Early Childhood Education

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Obedience
Birth-3
Play is crucial for your child's social, emotional, physical, cognitive and even spiritual growth. Playing is the way your child learns about his body, the world and start forming spiritual values … and he'll use all five senses to do it, especially in the first year. When you play (interact) joyfully with the children in your care with a smile, a giggle and fond look they will respond and mimic your actions. Babies and toddlers like to smile, look, and laugh especially playing peekaboo and itsy-bitsy spider. Today we will be playing more by using an exercise ball to strengthen your baby's core muscles, body awareness, balance, and attention all the while learning about obedience.
Learning Objectives

Repetition helps make your baby feel safe and learning increases. Bringing out a special hand puppet and sing and tickle ‘Hello my little friend’ at the beginning of your activity each time signals to your infants that play-time is about to begin.

Standards

Songs

Good Morning #1
Prayer Song #18
I Open My Bible Carefully #28
Jesus Loves Me #102
Coming, Mother #266
When a Mother Calls #274
Sabbath School is Over #46 (word change at end of lesson)
Little Voices Praise Him Songbook Review and Herald Publishing Association

Rhyme

Nursery Rhyme Tune: 

Mary Had a Little Lamb (I Obey)

When it’s time to pick up toys
Pick up toys
Pick up toys
When it’s time to pick up toys
I always obey!

Play-time is Over
Our happy play-time is over; and we are cleaning up!
Good-bye, good-bye
put all the toys away
Good-by, good-bye
Be always kind and true

(Wave good-by to the toys “bye-bye toys, bye-bye soft carpet…)

Supplies Needed

Place supplies in your ‘Play-Time’ basket. Spread out a small rug to define your ‘Play-Time’ area and give the children a place for sitting. When you sit on carpet with babies put the basket to your side out of reach of babies.

  • Black felt Bibles (pattern in the back)
  • Your own Bible
  • Colorful see-through scarves
  • Hand mirrors
  • Amazing Peanut Ball (Timberdoodle)
  • Rubber Duckie
  • Shallow plastic dish for duck pond and water bottle with cap tightly fastened.
  • Soft animals
  • Indestructible: Baby Faces
  • Baby Mozart music CD

Suggested Play-Time conversation

Say ‘hello’ to each baby while smiling and looking into their eyes say: “Hello my little friend! It makes me happy to see you today!”  Get close enough so that they see the joy on your face.  Sing: Good Morning and tickle or snuggle each child with puppet.  Give each baby a little felt Bible. “The Bible tells us that Jesus loves us sooo much! Sing: I Open My Bible Carefully and The Bible is for Me! As you put the Bibles in the basket or have the children put their Bible in the basket, immediately hand out the scarves … gently wave or dance them as you hand them to the children.  Sing: Jesus Loves Me!  Give the children time to explore and play with their scarf before waving them back into the basket. Immediately hand each child a little rubber duckie.   As children are exploring their duckie bring out the shallow dish and pour water into the dish. Tightly fasten the cap back on and place behind you in your basket.  “Mother duckie is calling her children … who will come?”  Oh look her little children are coming!”  Sing: When a Mother Calls.  Allow children time to play with the duckies in the water.  When Mother Duck calls her little duckies they come quickly! It makes Mother happy and it makes Jesus happy”  As you put the pond away give each child a soft animal and sing again: When a Mother Calls.  Keep an animal in your hand to snuggle each child as you sing. Bring out the Amazing Peanut Ball or small exercise ball.  As a child comes to explore the ball lift them tummy first onto the ball.  Roll them gently back and forth … as you go back Sing: Coming Mother.  When you sing their name roll them forward. (The peanut ball will roll in only one (back and forth) direction so the instability is moderate).  When everyone that wants a turn has finished put the peanut ball away behind you and hand out the Indestructible: Baby Faces books or soft books.  Turn on the Mozart CD.   “Look at the happy faces!  Obeying helps us to be happy!  Hurray!  I love to obey!”  Give children plenty of time to explore their book.  Talk to them about what they are seeing or chewing on. ☺  Place a baby on your lap in front of the mirror and point to his or her reflection. Ask: Who’s that? Then say: That’s baby’s name, and Jesus loves baby’s name so much!  Sing: Play-time is Over while picking up the toys and waving Good-bye. Good bye little toys, Good bye soft carpet, Good bye my little friends!  Thank you Jesus for my little friends!