Discuss

          Open your Bible to Genesis 3, and show kids the words.

          Say: Today we’re going to learn about a time some people in the Bible made a bad choice and got in trouble.

          Ask: • Tell about something you did that you got in trouble for. Have kids turn to a partner to share. Then ask a few kids to share with everyone.

          Say: We all do wrong things sometimes. When God made the world, he made it perfect! God made Adam and Eve, and at first, they were in perfect relationship with God and each other. Let’s link arms to show that. Lead everyone in linking arms.

          Adam and Eve lived in a beautiful place called the Garden of Eden. They walked and talked with each other—and with God! That must have been so wonderful! Imagine if no one ever said or did anything mean to you. Imagine if you never did bad things that you later felt bad about. Everything was perfect.

Don’t Touch Blue

          Say: God could have made Adam and Eve like robots who had no choice but to do the right thing. But he didn’t. God lets us choose between good and evil. And God had one rule for Adam and Eve.

          The Garden of Eden was full of trees with delicious fruit! There was just one tree they weren’t allowed to eat from.

          Let’s try something. Find something you can touch with one hand—maybe the floor, your shoe, or someone’s sleeve. You can touch any color you want—except blue. You can briefly unlink to touch something. Allow time. If your space is mostly blue, feel free to choose a different color.

          Ask: • Call out how you felt trying to avoid touching blue.

          Say: There were a lot of things you could touch that weren’t blue! And there was a lot of delicious fruit that was wonderful to eat. Let’s see if Adam and Eve could stick to only the good fruit.

          Read Genesis 3:1-3.

          Say: Oh no! The serpent tried to trick Eve by making it sound like God’s rule was that she couldn’t eat any fruit. Eve didn’t fall for that trick.

          But then the serpent told Eve that if she ate the fruit, she would be like God. Would she fall for that trick? Let’s find out.

          Read Genesis 3:6.

Touch Blue

          Say: Oh no! Eve ate the fruit—and so did Adam! God lets us choose between good and evil. They made the evil choice. Touch something blue to show how they disobeyed. Again, you can briefly unlink if you need to. Pause.

          Now let’s see what happened because of that choice.

          First, they heard God coming, so they hid. Their perfect relationship with God was broken! Unlink from one of the people you’re linked to. Pause.

          Then, when God asked about it, Adam blamed Eve. Their perfect relationship with each other was broken, too. Unlink from everyone and scoot apart. Pause.

          And they felt ashamed. Cover your face. Pause.

          God lets us choose between good and evil. But sometimes there are consequences when we choose the wrong thing. Everyone got in trouble.

          The serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly. Wriggle on the ground like a snake. Pause.

          Eve was cursed so that it would hurt to be pregnant and have babies. Hold your bellies like they hurt. Pause.

          And Adam was cursed to have thorns that made it harder to grow food. Poke yourself with a fingernail. Pause.

          Plus, God made Adam and Eve leave the wonderful Garden he had made, the Garden of Eden. Turn around and face away from everyone. Pause.

          God lets us choose between good and evil. Everyone chooses wrong things sometimes, but look what happened! Wrong choices hurt others and separate us from each other. But when we ask God for help, he can help us make good choices. And when we do make bad choices, he forgives us.

Tip

• Don’t have internet in your classroom? That’s okay! You can choose your own worship songs from our Best Of Dig In Music DVD here.

Sing Songs to God

            Sing the three songs in any order.

Tip

• Want to do more personal study on Jesus’ role in repairing our relationship with God? Read Romans 5:15-19.
• Keep the tape out of sight so kids won’t know it’s available to fix their hearts.

Explore Genesis 3

          Say: In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. They spent time together there, like close, good friends.  

          Ask: • Where are some places you and your friends hang out together?

          • What do you do there?

          Say: After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, there were some pretty big consequences. The worst consequence was that God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden…forever!

          Read Genesis 3:23-24.

          Say: And they weren’t just shut out of the Garden. It changed the relationship between God and people. Let’s try something to see what that was like.

Tear Paper Hearts

          Hand each person a piece of paper. Have older kids each cut out a heart, and younger kids each can draw one. It’s okay if it doesn’t really look like a heart. And, if it’s too hard for younger kids to draw hearts, they can just tear a blank paper.

