Reply to "Prodigal Son Complete Lesson Set - FUMC Ann Arbor, MI"

The Prodigal Son

Wire_Scuplture Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activity:

Make wire sculptures of father and son posed at the moment of forgiveness. Note: 4th, 5th, and 6th graders visited this workshop, however all ages can do this workshop with some adjustment.

Scripture Reference & Key Bible Verse & Objectives:

Refer to first post in this lesson set.

Leader Preparation:

Read Bible Background and scripture.
Gather the materials.

Materials List:

Easel with appropriate markers in two different colors
Bibles
One Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen
A paraphrase for Luke 15:25-32 (attached)
Flexible wire that is bendable yet strong enough to stand up. Use 24-gauge if purchased from craft store, or use old telephone wire (the multi-colored stuff). We have some short pieces of wire – use these as fill-in (refer to lesson).
Material to use as a base for the sculpture and a way to attach the sculpture to the base (example: if wood base, then heavy-duty stapler). Plywood holds staples the best and gives the art project a base to stand on when taken home.
A method to label sculpture with child’s name & with a title (pens & labels)
Heavy-duty scissors to cut wire.

Advanced Preparation Requirements:

Write the key Bible verse on the easel. Using a different colored marker write, “The Prodigal Son – Moment of Forgiveness.” [Or write them on two different pages of the paper.]
Precut wire into 36” lengths. Take 2 strands of wire and twist ends together well, to form a loop. Twisting them together eliminates dangerous, waving wire ends!
Practice making a wire figure so you know how to explain it to the students.
Place the paraphrase inside the Adventure Bible with tabs, to bookmark the story.

Presentation:

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Art Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.
[Note: The Shepherd will be taking care of attendance while you are starting your lesson.]

Say: Let’s start with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: Thank you God for your gift of forgiveness and love. Thank you for sending us Jesus and for the wonderful parables that he told that help us understand your love for us. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:

Say: Today we’ll be learning about a parable Jesus told, called “the Prodigal Son.”
[In later weeks of the Rotation ask the class what story we are studying.]

Ask: Who can tell me what a parable is?

Say: A parable is a story that teaches something.

Ask: Does anyone know what this parable teaches? (In the 1st week the kids aren’t likely to know; that’s ok, ask anyway as an introduction to what it does teach.)

Say: This parable is called the “Prodigal Son.” It is also sometimes called “The Parable of the Lost Son” or the “Parable of the Loving Father.” It teaches us that God offers us unearned love; we call this “grace.” Perhaps if you were in art in September for the story of Noah’s Ark, you recall talking about grace and that you made prints that showed examples of grace. Our art activity today will be to make sculptures from wire, sculptures that illustrate grace. Let’s start by finding our story in the Bible.

Ask: This is a parable that Jesus told. Where in the Bible would we read about it? (in the New Testament)

Ask:

What are the first four books of the New Testament?
What do we call those first four books? (the Gospels)

Say: The word Gospel means “good news.” If you have your own Bible today, you may receive a tab for the Gospels section of your Bible.
[Show the classroom Bible with tabs. Have the Shepherd do tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.]

Ask: In what Gospel do we find our story? (Luke)

Distribute Bibles. Have everyone find Luke, chapter 15, verse 11.
Ask students to pay attention to how people may be feeling in this story.
Have students take turns reading verses 11-19.
Say: So he got up and went to his father.

Ask:

How do you suppose the father felt when his youngest son left home?
How do you suppose this son felt when he first left home?
How do you suppose he felt when he’d spent all his money?
How do you suppose he felt having to care for pigs?

Say: Our art project today will be to shape wire sculptures of people that reflect the emotions in the father and his son. Before we start our creations, let’s talk a little about what’s called “body language.”

Ask:

How does your body look if you are happy? [Get kids to get up and demonstrate.]
How about if you are sad? (and you are out of money)
How about if you don’t want someone in your space? (like a pig!)

Say: Because we have beautiful artwork represented in our Bible timeline mural, I want us to go out and look at the pictures, looking for emotions in the depictions of people. I have certain pictures I want you to look at to notice emotions.

Head out to the time line:
Remind students not to touch the art work.

Have them notice:

The scene of Joseph’s brother’s selling him into slavery – the brother who is sad
Moses at the burning bush
Jesus washing his disciples feet
Followers of Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit

Back in the classroom
Say: We are going to make wire sculptures representing the father and his son in our story. I will give each of you some wire, and then we can go over together the process for making a person out of wire.

Give each student the wire that has been formed into a loop. Have them do each of the following steps for making a wire person.

