Key Points of the Creation Lesson:
We believe God created the world out of love for us. The beauty of our world leads us to him.
Vocabulary for the Creation Lesson:
create, Apostles, creed, Apostles’ Creed
Materials Needed:
- Children’s Bible
- Beautiful nature photographs from old calendars OR a device to show a Google Slide presentation
- Pages of the book “The Creation Story” printed on card stock
Opening Dialogue:
What does “to create” mean?
Have you heard these words before?: “I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”
- What prayer are these words from?……[Apostles’ Creed]
- Who were the Apostles?…….[Jesus’ close followers]
- Are you an Apostle?……[Yes! I choose to follow Jesus]
- What is a creed?……[Tells us what people believe; and we believe God created the world]
God was able to create something out of nothing.
Let’s read the story in the Bible on how God did this.
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2:3
Open up a children’s Bible and show how this story is from the very beginning the Bible in the book of Genesis.
Read out loud Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 from the Children’s Bible.
Have your Co-catechist writes this shorthand notation on white board as the story is read:
| 1st day | light |
| 2nd day | sky and water |
| 3rd day | land, plants, and trees |
| 4th day | moon, sun, stars |
| 5th day | fish, birds |
| 6th day | land animals, man, woman |
| 7th day | (God rested) |
Discuss Scripture:
- What does it mean that “God created man and woman in his image”?
- In other words, if you drew a picture of God what would it look like?
- Is he male or female?
- Why are the words “And he saw that it was good” repeated?
- God doesn’t create junk
- everything on Earth is special
- it is important to care for Creation to keep because it is good
- What does the 7th day of rest tell us?
- to give our Sundays to God
- no one should do unnecessary work on Sundays
- do family activities together on Sundays
Explore Nature Photographs:
Show a few photographs of beautiful scenes in nature. A great source of these are old calendars or you can show this Google Slide presentation.
As you show them, use these prompts:
- Do you feel close to God when you are in nature?
- What is the greatest part of creation?
- Which photograph speaks to you?
Extension: Direct each child pick a nature photograph and write a short response about how the photograph makes them appreciate God’s work,
Activity: Make Creation Story Book
Creation Story Book pages to work on a class project. Print on card stock.
Randomly hand out one page of the “The Creation Story” book to each student so they can illustrate and color with markers and pencils.
- If less than 12 kids, skip passing out pages 11 and 12.
- If more than 12 kids, use the multiple copies of pages 11 and 12 so each kid gets their own (or have 2 kids work on one page)
- If less than 10 kids, give some kids more than 1 page.
When the pages are complete, either staple them into a class book or post them in order in a hallway or on a bulletin board.
Closing Prayer for the Creation Lesson:
Gather in a circle. Instruct everyone to respond “We thank you God for the gift of creation” when going around the circle and having everyone mention their favorite part of creation.