They wanted to catch lots of fish! They wanted to catch lots of fish this big. (Stretch arms out wide). Show me the big fish you would like to catch. (Children stretch arms out wide).

So they got into a sailboat and away they went, sailing, sailing, sailing, to catch a lot of big fish. The seven fishermen fished and they fished and they fished.

Do you think they caught a fish this big? (Stretch arms wide). No, they did not! Do you think they caught a fish this big? (Show smaller size). No, they did not! This big? (Show smaller size). No! Do you think they caught a fish this big? (Very small). No, they did not. They didn’t catch any fish at all!

Poor fishermen. (Look sad). They couldn’t do it. But Somebody could help them. (Look happy). Jesus could help them! And He did. Jesus said, "Put your net on the other side." (Demonstrate action). So the seven fishermen did just what Jesus said to do. They put their net on the other side. Can you show me how they did it? (Children respond with action).

Soon the net was full of fish. Lots of fish. Lots of fish this big. (Stretch arms wide). How big? (Children stretch arms wide). This big!

Young children learn best from the real world. Place a pet fish near the entrance to catch the children’s attention as they first come into the room. Let them enjoy watching the fish swim about and eat.

Name the fish and sing a song about it, such as the following. (Make up a little tune as you go along).

Swim, Little Fishie.
Swim, swim, swim.
(Fish’s name) is glad
That God made him!

Use Recipe #2 to make the play-dough for this activity. Sing The Play-dough Song as you find out all the ways you can work the dough.

Squeeze it!
Pound it!
Roll it!
Punch it!
Poke it!
Pat it!

But don’t eat it! Watch your toddlers to see that they don’t put the dough into their mouths.

Make Some Fish: Show the children how to pinch off small pieces of dough. Call them "fish." Place a play-dough mat in the middle of the table on which to put the fish. After awhile stop and count them. "Let’s see how many fish we caught."

Tell Part of Today’s Story: One time some fishermen decided to go fishing. But they couldn’t catch any fish. They were sad. Show me sad (children respond). Then Jesus helped them. He said, "Put your nets on the other side." And lots of fish went into the nets. This made those fishermen very glad. Show me glad (children respond). When we are sad, Jesus makes us glad!

Today’s mobile will feature a boat and three fish. (See pattern in the Concept Box Activities section). Hang it in the room where its bright colors will twirl in the breeze and attract attention. As the children notice the mobile, talk about experiences they have had with boats and fish.

Tell Part of Today’s Story: One time some friends of Jesus went out in a boat to do some fishing. But they couldn’t catch any fish. Jesus came walking by the water. He said, "Put your nets on the other side." So they did what Jesus said and caught lots and lots and LOTS of fish!

Today’s story takes advantage of the young child’s eagerness to show "How Big." You can start with the familiar fingerplay, "How Big Is Baby?" Substitute the children’s names in place of the word baby. "How big is Randy?" So-o-o Big! Stretch up high.

As you progress through the lesson activities, you will add variations to this theme. "How big was the fish?" This Big! "How much does Jesus love you?" Use children’s names. This Much!

The fishermen were sad (ask the children to show you their sad faces). They couldn’t catch any fish. Then Jesus helped them catch lots of fish and they were glad (ask the children to show you their glad faces). When we are sad (show me sad) Jesus makes us glad (show me glad).

Jesus loved those fishermen. He loved them and helped them. Jesus loves you. He loves you this much (stretch arms out wide). How much does Jesus love you? This much! (Children stretch arms out wide to show you how much).

This is a game that is especially fun because everyone likes to go fishing! Make the game as directed in Fishing Games in the Concept Box Activities section of this book.

Playing the Game: Scatter the fish about on the floor and let the children take turns catching them with the magnet. When a fish is caught, it is put in the dish with the matching color. Say the names of the colors as you play.

Safety Check! Watch closely to see that the rings are not pulled off the fish. Put the game up out of reach when not being closely supervised by a teacher.

Teaching Through Conversation: We are catching pretend fish. Jesus helped the fishermen catch lots and lots of real fish.

