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Music and Miscellaneous Ideas, Activities, and Resources for Teaching David and Goliath in Sunday School

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David and Goliath, Harp, Philistines, Armor, 1 Samuel 17, etc.
Last edited by Luanne Payne
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Goliath Sling Shot

 

We are doing David and Goliath now. Just this morning the kids took turns trying to hit Goliath with a "slingshot". It was great fun! I got the idea from the Heritage and Smyrna link on this web site.
I made a Goliath from poster board. (I used quarters of posterboard that I found pre-cut in pkgs of 5 at the dollar store.) I'm sure cardboard would work better. He was between 4 and 5 feet tall -- not exactly a giant. But we used a sock with rice in the toe (the rice was in a ziplock bag and a knot was tied in the sock to keep it in)to sling at him. I wanted a tennis ball but didn't have one. The lesson in the link tells you how to make a sock rocket with panty hose.
I drew a small bullseye between Goliath's eyes for the kids to aim at. We took turns trying to knock him down. I made a paperdoll type stand for him but it failed today so I held him. No, I did not get hit .
We did this after watching Veggie Tales "Dave and the Giant Pickle". I know they will remember it! The ages ranged from 4 to 11.

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Goliath Cut Out

 

We are doing David & Goliath this month. For the younger class, I drew a 9 foot Goliath from a roll of brown wrapping paper (like grocery bag paper). He was quite a hit when I unrolled him and hung him up. A thought for a game would be to use Velcro on his forehead and on some lightweight balls for "target practice." 

I plan to have the children color Goliath and use him as part of our bulletin board for the month. I also used my daughter's LeapPad storybook "Amazing Bible Stories" by Zonderkidz. The story includes an "I spy" game and a question & answer game.

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

VBS Ideas

 

We will be doing VBS next month. For younger children, some of our ideas include using "David/Goliath" in the "Duck-duck-goose" game. We will paint a rock with a cross on it. We will make a sheep puppet from a brown paper bag. We will use a "potato" stamp for a star as David cared for the sheep under the open sky. We will make a friendship wreath by outlining and cutting out each child's hand print. This will represent the friendship between David & Jonathan. Hope this helps! Best regards.
Beth group

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Goliath Game

 

I took a large refrigerator box and drew a picture of Goliath on it (using a transparency outlining with black marker). I then made a "helmet" out of cardboard and placed on top of the box. The kids divided into the Philistines and the Israelites and we kept track of how many times each team knocked off the helmet (with beanbags) during a specific time. The kids really enjoyed this and it was very simple to put together.

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

Other David Themes

 

From the pastor who once had a child bonk another child with a rock in the parking lot after church because David did it in the Bible...

Let's see if there are other themes to lift up.

David was brave, unafraid to stand up for what he thought was right. How about a WWJD?/Fear Factor type game. If you were faced with a certain situation would you be brave like David?

There is also the part where David tries to put on Saul's armour and decides he's better off without it. There was an old relay race where each person ran, got a bag, put on everything in the bag, ran back, took everything off, then it was the next person's turn. You could do that with regular clothes, or make Saul's suit of armour for the game. Discuss what it means to be authentic.

Another possibility is to do some googling and see if you can find games that are currently played by children in Israel and Palestine. Discuss the Israel/Philistine, Israel/Palestine ongoing battles.

Peace,
Lisa

Last edited by Rotation.org Lesson Forma-teer

David and Goliath

Video and Art Ideas

The Boy Who Faced His GiantThe Boy Who Faced His Giant

CD/DVD by Madacy Entertainment Group, 2006,
UPC 0628261271825

Something different and fun! Two music CD’s, 35 songs on each. All the old Sunday school songs like “Father Abraham, David Play Your Harp, Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock, etc.

But the cool part is the bonus DVD: A 12-minute movie on David & Goliath where all the characters are Paper Bag Puppets. A young boy's giant is the rope in gym class. It was a total hoot. Has a wonderful message about courage/faith, and I honestly chuckled all the way through.

Available through your local Christian Bookstore or christianbook.com or Amazon.com. (Be careful that what you are ordering is both the CD and the DVD.)

Link to a trailer of the video. 

Link To List of Songs on CD.

How to incorporate the paper bag puppets into your Rotation:

Art:

Have each child make a paperbag puppet. Have supplies set out for the different characters. Have a hat were they draw out which character they’re to each make so you end up with at least all the major characters, possibly everyone could do one character and one sheep for example.

DVD includes a bonus feature where you’re shown how to make one of the simple puppets – this could be shown to the children as well

Video:

Show the short bonus film and then have the kid's pick out scenes from a hat and put on their own show, using the puppets made in Art.

