Lesson Plan: Prodigal Son/Lost Son (1st grade on up)

Prodigal Son/Lost Son: Luke 15:11-31


Objectives: The students will be able to
- retell the story The Prodigal Son
- discuss that Jesus and God love us no matter what mistakes we have made
- discuss that Jesus and God forgive us and that we must forgive others too
- state what they should say when they do something wrong
- state what they should say when someone says I’m sorry
- discuss why the son thought tending swine was demeaning and disgraceful



Review:
Prayer, questions and vocabulary words from last week’s lesson



Vocabulary Words: (Write words on the board and discuss with class)

inheritance- property or title that has been given to you because of birthright
birthright- a basic right that somebody has or is thought to be entitled to from birth
estate- the whole of someone’s property, possessions, and capital
divided- separated into two or more parts or groups
squandered- to spend or use something wastefully and extravagant way
dissipation- overindulgence in the pursuit of physical pleasures; the squandering of resources such as money
severe- causing great discomfort and difficult to do or endure
famine- a severe shortage of food resulting in widespread hunger
dire- severe, serious, or desperate circumstances
hire- doing work for some kind of pay
tend- take care of
swine- hogs or pigs
compassion- sympathy for the suffering of others, often including a desire to help
embrace- to hug someone



Plan:

Story: "Prodigal Son/Lost Son" and then ask questions



Activities:

Introduce activities: Who always loves us when we make mistakes? Who always forgives us? Should we forgive others? What do you say when you do something wrong? What should we say when someone says they are sorry?

sermons4kids.com- Three Wishes object lesson with group activities, puzzles, coloring page, worship bulletin

calvarycurriculum.com- The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) lesson with memory verses, circle the correct words, true or false, fill in the blanks, puzzles, and color sheets.

sundayschoollessons.com- A Father Welcomes a Lost Son lesson

daniellesplace.com- Lesson, crafts, games, etc.

dltk-bible.com- The Prodigal Son lesson with coloring pages, crafts, name tags, puzzles, games, and take home sheet.

textweek.com- Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources

thereligionteacher.com- The Parable of the Prodigal Son Lesson Plan

jesuswalk.com- Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24) lesson

bible.org- Lesson 73: A Model for Hurting Parents (Luke 15:11-32)



Crafts:

sermons4kids.com- Three Wishes group activities (crafts)

meaningfulmama.com- Parable of the Lost Son Craft (put your favorite verse from today’s Gospel inside)


Introduce crafts: What did the son do when he ran out of money? (He hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.)

daniellesplace.com- several crafts posted (scroll down to these)

dltk-bible.com- Paper Bag Pig Puppet with color or black and white template

enchantedlearning.com- Paper Bag Pig Puppet (scroll down for this)

books.google.com- Pink Plate Piggy Bank- Kathy Ross Crafts Colors by Kathy Ross, page 10 – 12

diyjoy.com- Oink All The Way To The Bank With This Mason Jar Piggy Bank!

enpaperblog.com- DIY Piggy Banks

family.disney.com- Handy Hamm Piggy Bank

Plastic Bottle Piggy Bank- The Everything Kids' Money Book by Diane Mayr, page 11



Games:

sermons4kids.com- Three Wishes group activities (games)

Lost and Found (The Parable of the Lost Son)- As they explore the story of the prodigal son, your kids will discover God loves each of us. (The Encyclopedia of Bible Games for Children’s Ministry, page 87).

The Prodigal Son Comes Home Game- A fun board game about the Prodigal Son. The object of the game is to get your markers to the banquet. (Super Bible Game Book by Linda Standke, page 95 - 106 for directions, game board markers, game board, and game cards).

jesus-without-language.net-A Journey Home (printable Prodigal Son game)


Introduce game: Why did the son find it so demeaning and disgraceful to tend the swine? (Because it was the most menial and degrading of employment. Jews cannot eat pork and consider swine unclean.)

daniellesplace.com-Pigs Snorting Game & Feed the Pig (scroll down to these and look under Activity)

itstillworks.com- How To Play The Card Game Pig- The card game Pig is tons of fun when a lot of people play. Keep your eye on everyone else's nose in this game so you don't make a pig of yourself. For added fun have the dealer call “oink” instead of “Go” and pass a card to your left.



The games below are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted. All graphics/images/clipart etc. used on all activities are not my own and are from various internet sources.

I’m Sorry: As players move around the game board, they are given fictitious situations in which they have done something wrong. The player must then apologize to the person to his/her left for the situation on their card and they must be specific with their apology. They must say something like, “I’m sorry I took your video game,” instead of “I’m sorry.” The player that they apologized to must then say, “I forgive you.” Teaching children to apologize and to seek forgiveness from family and friends will encourage them to do so with God. The player then must also say what they should do to correct their mistake and/or what consequences should happen to them so they will learn to take responsibility for their actions. If the player apologizes correctly for the situation they receive a token. If a player lands on “Lose 1 Token” they must forfeit one token. The player at the end of the game who has the most tokens wins.












The Prodigal Son (file folder game)- The objective of the game is to get to the father hugging his lost son.













Snacks:

Introduce snack: What job did the son have to do when he ran out of money?

perpetualpreschool.com- Pig Snacks

preschooleducation.com- Pigs in a Blanket



Puzzles, Mazes, Worksheets:

More 365 Activities for Kids- Parable of the Lost Son puzzles, mazes, dot-to-dot, spot the difference, etc. at September 24 – 28.

sermons4kids.com- Prodigal Son Dot to dot

biblewise.com- The Prodigal’s Son Journey (maze)

sermons4kids.com- The Parable of the Lost Son (word search)

biblepathwayadventures.com- The Prodigal Son (word search)

web.archive.org- The Prodigal Son (word search)

sermons4kids.com- Parable of the Lost Son Word Shape

dltk-bible.com- Prodigal Son anagrams, cross words, cryptogram, word mining sheets, word search

kidsbibleworksheets.com- The Prodigal Son (decoder)

sermons4kids.com- The Parable of the Lost Son (crossword)

4catholiceducators.com- Luke 15:1-3; 11-32 (crossword)

web.archive.org- The Prodigal Son (crossword)

calvarycurriculum.com- The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) with circle the correct words, true or false, fill in the blanks, puzzles, etc.

sermons4kids.com- The Parable of the Lost Son Multiple Choice

biblewise.com- Prodigal Son (Number the pictures in the correct order.)

biblepathwayadventures.com- The Prodigal Son (matching)

thereligionteacher.com- Prodigal Son Worksheet (scroll down to this)

jesuswalk.com- Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24) lesson with questions at bottom that can easily be made into a worksheet

tes.com- Prodigal Son Worksheets

tes.com- The Parable of the Lost Won Worksheet (Luke 15:11-31)

smp.org- The Prodigal Son A Story of Conversion
This worksheet is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can reflect on and answer questions about the conversion of the Prodigal Son.

smp.org- The Lost Son
On this worksheet, students retell the story of the Prodigal Son using texting and social media messages.

bible.org- Lesson 73: A Model for Hurting Parents (Luke 15:11-32) with questions that can easily be made into a worksheet