Seasons- God Made Seasons
A wonderful lesson on God’s beautiful Seasons. Kicking off the “Spring Into Growth” April learning theme!
Educational Framework: Heart for Creation
“God Made Seasons” Unit: Spring into Growth
LESSON PURPOSE: God gave us Seasons!
*Note- You can choose to focus on all 4 seasons or just focus on the season of Spring. Other potential topics include: weather, trees, changing seasons and a constant God.
MATERIALS: Calendar, Picture Book, learning toys, craft supplies
BOOKS: Story about Seasons or Spring!
SONG IDEAS: He’s Got the Whole World, By the Spring of Life, Spring Song of Eden, Song of the Garden
AS CHILDREN ARRIVE: Choose 1 Sensory Activity:
4 Seasons Centers: At 4 centers include bins with things from each Season! Ex- Spring (garden bin), Summer (beach bin), Fall (pumpkin bin), Winter (snow bin).
Spring Sensory Bin: Easter eggs, grass, bugs, butterflies, fairies, dirt etc
Water Play: rubber ducky water pond play! (rubber ducks, rocks, sticks, leaves)
4 Seasons Sensory Bottles: Create 4 sensory bottles ahead of time for children to explore: Spring- leaves & flowers, Summer- sand & seashells, Fall- acorns & pinecones, Winter- white & blue glitter.
Spring Playdoh- Make rainbows, clouds, grass, bugs, flowers.
SCRIPTURE: Display the weekly scripture reading, have an older child read it or use it in the lesson as you like.
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” -Genesis 1:14
“Spring is the symbol of hope... Of course, spring is the season of flowers blooming, sending out their fragrance and beauty. The birds and butterflies dance around. Even the smallest insects feel the activities of spring and they dance around too... People find joy in spring by observing the things of creation joyfully welcoming spring.” -Rev. Sun Myung Moon
INTRODUCE the Lesson:
WELCOME: SONG, PRAYER, TP Greeting
SONG IDEAS: He’s Got the Whole World, By the Spring of Life, Spring Song of Eden, Song of the Garden
REVIEW & TRANSITION:
You all did such a wonderful job learning about manners in March! Through good manners we can become fruitful sons and daughters of God. We are entering the month of April now. Who can tell me what Season we’re in? SPRING! Spring is a wonderful time of new life and growth. Let’s learn about the beautiful seasons God gave us!
ATTENTION GRABBER: choose 1:
What’s the Weather like today? (Show pictures for each weather type or show a premade weather mobile). Is it rainy boys & girls? (cloudy, sunny, foggy, windy?) Is it cold? (cold, hot, cool, warm?) Let children help you be meteorologists & choose the weather for today! Ex: Today it is: “Warm & Sunny”. That’s right! In Springtime, the weather starts to warm up. Springtime has a lot of sunny days but also a lot of rainy days! “April showers bring May flowers!”
Nature Hunt- Have children go outside and pick up a few things from nature to bring inside for show & tell. Or teacher brings in things ahead of time and does a Spring nature show & tell.
INTRO:
Calendar time: Show children a calendar pointing to today’s date “Today is day of week, day/month/year !” Have children repeat after you: “My turn, Your turn!” “The month is __________” and the “Season is SPRING!” What kinds of things do you SEE in Spring? What kinds of sounds do you HEAR? What do you SMELL? In the Bible in Genesis we learn that God divided the year in to different seasons! God made 4 Seasons for us to enjoy! Let’s learn about them!
CHOOSE 1 OR 2: READ A STORY, SING A SONG OR POEM, WATCH A VIDEO: *Use this before or during your lesson.
VIDEOS: click on the link for educational, sing along or dance videos
“It’s a Beautiful Day” Beautiful Animation on sharing a beautiful day together by Sim
“If You Know All the Seasons- Clap Your Hands” Movement Song: tune of: If You’re Happy & You Know It by the Kiboomers
“The Four Seasons” Educational Song by ABC Mouse
“Seasons Song” Fun Dance Sing Along by Have Fun Teaching
“The Science of Spring” Longer Educational Video by SciShow Kids
READ ALOUD STORY:
“The Thing About Spring” Video Read Aloud by StorytimeWithMsBecky
“A Book of Seasons” Video Read Aloud by Roman Chimienti
SONG OR POEM:
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall This Old Man
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall. There are Seasons, four in all. Weather changes, sun and rain and snow, Leaves fall down and flowers grow. Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall There are Seasons, four in all. Look outside and you will see, Just what Season it will be!
