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 and Student Page, 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.
For the opening activity, set up at least 3 stations. Each station needs a plastic bottle filled with water and a set of 3 pieces of string, yarn, or twine. Be sure that you can see through the water in the plastic bottles. Tie each set of 3 pieces of string into a knot at the top of the bundle. The children will braid them together.
So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Did you know that what we put into our bodies matters to God? God created our bodies to hold our minds and spirits. If we hurt our bodies or minds, we also hurt what God has created. We are God’s precious creations!
Think about what you eat, drink, and fill your body with every day. Do these things honor God’s creation of you? If they are, wonderful! Continue to fill yourself with all the good things that you need. If the things you put into your body are not good for you, ask the Lord to show you how to live in ways that fully honor your body and glorify Him.
Share the Resource Article “Preventing Alcohol Abuse in Children” with families. Encourage them to talk to their children about the effects of alcohol.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet your children as they come into class. Tell each child to go to 1 of the stations you set up before class. Try to send the same number of children to each station.
The children at each station will take turns braiding the string while looking through the liquid in the bottle.
Each group has 3 pieces of string. Each person in your group will take turns braiding the string together. You must look through the bottle of water at your station as you braid the string. Choose the first person to braid the string. Another person will hold the bottle gently in front of the first person’s eyes, making sure the braider must look through the water to see the string. Once the first person has completed a braid, the second person will try to braid while the third person holds the bottle. Continue until everyone in your group has made a braid.
If children are not sure what to do, repeat the instructions and show the children what to do before beginning the activity.
Allow 10 minutes to complete the activity. If all of the children are done before 10 minutes have passed, stop the activity.
Raise your hand if you thought it was difficult to make a braid.
Allow 2–4 children to respond to each of the following questions.
It would be easier to make a braid if you had someone holding the string in place, right? It would also be easier if you could see what you were doing without looking through the bottle. Drinking alcohol can make it hard to see and difficult to control your movements, just like the drugs we talked about the last time we met.
The last time we met, we talked about drugs and sniffing. We discussed how these things hurt our bodies and make it difficult for us to think. Today, we will talk about 2 other things that can also hurt our bodies and our minds. These are alcohol and tobacco. Even though many people smoke tobacco and drink alcohol, they can hurt you. Since your body is still growing, tobacco and alcohol can be very hurtful to you. Also, they affect smaller bodies faster than larger bodies.
Read this verse directly from your Bible.
So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
What does it mean to do things for the glory of God? When you do things that are pleasing to God, you honor Him. When you eat food, it gives you energy. In a similar way, drinking water gives your body what you need. When you try to take care of your body, you are honoring God. Remember, you are God’s precious creation.
Allow 3–4 children to respond. Do not correct wrong answers now. You are getting an understanding of what the children know.
Alcohol can hurt many parts of your body. Let’s learn about how alcohol affects different parts of our bodies. I will name a part of the body. You will place your hand where that part is in your body. Then I will tell you what happens to that part when you drink alcohol.
Do the following actions with the children to help them understand where each of the organs are in their bodies.
Touch the top of your head with both of your hands. This is where your brain is. Your brain makes all of the parts of your body move and work. When you drink too much, you can hurt your brain.
Place your hand on the middle of your body, just below your ribs. This is where your liver is inside your body. Your liver is an organ in your body that breaks down any harmful materials from what you eat and drink. Did you know that if you drink too much alcohol for a long time, it can damage your liver? If your liver is damaged, poisons might build up in your body!
God does not want us to be drunk or to abuse alcohol. The Bible describes what life is like for someone who abuses alcohol. Listen to these verses:
Who has trouble? Who has sorrow? Who argues?
Who has problems? Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has red eyes?
Those who spend too much time with wine.
Or those who like to taste wine mixed with spices.
Proverbs 23:29-30
They have trouble, sadness, arguments, and problems. They get hurt without remembering how they got hurt.
Smoking and other forms of tobacco, such as chewing and sniffing, can also hurt your body.
Allow 3–4 children to respond.
Using tobacco can slow your growth, it can hurt your lungs and throat, and it can even hurt your voice. Because it hurts your lungs, smoking tobacco can make it difficult to breathe.
Let’s discover how smoking affects your lungs. You will jump up and down as fast as you can for 2 minutes. Then, you will take a leaf and blow it as far as you can. Ready? Go!
Set out the leaves in a line that is about 4 meters long. Allow the children to jump up and down. After 2 minutes, tell the children to stop. Have them get a leaf and blow it as far as they can.
Wow! You all look out of breath. Take a deep breath and come sit in a circle with me. Think about how far you blew your leaf.
Allow 2–3 children to respond to each of the following questions.
Imagine feeling like this all the time, even when you are barely moving. It is hard to breathe and play when your lungs must work very hard to get air into your body. It is not fun to feel this way all the time. This is what it feels like for someone who smokes a lot. They have a difficult time breathing. They may cough a lot. Smoking or being around smoke can make you very sick.
God loves you very much! In the Bible, God tells His people they are priceless.
You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you.
Isaiah 43:4a
You are priceless! Do you know what priceless means? It means that you are worth more than all the money, jewels, and gold in the world! You are God’s special creation.
Optional: If you are using Student Pages, give your children 3 minutes to draw things that are good to put into their bodies. When they are done drawing, ask 3–5 children to share some of their ideas with the class.
Remember that God says you are priceless. The Bible says we can honor God with our bodies because He made us and loves us. Listen again to this verse we heard earlier:
So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Let’s play a game to help us understand what is good for our bodies and what is not. Remember all that you have learned the past 4 weeks as we do this activity.
Divide the children into 2 equal teams. Ask half of the children to sit down and the other half to stand in front with you.
Each team will act out 3 things you can put in or do to your body. The team that is sitting will try to guess what thing the other team is doing. The sitting team will also say whether it is something that hurts you or honors your body. The acting team will show what happens when something is done or taken into someone’s body. Those of you acting can only use actions. You cannot talk at all.
Ask the first team to act out these actions one at a time: drinking water, smoking, and washing hands. Allow the children on the first team to act out each action and how that action affects their bodies. For example, smoking may make them cough, so the actors would pretend to smoke and then cough. After a minute of acting out the first action, allow the children in the sitting team to guess what actions they think they see. Repeat for all 3 actions.
Great job acting out the good and bad things you can put in your body! Let’s switch places. If you are sitting, come stand up to act. If you are standing, sit down.
Give the second team these items to act out: drinking alcohol, eating food, and brushing your teeth. Allow the children on the first team to act out each action and how that action affects their bodies. After a minute of acting out the first action, allow the children in the sitting team to guess what actions they think they see. Repeat for all 3 actions.
Your team also did a nice job! It is difficult to tell the difference between drinking water and drinking alcohol until you act out how each one affects your body. Remember to do only good things for your body. God made you wonderful! You can show you are thankful for this by treating your body as the priceless creation it is.
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 each 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.
God has made you amazing and wonderful! Remember that the next time someone offers you something that may hurt your body.
End class by saying this blessing, based on Isaiah 43:4a and 1 Corinthians 10:31, over the children.
Blessing: Go in peace and know that you are priceless to God. May you honor your body with what you drink, eat, and everything else that you choose to do.
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.
