The Red Sea

Exodus 14

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.  During the day, God went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud.  During the night, God went ahead of them in a pillar of fire.

God led the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea.  Pharaoh and his army were close behind.  The Israelites did not know what to do.

They screamed, “We are trapped!  What have you done to us, Moses?”  Moses said, “Do not be afraid.  God will protect us,”  God’s cloud came between the Israelites and Pharaoh’s army.  They could not see anything!

God told Moses, “Raise your staff over the sea.”  Then the Lord pushed back the sea to make a path.  Moses and the Israelites followed the path through the sea and to the other side.  But Pharaoh’s army followed close behind.

Moses raised his staff again, and the sea swept away Pharaoh and his army.  Moses and all the Israelites sang praises to God.  They were free!  They weren’t slaves anymore!

Discussion Questions

• Where did God lead the Israelites? To the edge of the Red Sea

• Who was following them? Pharaoh and his army

• Were the Israelites scared?   Yes

• What did Moses tell them?  Don’t be afraid God will protect us.

• How did God protect them? God pushed back the Red Sea to make a path so that the Israelites could cross to the other sides.

• Did Pharaoh and his army make it across? No, the sea swept them away

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for your protection each day.  May we always remember we can trust You!  Amen 

Memory Verse

“Be strong and brave. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”   Joshua 1:9

Snack:  Pane of Glass Jell-O (with optional fish)

• Use Very Berry Jell-O (or some other variety of gelatin) to make regular Jell-O

• according to directions on the box.

• Place mixture in a long thin pan – like a baking sheet. (So that it is not very deep.)

• Put in Fruit Snacks shaped like fish

• Allow to cool according to package directions

• Cut into rectangular shapes and serve on white paper plates to the children

• Looks like the “pane of glass” of an aquarium

Song:  How did Moses Cross the Red Sea?

(to the tune of Glory, Glory, Alleluia)

How did Moses cross the Red Sea?

How did Moses cross the Red Sea?

How did Moses cross the Red Sea?

How did he get across?

Did he swim? No! No!

Did he row? No! No!

Did he jump? No! No! No! No!

Did he drive? No! No!

Did he fly? No! No!

How did he get across?

God blew with His wind, huff, huff, huff, huff.

He blew just enough, ‘nough, ‘nough, ‘nough, ‘nough’

And through the sea He made a path

That’s how he got across

Thanksgiving

“Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  Psalm 106:1 

As the name indicates, Thanksgiving is a time for us all to pause and give God thanks for the blessings we have received in the past year. 

Each one of us on the Children of Hope staff is blessed by the precious little ones you bring to this school. We are thankful for them, and for all of you — parents and caregivers — for giving us the opportunity to teach them the basics they’ll need for Kindergarten, but more importantly, about Jesus. 

This issue of “Hope @ Home” is simply an assortment of ideas for you to use or be inspired by to praise to the Lord for His goodness, and to help teach our children to do the same. 

Thanksgiving Thank You Note 

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to show others how much they’re appreciated. With a little help, preschoolers will enjoy writing thank you notes to special family members and friends this holiday season. The Thanksgiving thank you note activity is a wonderful exercise to help preschoolers take stock of the blessings in their life and is certain to become a cherished holiday tradition for both the thank you note writer and the recipient. 

Thanksgiving Tablecloth Family Activity 

Give thanks as a family this holiday season by creating a uniquely personal tablecloth for your Thanksgiving table. For this family activity, invite family members young and old to preserve festive drawings and sentiments of thanks with crayons on a paper tablecloth, prior to sitting down to your Thanksgiving meal. This activity could also be done using paper placemats instead of a paper tablecloth. 

Activity: Make a Thankfulness Turkey 

Materials: 

Several sheets of construction paper in fall colors (brown, orange, red, & yellow) Black marker

Scissors Glue 

Pinking shears or decorative scissors (optional) Directions: 

Trace your child’s foot on a brown piece of paper and cut each one out. This part will be the head and body of your turkey — the heel is the head and the toes are the belly. 

Draw on the eyes with the marker. Write on the body “(child’s name) is thankful for...” 

Using the pinking shears, decorative scissors, or regular scissors, cut out 5-6 “feathers” from the additional construction paper. It seems to be easiest make them “football” shaped and each one should be about the same length as the body. 

Cut out the red “waddle” and an orange triangle for the beak from the scrap paper, and glue them on the face. 

Help your child write one thing on each feather that he is thankful for. Glue one end of each feather to the back side of the body so you can see the writing from the front. 

This makes a great decoration for Thanksgiving, as well as allows us to think about all the things with which God has blessed us. 

