One of the most beautiful transformations in all of nature has to be the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The old has gone, the new has come. Second Corinthians 5:17 is the ultimate showcase verse for this amazing principle, which says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” As God’s children, we may not have sprouted wings on the day of our second birth, but we are changing from glory to glory and one day we will shed these old bodies and put on a new body far greater than we can even imagine! I think 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a hallmark Scripture that every Christian should have memorized, so here is a fun Bible school activity you can play with your children to help them memorize it as well.
Here’s what you do:
For this activity, you will need to prepare an index card for each word found in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Use 2 index cards for the reference – one with 2 Corinthians written on it and the other with 5:17. You should have a total of 20 cards. Laminate them for long-term use. Now display all of the cards in correct verse order, words facing out, on a pocket chart or on a table so that your entire class can see them. Now, make the following cards containing the suggested picture I have listed below on one side of the card and the point value and directions on the other side of the card. Make sure that the kids cannot see through the cards to the other side.
1. Old-fashioned telephone – 10 points, Turn over 10 cards
2. Old-fashioned radio – 20 points, Turn over 8 cards
3. Old-fashioned record (LP) – 30 points, Turn over 6 cards
4. A VHS tape – 40 points, Turn over 4 cards
5. A car run on gas – 50 points, Turn over 2 cards
6. Old-fashioned roller blades – 10 points, Turn over 10 cards
7. Old-fashioned typewriter – 20 points, Turn over 8 cards
8. A road map – 30 points, Turn over 6 cards
9. Old-fashioned ice box – 40 points, Turn over 4 cards
10. A clothesline– 50 points, Turn over 2 cards
11. Old-fashioned washboard – 10 points, Turn over 10 cards
12. Candles – 20 points, Turn over 8 cards
13. Cloth diapers – 30 points, Turn over 6 cards
14. Horse and buggy – 40 points, Turn over 4 cards
15. Old-fashioned camera – 50 points, Turn over 2 cards
Laminate all of these cards. You can display them on a pocket chart, point side down, or fan them out in your hands, from which your kids will pick. You will also need the list of multiple choice questions found at the end of this article. You are now ready to play this activity.
Before playing, say the following to your class:
Who can name something that was old, but is now a new or better version? For example, whenever you would see a movie, it was always in 2D – two dimensions. Now, there are a lot of movies in 3D. When I was your age (if this fits you), most fast food restaurants did not have a drive-thru window. Now, almost all of them have drive-thru windows. Who can give me some other examples? (Wait for responses.) Technology has changed the way we live in so many ways. Old things are out of date. New things are cool. Did you know that God is interested in changing our lives? In fact, no one can change a person’s life more than God. He’s in the business of making us new creations. Who would like to read 2 Corinthians 5:17? (Have a child read the verse.) Wow! That’s a pretty awesome verse. Basically, it means that when we accept Jesus as our Savior, He completely changes our life. We may not see the changes right away. In fact, the Bible says we won’t experience the complete and total change until we get to Heaven. The bodies we have then, will be nothing like the ones we have now.
Second Corinthians 5:17 is a great verse that we should all memorize to help us remember that if we are a Christian, God has begun a new work in us and will complete it in Heaven. To help us memorize this verse, we’re going to play a fun game called “New Creations” and also have a fun look at some old things that have turned new.
Here’s how we play: I will divide you into 2 teams. Each team will have the chance to pick one of my picture cards. Each picture will be of something old that is not used very much anymore. On the back of each card is a point value along with a number of cards you will have to turn over on our Scripture cards displayed on the pocket chart (or table). The team with the most points wins.
I will give you a multiple-choice question having to do with the picture you picked. If you answer it correctly, you will get to earn the points listed on the back of the picture if you are able to say the Bible verse correctly with the amount of cards that are showing on our Bible verse display board. After each play, I will turn the Bible verse cards back over for the next player. Let’s play!
15 Multiple Choice Questions on Old Things and New Things
1. The telephone – Alexander Graham Bell invented the first telephone. In the old days, you had to sit by the phone the whole time you were talking on it. The cord often got tangled up. Today, we talk on
A. Cell phones
B. Tin cans
2. The radio – Before TV, there was radio. In the old days, families would sit around the radio listening to their favorite shows and music. The first ones were big and bulky and had to be plugged in to a socket. Today, we listen to music on
A. Record players
B. iPods
3. A record (LP) – When people listened to music, they would put these black round discs onto a record player and place a handle, which contained a needle, on top of it. They would go around and around. You couldn’t rewind or forward. Today we listen to our music on
A. Tape decks
B. CD’s
4. A VHS tape – It used to be, that when you wanted to watch a movie at home, you would pop in a videotape into your video player. Today, we watch movies on
A. DVD’s
B. Film strips
5. A car that runs only on gas – Cars are changing. Most cars have always run on gasoline. But because oil is growing scarce, more and more cars also run on
A. Orange juice
B. Electricity
6. Roller skates – Going to the roller rink was lots of fun in the old days, but roller skates were big and bulky. Today, kids where
A. Roller blades
B. Moon shoes
7. A typewriter – Click, click, click went the typewriter. Some people were very fast on these old-fashioned machines that used to write everyone’s letters. Today, writing words has never been faster because we use
A. Computers
B. Pencils
8. A road map – In the old days, if you got lost while driving, you would have to pull off to the side of the road and pull out your road map to figure out how to get where you wanted to go. Today, if someone gets lost, they can just check on their
A. position with the stars
B. GPS systems
9. An old-fashioned icebox – My great-great-grandfather used to deliver ice to people’s houses for their iceboxes. This was how people kept their food cold. Today, we put our food in a
A. mailbox
B. refrigerator
10. A clothesline – In the old days, if you wanted your clothes dry, you had to hang them on a clothesline for a few hours. Today, drying your clothes is easy inside a
A. dryer
B. tanning salon
11. An old-fashioned washboard – Your great-grandmas worked hard at washing their clothes. They would often use a washboard to scrub out the stains. Today, your moms use a
A. swimming pool
B. washer
12. Candles – How did people see in the dark in the old days? They used lots and lots and lots of candles. Candle making was a big business. Today, if we want to see in the dark we just use
A. electricity
B. fireflies
13. A horse and buggy – In the old days, most families owned a horse and buggy to take them into town. Today, we can travel long distances in a short amount of time in our
A. baby strollers
B. cars
14. Cloth diapers – Taking care of a baby is a lot of work. In the old days, moms had to wash a ton of diapers. Today, it’s a lot easier. Now, moms can use
A. disposable diapers
B. paper towels
15. An old-fashioned camera – Say, “Cheese!” Picture taking and developing was quite a long process in the old days. Today, people can take thousands of pictures in a matter of minutes with their
A. digital cameras
B. TV’s
Next, if you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up today to receive Scripture Lady’s Free Email Kid Tips packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE Bible Review Games to help your kids get excited about the Bible!
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Preschoolers love to imitate. As teachers and parents we want to be a good and godly example for them to follow. As Christians, we are to imitate Christ and follow His leading and directions for our lives. It’s never too early to teach our little ones to follow God and here is a fun Christian preschool activity based on James 1:22 which says: “Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says.” I call this game “Follow My Directions, Please”.