          Say: Let’s imagine this is our friendship with God. Before Adam and Eve sinned, it was a perfect, loving friendship. But Eve disobeyed. If you’ve ever disobeyed anyone, tear your paper. Tear your paper heart.

          Adam made a bad choice, too. He did something he knew wouldn’t please God. We all do. Tear your paper again. Tear your paper heart.

          Think of something else that hurts your friendship with God. Things like lies (tear the paper), or unkindness (tear the paper). Each time you think of something that hurts our friendship with God, tear the paper.         

          Pause while kids tear, for about 15 seconds.

          Ask: • What words describe your paper now?

          • What do you have with you that can fix the paper and make it look like a heart again?

          Say: We have nothing that can fix our broken friendship. But God did. God wanted that close, good friendship back. So many, many years after Adam and Eve lived, God sent his very own Son, Jesus. Jesus lived on the earth to show people what God’s love was like. Most important, Jesus died to take the punishment for all these torn, broken choices we make. God lets us choose between good and evil. And when we make a bad choice, Jesus is there to forgive us and help fix that friendship.

          Hand out tape, and let groups of three kids share a roll. Kids can work together to tape their torn hearts back together.

          Ask: • How would you describe your paper hearts now?

          Say: The hearts aren’t perfect. God lets us choose between good and evil, and there are still consequences when we make bad choices. But Jesus—God’s Son—came to restore our relationship with God. And one day, we can be made totally new when we live forever in heaven with Jesus. It will be like the Garden of Eden…but better!

          Kids can keep their torn hearts as reminders to ask for Jesus’ forgiveness when they make bad choices.

Confess Together

          Say: Today we’re learning that God lets us choose between good and evil.

          When we pray, we talk with God. We can talk with God about anything—even our wrong choices. That’s what a prayer of confession is all about.

          To “confess” means to admit we’ve messed up. And since everyone sins and makes wrong choices, it’s good for God’s friends to all pray and confess our sins together. God hears us and forgives us, like a faithful friend.

          Let’s pray a prayer of confession now. As I pray, let’s all squeeze our fists really tightly, like we’re holding on to our wrong choices. Demonstrate, cautioning kids not to squeeze too hard. Now, let’s close our eyes and talk with God.

          Pray: Dear God, we confess that we’ve disobeyed you. We’ve thought mean thoughts and said unkind words. We’ve done things to hurt people. And we haven’t done things to help people. We haven’t loved you very well, God. We are so sorry. Please forgive us and help us choose your good way.

          Have kids take a deep breath and then let it out as they open their palms to receive God’s forgiveness.

          Pray: Thank you, God. Your forgiveness makes our hearts happy. You’re amazing! Amen.

          Ask: • How did you feel when you opened your grip?

          • How is that like or unlike talking with God about our bad choices?

          Say: When we confess our sin, God faithfully forgives us and helps us (1 John 1:9). And that feels good! God lets us choose between good and evil. And no matter what, we can talk with God about our choices.

Tip

• It may take a while for kids to find the Bible verse. That’s okay! This activity is primarily about building Bible navigation skills.
• If you have a lot of non-readers, have some picture Bibles on hand for them to flip through as older kids look up verses. They won’t look for anything specific, but they can look at the pictures to practice paging through Bibles.

Explore Proverbs 3:5-6

          Say: Today we’re learning that God lets us choose between good and evil. God doesn’t make us choose what’s right, but he’s there to show us what’s best. Let’s look at a verse about God’s direction.

          Make sure kids all have Bibles. Younger kids can sit with older kids so they can observe the skills of using their Bibles even before being able to read.

          Say: Our Bible verse is in the book of Proverbs, which is in the Old Testament. Open your Bible near the middle. Allow time.

• Point to the book of Proverbs on the poster so kids can see the name and what books come before and after it.
• Mention that the chapter numbers are the big numbers, and help kids find the big 3 in Proverbs.
• Mention that the verse numbers are the small numbers, and help kids find the small 5 in Proverbs 3.
• When everyone has found the verse, ask someone to read Proverbs 3:5-6 aloud.

Find the Path

          Say: Let’s try having someone show us which path to take.

• Have kids form pairs.
• Give each child a “Follow the Path Grid” handout and a pencil.
• Direct one child from each pair to draw a path through the first grid by connecting dots from start to finish, without their partner seeing it.
• After kids have drawn the path, direct their partners to start with their pencils at the first dot. Encourage the kids who drew the path to direct their partners to go right or left, up or down to follow that path. (Tip: If kids have trouble with right and left directions, encourage the helper to just point.)
• If time allows, have kids switch roles and use the second grid.