The Burning Bush

Exodus 3

When Moses was a man, he left the palace.  Pharaoh was still being mean to the Israelites.  Moses tried to protect them, so Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. 

Moses escaped from Egypt.  He went to a place called Midian and became a shepherd.

One day, while Moses was watching his sheep, he saw something strange.  A bush was on fire, but it wasn’t burning up.  From the inside of the bush, God spoke, “Moses, bring my people out of Egypt.  Take them to a new land that I will show you.  This new land is called Canaan.”

Moses was worried that Pharaoh would not listen.  God told Moses to throw his staff on the ground.  When he did, the staff became a snake!  God told Moses to reach down and grab the snake.  It became a staff again!  God said, “I will use signs like this to show Pharaoh I have sent you.”

“But I cannot speak very well,” complained Moses.  God said, “Do not worry.  Your brother Aaron is a good speaker.  I will send him with you.”

So Moses returned with Aaron to Egypt.  When they arrived, Moses told the Israelites what God had said.

Discussion Questions

• Pharaoh tried to kill Moses.  What did Moses do? He escaped Egypt and went to Midian to become a shepherd.

• What happened while Moses was caring for his sheep? There was a burning bush that talked!

• Who was speaking from inside the bush?   God

• What did God ask Moses to do?  Take his people from Egypt  

• Moses was worried that Pharaoh would not listen.  God told him he would use special signs to get Pharaoh to listen.  What is one example? The staff turned into a snake

• Who helped Moses speak to Pharaoh? Moses’ brother Aaron

Prayer

Dear God, thank you that you are all-powerful and the beginning of everything! Thank you that you care about us and that you love us!  Amen 

Memory Verse

“Be strong and brave.  The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”   Joshua 1:9

Song: My God is so Big

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

The mountains are His, the rivers are His

The stars are His handiwork too

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do, hey, hey

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

The mountains are His, the rivers are His

The stars are His handiwork too

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

The mountains are His, the rivers are His

The stars are His handiwork too

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

There's nothing my God cannot do

There's nothing, nothing, nothing He can't do

A Baby in a Basket

Exodus 1 - 2:10

Many years passed.  A new pharaoh ruled over Egypt  He did not know about the good things Joseph had done.

By now there were many people in Jacob’s family.  They were called Israelites.  

Pharaoh did not like the Israelites.  He made them work hard.  One day, Pharaoh decided to get rid of all the Israelite baby boys.

A woman named Jochebed had a baby boy.  She wanted to save him.  So she gently laid her baby inside a basket and placed him in the river.  The baby started to cry.

Pharoah’s daughter saw the basket and opened it.  She gently picked up the baby and hugged him.  “I want to keep you,” the princess whispered.  She named him Moses because she pulled him out of the water.

Miriam, the baby’s big sister, had been watching nearby.  She said to the princess, “I know a woman who can help you take care of the baby,”  So Miriam ran to get her mother.  Jochebed was so happy!

Discussion Questions

• What were the people called in Joseph’s family? Israelites

• Did Pharaoh want to get rid of all the baby boys? Yes

• Jochebed had a baby boy.  She wanted to save him.  What did she do?   She laid him in a basket and placed him in the river

• Who found him?  Pharaoh’s daughter 

• What did she name him? Moses

• Miriam (the baby’s big sister) told the princess she knew a woman who could care for him.  Who was it.  Jochebed

• Did Jochebed return him to the palace when he was a young boy?  Yes

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for this story of protection.  You love us and keep us safe from harm.  We thank you for that blessing.  Amen 

Memory Verse

“Be strong and brave.  The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”   Joshua 1:9

Activity:  Baby Guessing Game

Place as many baby items on a tray as desired, such as a pacifier, bottle, baby food jar, spoon, blanket, clothing, etc. Cover the tray until your family is ready with paper and crayons or colored pencils. Then show the tray of items to the children for a few minutes and tell them to try and memorize as many of the items on the tray, and then take the tray away. The children can either write the names of the items (older children), or draw small pictures of all the items that they can remember on the tray. Then give a red crayon or pencil to place an X over the top of all the ones that they see on the tray as you show them the tray again! See who remembered the most items. All the rest of the players will make a BABY CRY sound as the game is over!

Song:  Jesus Loves the Little Children

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red, brown, yellow

Black and white

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children

Of the world.

Jesus died for all the children

All the children of the world

Red, brown, yellow

Black and white

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus died for all the children

Of the world.

Jesus rose for all the children

All the children of the world

Red, brown, yellow

Black and white

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus rose for all the children

Of the world.