Story: Elijah fed by Ravens

Reference: I Kings 17:1-6

Main point: God Provided all of Elijah's needs, and will provide all our needs, too

Verse:

The following ideas are grouped into categories by how they might be used in teaching the lesson. Activities to introduce the lesson would not be the same kinds of activities as those used to apply the lesson. There are several ideas for each category in the hopes that out of 3 or 4 options, one will fit your lesson and your class. So choose one activity from each category--if you try to do them all, the lesson will last for hours!

Activities for Early Birds

Ideas for an introduction:

1. Show kids pictures of drought (find in library book, or on line on news sites or Google images.) Discuss what happens if it doesn't rain for 3 years--how crops fail, and thus animals and people die. Show them a cup of water and ask them if that is all the water they had, would they take a bath, wash their dishes, cook with it, or drink it.

2. Use brown paper (such as paper bags) to cut out shapes that look like dead ears of corn. Ask the children to write write different things that kids worry about on each ear. Tell them about things you have worried about. When they are done writing, put these shapes away, and get them back out during application time.

3. Get a picture book about crows out of the library and use it to teach the kids about crows. Or simply ask them questions about crows to see what they know about crows from their own experience. Ask them if they have ever seen a crow do something good (probably only making a mess of trash, or eating vegetables from their garden.) Tell them that today's story is about crows saving a man's life.

Ideas for telling the Bible story:

1. Make a sock puppet crow and use it to drop a cube of bread and beef jerky in front of each child.

view instructions for making a sock puppet

2. Buy a crow at the 100 yen store as a prop to tell the story. (Daiso has 2 kinds in their gardening section called black eagles that are used to scare away smaller birds. One is rigid, and the other is made of pliable plastic.)

Ideas for reenforcement activities:

1. Make crows to remind them of the story of how God provided food for Elijah during 3 years of famine. Encourage them to remember this story every time they see a crow, and think about  how God will provide for them, too.

View pattern for flying foam crow

View pattern for mobile with 3-D crows

View pattern for crow pencil topper/ magnet/ bookmark

View instructions for making crow earrings

2. Play a game to review the story

view game questions for this story

view downloadable game boards

Ideas for application:

1. Get the ears of corn back out that the children wrote  during the introduction time. Discuss how God will supply all their needs, though he is not likely to use crows. Explain how God sometimes uses other people, sometimes he uses circumstances, and sometimes he uses miracles to take care of us.

2. Make smiley faces on one side of cards and worried faces on the other side. Give one to each child and tell them to show you the worried side when the story talks about being worried, and show you the happy side when the story is talking about trusting in God. Then tell a story from your own experience about a time that you worried and then started trusting God, and felt at peace. An alternate way would be to have the kids caw like crows every time the story talked about trusting God rather than using the smiley/ worried faces.

view pattern for smiley/ worried face

view example of worry/ trusting God story

Sunday School or Bible Clubs > Ideas for Activities by Reference> Elijah Fed by Ravens