Going on A Trip
When we study about Paul, we soon realize that he took many boat trips. Boats are mentioned many times as a mode of transportation in Bible Times. If you want to take your class on a boat trip with Paul or one of the other many Bible characters, how can you create a simple boat to do so? Hopefully, this post will give you some ideas.
Creation of the Boat
First, gather all your materials. You will need: laminating film or gift wrap paper rolls; masking and clear packing tape; disposable, plastic, white, rectangular tablecloth; fishing line. I wanted each of the children to have a turn doing something so I purchased a helm, oars, and anchor. These can be made out of cardboard if you wish.
Use the rolls to make a cross “t” design and tape this together with masking tape in the center where the rolls intersect by wrapping the tape around the rolls. Cut one large triangle out of the tablecloth for one side of the mast and a smaller triangle for the other side. For stability, hang the mast from the ceiling using fishing line. If the mast touches the floor, use masking tape to tape it down to the floor. Place around the mast the number of chairs you need for your students to sit. Use masking tape to make a boat outline around the chairs. Add your helm, oars, and anchor. Now you are ready to go!
Lesson with the Boat
Here are a few things that we planned for our Paul lesson using the boat theme.
Give the children a laminated map marked with a few of the missionary stops that Paul made. Since we had non-readers, each stop was marked with a small colored dot. The teacher gave each child a small boat and told the children to move their boat that has Paul in it from the red dot which signified Anitoch to the orange dot which was Cyprus. (All three of Paul’s Missionary Journey’s started at Antioch.) We moved our boats to six different spots to help the children learn where Paul went on his trips.
The children got in the big boat as we left Antioch. We went to Cyprus with children taking one of the four roles available. We sang “Going on a Trip” to the tune of “Going on a Bear Hunt” while we traveled in the boat.
Going on a Trip
“Going on a Bear Hunt”
Going on a trip (Repeat)
With our friend Paul (Repeat)
Find out what he did (Repeat)
Learn what he saw (Repeat)
We made other city stops getting on and off the boat. At each stop, the teacher used pictures from freebibleimages.org to tell about something that happened in that city. When we got on the boat again, we swapped up roles so that everyone got a chance doing something.
I also used a Paul puppet that travelled with us. He told us about what he saw and did at each stop. He was a great way to introduce the lesson and remind the children of his story on the Road to Damascus.
Use this simple boat design for lessons about Jesus and Jonah, too. Remember when we bring the Bible to life the children will remember what we teach.
