Choose one of the following activities to do with your child

1. WHO’S FIRST

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WHAT YOU NEED: “Who’s First Cards”, “Color Cards” (Activity Pages); desk bell or similar (optional)

WHAT YOU DO:

• Give each kid a set of “Color Cards.”
• Set the bell in the center of the circle.
• Place the “Who’s First?” cards face down beside the bell.
• Turn over the top card and lay it down.
• Kids quickly arrange their “Color Cards” to match the color sequence from left to right on the card and then ring the bell.
• NOTE: If you don’t have a bell, guide kids to stand up, raise their hands, or do
  another motion to signal that they’re finished.
• Play as time allows, shuffling the cards between rounds.

WHAT YOU SAY:
“You guys are smart, quick thinkers! Was any one color always first? No! Sometimes blue was first, sometimes yellow was first, sometimes green was first, and sometimes orange was first. But in our lesson today, we’ve heard about who we should ALWAYS put first. Others.”

2. OTHERS FIRST

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WHAT YOU NEED: Bibles; prepared “In the Garden” Activity Pages;
highlighters or water-based markers; tape; paper frames (optional)

WHAT YOU DO:

• Give each child an “In the Garden” Activity Page, prepared with tracing
  paper on top.
• Read the Activity Page aloud or invite a volunteer to read it. Guide kids to
  point to each word as it is read aloud.
• Set out the markers, and invite kids to trace the words and images and then
  color their pictures as they choose.
• As kids work, use the conversation below to unpack “Don’t do anything only
  to get ahead.”
• If you provided paper frames, help kids tape the frames to their work.
• Kids can take their art home and tape it to a window or a mirror as a
  reminder to put others first.

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Philippians 2:3 says: Don’t do anything only to get ahead (NIrV). What do you think that means? (Pause.) Yes! God doesn’t want us to do things just so WE become more important. Instead, God wants us to put others first. “What are some ways that YOU can put others first? (I can let my brother or sister choose first; I can do what my friend wants to do; I can sit with the new kids at lunch; I can pray for my friends more than I pray for myself.) Great ideas! [Make It Personal] (Tell kids a way that you’ll put others first this week.) So, remember: put others first.”

Choose one of the following activities to do with your child

1. HUMILITY ACTION PLAN

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WHAT YOU NEED: “Humility Action Plan” Activity Page; pens or pencils

WHAT YOU DO:

• Give each of the kids a copy of the “Humility Action Plan” Activity Page and
  a pen or pencil.
• Ask them to think about the week ahead.

1. What will they be doing?
2. Where will they be going?
3. Who will they see on a regular basis?
4. Who will they see only once or twice

• Instruct kids to fill in upcoming activities on the weekly calendar located on
  the left side of the Activity Page.
• When finished, ask the group to share some of their upcoming activities with
  one another and then brainstorm ways they might put others first this week
  during those activities.
• Kids then fill in the blanks on the right side of their papers with their own
  ideas or some the group came up with during the discussion.

WHAT YOU SAY:
“If you want to put others first this week, you’re going to need a plan.
Why? I’m glad you asked! You need a plan because it’s way too easy to put
YOURSELF first instead of OTHERS! But God is so excited about helping you
follow your ‘Humility Action Plan’ that He will give you His power to carry it out!
Check your plan each day this week, and then ask God to help you follow the
things on your list. He will do it, and so can you!”

2. PHILIPPIANS 2:3

WHAT YOU NEED: Bibles, markers, paper

WHAT YOU DO:

• Hand out Bibles.
• Assist the group in finding Philippians 2:3 in their Bibles, using the tips below.
  Finding verses with 2nd and 3rd graders: Guide them to open their Bibles to the front and find the table of contents. (Hold up a Bible opened to the table of contents to show the kids what the page looks like.) When the kids find the table of contents, lead them to find Philippians in the list under the “New Testament.” When the kids find Philippians, lead them to look at the page number beside the word. Explain that the number tells them on what page they can find Philippians. Help the kids find the page. When they find Philippians, explain that the big numbers on the page are chapter numbers.
  Help them find chapter 2. Explain that the small numbers are verse numbers. Help them find verse 3 in chapter 2.
• If needed, explain that the Old Testament is all about God’s story before
  Jesus lived. The New Testament picks up God’s story when Jesus was born.
  Philippians 2:3 is part of a letter that a man named Paul wrote to a church in
  a place called Philippi after Jesus was on the earth. That means Philippians is
  in the New Testament.
• When everyone has found the verse, read it aloud by asking the kids to
  repeat it after you as they follow along in their Bibles.
• Distribute paper and markers.
• Working with a partner, ask kids to choose two words they feel are the most
  important in Philippians 2:3.
• When finished, take turns letting partners share the words they chose and
  why they are important to the meaning of the verse.
• Invite kids to trade papers with someone from a different group.
• Instruct kids to rewrite the words on their paper by turning the page upside
  down and copying the letters. (In other words, they will be writing both
  words upside down.)