Hold the point of attachment (where the wire is twisted) in one hand and, with the other hand, stretch the wires so that is forms a double-strand line.
Next, twist the end opposite the point of attachment into a loop about the size of a nickel (this will form the head, the twists of this loop will form the neck).
Now lift the point of attachment end over and behind the neck, and twist below the head so two twisted areas both form the neck. They now should have one small loop (head) and two larger loops.
Each of the larger loops will form an arm and a leg by taking the outermost part of each loop and pressing it toward the neck. This divides the loop into the two parts, which are to be well twisted into arms and legs.

The students will now have a basic figure.

Once they are finished, have them attach the feet of the sculpture to the base. [If using plywood, then you should do the stapling.] Have the students create another smaller sculpture of the son. Don’t attach him yet.

When everyone is ready, hold open a Bible…
Say: So far in our story the younger son had left his home with money in his pockets.

Ask: How do you suppose you’d position the figures at this point in the story? (allow them to do so if desired)

Say: Then the younger son runs out of money and is forced to get a job feeding pigs.

Ask: Who can tell me why a job working with pigs was despicable to a Jewish person?

Say: Jesus was Jewish and he was telling this story to other people who were Jewish. Jews considered pigs an “unclean” animal, which meant that they could not be eaten.

Ask: What happened next in our story?

Say: That’s right, he came to his senses! He thought, “I’ll go back home to my father. Because of my poor choices, I don’t deserve to be called his son. But maybe my father will let me be a servant, to earn money for food.”

Ask:

How would your younger son figure (the one that’s not attached) look at this point in our story?
Is he expecting his father to be happy to see him?

Say: He probably expected that his father would say something like, “you’re a bad son. You’ve wasted all your money. You’re not welcome in this family anymore!”

Read Luke 15:20b-24 to the students using the purple Adventure Bible.

Ask:

How did the father react when he saw his son coming home?
How would you position your father sculpture (the one attached to the base) now?
The father was offering forgiveness. How does forgiveness look?
How do you show humility?

Once the kids have positioned their sculptures hand out the shorter pieces of wire, which can be used to wrap around and embellish their sculpture. Ask the Shepherd to attach their second sculpture to their base when they’re ready – placing it opposite the “father.”

Discussion: (while the students are working)
Ask:

Do you suppose it was easy for the son to come back home?
Think of a time when you felt like the Prodigal Son – you did something wrong – you needed forgiveness – how did you feel?
Has someone ever acted towards you like the father acted? Have you experienced forgiveness? How did it feel?

Say: Recall that a parable is a story that teaches us something.
Ask: What is the reason that Jesus told this parable? What was his message?

Say: Verse 20 says, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him.” This tells us that this father was waiting and watching for his son. Just like this father, God waits and watches for us when we turn away from him. Your sculptures show grace in action. God offers us grace – forgiveness even when we don’t deserve it.

Say: There is more to this parable. Remember that this father had two sons. There is an older son who has an opinion about what his father does. Listen.

Hold a copy of the paraphrase in an open Bible while you read the rest of the story. (It is suggested that you hold your papers inside a Bible so that kids understand that you are reading the words from the Bible.)

Ask:

How does the older brother feel about his younger brother?
Would you be able to accept the younger brother – to offer forgiveness?
Who is someone around you who needs forgiveness?
If a friend does something wrong and asks for your forgiveness, do you suppose you could be forgiving and be friends again?

Have everyone read together the key Bible verse.

Say: God is willing to forgive. All of heaven celebrates when we ask for forgiveness. The question is, are we willing to forgive others as God forgives us?
When you take your wire figures home, show others in your family and share the story of grace and forgiveness.

Closing:
Have them label their sculpture with their name and a title such as “The Prodigal Son – Moment of Forgiveness” or include the key Bible verse.

Paraphrase for Luke 15:25-32
When the older son returned from working in the field, he learned that his father had ordered a feast to celebrate the return of his brother. He was angry! Celebrate? This was the brother who had thrown away all his money!
The older brother complained to his father, saying that he had followed all the rules and worked without ever getting a reward.
The father answered that the older son would get everything that belonged to the father. He said…
[Refer to the key verse written on the easel.]
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

Resources:

Lesson ideas gleaned from Kirk of Kildaire's Rotation lessons, and from an Art workshop sculpture idea originally by Neil MacQueen.
Carol Hulbert originally wrote this workshop in 2001. Drastically updated for November 2007.

Addendum from Luanne Payne, Hampton United, Ontario Canada
Here are some rough diagrams and a couple pictures of completed projects done by our own kids. Thanks Neil and Carol for the great idea and lesson.

Use a STAPLE GUN or screws to fasten the sculptures to the base.

You can wrap additional wire around the torso and legs of the characters to add dimension.

Some students can make multiple characters, including "The Pose of the Older Brother".

Additionally, you can have "kid models" hold a pose in front of class to show forgiveness or "looking for your son" to the class who then shapes their figure.

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from:
First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI. 2001, 2007

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert,Carol. "Lost & Found: The Prodigal Son – Art Workshop." Nov. 2007. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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