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.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14
Pause for a moment and look at yourself. Use a mirror if available. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your body, your mind, your eyes, your heart, your emotions, your personality, your likes and dislikes. God made you beautifully unique. Can you praise Him for the awesome way He has made you?
Perhaps there are parts of you that you do not like: a big nose, a loud laugh, funny hair. Even those things which you do not like, He made and calls wonderful. When we choose to be critical or angry about something God calls wonderful, is that not a way of saying, “God, You do not know what You are doing”? If you have felt this way about any part of you, spend a few minutes repenting before the Lord. Then begin to thank Him for the awesome way He has made you, including the things you may not like.
In much of the world, many adults smoke or chew tobacco. It could be that family members smoke because no one has told them how harmful it is. Encourage children to share what they learn today with their families, but be sure that you encourage them to do so in respectful and honouring ways!
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome each child by name if possible and with a high five hand clap. When you use the child’s name you show that you value him as an individual. Let the class know that today you will learn about the dangers of smoking.
Today we will learn about the dangers of tobacco use, which includes chewing tobacco and smoking pipes and cigars, as well as smoking cigarettes. Smoking tobacco cigarettes is different from smoking cannabis or marijuana. This may come as a surprise to you. You may have thought all smoking was the same. Many of the facts you learn today are true for all smoking. And many of the effects of tobacco use are true, whether you smoke it or chew it.
Before we begin our lesson, let’s do an activity that will show us 1 way that smoking can affect us. Everyone please stand up and spread out. When I shout out an action, do it until I say to stop.
We will do an activity called a burpee. Drop to a squat with your hands on the ground. Kick your feet back, keeping your arms extended. You should be flat like a board. Then bring your feet back up by your hands and stand up. We will do 5 of these.
The children should begin to breathe hard from this exercise! The point is to get the children out of breath. Adjust these activities as needed.
Let’s do 10 jumping jacks.
Wow! We are all out of breath! We can do these activities because we have strong, healthy lungs. Now let’s see what it might be like to do some physical activity if our lungs were affected by smoking.
Everyone make a fist but leave a tiny hole in the middle. Put it against your mouth. Now try breathing through the fist. It isn’t easy, is it? You will breathe like this while we do our next action.
Optional Supplies: If you have the optional straws, the children can breathe through them instead of their fists.
Everyone will march in place with knees high, pumping your free arm back and forth while we count out loud to 20. Remember, you must breathe through your fist!
The children probably had a hard time breathing only through their fists. Ask them to sit down.
They might say that it was harder to breathe through a small opening. It was hard to get a deep breath.
You all did a great job with that activity! It was hard to breathe through your fist because you could not breathe deeply in order to get enough air. When someone smokes anything, it affects that person’s lungs. It can make it feel like that person has to breathe through a small space like a fist instead of breathing freely. And unfortunately, once the lungs are damaged they do not heal on their own.
Listen as I share important facts about how smoking affects your body. Just like alcohol and drugs, smoking can also be addictive. Remember we learned that when something is addictive, it means you are a slave to that thing that your body craves more and more. Your body depends on it. It becomes a strong and harmful need. Being addicted to something means that it can be very difficult to quit.
Nicotine, the chemical in tobacco that is in cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco, is addictive. Here is a list of ways that smoking can affect your body:
What are some other ways that smoking can affect you?
Answers could be: It affects your ability to play sports, it costs money, or it makes your clothes smell.
We are wonderfully made by God. He knows every part of us. Did you know that? The Bible says that God has known us since before we were born. He knows how we grew up, and He knows what we will become in the future. We know that God has purposefully planned each day of our lives.
Read Psalm 139:1–18 aloud to the children from your Bible. This is a long passage. Tell the children that no other passage in the whole Bible explains God’s special care for us better than this one does. Stop and explain any words or concepts you think they might not understand.
If you do not have a Bible available, you can read it here. The students will memorize only part of this passage.
Show the Memory Verse poster if you are using it.
Lord, you have seen what is in my heart. You know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know what I’m thinking even though you are far away. You know when I go out to work and when I come back home. You know exactly how I live. Lord, even before I speak a word, you know all about it. You are all around me. You are behind me and in front of me. You hold me in your power. I’m amazed at how well you know me. It’s more than I can understand. How can I get away from your Spirit? Where can I go to escape from you? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I lie down in the deepest parts of the earth, you are also there. Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east and then cross over to the west where it sinks into the ocean. Your hand would always be there to guide me. Your right hand would still be holding me close. Suppose I were to say, “I’m sure the darkness will hide me. The light around me will become as dark as night.” Even that darkness would not be dark to you. The night would shine like the day, because darkness is like light to you. You created the deepest parts of my being. You put me together inside my mother’s body. How you made me is amazing and wonderful. I praise you for that. What you have done is wonderful. I know that very well. None of my bones was hidden from you when you made me inside my mother’s body. That place was as dark as the deepest parts of the earth. When you were putting me together there, your eyes saw my body even before it was formed. You planned how many days I would live. You wrote down the number of them in your book before I had lived through even one of them. God, your thoughts about me are priceless. No one can possibly add them all up. If I could count them, they would be more than the grains of sand. If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up, you would still be there with me.
Psalm 139:1–18, NIrV
When you have finished reading, ask these questions.
We are purposefully made in God’s image. We can trust God with what has happened in our lives in the past. He loves us no matter what happened. We can trust Him for what will happen in our future. We can trust Him to help us stay away from things that will hurt us.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, allow the children to write in the names of family and friends and pray for them.
Many of us know people who smoke.
Remember it is not up to us to make someone else quit smoking. But we can pray for that person and share the information we have learned to encourage that person to quit.
Encourage your children to share with their families what they have learned about smoking, including the verses they heard today.
Now let’s get in groups of 4. Each group will have 10 minutes to create a slogan, chant, or song to encourage others to either never start smoking or to quit smoking.
Optional Supplies: Give each child a piece of paper and crayons. Ask the children to draw their anti-smoking slogans. After they complete the drawings, let them share them in groups of 3–4.
Help the children quickly get into groups. After about 10 minutes, allow each group to stand up and share what they created. Clap for each group after they share.
Ask the children to sit quietly where they are and to receive today’s blessing, based on Psalm 139.
Blessing: The Lord knows you. He sees you when you get up and when you go to sleep. He knows everything about you. May you truly believe and live in a way that shows that you know He loves you and has good plans for your life.
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song 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.