          After everyone has found the path through the grid, say: Your friend had a path for you to draw and helped you find it. Sometimes it’s hard to know which path to take or choice to make.

          Ask: • How helpful were your friend’s directions?

          • What are some ways God directs us? Kids might share about prayer, the Bible, or advice from other people.

          Say: Our Bible verse said that we can trust in God to direct our paths. That means when we have a choice to make, we can trust God instead of going our own way.

          Ask: • What are some choices kids have to make?

          Say: Some choices are easy. Give an example, ideally one kids shared. Some choices are much harder. Give an example, ideally one kids shared. God lets us choose between good and evil. But if you trust him, God helps you know which choice is the right choice as he directs your path.

Tip

• WARNING! Don’t just print and distribute! Here’s why.

Older Kids: Do an Activity Page

          Say: Adam and Eve had a choice to make: Eat fruit from the tree they weren’t allowed to eat from…or don’t. We all face choices in life. And sometimes it can be hard for us to spot the difference between a good choice and a bad one. Let’s practice spotting differences.

          Distribute the activity pages and pencils. Have kids find the six differences between the two pictures of the Bible story.

          Ask: • Which differences were the hardest to find?

          • Tell about a time you had a hard choice to make and weren’t sure what the right thing was.

          Say: Not all choices have a good and evil option. If you’re choosing whether to eat cereal or pancakes for breakfast, you’re probably fine either way—unless your mom told you no pancakes allowed. But other times, we have to decide whether to choose right or wrong. God lets us choose between good and evil. And God helps us spot the difference between good and bad choices.

          ANSWER KEY: 

Younger Kids: Color a Coloring Page

          Distribute the coloring pages and crayons. Say: Adam and Eve could choose any tree to eat from—except one. Sadly, they chose to disobey. Then they felt bad about what they did! Let’s color a picture of their choice as a reminder to make good choices, with God’s help. God lets us choose between good and evil.

          Allow time for kids to color.

          When kids finish coloring, three-hole-punch their pages and put them into binders, if desired.

Make a Movie in Motion

          Say: As we discover what happened with Adam and Eve in our Bible story, let’s remember a Bible memory verse that explains how God created them—and us!

          The Bible has two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament tells us about the time before Jesus came, and the New Testament tells us about after. Our memory verse is from the Old Testament, at the very beginning of time when God first made the world!

          In Genesis 1:1, it says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

          Let’s make motions to help us remember this verse! You and your group will get to create any movements you want, like you’re acting out a movie. First, you’ll get to choose whatever type of movie you want: superheroes, action films, musicals, anything! Then create your own movie movements to show how God created the world.

• Form groups of three or four, and give each group a Bible, opened to Genesis 1:1.
• Have older kids read the verse aloud a few times to help younger ones.
• Allow time for kids to choose whichever motions they would like for each phrase.
• When groups are ready, have each small group say the verse and perform their motions for the rest of the group.

Talk About It

          Ask: • What type of movie did you choose?

          • Why did you choose the motions you picked?

          Say: Today you got to choose what type of movie and motions you liked. And we all make choices every day! In our motions, no choice was wrong. But in our everyday lives, God lets us choose between good and evil. In the beginning when God created us, he gave us that gift of choice because he loves us. And I love how you chose to create motions to remember how God created the world! You created like our Creator God!

Follow Someone

          Say: Today we learned that God lets us choose between good and evil. But God also sets an example for us of how to make good choices. God only chooses good—all the time!

          When we stick close with God, we’ll know what the good choices are. Let’s see if you can stick closely with a leader so you know what to do.

• Kids line up single file.
• The child in front moves in any way—hops, skips, baby steps, and so on—to lead kids around the room.
• Kids try to copy the leader, who keeps changing the movement.

          After one short round, pause for discussion.

          Ask: • Why do you think it might be harder to get the movement right if you’re farther from the leader?

          Say: God lets us choose between good and evil. And when we stay close to him, we can better see his example and make good choices.

          Let the game keep going as long as needed to fill time until parents begin to arrive. Have kids rotate being leaders and being close to leaders.

           Distribute a copy of the “Dig In @ Home” handout to kids as they leave, or email it to parents during the week.