Flight to Egypt

FLIGHT TO EGYPT

Objectives:

  1. Children should know how God’s angel helped Joseph care for Jesus.
  2. Children should know a little about Egypt and Moses.
  3. Children should recognize Herod as the wicked king who killed the children.

 

Possible Lesson Plan:

  1. Open with Prayer.
  2. Read the story in the Beginner’s Bible, pages 291-295, the Children’s Bible Reader, pages 174-175, or the Read with Me Bible, pages 277-279. Supplement if desired with the Golden Children’s Bible, pages 356-357.  What did Mary and Jesus ride? Have the children pick the donkey out of the crèche scene. Who warned Joseph? Who wanted to kill Jesus? Why? Where were Joseph and Mary and Jesus living and where did they go?  Why Egypt?

 

  1. Feed the Elephant True/False Questions:

True                                                     False

            An angel warned Joseph about the danger.    Joseph heard a warning on the radio.

            Mary and Jesus rode a donkey.                      Joseph, Mary, and Jesus rode a car.

            Jesus was born in Bethlehem.                         Jesus was born in Egypt.

            King Herod wanted to kill Jesus.                   King Herod loved Jesus.

 

  1. Bring a small suitcase to class. Has any of the children taken a long trip with his family? What for? Explain that it was a long trip to Egypt and the Joseph family had to pack in a hurry to escape the angry king. Re-enact the story, having the children each pretend to put into the suitcase something that the family would need for the journey. Why was this object needed? Then take a quick trip to Egypt, taking turns carrying the suitcase, marching around the room or around the playground. Now we’re in Egypt. What happened in Egypt? Review the stories of Joseph and Moses from the Old Testament briefly. What happened in Bethlehem after they left?
  2. Play Pin the Tail on the Donkey: Draw or print large donkey on poster board, or just buy one. Make a construction paper tail for each child. Tape the tail for each child on the donkey with masking or clear tape where it landed, blindfolded of course. Winner gets the donkey?

6. Make Herod’s Soldiers: Take a toilet paper tube. Wrap it with a strip of red construction paper until it’s all covered. Use a thin strip of white paper for the face. Cut the helmet from gray and decorate with red feathers (like Roman soldiers). Cut thin strips of red for arms and glue on tiny white hands. Glue to your soldier. Finish by drawing in the face. Fancy? Decorate the “uniform” with gold metallic ribbon or braid and use chenille pipe-cleaners for arms to hold tiny swords or spears.

7. Close with prayer.