I think Romans 8:28 is one of the most encouraging verses in the Bible. It says this: “We know that God works all things for the good of those who love him according to his purposes…” Isn’t that wonderful? I am surprised to know that God promises to always work for good in my life. This verse is especially comforting during difficult times in life. Our preschoolers are learning that life has its ups and downs too. Therefore, it is not too early to begin teaching them the truth found in Romans 8:28: God will always work for good in his life. Here is a fun preschool Bible school activity to help you learn this promise. I call it “1 – 2 – 3 Spells GOD”.
This is what you do:
For this activity, you will need to prepare 3 letter squares for each child that spell out GOD. Make them small enough to fit in a cup, one for each child. I suggest you laminate the letter squares for long term use.
This is how it is played:
After presenting the lesson, give each child their own cup filled with squares that spell out GOD. Have the class sit in a circle. Instruct the children to put their hand on the cup and shake it. Choose a child to be “It.” You will walk around the circle while the class shakes their cups. At some point, the kid who is “It” will tap a classmate on the shoulder and yell “1 – 2 – 3, spell GOD!” This is the cue for everyone to wave their letters on the ground in front of them and place them in the correct order to be spelled.
God. As soon as each child spells GOD, he can stand up. The child who was tapped on the shoulder now becomes “It” to play the game again. Finally, before each game round, recount a situation in which God can work for good in a difficult circumstance. I’ve provided ten of these below along with what he should say each time.
1. God is so good and can work for good in my life even when I don’t have friends to play with. So, let’s write the wonderful name of him!
2….even when it rains all day…
3…. even when I don’t have my favorite lunch to eat…
4….even when all the cookies are gone…
5….even when my friend is mean to me…
6….even when I feel sad…
7….even when my shoes are too tight…
8….even when I don’t get my way…
9….even when I feel bad…
10….even if I don’t get a toy when I go shopping…
Before playing this Bible school activity, you may want to introduce it as follows:
I want everyone to show me their happy faces. (Wait for the children to respond.) Now, let me see everyone’s sad face. (Wait for responses). What kind of face does he make when his tummy hurts? (Wait for the responses from the sad face.) How about when you fall and hurt your knee? (Wait for responses). Always remember that God is with you when you are happy and sad. In fact, God can still work good things in your life when things are hard and difficult. That is what our Bible verse says. Romans 8:28 says this: “We know that God works all things for the good of those who love him according to his purposes…” Let’s play a fun game to help us learn that God will always work for the good of our lives when we love God. We spell God, GOD. Now, let’s play “1 – 2 – 3 Spell GOD”.