How Many? Catch some fish. Count them. One, two, three, four. How many fish did we catch? We caught four.

Tell Part of Today’s Story: One time some men went fishing. They fished all night! But they couldn’t catch any fish. They were sad. Then Jesus came walking by the water. He said, "Put your nets on the other side." And when they did what Jesus said, there were many, many fish in their nets.

For this game you will need two FISH in each of the basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple. Cut them from scraps of felt. Use the fish to play games, such as the following.

Free-Play: Invite the children to put the fish on the feltboard. Talk about the fish and count them as you play to help them build a vocabulary of Bible Words and Concepts.

Who Made It? As the children put the fish on the board ask them, "Who made fish?" Teach them to answer, "God did!"

How Many? Ask the children to hide their eyes. Turn the board toward you and place several fish on the feltboard. Turn it back around as you call out, "One-two-three! How many do we see?" Count the fish together.

Tell part of the story: One time Jesus helped His fishermen friends catch lots of fish. At first they couldn’t catch any. Then He said, "Put your net on the other side." And when they did, they caught lots and lots of fish!

Match The Colors: Spread one set of fish out on the floor - one of each color. Put the other fish in a basket. Take one from the basket and put it on the board. "Here is a red fish. Can you find another red fish?" The children look for the matching color and put it by the fish on the board. Continue until all the colors have been matched.

Teacher Tip! With very young children it works best if the teacher puts some glue on the back of the picture, lets the child put it on the page, and then encourages lots of "patting the picture down."

This is the fun part for a toddler. You can drum up enthusiasm for this activity by singing a little song to the tune of Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.

Talk about the pictures as you work. How are the people helping? Who takes care of you and helps you at home? Do you help anyone? What do you do to help?

Express appreciation for the children who are helping glue pictures. You are helping our class right now. You are helping make picture-pages so we can have a new book. Thank-you for being such good helpers.

Set the pictures aside to use later during Big Group Time: Our Quiet Time With God. After class, use the pages to make a book about People Who Help Us.

Put this book into a Book Box, along with other books you have. Keep the book box ready for children who need a quiet activity. See Book-Looking Time in Choosing Time II.

These blocks are easy to make and fun to use. Ask the mothers to save half-gallon milk cartons for you. Make lots of blocks. You can never have too many.

Let’s Build a Big Boat: Interest the children in helping lay the blocks on the floor in the outline of a big boat.

Sing A Song: While sitting in the boat, sing the song, Seven Little Fishermen, and do actions to fit the words.

Simple jigsaw puzzles and inset puzzles are nice to have. Try to include some which have pictures of boats, fish, and other sea life. These will give you an opportunity to talk about boats and fish and let the children tell about their experiences in this area.

Toys are childhood’s Tools for Learning. In large laundry baskets, decorated boxes, or other containers, put sets of toys which will require cooperation, sharing, and taking turns in order to play.

These are all ways in which we can help each other. Helping shows love. Jesus loved His fishermen friends. He helped them. Jesus loves us. He wants us to love and help our friends. One way to help and show love is to share.

Talk up the children who are helping each other. "I like the way Brad and Tommy are taking turns with the truck. Melissa and Ryan are doing a good job of playing with the telephones. They are doing it together. Thank-you, Jennifer, for helping Ricky with his puzzle. You are a good friend to help in that way."

Teacher Tip! Complimenting the children who are engaging in desired behavior works better than scolding those who are not being helpful. Be sure they hear your remarks to the children who are helping each other and showing love as they play. Many times this will cause the rest of the children to want to show you how helpful they can be, so you will mention them, too.

CLEAN-UP: Jesus helped His friends. And He wants us to help, too. Everyone can be a good helper at clean-up time. Make a game of putting things into their baskets and boxes. "Good-bye Teddy Bears. Good-bye trucks. Good-bye puzzles. We’ll see you next time."

POTTY PARADE: Even if the children say they "don’t have to go," all must visit the bathrooms at this time, if only to wash their hands before eating.

