Lesson 5: God Made All Things for Us

Aim
* To understand that all things in the creation are meant to give us joy
* To appreciate the wonderful gift of fruits and vegetables God has given us..

Materials
1. Selection of fruits and vegetables. Give them a good wash in case someone decides to taste them.
2. A Story to read – “Sam and the Garden,” by Esther Tanahashi
3. Picture from the story to colour
4. Egg shells
5. cotton wool
6. cress or mustard seeds
7. Felt tip pens
8. Orange paper, brown cards

Lesson Outline
1. Introduction
2. Story & Discussion
3. Activities – a picture to colour, cut & paste, egg shell people
4. Review aims of lesson
5. Prayer

1) Introduction
Show the fruits and vegetables. Let the children handle them, encouraging them to notice the shapes, colours, smells and the different skin textures. Cut some in half, to show the lovely patterns inside, e.g in a pepper or a cabbage, or an orange cut horizontally. An apple cut horizontally gives a pretty star shape around the pips. Show a bunch of carrots and runner beans. Let them  feel and smell them. Ask who likes carrots? Who likes beans? Let them taste them. Today’s story is about carrots and beans in a boy’s garden.

2) Story and Discussion
Read “Sam and the Garden.” Discuss how God made carrots and beans to be eaten, not just to admire. They are full of goodness and keep us healthy. We should eat vegetables and fruit everyday.
Let is be grateful for such wonderful things.

3) Activities
* Colour picture from the story of carrots with happy faces.
* Cut carrot shapes from orange paper and paste onto brown card. Draw faces
* Make egg-shell people by putting damp cotton wool into clean egg-shells and sprinkling with cress or mustard seeds. A face is drawn on the shell with felt-tip pen, and in a few days ‘hair’ begins to grow as the seeds germinate. This is a very popular activity with young children and is easy to prepare and carry out.

4) Review the aims of the lesson
* To understand that all things in the creation are meant to give us joy
* To appreciate the wonderful gift of fruits and vegetables God has given us..

5) Prayer
Thank you God for all these fruits and vegetables.