The Prodigal Son
This week we immersed ourselves in the Father’s love as we focused on the parable of the prodigal son according to the ABC Jesus Loves Me 3-Year Old Curriculum Week 25 lesson plan. The story is found in Luke 15:11-32. It’s hard not to be moved by the tender love of the father whose excitement about having his son return to him outweighs any disappointment or anger he might have felt regarding the son’s foolishness. What a comforting picture of God’s love for us!
Because the story takes place in so many places, I skipped telling it with the flannel board this week. Instead we just read the passage in Ian’s ESV Seek and Find Bible every day, as well as reading in two of our Bible story books: The Beginner’s Bible (by Karyn Henley) and The Rhyme Bible Storybook. As soon as I first read the story, Ian remembered it from the Charlie Church Mouse Kindergarten CD-ROM, so he enjoyed playing that throughout the week. He’s been really into mazes lately, so I put this one from Danielle’s Place in his workbook for the week.
Ian enjoyed seeing the story when we watched “The Prodigal Son” from Nest Entertainment’s Animated Stories from the Bible series. (Despite a couple negative reviews on Amazon, I like this video. It creatively tells the biblical account without detracting from the powerful message.)
I used a different memory verse than the curriculum suggested, choosing instead to go with “God is love” from 1 John 4:16. Since Valentine’s Day is next week we made cards for Daddy at the same time we did our Bible notebook pages using hearts that I cut out and some Valentine stickers.
We had a really long iPod playlist this week, mostly because I included a number of songs from the Father’s House CD by Brian Doerksen. (The album is based on the story of the prodigal son and has many songs that convey God’s love toward his children.)
- “Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son” from the ESV Audio Drama Children’s Bible from Faith Comes By Hearing
- “SONG Celebrate” from the ESV Audio Drama Children’s Bible from Faith Comes By Hearing
- “SONG Would You Forgive” from the ESV Audio Drama Children’s Bible from Faith Comes By Hearing
- “Celebrate” from the Father’s House CD by Brian Doerksen
- “G-O-D Is L-O-V-E (I John 4:16)” from Hide ’em in Your Heart Vol. 2 by Steve Green
- “The Prodigal, Jimmy” episode from Adventures in Odyssey
- “Father to Son (Every Song)” from the Father’s House CD by Brian Doerksen
- “Child of Forgiveness” from the Father’s House CD by Brian Doerksen
- “Song for the Prodigals” from the Father’s House CD by Brian Doerksen
- “God Is Love (1 John 4:16)” from Scripture Rock (Vol. 1)
- “Child of Grace” from Great Big God (Vineyard Records UK)
- Karen & Kids podcast: “Forgiving Others” (see this post to find out more about how we love Karen & Kids)
The playlist was a big hit this week, especially the Adventures in Odyssey episode. Ian also had a lot of fun dancing to the “Celebrate” songs and G-O-D is L-O-V-E. The last one led him to request the Hide ’em in Your Heart DVDs, which he hasn’t watched in ages. I’m so glad he had fun with our Bible time this week!