The Women at the Well

This is a good lesson to teach after the lesson, "Following in His Foot Steps"
Written by Carolyn Warvel

Bible Verse:

" . . . he who believes in Me will never be thirsty." John 6:35b.

Story Reference:

John 4:4-30

Teaching Concept:

It does not matter where a person worships or what they call themselves. It only matters how they worship. Your worship must be spiritual and real.

Early Arrivers Activity

1. Work on the Water Drops Memory Verse Sheet

What to do:

1. Before class print out the Water Drop Pattern Sheet and make copies. (Printing Problems?)

2. In class have the children color the water drops. Or you can just print the pattern on blue paper and have the children cut them out. Or you can just cut out a bunch of water drop shapes from blue paper (10 per child) and then in class have the children copy the Bible verse onto the water drops one word per drop.

If you have children that cannot write yet, you can have them place the water drops in order to spell out the Bible verse. Write the words on the board so they can match the order.

3. Make paper cups using typing paper or, if you have it, freezer paper to store the water drops. Make extra cups so that the children can use them to drink some water.

1. Fold a piece of paper 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" in half, corner to corner to make a triangle.

2. Place the folded piece of paper on a table so that the folded, long edge is at the bottom.

3. Fold over the right, bottom corner so that the point meets the left edge of the triangle. 4. Fold over the left, bottom corner so that the point meets the right edge of the triangle. 5. Fold down the top layer of the top corner along the top edges of the folded corners. Turn the bucket over and turn the top corner over the same way.

The Lesson

Preparation: You will need a glass of water and an empty cup for each child. Before you start the story explain to the children that every time you say the name "Jesus" the child with the water in his cup should pour the water into the cup of the person on his left. And every time you say that word "woman", the person with the water in his cup should pour the water in the person's cup to the right. Start by pouring water into the child's cup to the left. You can also tell the children that whoever ends up with the cup full of water has to drink it. (kiddingly)

Jesus and his disciples had been walking for days in the hot sun. They were on their way to Galilee. Jesus and his disciples were hot, tired, and very thirsty. Finally Jesus and his disciples came to Jacob's Well just outside the village of Sychar. While Jesus sat down next to the well to rest, his disciples went into the village to buy some food.

Soon a Samaritan woman came to get some water from the well and Jesus asked her for a drink. She was very surprised that Jesus had asked her for a drink. The woman was a Samaritan and Jews did not speak to Samaritans. Most Jews hated Samaritans. They treated the Samaritans as if they were dirty and not as good as themselves. But Jesus had spoken to her.

The Samaritan woman asked Jesus why he had spoken to her? Jesus told her that if she knew who he really was, that she would be asking him for much more important things than water. She didn't understand what Jesus was talking about.

Jesus began to tell the woman things about her that not many people knew. Jesus told her about how she had been married five times. The Samaritan woman asked him if he was a prophet. She had many questions for Jesus and Jesus patiently answered them. Jesus told her that it does not matter where a person worships or what they call themselves, Jew or Samaritan It only matters how they worship. Jesus told her that her worship must be spiritual and real. Jesus made this woman feel special and important. He didn't put her down for being a Samaritan and not understanding everything. He didn't look down on her for the mistakes she had made in her past.

The woman told him that she knew the Messiah was coming and that when he came he would explain everything. Then Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah." She knew that it must be true. She immediately left to tell everyone back in her village that the Messiah had come and his name was Jesus.

*If you have the "Following in Jesus' Steps" Bulletin Board up, discuss with the children ways we can follow in Jesus' step that we can learn from this story. Let them come up with new words to print on more footprints or point out words that are already up on the board. For example: Jesus was compassionate, kind, understanding, accepting, loving, etc.

Note: This same story is repeated over and over again today when people take the time to help the down and out, outcasts or needy. Guidepost Magazine has stories like these every month. Find a story like this or tell your own experiences. Relate to the children that these people were following in Jesus steps.

Review Activity

1. Play a "Throw a Rock in the Well Game" to Review the Lesson.

Write the following questions on sheets of typing paper. Write one questions per paper. (Use the backs of old used papers.) Line the children up behind a designated line. Read a question from one of the papers to the first child in line. If the child gets the question right, he can wrinkle up the paper and try to throw it in the well (waste basket) If he doesn't know the answer, he passes to the next person in line. Keep going like this until someone can answer the question and then read the next question on the second sheet of paper.

