A Rainbow Promise

Interactive Lesson recommended for children ages 3-6.

“A Rainbow Promise”  Unit: Splash Into Summer

LESSON PURPOSE: God made rainbows as a promise.

MATERIALS: Learning props and toys, craft supplies, music

SONG IDEAS: He's Got the Whole World, Somewhere over the Rainbow

BOOKS:  Stories about Rainbows.

AS CHILDREN ARRIVE: Sensory Play (Choose 1)

  • Rainbow Pom Poms- Little ones sort colorful pom poms on to the rainbow.
  • Playdoh & Shaving Cream- Make rainbows out of playdoh and clouds out of shaving cream! Fun messy play for littles.
  • Rainbow sensory bin- Fill a sensory bin with rainbow colored items like: fruit loop cereal, colorful pom poms, feathers, balls, rice etc.

SCRIPTURE: Choose 1 or 2 to focus on

“I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures." -Genesis 9:13-15
"You know in the Bible it says that after the flood that God promised through the rainbow that this kind of thing would never happen again... God is a God of love so He continues trying to reach out to everyone in the world, to give everyone salvation." -Rev. Moon

WELCOME: SONG, PRAYER, TP Greeting

REVIEW & TRANSITION:

Last week we heard the story of Noah's Ark and how God kept Noah's family and all of the animals safe in the flood. When they came upon land, Noah built an altar to pray and worship God. What did God put in the sky as a sign of his promise? (A Rainbow!) That's right! Today we will learn all about the beautiful colorful rainbow and what a promise is. Does anyone know what colors are in a rainbow?

ATTENTION GRABBER: 

  • Crayon Color Game- Sit in a circle with various color crayons in the middle. teacher model song & game the first time. Then point to one student at a time & have them stand in the middle, pick up the right color crayon & do the motions of the song to the tune of If You're Happy & You Know It.
    • "If you see a (purple) crayon pick it out! If you see a (purple) crayon pick it out! (find the crayon) Stand and wiggle, give a shout! (stand with crayon, wiggle hips & shout:) (Purple) is great without a doubt! (hold up crayon) If you see a (purple) crayon pick it out!" Repeat- each child does a different color crayon.
  • Pinky Promise- Ask children if they know what a pinky promise is. Have children practice a pinky promise with you or a friend. For example, I pinky promise to do my best to be a good listener in Sunday School today or I pinky promise to share toys with my friends.

CIRCLE TIME SONG OR POEM: (choose 1)

  • What Color Are You Wearing?- Mary Had a Little Lamb. "If you're wearing red today, red today, red today. If you're wearing red today, stand up and shout HOORAY!" (Repeat with different colors!)
  • Sing a Rainbow- "Red and orange and yellow and green. blue and purple too. I can sing a rainbow. Sing a rainbow. Sing a rainbow too. Listen with your eyes. Listen with your ears. And sing everything you see. I can sing a rainbow. Sing a rainbow. Sing along with me." (repeat)

SONG VIDEOS: click on the link: (choose 1 or 2)

READ ALOUD: (Optional) Stories about Rainbows.

*TEACHING POINT 1: God Made Rainbows

INTRO: God gave us Rainbows! Why do you think God gave us rainbows? (To bring us joy! They are beautiful!) Sometimes when it has rained a lot and the sunshine comes out- a rainbow forms. Have you ever seen a rainbow? A rainbow is made up of many colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink. (or indigo, violet)

DISCUSS:

  • What is a rainbow?
  • Where can you see a rainbow?
  • What colors are in the rainbow?
  • What is your favorite color?

GROUP ACTIVITIES: (choose 1)

*Teaching Point 2: A Rainbow Promise (Optional Extension)

STORY: God gave us Rainbows as a promise to always take care of us. A rainbow appears after it has rained and God wants us to know that He won't let the Earth flood again. Rainbows are colorful and beautiful. Rainbows are an expression and reminder of God's love for us. Did you know God watches over us and protects us? When do feel God's protection?

VISUAL: Show a ring. Explain that when a couple gets married and God blesses them, they make a promise to each other to always take care of each other. The ring is a symbol of their promise- they are reminded of their promise when they see the ring. The ring goes round and round like a circle and never ends. God's love is also unconditional.

DISCUSS

  • What do rainbows represent? (God's promise, covenant)
  • What does God promise? (To keep us safe and not flood the Earth again)
  • What is a promise? (A promise is something we tell someone we are going to do and then we do it).
  • Have you ever made a promise? (I promised to clean my room or brush my teeth.) How do you feel if you make a promise & keep it? (proud, happy)
  • How do you feel when your friend makes a promise? (excited, loved.) How do you feel if someone doesn't keep a promise? (sad, hurt)
  • What kinds of promises do you make to your parents or friends?
  • What kind of promise do you want to make to God, your Heavenly Parent?

GROUP ACTIVITIES: (choose 1)

  • Balloon Promise- Form a circle and have 1-2 colorful balloons. Have children promise each other to do their best to keep it up off the floor. Practice bopping balloons into the air together! Say "I love the way you're keeping your promise!"

  • Rainbow Walk- Have children promise to do what you say. (tape different colored streamers across the floor in a long line). Ask children to walk, skip, hop, crawl, tip toe etc across different colored streamer paths.

CONCLUSION: 

When Noah came off the ark, God put a rainbow in the sky to make promise. God promises to always take care of us and keep us safe. We are grateful for God's love, protection and for creating the beautiful, colorful rainbow! 

TITHING & PRAYER: 

Dear Heavenly Parent, thank you for making rainbows! We feel so much love and beauty when we see them in the sky. Rainbows are so colorful. We thank you for your promise to take care of us and protect us. When we see rainbows, we are reminded of your love for us. We will do our best to keep the promises that we make too! Amen! Aju!

CRAFTS: choose 1

  • Rainbow Sensory Bag- squirt primary paint colors in to a zip loc baggie: red, yellow, blue in order of the rainbow. Seal shut & cover with masking tape. Let children squish and mix the colors to create a rainbow.
  • Paper Plate Rainbow- Color half a paper plate like a rainbow. Older children can string on raindrops including their promises to God on them.
  • Tissue Paper Rainbow- Draw on the rainbow with a gluestick. Have children paste on precut colorful tissue paper pieces.
  • Promises to God- Cotton cloud & rainbow craft listing children's promises to God. Younger version without writing here.
  • Rainbow hats- precut several strips of colorful paper. Help children lay them in order of the rainbow + staple. Then add the larger headband strip & cotton clouds.
  • Rainbow Coloring- Free Printable
  • God's Love Printable- Coloring page "I See God's Love" Rainbow

SNACK IDEAS:

Enjoy the lesson! Feel free to submit photos to lgavin@unification.org Love seeing lessons come to life and each community
Leena Vincenz-Gavin