B.I.G. Theme: Jesus’ Friends Go and Tell

B.I.G. Idea: We believe that we can tell others about Jesus.

B.I.G. Bible Verse: Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! (Acts 16:31, CEV)

Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-38)

August 8: Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48)

August 15: Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:1-4, 24-28)

August 22: Paul and Silas in Prison (Acts 16:16-40)

August 29: God So Loved the World (John 3:16)

Make a Difference

Since you’re learning about Paul and Silas in prison this month in Live B.I.G. (Acts 16:16-40), here’s a project your family could take on. You will need: a cardboard box, paper, markers, scissors, and tape or glue.

Talk with your church’s outreach ministry team, and find out if your church is involved in prison ministries. Plan how the box will be delivered. Decide what your family could collect to help support parents who are in prison. You could collect children’s books or nonperishable snacks for families to share during visits. Blank audio tapes and inexpensive cassette players would provide a way for parents to audio tape a book so their children could hear their parents’ voices even when they are apart.

Wrap the box with paper. Decorate the box and create a sign to explain what you are collecting and to whom it will be given.

ChallengeCenter

To play this game from Canada, you’ll need two teams, with two large pieces of cardboard for each team. Set the boundaries of the playing field.

The playing field is a river you have to cross. The river has been frozen all winter, but it’s starting to break up. Each team has two ice floes (cleverly disguised as cardboard). To cross the river, set down an ice floe. Every person on the team will need to step on the ice floe. When everyone is on, set down the second ice floe, and everyone will move to it. Pick up the first ice floe, move it forward, and continue in this fashion to the other side. The first team to cross the river and correctly recite this month’s Bible verse (see above) wins.

GameCenter

After hearing the Bible story about Paul and Silas being in prison during an earthquake (Acts 16:16-40), play “Jailbreak.” You will need: painter’s tape and a bandanna.

Use tape to outline a “jail” on the floor in a clear, open space. Select two people to be the jailers. Have everyone else get inside the “jail.”

Pretend you are in jail, just like Paul and Silas. Sit down on the floor. When the earthquake comes, yell “earthquake!” This means you have a chance to escape. But if the jailers tag you, you’ll have to come back.

The jailers will have five seconds to tag. The children who are not tapped can become the next jailers.

InventionCenter

Pretend you are an inventor, and you have just invented a brand new method of transportation. This new vehicle is called a “Good News Transporter!” You’ve designed it specifically to help people take the good news about Jesus to people all around the world. What would your “Good News Transporter” look like? How would it move? How would people travel in it?

On a sheet of paper, draw a picture of your “Good News Transporter.”

FoodCenter

Here’s a classic sandwich with a twist: Instead of making one peanut butter and jelly sandwich, why not make about two dozen sandwiches?

If you want to help a local shelter supply sandwiches, contact an agency in your area and ask if they could use sandwiches. Arrange a time to deliver the sandwiches. As you make the sandwiches, pack them carefully in a box, bag, or cooler.

July’s B.I.G. Theme: Jesus Teaches Us With Stories
July’s B.I.G. Idea: We believe that Jesus helps us know about God and understand how God wants us to live.
July’s Bible Verse: Let anyone with ears to hear listen! (Luke 8:8)

“Make a Difference” Center
Make bird feeders to hang in your trees. You will need: empty one-gallon milk or orange juice cartons, chenille stems, birdseed, a nail, a box cutter (with adult supervision), masking tape, brown shoe polish, resealable plastic bags, paper towels, a permanent marker, and newspaper.

Use a nail to poke a hole through the top of each carton. Starting 2 inches from the bottom, let an adult help you cut a 3-inch square out of the front of the carton. Cut a similar 3-inch window out of the sides. Do not cut out the back.

Cover the table with newspaper. Cover the carton with small pieces of masking tape. Overlap the pieces in any random pattern, just as long as the entire outside of the carton is covered with small strips of tape. Use a paper towel to rub brown shoe polish all over the tape. Rub off some of the polish with a clean paper towel. (The bird feeders will have a leathery look to them.)

Fill the feeders with birdseed, and hang the feeders in your yard. You’ll be taking care of the birds, just as the shepherd takes care of his sheep (Luke 15:1-7).

SnackCenter
When you’re starving, but it’s too early for dinner, this banana in a blanket is just what you want. Here’s how you can make it: Spread peanut butter on a flour tortilla. Wrap the tortilla around a banana. Enjoy!

Bird-WatchingCenter
Make these cool binoculars to look for birds. Okay, they’re not as cool as real binoculars, but try them anyway, and see how the world looks.

You will need: paper towel tubes or wrapping paper tubes, cut to 5-inch lengths; wrapping paper; tape; a low-temperature glue gun (adult use only); yarn; a paper punch; and stickers.

Cut wrapping paper into pieces that will fit the cut paper towel tubes. You will need two paper towel tubes. Select wrapping paper and cover the tubes with the selected paper.

Have an adult use a low-temperature glue gun to glue the two paper towel tubes together to form binoculars. Use a paper punch to punch a hole in each side of the binoculars. Thread a piece of yarn through the holes so you can wear the binoculars around your neck.

Go for a walk to look for birds with your binoculars. Have you ever imagined what a bird’s life is like? What happens to a bird when it rains or snows? Why do birds need a special place to live? What would make a safe home for a bird? Look through your binoculars for a place where birds might or do live.

