Thursday, 2 June 2016

Jesus Said "I am..." - Lesson 1 - The Bread of Life

If you have followed my themed Children's Bible lessons, then you will enjoy the next theme.  There are seven passages in the Bible where Jesus said "I am the..."

John 6: 35, 48   I am the bread of life 
John 8: 12; 9:5   I am the light of the world 
John 10:9   I am the door/gate 
John 10:11   I am the good shepherd 
John 11:25   I am the resurrection and the life 
John 14:6   I am the way, the truth, and the life 
John 15:1   I am the true vine

I thought they would make a great themed unit for the kids, so I broke it into six lessons (combining the door/gate and good shepherd from John 10 into one lesson) and started having fun finding ideas on Pinterest.  Don't you just love Pinterest?  Of course, things needed to be altered and tweaked, but I love all the fun activities and crafts that we did.

Lesson 1: The Bread of Life

Introduction:  

I used the following video from Kids on the Move as an introduction:


Then, I asked the kids what the people probably were thinking after that miracle.

Next, I showed this video from Crossroads Kids Club, about how following this miracle they crossed the sea and Jesus and Peter walked on water.




Then we did a "Readers Theater" style skit that I created for the passage that follows where Jesus said "I am the bread of life."

After we talked about how Jesus is the bread of life, we made these cute necklaces out of bread.

Bible verse necklace craft - the clay is made out of bread and glue with John 6:35 on the back

Bible verse necklace craft - the clay is made out of bread and glue with John 6:35 on the back

I had seen something similar sold on Etsy, but stamped on clay.  Then I saw that you can make clay out of bread and glue at Kid World Citizen and Can't Stop Making Things.  Here is what I did:
  1. Have the kids remove the crust from a piece of white bread.  Then, they should shred it into tiny pieces.  The smaller the pieces are the smoother the dough will be.  If you have young or impatient kids, you can make bread crumbs by putting crustless white bread into a food processor.
  2. Add 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of glue and a drop of dishwashing liquid to the crumbs and have the kids knead it until it is smooth clay.  The dishwashing liquid keeps the clay from 
  3. Roll the dough flat with a rolling pin and cut out a bread shape.  
  4. Use a stylus, stick or pencil to press the words into the dough.  I liked the look of stamping, but couldn't find any letter stamps that were small enough to fit.  If you want the words darker you can use a sharp tipped marker.  Press a hole in the top for a string if you are making a necklace (or you can glue a magnet to the back instead).
  5. Allow the dough to dry for one or two days on a cooling rack or flipping them halfway.
  6. Coat it with clear nail polish to keep it from molding, making sure to cover the edges.  The picture about was taken when the necklaces were about 7 months old.
While the kids are working on their necklaces, ask them what it means to them that Jesus is the bread of life (He gives them eternal life, He died so they can live, He quenches our spiritual hunger and thirst,...)

What activities, songs, and crafts have you used for teaching that Jesus is the bread of life?  Share them in the comments below.



Here are links to all the lessons in my Jesus Said "I am..." Bible Lessons Unit:

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