Joyful Noise

Music and Movement Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

• Discuss children’s favorite songs, and discover that people in Jesus’ time enjoyed music as much as we do.
• Older Children – Listen to a Hebrew song praising God, then a prayer rap/song telling Jesus’ life story. Children then work together to write a rap song praising God and/or telling about Jesus’ life.
• Younger Children – Listen to Hebrew music while creating musical instruments, then use the instruments in a movement activity involving one or more Hebrew songs.

Scripture Reference:

Luke 2:21 - 52

Memory Verse:

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52

Leader Preparation:

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

Supplies List:

• CD’s “Shalom Yeladim: Hello Children,” and “To Life! Chanukah and Other Jewish Celebrations,” (younger children) and CD made by teacher of a mixture of songs (older children) and CD player
• Flip chart and chart paper, markers
• Pencils and paper
• Rhyming dictionary
• Materials to make simple musical instruments – ie. coffee cans, oatmeal boxes, paper plates, beans, etc.

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Opening Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for this time together today. We want to praise you today! Please hear the words of our mouths and know that our hearts are reaching for you through our work together here today. Amen.

Discuss with the children their favorite songs and musicians. Discuss music in Biblical times, including whatever information from below seems appropriate for the group of children you have.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this.

After the Deluge, the first mention of music is in the account of Laban’s interview with Jacob (Gen. 31:27). After their triumphal passage of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of deliverance (Ex. 15).

But the period of Samuel, David, and Solomon was the golden age of Hebrew music, as it was of Hebrew poetry. Music was now for the first time systematically cultivated. It was an essential part of training in the schools of the prophets (1 Sam. 10:5; 19:19-24; 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Chr. 25:6). There now arose also a class of professional singers (2 Sam. 19:35; Eccl. 2:8). The temple, however, was the great school of music. In the conducting of its services large bands of trained singers and players on instruments were constantly employed (2 Sam. 6:5; 1 Chr. 15; 16; 23:5; 25:1-6).

In private life also music seems to have held an important place among the Hebrews (Eccl. 2:8; Amos 6:4-6; Isa. 5:11, 12; 24:8, 9; Ps. 137; Jer. 48:33; Luke 15:25).

Older Students:

(We used “And then there was…” by DMX with our kids, because the high school student who was leading the workshop with her mom knew of it, and brought it to me for approval ahead of time. I would not suggest leaving the rest of the album playing for background music however – it’s not appropriate for a church setting. Our leader burned a CD with that song, some other songs such as “What If God Was One of Us” and “Jesus He Knows” and a few Hebrew songs. This worked out really well – the kids had familiar songs that they liked, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone forgetting to turn off the CD player before the songs switched and parents getting upset. Plus there were a few “Ohhhhhhh - THAT’S what that meant!?!?” moments – great teachable moments!)

Discuss what they hear the musician saying about God. Talk a bit about the structure of the song (esp. the fact that it rhymes). Work together to create a song of praise to God, following the pattern of the one that was listened to. (Our group was large, so they worked together to get the first part of the song – about 4 lines – then the kids were split up into a few groups and each group worked on a few lines. At the end of class, everyone’s work was combined, and they had a great rap song of praise to God and in celebration of the life of Christ. I was amazed )

Younger Students:

Using the provided CDs and dance instructions, teach the children to sing a song, dance a dance, or use musical instruments to accompany a song. (Our group did all three – the kids made “tabret” by decorating two paper plates, sewing them together, and filling them with beans – in Biblical times they would have been made with dried, hardened leather sewn together with sinew, with small pebbles or clay balls inside. Then the teacher taught them a simple Hebrew dance, and they danced with their instruments. At the end of class, they learned to sing Shalom Chaverim.)

Closing:

At the closing, teach the children to sing “Shalom Chaverim” a Hebrew goodbye song.

originally posted by Kensington Church, Kensington CT by Heater Eaton

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