Parent Passages: Genesis 37:1-36
May 1 - Joseph Gets a New Coat
Talk with your child about how it feels to get something new. It can be a new toy, a new pair of shoes, or a new coat. Talk about how we want to take care of new things to be sure they last a long time and they don’t get messed up. Talk to your child about Joseph is a boy in the Bible and his parents gave him a new coat.
May 2 - A rainbow of colors
Draw a coat outline on a piece of copy paper. Give your child some crayons or markers and ask him/her to color the coat using many colors. Explain that Joseph’s coat was a coat that had many pretty colors in it.
May 3- Joseph’s brothers get mad!
Remind your child about Joseph’s gift from his parents. Joseph got a coat! Joseph had 11 brothers and their parents didn’t get them anything! It made them very mad! Joseph got a new coat and his brother didn’t get anything! They felt very left out and like his brother was loved more than him. Joseph’s brothers were very mad.
May 4 - Joseph’s brothers throw him in a big hole.
Retell the Bible story to this point - Joseph got a new coat from his parents. He was so happy to get a new coat. The coat was very special because it was made of many colors. His brothers saw Joseph’s special coat and got very mad. They got so mad they threw Joseph into a really big hole. It was so big that it was big than Joseph was tall. Joseph couldn’t climb out on his own and his brothers wouldn’t help him! He was stuck in the hole.
May 5- Balls in a cup
Set up a muffin tin and give your child a tennis ball. Have him/her carefully toss the ball into the muffin cup. Talk about how Joseph’s brothers tossed him into a deep hole.
May 6 - Get along
Help your child recall the story by asking him/her the following questions:
In our Bible story this week, who got a new coat? (Joseph)
What did the coat look like? (It was made of many colors.)
What did Joseph’s brothers think about Joseph’s new coat? (They got mad/jealous)
What did Joseph’s brothers do to Joseph? (They threw him in a big hole)
Jesus wants us to be friends with everyone. He wants us to be good friends and not be fighting or mad with each other. Jesus wants us to get along. He wants us to play together and share with each other.
Our Bible verse is God is our help. Psalms 33:20 God can help us be friends with everyone.
May 7 - It’s time to Help
Have your child help around the house today. Have them help by picking up toys, putting folded clothes in his/her room, helping set the table. Each time they help you thank them by saying” thank you for helping me.” As the opportunity presents itself - remind them of the Bible verse - God is our help. Psalms 33:20. Let them know that God can help them just like (s)he is helping you.
May 8 - Do your best
As your child wakes today give him/her a ribbon/badge/sticker that says Do Your Best. As your child does things throughout the day, remind him/her that God helps us to do our best. Remind him/her God is our help. Psalms 33:20. Have your child say the verse back to you.
May 9 - Build with blocks
Have your child build with blocks. As the child builds brag on the child’s work to build things and brag on him/her as (s)he builds things very carefully. As the child tires of building, ask how (s)he felt when you told them what a good job (s)he was doing. (Happy, proud) Tell the child it feels good when someone tells you you are doing a good job. Ask the child how he/she would feel if they were building with someone else and you only told the other person what a good job they were doing and never told you that you were doing a good job. (Sad, not happy. Like you weren’t looking at their work.) That’s how Joseph’s brothers felt when Joseph got his new colored coat from their parents and they didn’t get anything.
May 10- Play with streamers
Give your child several different colored crepe paper streamers. Have the child run while they have the streamers up over their head as they run. Remind the child that Joseph’s coat was made of many colors. (Parent note: If you don’t have access to crepe paper streamers, please feel free to see Ms. Glenne’ and get some from the church. We have plenty!)
May 11-Joseph’s Dream
Joseph went to bed one night and had a dream. In his dream his brothers all bowed down to him. He told his brothers about his dream. They got really mad. They thought he was going to try to be the boss of them! They were not going to let him be their boss! Then their parents gave Joseph his pretty new coat which made his brothers even more mad! They threw Joseph in a really big hole and told their parents that Joseph had died.
May 12 - Play Grocery Store
Gather some canned goods from your cabinet and play grocery store with your child. As you play, pretend to pay for the food. Talk about how Joseph’s brothers decided to sell Joseph to some people so that Joseph could go and work for them. The people that bought Joseph gave money to the brothers.
May 13 - Joseph Gets a New Boss
The people who bought Joseph wanted him to work. They wanted him to help clean and help do other jobs. Joseph was not paid for doing all the work for his new boss. Joseph was scared but knew that God would help him. Our Bible verse for today is God is our help. Psalms 33:20.
May 14 - Joseph was scared
Talk to your child about times when (s)he gets scared. (Storms, dark, someone jumps out and makes a loud noise, etc) Joseph was very scared. His brothers had thrown him in the really big hole, then got him out of the hole, and sold him to some people for money. Once they got to the new place, they told Joseph he had a lot of work to do and he wouldn’t get paid for doing any of the work. Joseph was scared but he prayed and asked God to help him. Joseph knew that god would help him and would take care of him. Remind your child of our memory verse - God is our help. Psalms 33:20.