Video tape scenes using a video camera or do freeze scene shots using a digital camera to replay later.

Have older children make up their own script. With younger children you narrate the story and have them act it out.

Bonus feature on the DVD: shows them making the video.

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Last edited by Luanne Payne

David and Goliath

Science Idea

 

I have a great book called Fun Science that Teaches God's Word by Susan Martins Miller, published by Cook Ministries. One lesson is called "Spread the News".

 

Volunteer Moderator Carol notes: ISBN-13: 9780781440813

The poster (Stacia) then included in this post a portion of the book that covered this lesson. This has been removed due to copyright issues.

 

Basically the lesson involves a newspaper and a ruler. Refer to this science demo done for a lesson on the Walk to Emmaus here (Scroll down to the Old Science lesson and look at the portion that starts at "Say: Here’s another experiment.
 Place a ruler on the table..." and goes until "No wonder it wouldn’t budge."


You may be able to get paint sticks from local home/paint stores, and try the project with them first. That way, each kid can try the experiment on their own.

We may be weak (like the newspaper), but God is there to care for us. And when we see God' power in action, we can't help but be amazed.

Have Fun!!

Stacia

Last edited by CreativeCarol

David and Goliath

Memory Verse in Sign Language 

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.” 2 Samuel 22:2b (NLT)

 

 

You can see the signs at the American Sign Language Browser: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm

 



LORD The sign KING is made with a L handshape. (Move your hand from the chest to the waist while crossing the body. The movement indicates the location of the royal sash worn by kings.)


ROCK The sign STONE is made with an R handshape. (The right hand taps the back of the other hand which is open. This movement is showing that something is hard.)


FORTRESS The horizontal left arm represents a wall around a fort and the V handshape (two fingers in V) moving from elbow to wrist represents eyes watching over the wall.


SAVIOR Sign “save” and add the “person” ending. Save: Cross the wrists as if the fists were bound and then pull them apart (palm forward, still fists) to show that a person has broken free from being tied up. Person ending: both open hands facing each other are brought down the sides of the body.


GOD The open right hand is raised to the heavens and then downward in a sign of respect.


ROCK The sign STONE is made with an R handshape -- crossed fingers. (The right hand taps the back of the other hand which is open. This movement is showing that something is hard.)


PROTECTION (Protect) The hands lock in a defensive position. The hands are blocking against an attacker. (Make fists and cross arms at the wrist.)

Last edited by CreativeCarol

Casting Crown's "Voice of Truth" song heavily references the David and Goliath story. 

In this YouTube video, a fan has put images with the song.

Screenshot from the song:
voiceoftruth

My Teaching Idea comes from the fan video where they have added "vignettes" to illustrate the lyrics. You could split into teams, and assign five key lyric lines to each team who "posed" them during playback. If that's too "drama-y" for you, you could freeze-frame on the video and ask "What other images/scenes COULD they have used to match that lyric?"

The song also references Peter's sinking in the water and I've suggested it in that Bible story forum too.  Isn't it interesting that the songwriters connected the stories? What are the similarities and differences in the stories?  David won, Peter failed. God saved in both situations.

The lyrics to the song are easily google-able. Here they are posted as a teaching reference:

Voice of Truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes 
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name 
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times 
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out my name 
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times 
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Songwriters: Steven Curtis Chapman / Mark Hall
Voice of Truth lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Essential Music Publishing, Capitol Christian Music Group

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Free Bible illustrations by Richard Gunther contributed to freeBibleimages.org and licensed for non-commercial teaching use. Good for teaching with non-readers and for using as "charade" or Pictionary clues, and for story-ordering games.

David and Goliath story illustrations: https://www.freebibleimages.or...ns/rg-david-goliath/

David the Lion and Bear story illustrations: https://www.freebibleimages.or.../rg-david-lion-bear/

To see all of his illustrations organized by Bible story go to https://www.freebibleimages.or...tors/richardgunther/

You can also see many of his Bible illustrations formatted by author Jill Kemp as FREE printable Bible story books for younger children and preschoolers at http://www.lambsongs.co.nz/One...0Bible%20Stories.htm (NEW Testament stories) and http://www.lambsongs.co.nz/one..._old%20testament.htm (OLD Testament stories).

One-page storybook with illustrations on David and Goliath: http://www.lambsongs.co.nz/One...%20col%20new%202.pdf

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Last edited by Luanne Payne

goliath

Here is the 9 foot Goliath we made for our "David and Goliath" rotation.  The kids had fun seeing how tall he was and enjoyed shooting slingshots at him after answering Bible questions in our Bible Games Workshop.

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