Feel free to add your ideas for any workshop on Mary (woman) Anointing Jesus' feet/Alabaster Jar.

Game Ideas

trishlynn

Perschool - 2nd grade - Divide the children into two teams. One team will be red one will be black. There will be a grid made out of masking tape on the floor. Taking turns each team will throw the bean bag into an unoccupied square and get a chance to answer a question. There will be red and black paper circles, if the team throwing the bean bag answers correctly they get to put one of there circles in that square. If they answer incorrectly, the other team gets a chance to answer the same question and occupy that square.
Then the older kids played a Jeopardy type game.

Foot Washing/Anointing Ideas

Posted by julie burton

Perhaps you could do a "foot washing" using something like baby oil.

Posted by <Joni>

We did this lesson this morning. First we had the children take their shoes and socks off. Then we played "follow the leader" in the play area where it is sandy. Then we came back to the classroom and we announced that they were going to wash each others feet. This met with ewwwwww, but they did it. Then we made perfume. The kids loved it and one even told us she was glad she came today. Made our day. Joni

This Lesson Stinks

Posted by Neil MacQueen

The word "anointing" is the same word (different form) as "Messiah" -which is translated "anointed one." The Messiah is the one who smells pleasing to God. ie...Jesus smells sweet, good.

There are numerous references in the OT to God wanting good smelling things. Sin is associated with bad smells.

I remember years ago a lesson that left a LASTING impressing ---probably because it "Stunk" (smell memories are the hardest to get rid of and easiest to recall because they reside in the oldest memory centers of the human brain). We had baby food jars with different things in them and a holes in the top. We had to smell each and figure out what it was. This same idea could be used for a group to decide "which smell like goodness, pleasing to God, and which smell like sin.)

The point is NOT the truth about the smells, but that we're using SMELL to lock the concept of anointing and Messiah and pleasing to God INTO their deep memory storage. They will not forget this lesson or its associated concepts.

Hope your lesson stinks! <>< Neil

Alabaster

Posted by Neil MacQueen

...That woman with the alabaster jar is identified as Mary in one of the other gospels. One of the original "Spice Girls."

Can you get hold of some raw alabaster from a rock shop? I have a hunk of it on my shelf. It isn't very expensive (it's a form of compressed gypsum) It's a pretty rough looking stone with an oily feel but easy to carve with something as blunt as a screwdriver. When rubbed, it polishes easily. Add a little car wax and it polishes very nicely. There are web pages about working Alabaster you can consult. Neil

Making Perfume

Posted by Julieh99

I'm preparing a lesson on Mary anointing Jesus' feet. Somewhere I've seen instructions for making perfume by crushing rose or flower petals and adding other things. Does anyone know of the process for this, and does this come anywhere near approximating the way perfume was made in the time of Jesus?

Posted by SheilaB

To make ancient perfumed ointments, Danto and Seefried tried a method that is still used today. They spread flower petals, containing the desired fragrant substance, over animal fat. The fragrant substances in the petals, called essential oils by perfumers, were dissolve in the fat. More petals were added until the animal fat was saturated with perfume.

To make ancient perfumed oils, Danto and Seefried extracted perfume by mixing herbs, flower petals, leaves, or seeds with hot non-acidic vegetable oil made from pressing olives. They let the mixture soak at 30-40°C. Then they pressed the mixture through a bag to extract the perfumed oil from the pressed olive mixture and stored it in alabaster and lapis lazuli vessels, which had been reproduced from original models. Danto and Seefried point out that because ancient perfumes were made from olive oil, they could be consumed and were often added to wine (Danto 14-17).

The above was from a web article Ancient Perfume by Lois Fruen (link removed-no longer active) for full article.

I got all of this just by searching the web. I looked under bible perfumes and make biblical perfumes and there are many other sources. SheilaB

Cooking Ideas

Posted by Cheryl Chase

I need some cooking ideas for the "Woman with the Alabaster Jar" lesson. The taffy idea is a little too cumbersome for the 1st and 2nd graders going to the workshop given our timeframe. We were thinking of braiding two different kinds of bread dough.

Posted by Dian

Playing off the "jar" idea what about doing cake in a jar?
I have seen this done where you bake the cake in the jar..or is it a can? it was very fun and surprising...the cake was yummy too! Maybe someone out there knows of the recipe!
Dian

Posted by Ronnah

I haven't used a jar or a can but how about using clay flower pots. If you are talking about 1st or 2nd graders you could use the smaller pots but one cake mix could make a lot of "small" cakes, just like cupcakes.

Art Ideas

trishlynn

For the art room the kids got to make an "alabaster jar" of their own. I found glass jars at a pretty good price and they covered them with tissue paper. We used starch to "glue" the tissue paper to the jar, it is really great because it drys completely clear. Kind of a messy project but they enjoyed it. Then we put smelly lotion in their jar, as a reminder of the perfume.

Drama Ideas

Jan FPC Napa

I posted our games lesson elsewhere in this forum ...For the drama workshop (which I don't have in detail yet) we're going to have a woman portray a "friend of Mary's". She'll invite the kids to take off their shoes and socks at the door and invite them into her tent, telling them the customs where she is from when guests come to visit. She'll offer a bowl of water and towels for them to wash their feet, a cool drink of water, and a headband with perfume on it to refresh them (and drive the stink away )

She'll then tell the story from John 12:1-8 (again as a friend of Mary's recounting the events) using props.

After discussion of why Mary loved Jesus so much and how she showed it, kids will then be given a square of light colored fabric (4"x4") and using permanent markers write or draw one real way they can show Jesus how much they love him this week. They'll then spray a quick spray of perfume on their fabric to take home. They'll also discuss 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 where Paul says wherever we go God uses us to tell others about the Lord and to "spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. Our lives are like a fragrance presented by Christ to God."

Lisa M.

For drama you should just be able to read the Bible story and have the children pantomime actions. Perhaps read it once from each of the gospels to help the kids see how it is different in each one.