During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Before students arrive, use mud on a plate or piece of cardboard to arrange 20 small stones or blocks into 2 semicircles like teeth in a mouth. Each semicircle should have 10 “teeth” in it. Place the small cloth in the middle of 1 semicircle to be the tongue.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1, NIV
Sometimes it may be easy to think that our bodies are not important to God. Yet, as this verse says, God wants us to present our bodies as an offering to God. Throughout Scripture we see God’s instruction for how we should treat our bodies so that He is honored and we are kept safe and healthy.
How do you treat your body? As something offered to God? Do you mistreat it? Do you neglect it? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God has entrusted us to care for our bodies as good stewards who will honor Him by treating our bodies with respect.
Encourage families to discuss hygiene with their children. Have the children tell their families what they learned about how to clean their skin, hair, and teeth.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome! Today, we will talk about how to keep our skin, hair, and teeth clean. Have you ever thought about why you should keep your body clean?
The last time we gathered, we talked about washing our hands. Remember the mud that you put on your hands? Imagine yourself covered in mud. Imagine mud in your hair, on your body, and even in your mouth.
Turn to a child sitting next to you. Answer these questions with your partners.
Allow the pairs 1 minute to answer each of the following questions. Be sure both children get the opportunity to answer each question.
Last time, we learned that germs are tiny living things that you cannot see with your eyes. Some germs live on animals and humans. That means that germs live on our bodies and in our mouths. Some germs can make animals and people sick. Just as it is necessary to wash our hands to get the germs off, we also must wash our bodies, hair, and teeth to remove the germs.
Who likes stories? We will hear a true story from the Bible about washing dirty feet. We will act out parts of the story, so listen carefully and do what I do.
Remember when you learned that Abraham was the man whose family became the nation of Israel? Well, this is the true story of a time when 3 men came to visit Abraham. They walked to Abraham’s home. Let’s walk together and pretend that the road is dusty.
Have the children walk behind you as you walk around your teaching space. Scuff your feet to pretend to kick up dust. Then motion for the children to sit down beside you.
If possible, show The Action Bible image to the children.
When they arrived at Abraham’s home, it was during the hottest time of the day! I would imagine the men were probably tired when they arrived at Abraham’s home.
Allow 3–4 children to respond.
Well, Abraham asked the 3 men to stay with him. He offered them something to eat. In those days, everyone would have washed their feet and hands before eating. Just think, after walking down a dusty road in sandals or without shoes, your feet would be really dirty, right? Well, Abraham told the men:
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
Let me get you some water. Then all of you can wash your feet and rest under this tree.
Genesis 18:4
Join me as we pretend to wash our feet!
Use 1 hand to pretend to pour water into your other cupped hand. Ask the children to follow your motions. Then, use the water to pretend to scrub your feet.
Once their feet and hands were clean, Abraham brought food to the men. They ate a nice meal under the tree. In this true story from the Bible, the 3 men cleaned the parts of their body that were not clean before eating. You learned last time that it is important to clean your hands before you eat. It is also important to keep your skin, hair, and teeth clean.
Skin: It is important for you to take care of your skin. If your skin is not cleaned regularly, it can cause problems. Your skin can become itchy and even hurt if it is not cleaned. Skin grows and lives as part of us. As we get bigger, our skin stretches to fit our bodies. When skin is not clean, it might become dry, oily, or even covered with bumps. To keep our skin healthy, we need to wash it with water. When soap is available, use it to clean the germs off.
Your skin covers your entire body, so when you use soap, you need to clean your entire body. Let’s take a moment to gently tap parts of the body that we would want to wash. As I name a part, tap that part of your body with your hand. Tap your face, arms, stomach, back, legs, and feet. You also want to wash all of the areas between the parts of your body you tapped.
Hair: To keep hair healthy, it is best to clean it at least once per week. To clean your hair, get it wet with clean water and run your hands through it. Massage your head with your fingers. Then, rinse your hair in clean water. If you have shampoo, pour a small amount on your hand and massage it into your hair with your fingers. Make sure to rinse all of it out of your hair!
