Wednesday Science Bible Lessons! Uplifting Eachother

I have been writing bible lessons and  teaching Wednesday night class for 3 years  (with a short 4 month break) at our church for children ages 2-12. Now that is a HUGE age range! And it takes LOTS of time to get each lesson ready for all the different age levels! Without a doubt, the last couple months have been the most enjoyable! Some nights, my husband teaches the class my lessons, since I am needed in other areas. I miss teaching these fun lessons and find myself a bit jealous when he gets to teach!  I have ALWAYS loved doing hands on, object lessons for kids. They learn so easy when they can SEE and DO along with the lesson! 

 I started doing simple science experiments and using them to teach bible concepts! I have gotten all the science activities from various sites off the internet and then have written the bible lessons to go along with them! They have been going great, and I have had some ask for me to write them down so they can try it at their church!  I thought this would be a good  place to do that! Share the lessons and how they worked...whether great or not so great! Science is fun for all ages! So it fits just right for the broad age of kids in my class! 

Last nights lesson was lots of fun!  First I asked the kids what these four words meant

-EDIFY-

-EXHORT-

-UPLIFT-

-ENCOURAGE-

It is always fun to hear the crazy ideas the kids have about what the words mean. Lots of fun and entertainment for the teacher. :) Then we read Hebrews 3:13 and focused on the first part of the verse...

But exhort one another daily, while it is called today;...

We talked about how God has commanded us to encourage and uplift each other! That it is our job to "help" each other keep our chin up! Then we did our experiment! 

First I had pre-measured 1/4 cup of vinegar into separate empty water bottles. 

Then in class I scooped 1 TBS of baking soda into a deflated balloon! 

Then put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle with the vinegar in it. Looks pretty sad all hanging there off the side. I asked the kids if it looked like the balloon felt encouraged and uplifted. Of course they all said NO!

So I picked the balloon up and let the baking soda fall into the bottle. This caused the reaction and the bubbles and the gas to "uplift" the balloon! We all sat there and watched the balloon blow up! The looks on their faces are always so fun to watch!!! 

Of course I had enough for each of the students to make their own. (this makes them remember the lesson, and it is always fun to go home and share the experiment) Since we have such a broad age group, the "olders" get to do "most" of the stuff on their own. The "youngers" need more assistance and that is when I step in and help. This part of the class is fun, because the kids are all participating and laughing and having fun watching their very own experiment! 

After we had our "science" fun, each student chose a member of the church and colored a encouragement card for them! I bought some blank cards from the $ store for this. 

I have to say this one went nice and smooth. I was glad that I pre-poured the vinegar, it made it go more smooth and saved time. 

I am working on getting more of my lessons up on here. Feel free to try them out where ever you are, and let me know how they work for you!!!!