Silly Bands are one of the biggest fads right now for children. These simple toys have captured the imagination of kids all across the US. You’ll see kids wearing their collections and bartering with their friends for new bands.
Dale Hudson saw this as an opportunity to share the Gospel.
His church created a Bible lesson build around giant silly bands for their fall kickoff. This post is the teaching notes they used for the event. This is a great example of using of connecting your teaching with the cultural imagination of children.
Here’s the link to learn how to make these giant silly band props.
They started by purchasing the silly bands you see. You can find them on ChristianBook.com as “faith bands.” Next, they picked the ones that would work best for sharing the lesson. They built the large props from PVC pipe that was heated and bent, and put together.
Silly Bands Large Group Lesson
Teaching Props/Supplies/People
- A regular size Bible, Cross, Heart, Foot, and Fish Silly Band on teacher’s wrists
- Large Bible Silly Band and someone to hold it
- Large Cross Silly Band and someone to hold it
- Large Heart Silly Band and someone to hold it
- Large Foot Silly Band and someone to hold it
- Large Fish Silly Band and someone to hold it
- Bible
- Your cell phone
- Ministry partner with a cell phone (connect with them pre-service per script)
- White t-shirt with “Sin” written on the front in blue and “Death” on the back in black and someone to hold it
- 3-4 blue markers or sharpies
- Clean, white t-shirt and someone to hold it
- Hula-Hoop and someone to hold it
- Package wrapped like birthday present and someone to hold it
- Small toy or candy
- Journey Class Form
Pro Presenter Slides (cues in script)
- “Everyone has sinned.” Romans 3:23
- “The payment for sin is death.” Romans 6:23
- “For God loved the world so much, that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
- Forgiver
- Forgiver, Leader
- Forgiver, Leader, Friend
- Journey Class logo
Lesson
Hey kids! How many of you think Silly Bands are really cool? (hold up your wrists and let kids respond) Awesome! Well guess what? Today we’re going to use some silly bands to learn some very important things. Does that sound like fun? (let kids respond)
And guess what! These are no ordinary silly bands! These are GIANT silly bands! In fact, they’re so big; you could probably call them BODY bands! I mean, they’re so big; you could probably wear them around your whole body instead of just your wrist! Wouldn’t that be funny? (let kids respond)
So…are you ready to get started? (let kids respond) Cool. Let’s start by praying. Everyone bow your head and close your eyes. The reason we do this is so we can concentrate on talking to God. When your eyes are open, it’s easy to get distracted during prayer.
(Get everyone still and quiet and then lead in prayer. Ask God to help everyone to understand the words He has for us today.)
Are you ready to see our first giant silly band? (let kids respond) Okay, here it is!
(Have someone bring out the Bible silly band to center stage and stand there with it. You can use a child from the audience if necessary.)
So check it out….can someone tell me what shape this giant Silly Band is in? Someone raise your hand, if you think you know.
(Have child from the audience identify it as the shape of the Bible. You can bring the child who identifies it up on the stage and have them hold it as another option.)
Awesome job! You’re right! It represents the Bible. (hold up your Bible) The Bible is God’s Word to us….it’s His message to us. It’s kind of like this…
(bring the ministry partner with the cell phone on stage)
How many of you know what texting is? (let kids respond) Of course, just about everyone does. It’s a way to send a message to another person by using your cell phone. Let’s try it out know.
(Stand across the stage from the ministry partner. Ask for his/her cell number and send him/her a text message joke. Have the ministry partner who receives the text read it out loud when they receive it. Have the ministry partner tell you they don’t know the answer. Text them the answer and have them read it out loud after they receive it. Make it funny and play it up. If you don’t want to actually text, you can both act like you are texting.)
- Why did the orange go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t peeling very well!
- What kind of car does a cow drive? A Cattleac
- Where do rabbits work? IHOP
(have the ministry partner return to his/her seat)
Did you see how I sent him/her a message using my phone? (let kids respond) Well, let me tell you about something way more cool than that! God has sent each of you a message. (hold up your Bible) The Bible is the Word of God written down for you. The Bible is like a big text message from God to you!
So let’s check out some of the message God wants you to know. Check this out.
God says in Romans 3:23 that “Everyone has sinned.” (read it from your Bible and also have it on screen) Let’s read it all together. (have kids read it with you)
This message from God says that you and I have sinned. It’s pretty simple. Sin is disobeying God. (have kids in the audience give a few examples of a sin) That’s right! We have all done things that are wrong.
It’s kinda like this.(bring 3-4 kids up on stage, give them the blue markers/ sharpies, and hold up the white t-shirt that says sin)
When you and I sinned, it messed up our life.
(lay the t-shirt down and have the kids quickly mark and scribble all over the front of it / then hold up the t-shirt to the audience, have kids return to their seats except for one who will stay and hold up the marked t-shirt)
It made our lives look like this! The reason we used the color blue was to represent how our sin makes God feel. He looks down and our sin makes Him feel “blue” or “sad.”
Here’s another message God has for you and I in the Bible. He says in Romans 6:23 that “The payment for sin is death.” (read it from your Bible and also have it on screen) Let’s read that all together. (have kids read it with you)
(Ask for someone in the audience who has recently bought a video game. Bring him/her on stage. Ask him/her what game they bought, why they like it, the goal of the game, etc. Then ask him/her if the store let them have it for free? Explain the concept of having to pay a bill for something you get. Have child return to his/her seat.)