Pour some imaginary shampoo into your hand like I am. Rub it into your hair. Then, pretend to rinse it out of your hair. Do not forget to rinse the hair behind your ears!
Now let’s learn about our teeth. We are all born with a set of teeth. This first set of teeth begins to come in when we are babies and usually is complete by the age of 3. There are 20 “baby teeth.” Each of these baby teeth is replaced by an adult tooth when we are between the ages of 5 and 12. When an adult tooth comes in, it pushes the baby tooth out. This is normal. Some children will not start losing teeth until after age 5, and others will have all of their adult teeth before the age of 12, but most will lose their teeth between these ages. Use your tongue to try to count your teeth.
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Raise your hand if you have lost any of your baby teeth. Now that you have some adult teeth, it is very important to clean your teeth. There is not another set to replace them. If you do not clean your teeth for a long time, your teeth may fall out. It is important to take care of your teeth. You also need to clean the pink stuff that surrounds your teeth. This is called your gums. Your teeth and gums not only help you to eat food, they also help you to stay healthy.
Let’s learn how to brush your teeth to keep them clean. Pretend you have a toothbrush. Put a small amount of toothpaste on it. This should be about the size of the tip of your smallest finger. Pretend to brush your teeth by moving your index finger in tiny circles in front of your mouth. When you really do brush your teeth, you will want to brush each tooth using a tiny circle motion. Make sure to brush the front, back, and chewing surfaces of your teeth. Now that we have talked about keeping ourselves clean, let’s practice what we have learned.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, instruct the children to match each body part with the items they can use to clean them. Give each child a crayon to complete the activity.
Set out the teeth you made of small stones or blocks set in mud. Set the container of water next to it. Hold the brush made from grass or the old toothbrush in your hand. Show the children how to brush using the stones in the mud.
Let’s pretend that the stones are your teeth and the mud is your gums. The cloth in the middle is your tongue. You will pretend to brush your teeth while I show you how to brush these teeth. You will copy my actions, pretending your finger is a toothbrush. But only use it outside your mouth since your fingers may be dirty.
Water, toothpaste, and a toothbrush if available.
The toothpaste is missing.
Toothpaste is specially made to help clean your teeth. If you do not have any toothpaste, using water and a brush is better than nothing.
Ask for 8 volunteers to stand in a line beside you. Let each volunteer brush different parts of the mouth made from the stones. Remind them to brush each tooth down to the gums. They should brush thoroughly without pushing too hard on the teeth. Each volunteer should brush in a circular motion along the surface you tell her to brush. Here are the areas that the volunteers should brush:
I will call on 1 child at a time to help me brush these pretend teeth. Watch how we brush these pretend teeth, then pretend to brush your own teeth. Remember, do not put your fingers in your mouth, though!
Go through each area that needs brushing, allowing another volunteer to pretend to brush the stone “teeth.”
When you brush your teeth, you also want to brush your tongue because germs can be on your tongue. Thank you to everyone who helped me brush the big teeth. Now you know how to brush your teeth!
We have been blessed with skin, hair, and teeth. Now, let’s do our best to keep them clean. Remember, the way God made you is wonderful! Our memory verse today is:
How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. What you have done is wonderful. I know that very well.
Psalm 139:14
Help the children remember the verse by teaching them actions to go with the words. Use the same motions each time you say a particular word or phrase. Lead the children in repeating each sentence of the verse with its actions 3 times.
You—Point up to the sky.
Made—Cup your hands as though an imaginary ball is between them. Rotate the imaginary ball in your hands.
Me—Point to yourself.
Wonderful—Spread both hands out and hold them with your palms facing away from you. Push and pull back your hands 2 times.
I praise you—Fold your hands in front of you as if in prayer. Point them up to the sky.
Have done—Pretend to hammer a nail into something.
I know—Point to the side of your head with a finger.
Very well—Motion yes.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Psalms 139:14, over the children.
Blessing: May you be reminded of the thought and care God put into your creation. May you know how wonderfully He made you.
Share the worship song for this quarter with your children if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
