January is Sanctity of Human Life Month. Our children need to be taught that all life is valuable and this Bible lesson will help you do just that. This lesson teaches that ALL PEOPLE are valuable because God made ALL PEOPLE and Jesus died for ALL PEOPLE. This lesson is best used with preschool and lower elementary children.
If you are looking for a deeper lesson on the value of life to use with your upper elementary students and teens, you can find one here.
I hope you are able to use this lesson! If you do use it, feel free to post pictures over in our facebook group!
In His Service,
Opening Activities:
1. Put masking tape on the floor in a circle to mark off a space that would be a small for most of your children. (If you have a wide variety of sizes represented in your kids, make several circles.) Have the kids take turns standing in the circles while you give them activities to do. Activities you might want to use include: Kick your legs, but make sure your legs don’t leave the circle; Stretch your arms out as far as you can without leaving the circle, Hop on one leg, but don’t leave the circle, etc)
When you are finished, say: You did a great job following the instructions that I gave! You used your feet and hands without ever leaving the circle! It wasn’t always easy, was it? You had such a small space!
Do you know that you once lived in a space even smaller than that? When you were still inside your mommies, you lived in a very, very, small space. Yet, you were still able to use your hands and feet! In fact, you probably jumped, stretched, and did somersaults! That’s because when you were a baby inside your mommy, you were ALIVE, just like you are now . . . with hands and feet, mouths and eyes and ears. You were special . . . just like you are now! Today we are going to talk about how ALL PEOPLE are special because GOD made ALL PEOPLE and because JESUS died for ALL PEOPLE . . . even the babies who are still inside their mommies!
2. Play your own little game of “The Price is Right”. Put up different items and have your kids “bid” on what each item costs. Record the bids and then reveal the correct answers. Another variation is to put two items side by side and have the kids guess which one costs the most money. The last item you show should be a human being.
Say: This human being is worth WAY more than any of the other items! In fact, you can’t really put a dollar amount on a human’s life! God made the person, which makes this person INCREDIBLY valuable! Not only that, but the cost for this person was another life – the life of Jesus Christ. GOD made ALL PEOPLE and Jesus died for ALL PEOPLE. Therefore, ALL PEOPLE are extremely valuable!
The Lesson:
Begin by showing kids pictures of ultrasounds. This would be even neater if you are able to arrange ahead of time to get ultrasounds of some of the kids in your class. Point out the different parts of the baby. Say: These are all pictures of babies before they are even born. All these babies are still inside their mommas!
Guess what? These babies all have a heart that is beating! Do you have a beating heart? (Help kids put their hands over the hearts to feel their heart beat).
These babies all have hands. Do you have hands? Can you wiggle your hands? Raise your hands high in the air? Clap your hands together really fast? (have kids do each of those as you say them)
These babies all have feet. Do you have feet? Can you stomp your feet? Run in place really fast? Jump up high? (have kids do each of those as you say them)
What are some other things these babies have that you have? (Let kids discuss). These babies are a lot like you, aren’t they? They just haven’t been born yet, but they are still alive, and some day, they will be able to do all the things that you can do!
Listen to this verse from the Bible! Read Psalm 139:13-14. Who made all these babies? (God) Who made you? (God)
Yes, God made you, and, because God made you, you are VERY, VERY special! You were special when you were still inside your mommy, and you are special now!
In fact, God made EVERYONE! ALL PEOPLE are special because God made ALL PEOPLE!
Not only are you special because God made you, but you are also special because God sent JESUS to die for you! Do you know how God sent Jesus here? He sent Him here as a little baby! (show a picture of baby Jesus or piece of baby Jesus from a manger scene)
Jesus was a baby! That means he spent time inside his mommy! He had two hands (have kids stretch their hands high in the sky and wiggle them) He had two feet (have kids stomp their feet) He had a tongue (tell kids to touch their tongues) He had two ears (have kids touch their ears) He was a baby, just like you were! Then he grew up, just like you are growing up. But there was one big difference between Jesus and us. Jesus NEVER did anything wrong! He ALWAYS obeyed his parents. He ALWAYS said good words. He ALWAYS did the right thing!
And, because He never did anything wrong, He was able to take the punishment for everything WE did wrong. He DIED for us! (show a picture of Jesus on the cross).
But Jesus didn’t stay dead. Three days after being buried in the tomb, He rose from the dead! He was alive again.
Let’s count to three! (count to three) Now let’s count backwards from three (count backwards from three). Jesus is no longer dead! He is now in heaven, getting ready for US! If we say we are sorry for all the wrong things we have done and decide that we want to do what Jesus wants us to do, we can be with him in heaven some day!
Jesus DIED for us! That makes us pretty special!
In fact, Jesus died for EVERYONE! That makes EVERYONE pretty special!
ALL PEOPLE are special because Jesus died for ALL PEOPLE!
Give kids an assortment of old magazines and newspapers (go through them beforehand to make sure that everything in them is appropriate for children). Have the kids go through the newspapers and cut out pictures of people. Help them glue these on a bigger piece of paper with the heading “Jesus died for . . .”. Discuss with the kids how Jesus died for EVERY PERSON, no matter what they look like, how much money they have, the clothes they wear, where they live, etc. Say: God made ALL PEOPLE and Jesus died for ALL PEOPLE . . . that makes all people pretty special and worth a whole lot!!
AND Jesus wants ALL PEOPLE to follow him! Let’s pray for that right now. End by praying for people all over the world to follow Jesus. (It would also be neat to pray for the people that are on the posters that you recognize . . . celebrities, local people from the news, etc. If you or your kids know who any of the people on the posters are, have them pray for those people by name.)
Additional Activities:
1. Have a baby shower for a local pregnancy resource center. Encourage kids to bring in diapers, wipes, or baby clothes that will be donated to the center and given away to their clients.
2. Have the kids fill out a “God made me special” printable.
3. Beforehand, prepare sugar cookies (or another snack that can be easily adaptable). Then provide the kids with different colored frosting and help them frost the cookies, using a different color for each one. Say: Each of these cookies looks different because you used different colored frosting. However, they were all made by the same person (ME), and I know that they all will taste exactly the same (Super delicious!). In the same way, people might look different from one another – they might have different colored hair, eyes, or skin – but they were all made by the same person (GOD) and they are all SPECIAL! (Let the kids eat a cookie if they’d like).
4. Give kids a variety of fruit (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, etc). Instruct them to make a person out of their fruit, but don’t give any other direction. Walk around the group, commenting on what they are creating and giving them praise for their work. Let some of the kids share their creations with the group. Then say: You guys all did a great job making your people! You know what I like about this? None of your creations look exactly the same! Each person looks different! Yet, you had the same food to use to make your people . . . and they still turned out different from one another! Even though your creations are all different, they are made out of the same food and they will all taste SUPER GOOD!!! That’s just how it is with people! We all look different from one another, but we were all made out of the same stuff and we are all SUPER SPECIAL because GOD made us and JESUS died for us!
5. Draw an outline of a woman on a piece of paper. Make a “womb” by drawing a circle on the picture you drew and provide copies to all your kids. Have the kids draw a picture of a baby inside that circle. Encourage them to add eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, etc. Talk about how the baby inside the mom is alive, just like they are! Have the kids draw a mouth, nose, eyes, ears and hair on the woman as well. Talk about how the woman is also special. Say: Both the baby and the mommy are super special. Why? Because GOD made both of them and because Jesus died for both of them! ALL PEOPLE are special and God wants ALL PEOPLE to follow Him!
6. Sing “We All Bleed the Same” by Mandisa (or play it in the background while kids are working on their projects)
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Cheri Gamble 
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