Also by this author: There's a Lion in My Nativity!, The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross, The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross Board Book, God’s Big Promises Bible Storybook, God’s Big Promises: The First Christmas: Sticker and Activity Book, God’s Big Promises: Advent Calendar and Family Devotions, Christmas Uncut: What Really Happened and Why It Really Matters, God’s Big Promises Christmas Sticker and Activity Book, God's Big Promises: Easter for Little Ones, God's Big Promises Easter Sticker and Activity Book, The God Contest Board Book: Jesus Is the Real God!, Jesus and the Very Big Surprise: A True Story about Jesus, His Return, and How to Be Ready, Jesus and the Lions' Den: A True Story about How Daniel Points Us to Jesus, Goodbye to Goodbyes: A True Story About Jesus, Lazarus, and an Empty Tomb, The Friend Who Forgives: A True Story About How Peter Failed and Jesus Forgave, God's Very Good Idea: A True Story of God's Delightfully Different Family, The Storm That Stopped, The One O'Clock Miracle, The Christmas Promise, The Prisoners, the Earthquake, and the Midnight Song
Series: Tales that Tell the Truth Sunday School Lessons #2
Published by Good Book Company on August 1, 2023
Genres: Children's, Bible Stories, Christmas
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A three-session Sunday School curriculum, based on the best-selling book The Christmas Promise. Includes a family-service outline.
This three-session Sunday School curriculum is based on the best-selling storybook The Christmas Promise and shows children what God promised centuries before the first Christmas: a unique forever rescuing King (King Jesus) and joy for all who live under his loving rule.
Featuring age-differentiated lesson plans for 3-5s, 5-8s, and 8-12s, this flexible resource will work for any size of kids’ group and is easy to use for any leader. Also perfect for Homeschool Co-ops.
Includes activity, craft, and game ideas, along with an exclusive link and password for free downloadable resources.
There is also an outline plan for a family service that can be used during Advent or at Christmas.
This Sunday school curriculum is based on The Christmas Promise storybook by Alison Mitchell. The authors mention which pages of the original book to read during different sessions, but this curriculum can also work as a standalone, exploring the same themes while digging deeper into the Christmas story from the Bible. Lizzie and Carl Laferton wrote this curriculum with age flexibility in mind, and each lesson plan includes different suggestions for groups of younger or older children. Teachers can use this in a traditional age-based Sunday school environment, and could also adapt the lessons to address multiple ages at once in a children’s church setting or a homeschool co-op.
This curriculum includes detailed lesson plans for three sessions, as well as a family service plan that includes the adults and summarizes what the children have learned. The lessons focus on how Jesus is the perfect king who fulfills God’s promises, and each lesson unpacks this at a different level, focusing on different prophecies from Isaiah and different parts of the Nativity story in Luke. The lesson plans are so detailed that someone can present the material exactly as it is written without needing to prep anything other than craft supplies, but the lessons also leave room for adaptation and improvisation. I like the flexibility, and I appreciate how the authors include multiple ideas for games and crafts that involve varying levels of complexity, so that someone can pick what will work for their personal bandwidth and their group’s abilities.
The Christmas Promise Sunday School Lessons is a great book for Sunday school teachers who are looking for an in-depth, Christ-centered resource that requires minimal planning and prep on their part. This is also appropriate for less traditional classroom environments, and the book includes a code for free downloadable activities and other resources that people can adapt for their groups. My one significant critique is that because this book packs so much information into a relatively short page count, some of the pages seem a little cluttered, and it can be difficult to quickly find and reference something. Teachers can add post-it notes to help them find their way, but one possible improvement could be page headings to identify which session each page belongs to.