Nicodemus and Jesus: Born from Above

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

This Arts & Crafts lessons consists of reading the scripture story of Jesus and Nicodemus and then building/crafting a kite as a way to help envision what it means to let the Holy Spirit (God's wind), move us: THat we are lifted up, but also are at the wind's mercy. But unlike nature's wind that can damage, we have Jesus' reassurance that God's Spirit does not destroy, but saves.

For the full lesson, download the attached Word .doc at the bottom of this post. Note that the first three pages of the document are "background" and that the actual lesson starts on page 4 (which is also where you will find the supply list).

Note: The attached lesson has pictures to better illustrate the instructions.

Scripture Reference:

John 3:1-8;16-17

From the attached lesson, here is the kite craft with some of the teaching comments (in first person) included:

Leader Preparation:

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

Supplies List:

• Paper
• Rulers
• Pencils
• Wooden Skewer
• Masking Tape
• Streamers
• Hole Punch
• Cardboard
• Markers

Presentation

Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Open with a prayer.

Dig - Main Content and Reflection:

READ the scripture storythen...

Tell

• At the start of the story, we learn that Nicodemus is a Pharisee.
• It took Nicodemus a LOT of hard work and focus to become a Pharisee.
• Jesus is telling Nicodemus that Nicodemus focused on the wrong thing in his life by becoming a Pharisee.
• Jesus is then telling Nicodemus that if Nicodemus wants to heal and teach like Jesus, then Nicodemus needs to start living his life in a completely different way by focusing on God instead of focusing on being a Pharisee. This is what Jesus means when he says, “You must be born from above.”

Transition to Activity

• I need us to pretend now for a moment. Pretend you are a leaf.
• Now pretend that the wind is blowing.
• As a leaf, what are you doing in the wind? (being moved around)
• Now let’s say, as a leaf, you want to go somewhere opposite of where the wind is moving you. How would you move against the wind? (very slowly; you wouldn’t; other ideas?)
• Let’s say you COULD move against the wind as a leaf. When you did move against the wind, how might the wind have an effect on you? (Maybe you might tear in a couple of places?)
• This is what Nicodemus was doing. By paying attention to what he wanted, instead of what God wanted him to do, Nicodemus was like a leaf moving against the wind. And that’s why he couldn’t teach or heal like Jesus did.
• We’re going to make a kite in class today as a reminder that when we pay attention to God and follow what God tells us to do, then we will soar up high.
• Here’s how we make the kite…

Explain/Do Kite Craft

1. Take the 8 ½ x 11 paper and fold it in half to 8 ½ x 5 ½ (fold the paper so it’ll be like a hamburger bun, not a hot dog bun)
2. Using the ruler, measure one inch in from the top left corner of the paper and make a mark. (see pic in attached lesson)
3. Next, make another mark three inches in from the bottom right corner of the paper. Use the ruler to draw a straight line between the two marks. (see pic in attached lesson)
4. Next, move the fold (on the left-hand side) so that it rests/matches up with the diagonal line, then fold. (see pic in attached lesson)
5. Now open the paper…it’ll look like this (see pic in attached lesson)
6. Now, place tape firmly along the fold (No stick is needed yet because the fold stiffens the paper and acts like a spine.)
7. Now, lay the wooden skewer down perpendicular to the masking tape. The ends of the skewer should meet the corners of the kite.
8. cover the entire skewer with masking tape to secure it.
9. Cut a tail from streamers and tape it to the bottom of the kite (at point A). (see pic in attached lesson)
10. Flip the kite over and move/fold the rudder back and forth until it stands up straight.
11. Using the hole punch, punch a hole in the top of the rudder about ½ inch below where the wooden skewer crosses the masking tape line.
    --If there’s time, reinforce the hole with some masking tape to make it strong.
12. Take a 10 foot segment of string and tie one end securely through the hole. Take the other end of the string and wrap it around one of the 30 pieces of 1"x 3" cardboard
13. Flip back over and write on the kite, “Be Born from Above!” or “The breath of God lifts us up!”
14. Then decorate (for about five minutes with markers and crayons or other available adornments)
15. That's it. You're done!

Tell

• Remember that just as the wind moves the kite, so can God’s spirit move us.
• So when you fly your kite remember that it is the wind of God who lifts us up.

Closing:

End with a prayer.

If you like these lessons, and are interested in more, visit

www.rfour.org/curriculum.html.

--Nathanael

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