Questions:

1. What city was the women at the well from? Sychar
2. Where was Jesus going?
3. Where did Jesus stop to rest?
4. Who was traveling with Jesus?
5. Where did the disciples go when Jesus stopped to rest at the well?
6. Who came to the well? The Samaritan woman.
7. What did Jesus ask the Samaritan woman for?
8. What was the Samaritan woman's reaction to Jesus' request for water?
9. Why was the Samaritan woman surprised that Jesus talked to her?
10. What did Jesus know about the Samaritan woman?
11. What does Jesus know about you?
12. Who did Jesus say he was?
13. Where did the woman go after she found out Jesus was the Messiah? Back into the city of Sychar
14. What did the woman do when she found out Jesus was the Messiah? Told the people about Jesus.
15. Give an example how you can be like Jesus in this story. --help someone who is lonely. Don't put people down for things they have done or mistakes they made, forgive them. Accept people the way they are. Be understanding.
16. Is it more important where you worship God or how you worship God?

Crafts and Activities

1. Make a "He Who Believes in Me Shall Never Thirst" Well Pencil Holder

What you will need: 15 oz. - 16 oz. aluminum cans, paper, crayons or colored pencils, and tape.

What to do:

1. Before class print out the Pattern and make copies. (Printing Problems?)

2. In class have the children color the well and ladle, cut them out and tape them to the can.

2. Act Out the Story

You will need a large box painted to look like a well, large bowl of water, a ladle, a cup, and dress up clothes.

Have the children dress up in Costumes as Mary. (Younger children will want to dress up like Mary because she gets to play in the water.) Have a teacher dress up like Jesus.

To act out:

Jesus comes up to the woman sitting at the well and asks for a drink of water. The woman gives him a drink. Jesus tells the woman that God loves her. Have each child take a turn being Mary. If you teach older children go into more detail about the living water.

We crafted a small well from Styrofoam blocks, spray painted it gray, and placed a bucket of water inside with a ladle. As we told the story about Jesus and the woman at the well, we let the kids eat pretzels but did not offer a drink. At the end of the story we asked them if they were getting thirsty. Just like in the story, when Jesus helped the woman, we all brought our cups to the "well" and filled them with water. The kids thought it was fun too! Lisa

Activity

1. Use the Water Drops in the Opening Activity Above to Play a Game

Have the children mix up their water drops and place them in their cups. On the word "go" see who can put their drops in order first. Write the verse on the board for children who have hard time reading.

2. Sing a Song

The Women at the Well
by Nancy Foss
(Sing to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell")

The women at the well,
The women at the well,
Jesus visits the women sitting at the well.

Never thirst again,
Never thirst again,
Drink living water and never thirst 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

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.

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We did the woman at the well lesson for our 2 and 3 yr. old class on Wednesday night. I didn't have enough time to collect 10 aluminum cans, so I bought cheap plastic children's cups instead. And instead of using it as a pencil holder, we punched 2 holes on each memory verse drop then threaded yarn through each drop so they were on one long string. ( I made one string for each student since this is too hard for little hands to do!) I was talking to the kids how Jesus gave the woman "special living water" I pulled on one end of the string from a "well" I had already made and pulled out the whole verse on the string, one word printed on each drop. The kids were quite amazed. We all made wells and put "special living water" in each of their "wells" and they had a blast putting them in and pulling them out. The parents were thrilled that after the kids were done playing with this craft, they could pull the paper off and have a new little cup. Thanks for all you do, Rachel

I made a well for the Woman at the Well lesson for my preschool class using your idea. Instead of a pencil holder, we made a well using a small Styrofoam cup. I printed out stones and cut them out, then had the kids tape them around the cup. I also printed out the water drops on both light blue and medium blue cardstock and cut them out. I used a pen to make a small hole in the bottom of the Styrofoam cups and knotted a piece of blue embroidery thread through it. Then we used double stick tape to tape the 'water' words (alternating light blue and medium blue) on to both sides of the string so that when you pulled it out of the well you could read it top to bottom. I emphasized that "Jesus would give you living water" as the main point of the lesson.

I did this lessons with my kindergarten and younger kids. The main idea was to accept others even if they are different. We used some of your ideas from your lesson for the older children. We had a well and gave the children raindrops made out of paper with a quiz question on it. When they answered the question, they got to throw the paper in the well. The questions were made very easy. For our craft we used the one where you plant a seed in a styrofoam cup after decorating it and made the sun and watering can plant stakes to put in it. It worked well because it was used in the first part of spring. I thought that the watering can went along with the theme about water for the story. It is a lesson that continues after they leave church when they watch for their plant to grow, and continue to water it. Nova Browne

I used the Woman at the Well Lesson this past Sunday teaching 4 and 5 year olds. I made a huge pattern of a well and taped it together making it 4' x 3'. Using double stick tape fixed it to a corner of the room making it 3D, sort of. Then we walked with "Jesus" around and around the room until we came to Jacob's Well. Having a chair beside it,"Jesus" sat down really thirsty. The Samaritan woman came and there Jesus talked with her and led her to accept Him as her Saviour. The kids loved it! We then had blue Jello for dessert. Thanks for making such a great Christian site available for us. It makes lesson planning fun because we can go outrageous and the children aren't bored.