Wanting Ideas for Outdoor Sunday School Lesson

[Salsa_1960]

The weather has been so nice here. A bit nippy, but not TOO cold. The leaves are turning and we were thinking that next week would be a nice day for going outside during the Sunday School hour. I'm bringing 2 pairs of binoculars and some of the other Sunday School teachers are doing the same. The church is right off the bike trail on the river here in town. Very scenic.

I'd like some ideas besides the binoculars for that hour. I was thinking of reading the story of the creation from a children's bible. Thought I might bring my guitar too or maybe we could go it A Capella and sing some "nature" songs. All that comes to mind is an adult hymn, though.

All Things Bright and Beautiful,
All Creatures Great and Small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
​

I could use some ideas for kids' activities and kids' songs for a Sunday School outing in October. Any lesson plan ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Sandy

​

 

[£amb]

The weather has been so nice here. A bit nippy, but not TOO cold. The leaves are turning and we were thinking that next week would be a nice day for going outside during the Sunday School hour. I'm bringing 2 pairs of binoculars and some of the other Sunday School teachers are doing the same. The church is right off the bike trail on the river here in town. Very scenic.

I'd like some ideas besides the binoculars for that hour. I was thinking of reading the story of the creation from a children's bible. Thought I might bring my guitar too or maybe we could go it A Capella and sing some "nature" songs. All that comes to mind is an adult hymn, though.

All Things Bright and Beautiful,
All Creatures Great and Small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
​

I could use some ideas for kids' activities and kids' songs for a Sunday School outing in October. Any lesson plan ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Sandy

Take a bag outside with you and let the kids collect "nature" things such as leaves turning colors, pine-cones, acorns, etc. Anything around you can turn into a lesson of God's creation. With colored leaves, you can talk about how God's earth changes during the seasons, and how He made the leaves to change. You can talk about how acorns are God's design into making big trees. And pine cones have seeds in them too, but it also feeds some of the animals such as squirrels. Try searching on the computer for Sunday School activities and see what comes up. You never know!

Enjoy your outing!

 

[Joykins]

How old are the kids?

My 4-year-old recently brought home some black walnuts, grass, rocks, etc. glued to a piece of paper and said they were outside "finding things that Jesus made."


Joy

 

[Salsa_1960]

Hey,
Thanks for the ideas so far.

This is a combination of ages (pre-school to 5th grade range is invited), but most will probably be grades K-2.

It's a small church.

 

[Linx]

When I was in high school, my Bible teacher took us outside and had us write a poem about nature to God. Some people made it rhyme, others just wrote words...very freestyle. This might be cool for the older kids and to have them share what they wrote would be special.

Or maybe a scavanger hunt? I think someone said that already...lol, sorry.

 

[Maeyken]

I'm not sure what sort of area you have, but perhaps you could go looking for trash and talk about taking care of the earth.

One idea that we did when I was on a school field trip when I was a kid, was we gathered up stuff like twigs, branches, stones, paper, etc (natural stuff), put it in a garbage bag with a tiny bit of water "rain" and bashed it around for awhile (whacking bag on the ground, stomping on it, etc- kinda fun - this signifies the wind, rain, etc. that help to break things down in nature), showing that things break down naturally to dirt/ground. Then we tried the same thing, but added some garbage (eg. plastic wrappers, etc) showing that the garbage doesn't break down.

Forgot to add- the breaking down of things takes awhile... so keep at it!

 

[JPPT1974]

I not really an outdoors person at all. But if the weather wasn't that cool nor hot, I would consider it. The outdoors is what God created. For mother nature. For everything that God creates, we need to enjoy.

 

[Salsa_1960]

Well, the lesson is tomorrow. This is what I have planned:

Outdoor Sunday School Lesson
October 16, 2005
Intro:
Take Sunday School classes K-5 outdoors for class
Talk about the season change
Talk about how this is time for farmers to harvest crops
Ask what things they like to do in the Fall

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
Ecc 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
Ecc 3:2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
Ecc 3:3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
Ecc 3:4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Ecc 3:5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
Ecc 3:6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
Ecc 3:7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
Ecc 3:8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
​

Prayer:
Thank God for the season change and the time of harvest
Thank God for this time we have today (activities)
Pray for the family in the fire Saturday

Activity #1
Materials
Leaves
Crayons
Autumn Colored Copy Machine Paper (tan, red, green, yellow)
Scissors
Poster Board w. Bible Verse (Ecclesiastes 3:1) on tree trunk (See attachment)

1) Pass out paper and crayons for Leaf Rubbing
2) Rub leaves with different color crayons and cut out rubbings.(Have older kids help younger ones).
3) Glue rubbings on tree and ground
Note: Put poster up later on Sunday School Bulletin Board

Activity #2
Materials:
Sheets of paper with drawings of bare trees. Ecclesiastes 3:1 written on trunk.
(like the tree on the poster board in Activity #1)
Glue
Leaves
Ziploc Bags

1) Students collect leaves and put in Ziploc bags
2) Crumble leaves in bag
3) Pass out paper with bare trees (Ecclesiastes on trunk)
4) Put Elmer’s glue on bare branches & ground in picture/s
5) Glue on crumbled leaves (like glitter)
6) Keep in Ziploc bags to take home

ALSO:
Bring binoculars for students who get done early

 

[Maeyken]

Sounds like you've got a good lesson planned out there!
Let us know how it goes tomorrow!!

 

[JPPT1974]

Hope that it works out good for you.
Let us know how it goes my friend.
Good luck!!