WHAT YOU SAY:
“Sometimes the way God wants us to live seems topsy-turvy or upside-down from the way we feel. He tells us to put others first, which is usually the opposite of what we often feel like doing. We like being first, getting our way, and doing what we want. But that’s not what humility is about. Putting others first by giving up what we think we deserve is what it means to be humble. The words you wrote on your paper remind us that Philippians 2:3 is an upside-down kind of verse. God is telling us to do something that doesn’t come easy to any of us. Writing a word upside-down isn’t easy but it’s even harder to live upside down by not being selfish. But don’t worry! If you ask God to turn your attitude upside down, He will help you think of others instead of yourself.”

Choose one of the following activities to do with your child

1. TAKE A SNAPSHOT

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WHAT YOU NEED: One set of “Situation Cards” Activity Page
WHAT YOU DO:
• Lay-out the situation cards on the floor.
• Ask your group to work together to separate the situations into two piles—big or small.
— Ask: Is it a big situation or a small situation?
• Discuss as a group whether it’s easier to put others first in big situations or in the small, daily situations, and why?
— Typically, it’s easier to put others first in a big situation, because they need the support and it’s an obvious need, but in the smaller, day to day stuff, with the people you see all the time, it’s much harder!
• Place the situation cards in the middle of your group, face down.
• Ask one person to choose a card and then silently act out how he or she could put the person in that situation first.
— Challenge the rest of the group to guess what is being acted out.
— Remind them that they’ve seen all the cards already, so they have a “head start” for figuring out what is being acted out.
• Allow everyone else to have a turn as long as time allows.

WHAT YOU SAY:

“It can be really hard to put others first, especially when it comes to the people
we’re around the most! [Make it Personal] (Describe one way someone in
your life puts you first in the daily, mundane stuff of life. And give kids an
example of how you put others first.)

2. BIBLE STORY EXTENSION
WHAT YOU DO:
• Divide the group into two teams.
• Read the following statements aloud, one at a time, and ask kids to decide as a team if it’s true or false.
— Both teams can discuss quietly amongst themselves and then use their bodies to either spell “true” or “false.”
— Challenge kids to get creative in how they spell true and false, trying not to do it the same way twice!
— If your group is super creative, let them try out various ways to communicate “true” or “false,” without actually speaking the words aloud.
• At the end, the team that got the most answers right is the winning team!
• Discuss any answers the kids don’t get correct.
T/F Statements
1. The disciples completely understood what Jesus told them when they ate dinner together. (False, His words didn’t make sense to them)
2. The disciples took Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane so they could pray for Him. (False, Jesus took them to the Garden of Gethsemane so that He could pray)
3. When they got to the garden to pray, Jesus took one disciple with Him a little further to a secluded area for some privacy. (False, he took Peter, James, and John)
4. Jesus was sad, His soul was tired, and He was not looking forward to what was coming (True)
5. His friends kept watch the whole time Jesus went alone to pray. (False, they fell asleep)
6. Jesus asked God, His Father, to take the suffering away from Him but also trusted God’s plan and wanted to do what God wanted. (True)
7. After Jesus woke up His friends and asked them again to keep watch over Him while He prayed, they managed to stay awake and be good friends to Him during His time of need. (False, they fell asleep again!)
8. Judas led the angry mob to Jesus. (True)
9. Peter helped Jesus and saved Him when he used his sword to cut off the priest’s ear. (False, Jesus told him to stop and healed the man’s ear immediately)
10. Jesus’ friends stayed with Him and supported Him while he was arrested and taken away. (False, they ran away, afraid, and left Him.)
• Ask: Have you heard the phrase “hindsight is 20/20”?
— Explain what it means if your group doesn’t fully understand the phrase.
— Ask: How do you think Jesus’ friends felt about that night when they looked back and remembered everything that happened? (Sad, guilty, like they let Him down, scared, unsure.)
— But did you notice how Jesus handled it all? He knew what was going to happen—He told them about it before it even happened—and He still loved his friends and cared about them so much.
— Talk about the True/False game the group just played. If the teams did a good job putting each other first when they disagreed on an answer, tell them that! If not, ask how they could have done things differently. Make sure kids know that you’re proud of their efforts either way.

3. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
WHAT YOU NEED: No supplies needed
WHAT YOU DO:
Ask:

• How have you put someone first recently?
• Why are certain people easier to put first than others? Without naming
  names, who is easier? Who is harder?
• Our world is often “all about me,” so how can you live the upside-down, others-first, life instead?
• How can you put others first this week? Who is someone specific you can put first and how are you going to do it?