SNACK: Hold the snack on a tray, ready to serve. Say a thank-you prayer together. Tell God thank-you for giving us our food and people to fix it for us. Give out small cups of cereal, such as Cheerios. Provide orange juice to drink. As you enjoy the snack together, turn the conversation toward breakfast. Encourage the children to tell about their favorite breakfast foods.

Tell part of the Bible Story: Jesus helped His fishermen friends. And when they were through fishing, He fixed their breakfast. Guess what they had? Bread and fish! He was helping His friends.

As the children finish their snack they can be helpers again by carefully throwing their cups into the waste basket.

PRETENDING: Here is a way to review the story, have fun, and lead into a restful activity all at the same time. As the children dispose of their cups, have them join a teacher who is pretending to go fishing. They can follow along and do actions to fit the words.

Let’s go fishing! Here we go. (Begin walking around the room). Look for some fish. Where are you, little fishie? (Look in things, around things, and under things). Where are you? Let’s throw in the net. Now pull it out. No fish in it. Throw it in again. (Repeat several times). Where are you, little fish?

We can’t catch any fish, can we? Jesus can help us. Jesus says, "Put your net on the other side." Let’s do it. Here we go. Over to the other side. Now pull on the net. Pull hard. It is really heavy! Out it comes. It’s full of fish! Lots of fish. Lots of fish this big! (Stretch arms wide). How big? (Let children show you). This big!

Let’s take the fish to the shore. Here we go. (Lead the children to the resting place). Pull out the net. Dump the fish out right here. My, but fishing makes us tired, doesn’t it? (Lie down and encourage the children to do so with you). Let’s rest awhile on the beach. Sh-h-h-h. We are asleep. Don’t wake us up. Susan is asleep. Mike is asleep. Jason is asleep. (Referring to the children by name will encourage the others to pretend they are asleep because they want to be mentioned by name, too).

A NAME GAME: After the children have rested for awhile, begin singing Jesus Loves Me. When you get to the chorus, insert the children’s names into the song. "Jesus loves Heather. Jesus loves Daniel. Jesus loves Stephanie. The Bible tells me so." Continue until every child has been told that Jesus loves him or her.

Show the pictures the children made earlier (see Making A Book). Look at and talk about the pictures.

Sh-h-h-h. This is our quiet time with God. Set the theme for prayer by discussing how Jesus takes care of us. He uses people to help us.

Show a picture, perhaps one of a mother feeding her baby. "Let’s tell God thank-you for Mommies." Encourage the children to pray with you. "Dear God, thank-you for Mommies." Choose a picture of another helper for whom to say thank-you. Show the pictures one at a time. Keep your prayers short and simple.

Hold up the Bible with a Fish Kite peeking out at the top. (See Let’s Make Fish Kites, below). "Let’s find a good story in our Bible. Let’s find a story about catching a big FISH!" Pull the kite out and hold it by the string as you say the word, "fish."

Tell the story, A Fish So-o-o Big, and sing the song, Seven Little Fishermen. Do finger and hand motions to fit the words of the song.

Song: Seven Little Fishermen
Traditional Tune: Ten Little Indians

One little, two little, three little fishermen.
Four little, five little, six little fishermen.
Seven little fishermen sailing on the water.
Out on the Sea of Galilee.

One little, two little, three little fishes.
Four little, five little, six little fishes.
Seven little fishes swimming in the water.
And they said, "You can't catch me!"

(Spoken in rhythm)
So they fished and they fished and they fished all night.
They fished and they fished with all their might.
Then Peter said, "That fish was right!"

This story helps us know that Jesus loves us. Have prepared beforehand a large fish shape for each child. Cut the fish from colored construction paper and put the following words on them: "Jesus loves (child’s name)." These fish should be hidden in the Bible to be discovered after the story has been told. "Jesus loved those fishermen and He loves you! Let’s see who Jesus loves today." As each fish is found, read the sentence and give the fish to the child whose name is on it.

The fish shapes will be turned into Fish Kites for today’s handcraft project.

Make a smooth transition from Story Time to the Handcraft Project by having one teacher ready and waiting at the handcraft table. As each child receives his or her fish, he or she goes to the table to begin working.

