Resource Room Template

Teaching Concept: Jesus disappeared in the clouds, but some day he will appear again to take us to live with him.

1. Make Jesus Ascending to Heaven Paper Cup Craft - Designed by Tracey Lentfer

What you will need: 16 oz. foam or paper cups, blue paper, card stock (Heavy paper), cotton balls, string, tape, and colored pencils. (To save time, use blue cups if you can find them.)

2. Make a Jesus Ascends Picture - Children pull the paper strip up so that Jesus looks like he is ascending into the clouds.

Comments on Craft:

I used this craft for Easter Sunday to teach 3 and 4's. It is a really easy craft to prepare. I only made one modification - - that is on the hands of Jesus I made a little red dot. This gave me another chance to explain to the children how Jesus had been nailed to the cross and how that was the imprint the nails left in His hands. Teresa Henderson

2. Make a Jesus Stick Puppet - You can have all your children make Jesus stick puppets to use during the lesson. Have them hold up their puppets whenever you hold yours up during the story.

Print out the patterns and cut them out. Have your children color the picture and glue it to a craft stick or paint stick.

Color Picture - (Large file or small file) or Black and White - (Large file or small file)

Preparation: You will need three opaque cups and a marble or small ball (one that will fit in your pocket easily). Place the three cups on a table upside down so all your children can see them. You will also need to wear something with pockets so you can hide the ball in your pocket. Also print out the Jesus stick puppet and glue it to a paint stick or jumbo craft stick. Color Picture - (Large file or small file) or Black and White - (Large file or small file)

This morning we are going to play a little game. I have three cups here and a marble. Keep your eyes on the marble. When I am done mixing up the cups, I will ask you to guess which cup the marble is hidden under. (Don't tell them that you are going to put the marble under the cup, just let them assume you will be putting it under it.)

Place all three cups on a table upside down. Pretend that you are placing the marble under a cup. To do this, lift up the cup from the back, put your hand under the cup like you are placing the marble under it, but keep the marble in your hand. As you say, "Keep your eyes on this cup", quickly place the marble in your pocket. (Practice this at home several times with different people to make sure you have the technique down.) Mix up the cups and keep reminding your children as you mix them up to keep their eyes on the cups. When you are done mixing, ask the children which cup they think the marble is under. Pick up one cup at a time and show them that the marble is not under any of the cups. They will be amazed and little perplexed and probably think it is magic. Show them the marble in your pocket)

Did you think I made this marble disappear? It looked like it disappeared, but it really didn't. I just hid it in my pocket. People who do "magic" tricks aren't really doing "magic". They are just fooling your eyes - making you think you have seen something that you really haven't seen.

Our story today is about some one who surprised many, many people. He really does appear and disappear many times. It is found in the book of John. Open your Bible to John, Chapter 19.

After Jesus died on the cross his body was placed in a tomb. Guards stood in front of the tomb so that no one would steal the body. The tomb was also sealed shut so no one could roll away the stone.

Early the next morning, Mary Magdalene and some friends went to the tomb. When they got there the stone had been rolled away. They wondered what had happened to Jesus' body. They were confused and angry. They thought that maybe some one had stolen the body.

Mary ran to get some of the disciples to show them. And they ran to the tomb and found it empty. They wondered what had happened to Jesus. His body was gone. Peter wondered how some one could steal the body when the tomb was sealed and the guards were right in front of the tomb all night. He went home very sad, not knowing what to think.

Mary stayed there in front of the tomb and cried. Then she stooped down and looked into the tomb and saw two angels. They asked her why she was crying. She explained that some one had taken Jesus' body. When she turned around to go home she saw a man standing in front of her (Hold up the Jesus stick puppet.) and the man asked her why she was crying. She thought he might be the gardener and asked him if he knew where Jesus' body might be. Then the man said her name and Mary realized that it was Jesus! He was alive. Some one hadn't stolen his body after all!

That same evening the disciples were gathered in a room with the doors locked. All of a sudden Jesus appeared and said, "Peace be unto you." (Hold up the Jesus stick puppet.)

