Jesus Without Language

When I think of the woman at the well my mind is drawn to water, and with water I think of marbling and watercolours, the beautiful mixture of shades and hues. Choosing a craft that used water seemed logical. This is a sort of cheats marbling craft, you don’t get to swirl the colours with toothpicks but you do get the beautiful watercolour blending technique. It’s easy to do this craft individually too, so no waiting turns for a tray of water. I used the result to make a water bottle cover that ironically states ‘Not living water’.

 
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The woman at the well has lots of symbols but for the worksheets we look closely at just the one – living water. The original (on the left) is really designed for older children, so I’ve made a slightly simplified version for the younger ones. It could be completed individually or by working in small groups.

The worksheet looks more closely at the clues to what ‘living water’ might be meaning, taking 2 old testament passages as a basis. After looking at the passages, there is a series of true and false statements as a story review. The older sheet has a letter based sudoku and the alternative has a colouring activity.

To complete this worksheet the children will need colouring pencils or pens, something to write with and a bible (for older).

The PDF can be downloaded by clicking on the desired image.

After making the backdrops for the first craft on the woman at the well, and pondering the symbolism, this craft seemed a natural extra to give to the lesson. I’ve been playing with this technique for a while but hadn’t found a good way to integrate it into a craft until now. This craft is simple but very effective to remind children of the symbolism in the story. It looks at the Mountain as a place of worship, the well as a place of water, and the harvest. While it can be made individually it would also be great scaled up for a notice board.

 
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The woman at the well story is packed full of symbolism, many elements can be expanded in the activities you choose to do, some less suited to various age groups than others. Choose your games to reflect what you think your group most needs to concentrate on and take away from this lesson. The first 2 play on the water theme, the next 2 on the idea of worship, and the last 2 on the idea of mission.
 

Empty Water Jars – This is a silly game suited to those people who have an outdoor space they can get wet. Find two large containers, outdoor planters or jars if possible. You will also need a measuring stick. Fill both containers half full of water. Split the children into 2 teams and give each child a plastic or disposable cup. Announce that the winning team will be the one with the most water in their container. It may also be wise to include the rule : you are not allowed to block people from taking water.
 

Water Pictures – For this game you will need tiles or laminated papers and a small amount of water. Put the children in small groups and explain this is a guess the picture game. Give each group a tile and a small amount of water. Have the chosen child draw a picture on the tile with water while the other children guess what it is. For younger children add some paint or food colouring to the water. Once the group has guessed they must choose the next artist and send them to the leader to find out the next item to draw. Eg. 5 rounds could be : house, car, eye-glasses, shoe, phone.
 
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I received an E-mail from the wonderful Jan who had taken the craft for Nicodemus and made it up for the woman at the well story. Little did I realise how much work she must have done to pull this off, but as requested I made up a version for her too with the full graphics and hero. This craft is much less restrictive than the Nicodemus one, it has the three scenes, but no words. Instead there is space for you to make your own signs or write on the ground. If you want specific words / Bible verses I would suggest you print them in advance.

 
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If you want the teachers page then please click on the image for the pdf.

Today’s hero is The woman at the well because she shows us the gift of Living Water

Essential Teachers notes:
This story of the Samaritan woman at the well, shadowed by Mount Gerizim is a must cover story in any exploration of Johns Gospel. There are so many things in this story that could be the focus of your teaching, and the bible story itself is really quite accessible. I’ve tried to draw out three key elements: the woman at the well and her short falling’s, the eagerness of the crowd to find the messiah, and the symbolism Jesus uses to show that everyone is welcome in his kingdom.

Main Passage : John 4

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Here are the images you need for the hero’s attributes linked to the Woman at the well (Luke 4).

Each hero set contains a high quality graphic of the character, a take home bible card and a colouring page.

The images are displayed small here, click on the image you wish to have, then save the image that loads.
(Please note : these images have no watermark but are not copyright free, they are only intended for classroom use.)

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