Daniel

DANIEL

 

Objectives:

  1. Children should identify Daniel as a prophet.
  2. Children should identify Daniel as the author of the book of Daniel.
  3. Children should be able to tell the story of Daniel in the lion’s den.
  4. Children should identify Belshazzar as the last king of Babylon and to tell the story of the handwriting on the wall.

 

Possible Lesson Plan:

  1. Open with prayer.

 

  1. Scripture Reference: Daniel 5 & 6.  Remind the students that Daniel lived during one of the most exciting periods in the history of Mesopotamia (Where’s that?). Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, rose to its greatest prominence, with its Hanging Gardens one of the wonders of the ancient world. But, under Belshazzar, his successor, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus of Persia, who marched into the city with his army in the dead of night on the dry bed of the Euphrates River that flowed under the city walls (after damming the river!). Cyrus was succeeded by Darius.

 

  1. Learning Game: Divide the class into 2 groups. Each group has 5 minutes to prepare a skit about either “The Handwriting on the Wall” or “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”. Then have each group perform for each other.

 

  1. Discussion: God protected and helped Daniel in difficult situations. Which ones? How has God helped and protected you and your family? Daniel was obedient to God. Why is obedience important? What did Samuel say to Saul? Daniel had great faith in God. What does it mean to have faith? Why is faith important? How does obedience show faith? Daniel always put God first in his life. How did he show this? Do you put God first? How do you show it?

  1. Make a Diorama:

Begin with a small box like a shoebox for each child. Cut out the front panel. Cut a piece of construction paper to fit the back; color it as scenery and glue in place inside the box. Now make figures for Daniel, Darius, the wicked advisors, and the lions out of pipe cleaners. Use modeling clay as a base to stand the figures and place them in the diorama. No shoeboxes? Fold a paper plate in half and use one for the ground and one for the sky. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too much time? Use the pop-up diorama. Print 1 piece of cardstock with the background and color. Cut 3 pieces of cardstock, perhaps light blue but any color, like a frame with 1-inch borders. Take the centers you removed and fold them like fans and glue to short sides, adding one level at a time. Cut out Daniel and Habakkuk from the icon picture and glue on different levels. Color and cut out lions and glue on.  Don’t forget to glue the clouds in the sky!

 

 

Still too time-consuming but want a paper craft? Make a pop-up card. Then print the next three pages on cardstock, making sure with your sizing that they are the same height, but they will not be the same width. Cut all around the blue lines. Fold in middle vertically with picture side up. Color. Daniel picture is the back -- no extra cutting needed. Lion picture is the middle section - cut out black area only above the lions. Cave front is the front; cut out black cave opening and fold back each of the sides on the black lines. Now comes the magic: Use one staple on each corner. Line up Daniel, lions in front, and then cave in front of the others AND folded back behind the others. Now you have 3-D scene and it will fold flat as well to carry home. 

 

Alternate craft: Watercolor resist -- Focus instead on the handwriting on the wall. Ahead of class, write the words from the handwriting with white crayon on white copy paper. Give the students the "blank" papers. Let them use watercolors to bring out the words, any colors they want. Remind them what the words mean and their significance. 

6. Close with prayer.