The disciples told Thomas, who wasn't there that night, about Jesus appearing to them in the upper room, but Thomas didn't believe them. He told them that he wouldn't believe that it was Jesus unless he could touch his nail-scarred hands. Eight days later the disciples were in the upper room with Thomas, Jesus appeared again. (Hold up the Jesus stick puppet.) Jesus told Thomas to touch his hands and his side so that he would know that it was really Jesus. Then Thomas believed.

Another day the disciples had been fishing all day long but they hadn't caught anything. (Hold up the Jesus stick puppet.) Jesus appeared on the shore early in the morning and called out to the disciples, "Children, have you caught any fish?" The disciples didn't recognize him at first. Then he told them to throw their nets on the right side of the boat, and they caught so many fish they had to drag it to shore. When they came to shore Jesus had breakfast ready for them and told them to come and eat with him.

After that Jesus lead his disciples to Bethany. When they got there he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. As he was blessing them he was carried up into heaven. Jesus had vanished right in front of their eyes. But they knew Jesus wouldn't be gone forever. He promised to come back again someday just as he had left. It says in Luke 21:27, "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Some day, no one knows when, Jesus will appear in the clouds to take us home with him.

Father, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, so that some day we will be with him in heaven. We look forward to that exciting day when he will return. Amen.

1. Helium Balloon Release - Take your children outside and write the Bible verse on a helium balloon and then release it. Let your children watch the balloon slowly disappear into the sky. Talk about where they think it might end up. Pray that some one will find the message on the balloon.

2. Disappearing Bible Verse Review Game - Write the Bible verse on cards, one word per card. Use only part of the verse for younger children. For example, if you have kindergarten children, use only a few words from the verse such as, "I will come again." Show your children the cards, read each word, and place them in order. Tell your children that you are going to take one of the cards away, and they must try to figure out which one is missing. Mix up the cards, set one aside, and place the rest of cards in random order on the table. See who can tell you which card is missing first.

3. Play "Where is Jesus?" - (Preschool children) - Before you start hide the Jesus stick puppet some place in the room. Remind your children about Mary going to the tomb and finding it empty. Tell your children that they are going to pretend to be going to the tomb with Mary. Place a chair with a blanket over it or other object in front of the room to be the tomb. Walk around the room and come up near the tomb. Point to the tomb and say something like, "Look, the stone is rolled away. Let's go look inside." Pretend to look inside the tomb and say, "Look, Jesus is no longer in the tomb. Do you think he has risen from the dead just like he said he would?" Tell your children to spread out and go look for Jesus. Keep playing until your children are tired of the game.

I'll Come Back Again!
Written by Carolyn Warvel
(Sing to the tune of "Ring A Round a Rosy".)

Jesus, Jesus he's not dead.
Listen to what He's said,
"First I must go home and then
Some day I'll come back again!"

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

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.

On the week following Easter Sunday, my class (ages 2 to 6) had a lesson on the ascension of Jesus. We used the craft from your lesson "Now you see Him, now you don't!" with a slight variation. Instead of using string, we used a white pipe cleaner. It was easier to put through the cup and easier to move up and down. All the children thought this was a wonderful craft and there were many comments from the parents as well. Thank you for providing such a wonderful website. Theresa Bostick

We did the lesson on Jesus going to heaven. They really enjoyed moving their Jesus figure up and down in the blue cup. Instead of the bigger cups, we used the smaller cups, and still got along fine.

When we acted out the Easter story about Jesus rising from the dead, I hid the Jesus figure around the room and then they each got a turn to find Jesus and hide him. When I came to the part of the lesson where the ladies came to the tomb and wondered how to move the stone away and the angel appeared and said, “Jesus is not here. He is risen”, I had them look in our tomb which was a card table covered with a table cloth and doll used as Jesus. When they looked inside the tomb, they would not find Jesus but the wrap cloth. I had someone take the doll out of the tomb before we looked inside the tomb. I used a doll angel and set it on top of the table. I had the kids look for the Jesus stick figure in the room and then I told them the other times Jesus appeared to his friends before he went to heaven. As I told them that Jesus was telling his disciples to go out into the world and he started rising up into the clouds, I had them use their cup craft to act out that part of the story.

Then I had them set up dominos, about 10 each, hit one and watch them all go down. I explained that each one of the dominos represented people telling other people about Jesus. Denise King