Samuel Ideas collected from the old board...

Posted by JCarey

Art idea

We did a mini rotation for kick off Sunday and did Samuel. In the art room we created book marks from the black scratch paper and I also made some stickers using clip art and Avery brand sticker paper. The children scratched out "Speak Lord for your servant is listening" and put the ear stickers on the top through a hole that they punched. They can design a border also. If I were to do this in a full rotation, I would probably have them actually make the black scratch paper from scratch! This can be done by covering a paper solidly with crayon and then paint on a coat of black tempera (probalby could be any color but because of the night theme...) Use a blow dryer to speed up the drying and they could be scratching by the second part of class. They LOVE that paper. If you are going to buy it, it can be found in any of the art catalogues on line and possibly at Michaels Craft stores.

Posted by Wendy In Roch

Game ideas

Listening exercise: Have students gather in pairs. Each pair sits back to back on the floor. They are each given 5-6 toothpicks.
Have the person that's Birthday is closest to New Year's Day begin by placing a toothpick on the floor. They have to tell the person behind them how to place their toothpick.
So they would say something like "place your toothpick so that the points face your knees (if the know vertical/horizontal - those are good words also).
This needs to be done with all the toothpicks (watch the kids to make sure they are looking over the shoulders to see where to place). It's okay to get it different, we are just learning how difficult listening can be.

Another game we will use is called I think Guess Who? One of the teachers or shepherds taps a person on the shoulder and they say a short sentence (EX: God is calling you) and the other student has to guess who it is.

Posted by Nanette Goings

Art idea

We learned more about Samuel during our Church Library Story hour this summer by. . .
Using the small boxes that Bath and Body Works soap comes in to make a bed for Samuel. Then cutting kids face/body pictures from magazines to lay in the bed and covering "Samuel" with a fake fur blanket (cut from fabric). We also attached the 1 Samuel 3:10 verse to the bed.

Cooking idea

Another fun snack idea we have used to discuss listening and how Samuel listened to the voice of God: We discussed what part of our body we use to hear with, then cut apple slices (sort of an ear shape.) We put the apple slices in ziploc bags sprinkling cinnamon sugar in the bag before closing. While the kids were shaking their bags to coat the apple slices, we said Bible verse of the morning: 1 Samuel 3:10.

Posted by Pastor Beth

Cooking idea

We made "Sleeping Samuel Treats" to remind us that God can call us even as we sleep. Here are the directions for those:

Materials Needed:

• Graham Crackers (for the bed)
• Marshmallow Cream (or peanut butter or anything sticky and spreadable)
• Mini Marshmallows
• Pretzel Sticks
• Raisins
• Grapes
• Fruit Roll-Up

Give each student a graham cracker and instruct them to spread marshmallow cream on it. Next place a marshmallow for the pillow. (You now have Samuel’s bed).
Give each student several pretzel sticks and raisins. Have them make a stick figure (using the raisins as connecting pieces) put a grape on for Samuel’s head. Lay Samuel in his bed.
Give each student a fruit roll-up for a blanket to put over Samuel.

This is an original idea (as far as we know). And our kids LOVED it! Hope it helps.
Beth

Posted by Brenda V.

Art:

Tying in with the idea that God called Samuel each night after he went to bed, we're having the students design (using fabric crayons) their own pillow case with something that reminds them that God is with them always (even when they're asleep).

Music:

Each individual student will be videotaped holding their pillowcase while singing a few words of the song "Here I Am, Lord." After the rotation, this videotape will be played to the congregation during worship service for all to see and enjoy.
Exchange Volunteer notes: here is a link to a website with a downloadable midi file of 'Here I Am, Lord". This detail provided by JanS
http://rosemck1.tripod.com/jukebox-worship.html

Drama:

We are thinking of having the students perform an impromptu re-enactment of their choice of one of the following scenes. Hannah - Giving Samuel Away; Samuel - Called by the Lord; and Eli - Instructing Samuel.

Posted by rhondab

Picture Books on the Temple

• The Kregel Pictorial guide to the Temple (Details of the Temple!), 0825430399.
• Solomon's Temple Model, 0825424607.

Music - Blacklight for Samuel listens

We put together a black light hand show for our music workshop using the song Here I Am Lord. The kids wore white gloves in a darkened room and we put black lights in front.

We sang "Here I Am Lord." and made hand motions (like a rolling wave, a giant heart, the word "save".) Each class practiced individually as part of our rotation. We added an extra week onto the rotation and had all the kids practice together and then perform the song for their parents. We found "Here I Am Lord" to be a perfect illustration for our kids about the story of Samuel.

A few notes that might help others:

1. We had permission to copy a song so we made a CD and sent it home with the kids to help them learn the song.
2. This only works if you can get the room really dark.
3. Washing the white gloves in Tide (which contains phosperous) helps the gloves glow better in the dark.
4. We used the same motion for the chorus and assigned one verse to each class to make it simpler to learn.
5. A women who knows sign language helped us with the sing-signs for much of the song which helped us come up with hand motions.
6. Go to you tube and see what adult choirs are doing to get ideas. (Don't think our children's performance equaled the professionalism of the adult shows. In fact, some of their hand motions were pretty hard to pick out. But they learned a lot and had a great time.)

See a full lesson which uses this idea of blacklight for this story.

Originally posted by member kbalbert

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

We are making a robe. (Older kids) * Using a simple pattern, we will precut (with pinking shears) and allow kids to help with the sewing at the shoulders or (younger kids) use a men's t-shirt split open in the middle. Then kids will decorate their robe with buttons, ribbons, etc they will also use Fabric Paint Pens to write the memory verse on the back.  You can use scrap fabric to make a belt for the robes, just cut with pinking shears to prevent raveling and so you don't need to hem anything. 

* I googled coupons for our local fabric store, found a 50% off coupon and was able to buy a solid inexpensive light colored knit (t-shirt) fabric. No need to hem, but using pinking shears anyway. 

*Instead of actual fabric that requires minimal sewing at the shoulders, you can purchase a bolt of vinyl coated paper. 

"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27

or "For this child I have prayed..." 1Samuel1:27