See the Pattern section. Let the children decorate their fish kites with large preschool crayons. The teacher may demonstrate making circles (scales) all over both sides of the fish, using many different colors. The older children may try to make circles and the younger ones will just scribble all over their fish. Each kite will have its own unique personality!

Reinforce a small place on each fish with pieces of transparent tape and punch a hole through which you will tie a length of yarn.

In good weather, take the kites outdoors, where they will flutter and twirl behind the children as they run about. Take along the transparent tape and hole punch. You may have some torn kites to repair!

This is a good way to get the Handcraft Project out of the hands of the children as quickly as possible. Two year olds seem to think that if it was so much fun putting it together, it would be even more fun to take it apart again!

When through making and playing with the kites, tape them high on the wall near the door where parents can easily find them when it is time to go home. This will keep the kites out of reach of busy little fingers and decorate the room at the same time.

The kites can help us remember that Jesus loves us. Play a Question & Answer Game. "How much does Jesus love you?" Teach the children to stretch arms wide and reply, "This much!"

As the children tire of Big Group Time, do some of the Concept Box Activities you didn’t have time to do during Choosing Time I or repeat other favorites.

Near the end of the session, choose games without a lot of little pieces so they will be easy and quick to put away when the parents arrive to pick up their children. This will help you train the children to help put their things away before leaving for the day.

Start a Book Box (or basket) in which you put colorful picture books for the children to look at during quiet moments. The cloth, plastic, and board books which are especially made for this age are easy for little hands to manage. Some even have pages which squeak or make animal noises.

You may also make homemade books by gluing pictures to pages which you have folded together and tied at the middle with yarn. You will want to cut pieces of clear self-adhesive plastic to cover the pictures on each page before giving them to the children. (Loose edges seem to be a sure invitation to the children to pick and pull at the pictures).

Spread a small rug out in a quiet corner to let the children know you are ready to do an activity. Put the Book Box in the middle. Ask the children to sit around the edge of the rug.

Each takes a book and all look at their own books. When done with one book, the child may put it back in the box and trade for another one.

When it is time to put the books away, everyone puts his or her book in the box. Set it up out of reach.

Let the children choose one or two books for you to read to them. As you turn the pages, talk about each picture and what is happening.

Keep the children busy with their activities until all have gone for the day.

One teacher should do a final diaper check and see that shoe laces and sashes are tied, then stay near the door to help with take-home items and good-byes.

To give the parents an idea of today’s story theme, play a Question & Answer Game with the children as you hand them their kites. "How much does Jesus love you?" The child answers, "This much!" As the children do the stretching exercise with you, the parents will learn a new game to play at home.

1. Mobiles: Hang Mobiles over the cribs, rocking chairs, and the diaper-changing area. Their bright colors will catch the babies’ eyes as they twirl in the slightest breeze. If a mobile is not moving very much, turn it around and around until the yarn is tightly twisted. When you let go it will slowly unwind and rewind for a time.

Safety Check! Hang the mobiles out of reach of exploring little fingers!

2. Balls: While your tiny ones won’t be up to organized ball games, they will like to play with an assortment of brightly colored bouncy balls. As you roll a ball to a toddler, say, "Jesus loves (child’s name) and I do, too!"

3. A Real Fish: The babies will enjoy watching some fish in a fish bowl. Talk about the fish as they swim about and eat.

Safety Check! Have a place to put the fish bowl out of reach when a teacher is not present to supervise the activity.

4. Take a Picture Walk: Toddlers, and babies who hold their heads up well, will enjoy this activity.

Mount pictures onto colored construction paper and tape them to the wall at your shoulder height. These pictures may be made using the large patterns in the back of this book. Choose simple objects which are familiar to your children. Animals, toys, and food are fun. Include a fish to carry out today’s story theme. Cover the pictures with clear self-adhesive plastic to make them waterproof.

As you carry the baby or toddler down the row, stop and pat the first picture and say its name. "Fish. God made fish. Who made fish? God did!" Continue down the row with the other pictures.

7. Fingerplay: A favorite childhood game is How Big Is Baby? So-o-o-o Big!