The story of Adam and Eve is the perfect place to start teaching young children about God.
There’s a reason why the story has been told for thousands of years. Starting at the beginning, it tells us how important we are to God, and reminds us that we are one of God’s creations.
The creation story also reminds us that we are charged with taking care of the earth and everything on it – plants, animals and everything in a world that is essentially a Garden of Eden.
When telling the creation story, let the children take part. Use one of the examples below, or use a flannel board to add symbols of God’s creations as the story progresses. (Small flannel boards are available at educational supply stores and are a good investment if you’re a CCD teacher of younger grades. Buy flannel squares in different colors and cut out the shapes you want.)
Some other ideas to make the creation story come to life:
Take a Hike
If your classroom situation allows, take your class on a short walk. Beforehand, talk to the students about all that God has created. We sometimes forget how vital God’s creations are to us and we take for granted that the earth will provide for us all that we need. After your walk, have the class share all the things they noticed that God’s earth has.
Creation Symbols
Give each child a rock or a shell. Have him draw with permanent marker a picture of something in God’s world that he or she would like to pray for or thank God for. At your prayer time in class, have the students bring to the prayer table their rock or shell and pray over them as a class. The children can take theirs home as a prayer reminder.
Props
Read the creation story from Genesis. Sitting in a circle, place the props in the center of the circle and when you get to a part of the story illustrated by a prop, ask the students which prop best represents it.
Use these props or come up with your own:
- Light bulb – “. . . let there be light.”
- A big wad of cotton (cloud) – “ . . God called the expanse sky.”
- Container of dirt – “ . . . God called the dry ground land.”
- Potted plant – “ . . . the land produced vegetation; plants bearing seed . . .”
- Picture of the sun, moon and star – “God made two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”
- Toy fish & toy bird – “God created the great creatures of the sea and . . . every winged bird . . .”
- Small stuffed animal – “God made the wild animals . . .”
- Barbie doll – “God created man in his own image.”
- Pillow – “ . . . on the seventh day he rested . . .”
Food for Thought
Use food for your creation story. As you read through each of the seven days of the creation, give each child a taste of one of the foods that symbolizes each creation:
- Dixie cups of half vanilla, half chocolate pudding – light and darkness separated
- Blue Jello – water
- Whipped cream – clouds/sky
- Crushed oreos – dirt/earth
- Candy leaves, fresh parsley or fresh mint - plants
- Star shaped candy or “Starbursts” – starts/sun/moon
- Swedish fish candies or Goldfish crackers – fish/birds
- Animal crackers – animals
- Smiley face crackers or cookies – people
See other Suite 101 ideas for teaching creation.
Join the Conversation