King David

Stick Puppet Theater

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Making stick puppets for a drama.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the story ahead of time.
• Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

• Pictures
• Rubber Cement
• Card Stock 
• Markers
• Laminate
• Paint Sticks
• Clothesline
• Blanket

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

(Do not open with the Bible story – it is contained in your skit)

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Make stick puppets: (Pictures glued on sticks)

• Copy the pictures onto white/typing paper (Reproducible coloring books are a good resource)
• Glue pictures to stiff paper (card stock) using rubber cement.
• Color, if desired (Markers, crayons, paint)
• Label the back of each picture with:
• • ‘King David’ so you know what rotation it belongs to
  • And what each picture is (‘Jonathan,’ ‘young David,’ ‘mad King Saul")
• Laminate picture/card stock (to preserve the picture)
• Attach the pictures to the paint sticks with the pictures facing outward (Brush the rubber cement one way on the picture and the opposite way on the stick). Leave half of the handle free – the other half up inside the picture for support. (Or may choose to not use paint sticks, and just hold them up with the kid’s hands.)

Puppets that are needed

• Young David
• Young David with sling (Or Sling & Stones)
• Adult David (Young adult)
• King David
• Sheep (2 sets)
• Heart
•  Goliath (make him twice as tall as everyone else)
• Philistines (A group of Philistines)
• David’s army
• King Saul
• Mad King Saul (Use the same picture as King Saul. Use white-out, then make slanted eyebrows and squinted eyes, then copy again)
• Jonathan (Young adult)
• Daughter
• Harp
• Spear
• King Saul sleeping

Make a stage (Do whatever works in your situation. Use your imagination)

• Tie a clothes line to two stationery objects. Drape a sheet or blanket over it.
• Two piano benches end to end. (Elevate them on ‘same height’ boxes, chairs, or end tables.) Cover with a sheet or blanket.
•  Pull out a sofa from the wall; hide the kids behind the back.

Have a narrator read the story while the kids work the puppets.

• For the younger grades, the teacher can read the story. You may want a helper to be ‘back stage’ to help get the puppets up at the right time.
• For the older grades, one or two of the kids could be the narrator. They can alternate paragraphs.
• Try presenting the play twice. Once with half the kids working the puppets & the other half as an audience. (Someone from the audience could be the narrator if needed.) Then switch.
• Have an extra copy of the skit ‘back stage’ so the kids know when to work the puppets.
• The puppets could break/come off the stick if mistreated. If this happens, have the kids hold up the puppet with their hands.
• There are a couple of spots the kids get to ‘cheer’ and hum ‘Here Comes the Bride.’ 

Extra time: Quiz the kids about the puppets (who is this, how does he fit in the story.)

King David Drama – Stick Puppets 

David was the youngest son of Jesse. (Hold up Young David) He had a deep passion and love for God that was more important to David than anything else. 

David was a shepherd, (Hold up sheep) someone who takes care of the sheep. He wasn’t very likely to be chosen to do something special. But God doesn’t make choices the way we do. God knew David’s heart. (Hold up heart) David’s heart was full of love for God and that was all that mattered. (Remove sheep & heart)

You might also remember that David killed the giant, Goliath. (Hold up Goliath, then take him back down) The Philistines were people who worshiped false gods and had been Israel’s enemy for many years. (Hold up Philistines on one side – David on the other) One day the Philistine soldiers sent their man, Goliath, to fight. (Hold up Goliath) He stood and yelled at the Israelites to send someone to fight him. He said wicked things about God. No one wanted to fight the giant. They were afraid.

But David was not afraid. He went to fight. He did not use a sword, or bow, or have any armor to protect him. He simply used a sling and a smooth stone. (Replace young David with Young David with sling) He hit the giant and killed him. Pow! (Goliath falls down dead) This was the beginning of the story of David. David became the greatest king Israel ever knew. (Remove all)

(Hold up King Saul & Adult David) King Saul wanted David to stay at the palace with him and not go back to his own home. David and King Saul’s son, Jonathan, became best friends. (Hold up Jonathan) Saul made David the commander of his army. (Hold up David’s army) David was very successful. He became a favorite with the people. (Cheer) Eventually, the Philistines were defeated and there was a great celebration. (Hold up Philistines – then ‘fall’ down dead) The people thought David was greater than King Saul. (Cheer) From that day on, King Saul was jealous of David. King Saul was not happy. (Replace King Saul with mad King Saul. Remove all but mad King Saul & Adult David)

King Saul had made up his mind to kill David, so David left the palace. (Move Saul to one side – Adult David to the other side) From then on, David lived in the mountains and slept in caves. King Saul kept chasing him. (Saul chases David across the stage and back) Anyone who helped David was in big trouble. 

King Saul tried to trick David. (Hold up the daughter) He lied to David and told him he loved him. King Saul said he wanted David to marry his daughter, but King Saul really wanted him dead. He told David he could marry his daughter, Michal, if he killed 100 Philistines. David killed 200 Philistines and married Michal. (Hum ‘Here Comes the Brid") This made King Saul angry. He got angrier every day and became more and more obsessed with trying to get rid of David. But, the Lord was with David and he became stronger and more successful.

King Saul was so obsessed he tried to get his son, Jonathan, to kill David. (Remove the daughter – Hold up Jonathan) But, Jonathan wouldn’t do it, and told David of the plan. One day, as David was playing the harp for King Saul, (Remove Jonathan – hold up a harp by Adult David) the king tried to kill David. He threw a spear at him. It just missed. (Throw a spear) David ran away from King Saul. (Adult David and harp run off stage)

Now King Saul was full of hate, fear, and jealousy. (Hold up Jonathan)He tried to kill Jonathan for protecting David. (Jonathan runs off stage) He soon becomes so crazy, that he ordered his soldiers to kill the priests because they wouldn’t kill David. But the soldiers refused.

One time when King Saul was looking for David, he stopped to rest in the same cave where David was. (Remove all – hold up King Saul sleeping) The King fell asleep. David’s men wanted him to kill the king. (Hold up David’s army) Instead, David took his sword and cut off part of King Saul’s coat. When the King woke up, David spoke to him and told him he did not want to hurt him. (Remove King Saul sleeping – hold up mad King Saul & Adult David) He pointed out that he could have killed him in his sleep, but chose not to. Saul was very touched by this, and said he would not try to kill David again. He said he now realized that David was destined to be a great king. (Change mad king, to King Saul)

(Remove David’s army – hold up Jonathan)

David became King when Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle with the Philistines. (Jonathan & King Saul fall down ‘dead'.)

David went on to unite the people and lead them in a time of great wealth and growth. (Remove all – add King David)

David would become the greatest king Israel had ever known.

Conclude by having the students make a stick puppet that represents THEM. Have them add a heart.

Write a scripture phrase on the stick, such as, "the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Closing:

End with a prayer and have the children assist with the cleanup.

A lesson written by Linda Norem & Rev. James Norem

Adapted for ‘Stick Puppets’ by Rachel Haugland

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.