Spring Song Farmer in the Dell
The sun is shining bright, the sun is shining bright. Oh how I love the warmth, the sun is shining bright! The rain is falling down, the rain is falling down. Oh how I love the sound, the rain is falling down! The flowers start to bloom, the flowers start to bloom. Oh how I love the sight, the flowers start to bloom!
*TEACH the Lesson:
TEACHING POINT 1: God Made Seasons
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” -Genesis 1:14
When God, our Heavenly Parent, made the world- He also created time by dividing the day from the night- creating days, weeks, months, seasons and years! Let’s talk about the 4 Seasons God made! Showing sensory bottles or pictures of each Season, discuss together with children what kinds of things they see, smell, hear, taste & feel in each Season! Talk about how God gave us Seasons in order to experience different beauties
SPRING time: A time for growth! Digging in dirt, planting in seeds, flowers & trees bloom, eggs are hatched, baby animals are born. Butterflies, bugs, bunnies & squirrels! Rain, rainbows, umbrellas, wind & kites. Sunshine & warmth. Easter. Pastel colors and eating chocolate eggs. Wearing short sleeves & a light sweater.
SUMMER time: Hot & sunny. Beach, swimming pool, playing outside in the grass, climbing trees. July 4th, fireworks, picnics, barbecues, camping. Eating watermelon, ice cream & making smores! Shorts, tshirts, dresses, swimsuits, sunglasses!
FALL time: Cool, crisp air. Leaves change colors, fall off the tree. Raking leaves, football, apple picking, pumpkins. Drinking apple cider & eating pumpkin pie. Halloween & Thanksgiving. Warm jackets & long pants or tights.
WINTER time: Cold & snowy. Snowflakes, snow angels, snowballs, snowmen. Ice skating, hockey. Drinking hot cocoa and eating warm soup. Christmas, God’s Day & TP Birthday. Snowpants, winter coats, scarves, mittens, hats.
TEACHING POINT 2: Trees *OPTIONAL EXTENSION
One of the most beautiful signs of a changing season can be found by observing a tree. (Optional: go outside & visit a specific tree 4 times a year with each changing season & make observations in a “My tree” book) Let’s take a look at how trees change and grow with each season.
SEASONAL TREE: Spring: Beautiful buds blossom. Summer: Green leaves form. Fall: Leaves turn red, orange, yellow, brown & fall off the tree. Winter: A bare tree covered in a white blanket of snow. Then it starts all over in Spring!
TREE PARTS: A tree drinks water from the earth through its Roots! It goes up the tree Trunk and through the Branches in to the buds, flowers & leaves! Isn’t that amazing?
CONCLUSION:
God, our Heavenly Parent, gave us 4 Seasons! Seasons help us to enjoy creation and experience different types of weather and beautiful changes throughout the year. It also shows us the beauty of our constant God. While Seasons change, God our Heavenly Parent remains the same! Right now it’s Spring! True Parents love Spring too. True Father said: “Spring is the symbol of hope... Of course, spring is the season of flowers blooming, sending out their fragrance and beauty. The birds and butterflies dance around. Even the smallest insects feel the activities of spring and they dance around too... People find joy in spring by observing the things of creation joyfully welcoming spring.”
TITHING & PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Parent, thank you for the changing Seasons! We love experiencing Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter. We will appreciate and celebrate Spring this week. Thank you for the beautiful sunshine, trees, flowers and animals! Amen. Aju.
APPLY the Lesson:
GROUP ACTIVITIES: choose 1 :
4 Seasons Sort: Sit in a big circle with items in the middle & have children sort pictures or items from the 4 seasons in to 4 hula hoops. (1 for each Season)
4 Seasons Relay Race: Relay race involving activities from each season such as: watering a plant, putting on sunglasses, raking leaves and putting on a hat & mittens.
Fly Kites: Weather permitting, fly kites outside! Draw with chalk, go on a nature walk.
CRAFTS: choose 1
4 Seasons Trees: Decorate 4 trees: Winter (white snow), Spring (pink blossoms), Summer (green leaves), Fall (red, orange, yellow leaves falling).
Loofa Painting: Paint trees using matching color loofas! Brown- trunk. Pink- Spring tree, Green- Summer Tree, White- Winter tree, Orange- Fall tree
Rainbow Craft: make rainbows & decorate them with pom poms or fruit loops!
Spring Weather: make weather mobiles or other weather crafts: clouds, sun, rain
SNACK IDEAS:
Rainbow- colored or pastel colored snacks! Carrots or gummy worms.
Easter Eggs- serving snacks in plastic Easter Eggs in egg cartons!
Enjoy the lesson! Feel free to submit photos to lgavin@unification.org Love seeing lessons come to life and each community