GameCenter
Have a contest with a friend to see who can memorize the most Bible verses this summer. Play this game to test how you’re doing. You will need: index cards, a marker, and a Bible.

Working from a list of the Bible verses learned so far, write one Bible verse, including its reference, on each index card. The cards are shuffled and stacked face down on a table or rug.

Have your friend draw a card and give you the reference first. If you can quote the verse from just the reference, you get ten points. If not, your friend gives you the first three words. If you can quote the verse then, you get five points. If not, the card goes to the bottom of the deck, and your friend gets to try a different verse.

Start with this month’s Bible verse: “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (Luke 8:8).

Growing Center
Do you like to grow things? Have you ever tried? For this activity, you will need: herb or flower seeds, potting soil, small plastic pots with saucers, a small trowel or spoon, newspaper, and a watering can.

Cover a table with newspaper. Put a small amount of water in the watering can.

Fill the pots with soil. Notice the picture on the seed packets. The pictures show you what the seeds will become. Notice how tiny the seeds are.

Place a few seeds in each pot. Place a light cover of soil over the seeds. Water your seeds. Keep your seeds watered, and enjoy watching them grow.

Remember the story Jesus told about the mustard seed? Read Matthew 13:31-32 to refresh your memory, if you need to.

                                                                

B.I.G. Theme: Wanted: Heroes for God
B.I.G. Idea: We believe that God will help us have the courage to do hard things.
B.I.G. Bible Verse: Be strong, and let your heart take courage. (Psalm 31:24)

June 6: David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17)
June 13: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-16, 20, 27)
June 20: The Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3)
June 27: Esther (Book of Esther)

Car Hunt

If your family is taking a vacation this summer, it could mean a lot of hours cooped up in a car. To pass the time, see how many different types of cars you can spot on the journey. Talk your brother or sister into the game, and see who gets the most cars. Below is a partial list of car types that you can print out and take with you.

Accord Aerostar Alero Astro Audi Aurora Blazer BMW Bonneville Camaro Camry Caprice Caravan Cavalier Celebrity Cherokee Cirrus Civic Concord Contour Corolla Corsica Cougar Dakota Escort Excursion Expedition Explorer Galant Grand Prix Hummer Infiniti Intrepid Intrigue Jimmy Kia Laredo Lexus Lincoln Lumina Mazda Mercedes Montana

Monte Carlo Mustang Mystique Navigator Park Avenue Pathfinder PT Cruiser Probe Ram Ranger Sable Safari Saturn Silhouette Silverado Sonata Suburban Sunbird Sunfire Tahoe Taurus Tempo Tracer Tracker Transport Towne Car Venture Villager Volkswagen Voyager Windstar

Shield of Courage

Make a shield that you can hang on the wall in your bedroom to remind you that God helps you stay strong. You will need: card stock or posterboard, markers, and glitter glue.

Cut out a shield from card stock or posterboard. Decorate your shield in a way that reminds you of God’s care, strength, and protection. If you like, write this month’s Bible verse on your shield: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage” (Psalm 31:24).

Checkerboard Sandwich

Here’s a fun and easy way to dress up any sandwich.

Prepare your favorite sandwich, with one exception: Use one slice of white bread and one slice of wheat bread. Cut the sandwich into three strips. Cut each strip into three pieces so that you have nine squares.

Turn over every other square so that the wheat side is showing to create a checkerboard pattern.

Story Diorama

Build a diorama box and put on a puppet show for the younger kids in your church. For instance, you can build a diorama box to tell the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-16, 20, and 27).

You will need: wooden round clothespins (non-spring type), rectangular pieces of fabric scraps, scissors, chenille stems, fine-tip markers, shoeboxes or other small boxes, glue, yarn, construction paper, and play dough.

Create each figure by wrapping a chenille stem around a clothespin to form a person with arms. Fold a fabric rectangle in half. Cut a small hole on the fold. Slip the fabric over the head and arms of the clothespin. Tie a belt from a small piece of yarn on the character. Glue on yarn for hair, or use another piece of fabric for a head covering. Stand the clothespin in a small piece of play dough. Make tiny paper cones to serve as shofars.

Stack boxes for the city of Jericho. To act out the story, march the clothespin characters around the city. Make a “shofar” sound each time they circle the city. After the seventh time, let the children knock the boxes down.

Fire Safety Drill

How prepared is your family, if there were a fire in your home? You have fire drills at school, so why not have fire drills at home too? Here are some suggestions:

1. Draw a plan of your house that marks all doors and windows. With your parents, try to find two ways out of every room in your house. One way would be a door; the other way might be a window.

2. Ask your parents to check each smoke alarm. Your home should have at least one working smoke alarm on each level, plus one outside your sleeping areas. Test your smoke alarms once a month.

3. Pick an outside meeting place. This is the spot outside where everyone who was in the house would meet. It could be a tree, a neighbor’s house, or a telephone pole. Make sure it is somewhere away from emergency vehicles that would be coming and going.

4. Practice your plan. Ask your parents to use a finger to set off the smoke detector. See how fast everyone can make it from inside the house to the safe place outside. A good time would be no more than three minutes.

Since you’ll be hearing about the friends in the fiery furnace this month (Daniel 3), you may be talking about fire safety in class. Encourage the others in your class to have their own home fire drill.