The hero in this story is the young Josiah, he is depicted as the child king and yet by the time of clearing the temple he is probably abut 26 years old, having reigned for 18 years. Yet he must have been, even as a child, a reliable king, to have reigned for 18 years.
Message paper fight – This game is totally unforgettable and any ‘typical little boys’ in your care will have a ball! prepare a big bag of scrunched up paper balls and tip them all over the room, don’t tell the children but on 3 pieces of paper write a bible verse before scrunching. Split your children into 2 groups and draw a line to divide your space into left and right. The children will act the part of the people clearing up the temple, but they decided to be lazy, and just throw the rubbish over to the other people to sort. Agree a signal to stop and then let them go, when they stop say the winning team is the one who found the treasure in the trash. They will probably look confused and then frantically start searching, if they don’t then prompt them!
King for a day – Have the kids imagine they are king for a day, make a simple paper crown (template download from here) and pass it round the circle. in a similar manner to ‘simon says’ have the other kids mime the kings request.
Floating hoop – Have youngsters stand in a circle, hold their arms parallel to the ground and stick out one finger on each hand. Place a hula hoop on resting on their fingers. Tell them they must lower it to the ground without their fingers losing contact. This is not as easy as it sounds and needs team work. Link into the idea that only through the work of many people did the Israelites discover the way back to God.
Build a temple – this is a simple activity that you can easily tailor to fit your group. Give the youngsters a set time to build a temple, this can either be a “how high a tower can you keep standing” or it could be a design project. When the time is up or you think the activity should stop ask the children what might be missing from their temple. Ask if any of them asked God to be in the building, as it’s his house?
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