Creatures in God’s World: Animal Homes

Creatures in God’s World: Animal Homes
“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of Hosts and my God.” Psalm 84:3
Call to Worship
(Sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain”)
Let’s worship God, let’s worship God, let’s worship God,
With joyful hearts, with joyful hearts, with joyful hearts,
Let’s worship God with joyful hearts!

Joys and Concerns
Have the children share a few joys and concerns they have and follow with a prayer thanking God for our joys and asking God to be with us in our concerns.

Sharing
Ask: Have you ever seen a bird’s nest? (We have one in our tree at home, etc.)
Listening
During the story, children will play the roll of a bird flying about building a nest. Have the children practice flapping their wings. Tell them that they are to flap their wings three times whenever they hear the word fly.
Say: I am a mother bird. I need to build a nest where I can lay my eggs. I’ve chosen this tree branch as the best place to build my nest. Now I must fly (pause) around and look for materials. Whenever I find something, I’ll bring it back to this branch. Since I am called a Baltimore Oriole, I like to build my nest with lots of materials.
I see some twigs. I’ll fly (pause) down and get those. There are some stalks of grass in that field. I’ll fly (pause) down and get those too. Oh good! I see some string over there on the ground. I’ll fly (pause) down and pick it up. There’s a long piece of yarn hanging from that low branch. I’ll fly (pause) and get that next. Great! There’s a clump of hair from someone’s hair brush. I’ll fly (pause) over near the porch and get that. Now I’ll fly (pause) down and get some more grass. This nest is really coming along! What a wonderful nest for my babies. I’m glad God gave animals the ability to make their own home.
Exploring
Make a Bagel Bird Feeder!

Say: There’s a verse in the Bible that talks about birds who nested at the temple. “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of Hosts and my God.” Psalm 84:3. There are birds who live near our church, too. Today we’re going to make a treat for you to give to the birds who live near your homes.
What you need:
Bagel
Plastic knife
Yarn or string
Peanut butter or lard
Birdseed
Split the bagel in half. On the flat side spread peanut butter or lard. Sprinkle the birdseed on a paper plate. Press the peanut buttered side of the bagel into the birdseed. Tie a string onto the bagel and hang in a tree.

Read more: http://kidscrafts.suite101.com/article.cfm/easy_to_make_bird_feeders#ixzz0OwZLzbE8

Benediction
Say: Loving God, Thank you so much for the wonder creatures in our world. Amen.