The Cook Family Homestead
EPHESIANS 3:20-21
  • Home
  • SHOP
  • Blog
  • Our Story
  • Homeschool
    • Curriculum
    • FREE Printables
  • Contact

Week 1:  Preschool Sunday School Christmas Lesson-Shepherds

12/16/2016

1 Comment

 
It is my month for teaching the cute preschoolers at my church for Sunday School.  Since I was given December, I decided to break down the Christmas Story and go over the important people God chose to be a part of it.  We focussed on the Shepherds for the first week.  

First thing, the kids came into the class and as I welcomed them, they can go over and color a picture to keep them busy as we wait for the kids to all get to class.
Picture
We then moved on over to our reading circle where we had our praise and worship singing time and then our story time.  

We focused on the Shepherd's story.  Before beginning the story, I talked with the kids about the importance of a Shepherd's job in the time of Christ's birth.  
  • The shepherd faced the continuous challenge of teaching the sheep to obey his commands. A good shepherd took care of the animals in their charge, even giving them names to which they would respond.
  • For many days, shepherds would work and sleep outdoors so the flock could graze in the fields and spent the nights guarding them. At times, the shepherd might shelter his flock overnight in a cave, where they would be protected from wild animals that could harm the sheep. If the howl of a wild animal panicked the flock of sheep in the dark of night, the shepherd’s calm reassuring voice would still them.
  • Each evening, the shepherd counted the sheep and checked the health of the animals. In the morning, he would call, and the flock would follow him to the pasture ground. (John 10:3, 4) During the day, shepherds led the animals to the water to drink. 
  • Good shepherds were diligent, dependable, and brave. They would even risk their lives to protect the flock.--1 Samuel 17:34-36.


I LOVE using this Bible that our family purchased for our kids.  The stories and pictures are very detailed and engaging!  

After our story, the kids moved over to the table to work on our Sheep ornament.  It was simple for the kids to complete but kept them busy and engaged.  I precut the sheep and the stars before class and hole punched them and strung them.
​
Click here for the sheep pattern

Click here for the star pattern

The kids added the cotton balls, googly eyes and glued the verse on the star.  They LOVE having an ornament to take home for their tree.  I used a verse from Veggie Tales that I found online but you could use any verse.  



Picture
Picture


​We moved on to our HERDING SHEEP game.  This is so very simple and the kids had a blast!  

I made 2 "corrals" out of popsicle sticks and put a bunch of sheep in random places in front of the corral.  The kids had to "herd" the sheep (by blowing air) into the corral.  We made it a kind of competition.  Even my teen helpers had fun playing.  haha!



Picture
Picture


​The last thing we did was our snack time...this was a hands-on snack time today.  We talked about the importance of the Shepherd's staff.  
  • The staff was used to help a sheep find it's mother if he gets lost.  The shepherd will gently use his staff (with the rounded "crook" on the end) to help lift the sheep and get it back over by it's mother.
  •  It is also used for guiding his sheep.  Either down a path or to help guide them away from danger if they were too close.  The hook can be used to catch a straying sheep and bring it back to safety.  The hook could fit nicely around a sheep's neck when the sheep is out of arms reach from the shepherd.

We had a box of fruit loops (I bought the fruit rings from Aldis) and a pipe cleaner for each kid.  The were able to make a shepherd's staff with their pipe cleaner and fruit loops.  

​          Of Course they were given a pretty large pile so they could also enjoy these for their snack.  



Picture
Picture
We had a great class!  It was fun and the kids learned a lot about the life of the Shepherds.  

​The Lord used them for an important role in the Christmas story.  We will continue our study of the important people that God used during the birth of Christ with next week's lesson!

​


Picture

Even my son who was my helper, enjoyed making the shepherd's hook!  :)  
​He was helpful with the other kids too!
 



Picture
Picture


Enjoy & Christmas Blessings!
1 Comment

Sheep go Baaaaa!

11/16/2015

1 Comment

 
Teaching is what I do!  Homeschooling, Co-Op, or Children's Church too!!  (like my rhyme, hee hee)

This is my month for teaching the sweet preschoolers at our church on Sunday mornings.  We are studying Abram (or Abraham...depending on the week and lesson...really, it is the same person though if you aren't familiar with the story).  The kids LOVE hands-on...who doesn't!?  Crafts are super fun, ummm, and messy...but it's all about the kids learning, right?!



The story was from Genesis 13 when Lot and Abram had to separate since they both had so many people and animals & we talked about how the shepherds of Abram and the shepherds from Lot were fighting since they had to share the land. To remember how to share, we made sheep!  The kids had to share cotton balls in order to make their sheep.  

Here they are:
Picture
It is super simple to make these and the supplies are minimal.  Here is what you'll need:
​
Picture
Elmer's glue, paper plates, black and white construction paper, cotton balls and a stapler.
Picture
Here are the pattern pieces all cut out that you'll need for each child.
I found that the cheaper paper plates (even better, right?) were the best since there are some that come with a clear coating that make the plates a bit stiffer...they don't work as well.  Cheap and flimsy are the best (in this case anyways)!  We also stapled the feet and tail on so it would stay better and just glued on the eyes.  
​
My daughter put her sheep's head in the middle but some kids put theirs off to the side and adjusted the tail.  The talk would look great off to the side like the picture above or even straight off the top.  Our class had all different looking sheep.  Even the cotton balls were either loaded on or some kids just put on a few and stretched them out!

I love seeing how they all turn out!


Here is the pattern I drew up to help make these paper plate sheep.  The kids had a blast using their craft to make sheep sounds every time they heard the word "animals" in the story as I read to them from Genesis 13.
Picture
I hope you enjoy making these in your classroom for whatever you are using SHEEP for...super easy and super cute!  
1 Comment
    Picture
    Click the links below to check out our other Homeschool Resource Pages:
    • Curriculum
    • Free Printables
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Abraham
    Abraham Lincoln
    Affidavit
    Angels
    Animals
    Apologia
    Apples
    Aquatic Herps
    Astronomy
    Bible Study
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Columbus Day
    Crabs
    Crustaceans
    Curriculum
    Expo
    Field Trips
    Fossils
    Frogs
    Hamburger Paragraph
    History
    History Pockets
    Holidays
    Homeschool
    Homeschool Beginnings
    Homeschool Tracker
    HSLDA
    Lamb
    Lobsters
    Mollusks
    Music
    Notebooking
    Ocean
    Ornaments
    Piano
    Portfolios
    Preschool
    Primeval Reptiles
    Rays
    Reading
    Science
    Sea Creatures
    Sea Turtles
    Sharks
    Sheep
    Solar System
    Stars
    State Homeschool Laws
    Sunday School
    Trading Cards
    Walruses
    Welcome
    Whales
    Writing



Ephesians 3:20-21

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.


From us to you

We are thankful for those of you who have subscribed or followed our social media pages. We hope you enjoy our website and let us know if there is anything you would like us to cover either on video or in print. 

Disclaimer

All opinions expressed on our site are our own, or of those whom we agree with. We will also suggest services or products that we believe will be helpful for our subscribers. Feel free to put a link to our website from your site if you share our values. 
The Cook Family Homestead
Picture