Our Community group is trying something new this year – we are having kids (K+) in with the adults every other month. We are hoping to not only impart knowledge, but help them to see that even as adults it is important to learn about and seek God and have meaningful relationship with others that keep us accountable. 
So I started by dividing into 4 groups. Each group was then tasked with turning one of the kids into a superhero. They were to come up with a super hero name & power. I then put a big box of dress-up clothes in the middle of the room and allowed them 8 minutes to create. (The picture is of Goofy, who was a superhero. I didn’t want to put pictures of other’s kids on the internet)
Then we came back together as a group to introduce our superheroes with thunderous applause =-) I then asked questions about how they would feel being a superhero or a superhero’s best friend. I told them today we were going to talk about the only real superhero – God. We then watched a clip from
The Prince of Egypt where God parted the red sea. (If you do this begin at scene 25 and end 5 minutes later when the sea completely closes back up). Note: If you haven’t seen this movie it is worth watching. It tells the story of Moses with AMAZING music!!! They expand on things scripture doesn’t (like the relationship with Moses and his ‘brother’ who later becomes Pharaoh. It is interesting to think about further how torn Moses must have been coming from two worlds. So I encourage you to pick it up at your local library or click on it below to pick up your own copy from Amazon, currently $7.99)
As this is a widely known story I did not retell the story. Instead, I asked my Smartypants Questions. These challenged kids because they were parts of the story that are not as talked about (the grown-ups in the group, myself included, learned a lot too!). If a kid answered correctly they got a Smartie (at the end we made sure all kids had at least one Smartie). Then we read the answer straight from scripture.
1. How long did the Israelites live in Egypt? 430 years to the day (Exodus 12:40-41)
2. Did Israelites leave Egypt quickly? YES! Egyptians urged them to leave so quickly they didn’t even have a chance to put the yeast in their bread. (Exodus 12:33-34)
3. Despite the Israelites quick exit did they have time to take anything other than their families, animals, food, and possessions? YES
- Gold & Silver belonging to Egyptians (Exodus 12:36)
- Joseph’s Bones (Exodus 13:19)
4. What led the Israelites through the dessert? Cloud by day and pillar of fire by night (Exodus 12:31-22)
5. Why did God not lead the Israelites on the shorter path?
- To test the Israelites (Exodus 13:17)
- To bring glory to God through the Pharaoh (Exodus 14:2-3)
6. Why did Pharaoh come after the Israelites? God hardened his heart (Exodus 14:4)
7. What was the Israelites response when they saw Pharaoh & his army coming after them? Fear and wishing they were still in Egypt (Exodus 14:10-12)
8. Do we know the time of day when Israelites crossed the Red Sea? Night (Exodus 14:16 and 14:21)
9. What happened to the Egyptians before the water was let back down & drowned them all? Their wheels fell off & they knew God was fighting for Israelites & were turning back (Exodus 14:25)
10. How long between leaving Egypt with 600 men (plus women and children) and the parting of the red sea? 24 days; so they went about 15 miles a day. (See map )
I wanted to point out to kids that even though you’ve heard the same Bible story many times, does not mean you know all the there is to know or all the God has to teach you from it. We encouraged them to read from their Bible to make sure what was being taught was inspired by God and that they didn’t miss a detail!
A wonderful resource to use with elementary age children for fun lessons is Movie Clips for Kids from Group. The idea to use The Prince of Egypt and dress up as superheroes when teaching about Moses came from this wonderful book. The Spartypants idea, questions, and reference were my own idea/work. This book has lots of different activities and experiments to be used as well.
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