try to scam others over the Internet or through the mail. There are watchdog groups who try to protect the earth by keeping an eye on people who might be harming the environment.

Do you think you might want to join a watchdog group? What kind of watchdog would you like to be? (Give your children each time to respond.)

I am starting a watchdog group that you may want to join. We will be meeting every Sunday morning for the next four weeks in this very class. If you decide to join, you will get this official membership card (Hold up a sample membership card.) It will have your name on it. In order to join this watchdog group there are several things you have to do.

1. You must memorize the watchdog motto.
2. Learn some very important Bible verses.
3. And take the Watchdog oath.

We will be learning all this in the next couple of weeks.

You're probably wondering what or whom we will be watching out for. Let's open our Bible to help you find a clue about what this watchdog group is all about.

(Open your Bible to Psalm 39:1) Good watchdogs, as you know, have to have very good ears. I want you to practice being a watchdog by listening very carefully to what I am reading. See if you can figure out what this watchdog group will be watching out for.

"I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. " Ps 39:1, KJV

Did you listen very carefully? What clues does this Bible verse give you that our watchdog group will be watching? (Give your children each time to respond.)

It says, "I will take heed to my ways". That means I will watch my ways or pay attention to what I am doing. The second part also gives us a clue. It says, "that I sin not with my tongue". So we will learn to watch our tongues so we don't sin with them. Did you know that you can sin with your tongue? There are many, many ways that we can use our tongues to sin. We will be learning more about these ways in the next couple of weeks.

The last part of this verse says, "I will put a bridle on my mouth." Does anyone know what a bridle is? A bridle is a set of leather straps that are put on a horse's head to allow its rider to control it.

So our watchdog group will be a "Watching our Ways" watchdog group. We will learn how to keep a watch on our tongue and control what we say.

Watchdog Prayer

Father, "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." Amen. (KJV Psalm 141:3)

Crafts and Activities

1. Listening Activity - Tell your children that we are going to practice being a good watchdog. Good watchdogs are always listening. They can hear very well. Let's see how many things we can hear if we really practice listening. If you have a dog, you may have noticed that it sometimes perks up its ears and tilts its head when it hears a sound. The watchdog you made today can do the same thing. Tell your children to pick up their watchdog pictures and to listen very carefully. If they hear a sound, tell them to move the head on their watchdog picture so that the ear on the right side is facing up and to hold their picture up. When someone holds their picture up you should ask them what sound they hear and write it on the board. (Note: If you didn't make the moving head watchdog picture, you can just have the children bark a couple of times when they hear something.)

They may hear someone coughing, breathing, talking in another room, or singing in another room. They may hear a fan or noises from outside. When your children can't hear any more noises, congratulate them for having good listening ears. Tell them that they will be learning more about being a good watchdog next week.

2. Play "Doggy, Doggy, Where's your Bone" Bible Verse Game. Before class cut out some dog bone shapes from construction paper or use real dog biscuits. Write one word of the Bible verse on each bone. Pick a child to be the doggy. Place the bones in order behind the doggy to spell out the Bible verse. Have the children say the chant, "Doggy, doggy where's your bone? Somebody took it from your home." The doggy then turns around and decides which bone is missing by reading the words on the bones. He then tries to guess who took the bone. If you have younger children use only part of the Bible verse. If you have preschool children, use only one bone. When the doggy guesses who took the bone, the child who took it has to say the Bible verse before he gets to be the new doggy.

3. Play a Bible Verse Review Game using Doggy Biscuits - Use the doggy biscuits from the previous game. Turn all the doggy biscuits over and take turns seeing who can find the correct doggy biscuit. Start with the first word of the Bible verse. For example, everyone will take turns trying to find the word "I". If a child turns over the word "I", he gets to take another turn and look for the word "will". Keep going around the circle until a child finds the word "will". Then have the children take turns looking for the next word. The child who has the most bones at the end of the game wins. If you have very young children, use only a few words or only one word such as "tongue". Or just put a star on one of the bones and if a child turns over the star bone, he gets to say the verse and gets a treat.

4. Make Doggy Snacks - Use cookie cutters to cut bread into bone shapes for "doggy snacks". Toast the doggy-gone shaped bread and add cinnamon and sugar. Idea sent in by Narita Roady

5. Make Dog Bowl Candy Dishes - Buy cheap dog bowls at a dollar store and have your children decorate them with stickers and fun foam shapes. Write the Bible verse along the bottom edge of the bowl with a permanent marker.

6. Practice the Watchdog Motto and Watchdog Promise -

Watchdog's Motto: I will watch my ways and control what I say.

Watchdog's Promise

By God's mercy and hiding His word in my heart
I will watch my ways and the words I say
So that, through me, others will be blessed today.

Songs

Copyright © 2006 Carolyn Warvel
Danielle's Place of Crafts and Activities
http://www.daniellesplace.com 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 taught this lesson, 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 others teach this lesson are welcome.

I used a little stuffed dog to help remind my children to control their mouths. Whenever a child talked when I was talking, interrupted, or didn’t raise his hand, I would give him a little stuffed dog to hold. I would tell him that the dog would remind him that he needs to control his mouth.  I told him if he talked out again while holding the “watchdog”, he had to go sit at the far end of the room away from all the other children so he wouldn’t distract the class.  If another child talked out, I would give the dog to him and tell him the same thing.  So whoever had the dog, had to be extra careful not to talk out.  It seemed to work very well. Carolyn

You can get the remaining four lessons in this series when you become a member of The Resource Room and Danielle's Place .

For more free lessons go to the Free Sunday School Lessons for Children Page.