God says that we owe a payment or a bill for our sin. What does it say is the bill for our sin?
(turn the t-shirt around and show the word “Death” on the back / let kids respond)
Because we have sinned (disobeyed God), our lives look like this. (hold up front of marked up t-shirt) And the bill or payment we owe for that is death. (show back of t-shirt)
That means when we die, if our sins (hold up front of t-shirt) have not been forgiven by Jesus, we will be separated from God forever. (turn t-shirt to show the word “death”) Instead of living with God forever in heaven, we will be separated from Him forever.
Now that’s bad news, isn’t it? (let kids respond) It sure is.
But here’s the good news. God knew that we were going to sin and mess up. (hold up front of marked up t-shirt) So He decided to make a way that we could be forgiven and not be separated from Him forever.
That leads us to our next giant band. (have someone bring out the cross band and stand beside the Bible band) What do you think this band represents? (have a child in the audience respond)
Yep! That’s right! It represents Jesus dying on the cross for our sins! You see, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, down to the earth to die for us and pay the bill we owe for our sin.
Check out this amazing verse found in John 3:16. (read the verse from your Bible and have on screen) It says, “For God loved the world so much, that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (have kids read the verse again with you)
Jesus, God’s Son, came down to the earth. He was born in a city called Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary. And here’s something really, really important.
I want to show you how many times Jesus sinned.
(Have someone bring out the hula-hoop and stand beside the cross. Have them hold up the hula-hoop so that it looks like the number 0.) Zero! That’s right! He was perfect! He never sinned one time because He was God’s Son. He never lied, He never stole, He never cheated…He was perfect!
When Jesus grew up, He died on the cross. (point again to the cross band) Let’s think about why Jesus died on the cross.
Tell me again what the payment for sin is? (hold up t-shirt and let kids respond) That’s right…death. And what did Jesus do on the cross? (let kids respond) Correct…He died. You know why? He was dying in your place.
Think about it this way. When He died on the cross, whose sins was He dying for? Was it for His sins? (let kids respond) Right again…He wasn’t dying for His sins, because He didn’t have any!(point to the hula-hoop zero) He was dying for your sins…for my sins.
(take the marked t-shirt and hang it over the cross band) On the cross, Jesus paid your sin bill. He paid the bill for all the bad stuff you have done in your life. He died, so that instead of being separated from God forever, you could live with God forever in Heaven!
Now isn’t that great news!!!
But wait a minute…Jesus has died for your sins…but you have to accept it…like you would accept a gift.
(Use illustration of birthday gift. Bring up the child who has the closest birthday. Illustrate how they have to reach out and take the gift for it to become theirs. Explain that it’s the same with accepting God’s forgiveness. You have to reach out and accept it. It’s not yours until you take it. Have him/her hold the gift and stay on stage. Give him/her a small candy/toy after service for helping since they didn’t get to open the gift and their birthday is near.)
Let’s go back and review. How did God send us a message? (point to the Bible band) That’s right…the Bible.
(hold up the front of the t-shirt) And what does this represent? (let kids respond) That’s right…it stands for our sin. And what is sin? (let kids respond) Yes…it’s disobeying God. What is the bill we owe for our sin? (turn t-shirt around) That’s right…death…which means being separated from God forever.
And what did God do for us? (point to the cross band) Yes…He sent His Son, Jesus, to die and pay our sin bill. (point to the gift) And we learned that we have to reach out and accept His forgiveness for it to be ours.
Check out our next giant band. (have someone bring out the heart band and stand beside the cross band.
You accept God’s gift of eternal life by praying and asking Jesus to be your Forgiver. (word “Forgiver” on screen) You tell Him you are sorry for your sins. You tell Him that you believe in your heart that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again for your sins. You ask Him to come into your heart…which means your life. You ask Him to forgive your sins and make your heart…or life…clean.
(have someone hold up the clean, white t-shirt) When you do that, He wipes away all your sins and they are all gone! Your heart…your life…is made clean again.
Let’s bring out the next giant band that will show us how to accept God’s gift of eternal life. (bring out the foot band and stand it beside the heart band)
What does this band look like? (let kids respond) Yep…it’s a giant foot band!
When you accept God’s gift of eternal life, you also pray and ask Him to be your Leader. (word “Leader” on screen under the word “Forgiver”) The foot represents following Jesus…it means asking Him to be the Leader or the Boss of your life.
That means if you are in the store and are tempted to steal a piece of candy…you will follow Jesus and not steal it. If your parents ask you to do something…you will follow Jesus and obey them.
Now this doesn’t mean you will be perfect. Sometimes you will still mess up. But the good thing is that after Jesus comes into your life…He will always love you…even when you mess up. Asking Jesus to be your Leader means you will do your best to follow Him.
Let’s check out one last giant band! (have someone bring out the fish band and stand beside the foot band) What does this band look like? (let kids respond)
Yeah…it’s a giant fish band!
The fish band represents asking Jesus to be your Friend! (word “Friend” on screen under the first two words, leave all three words on screen) Now you may be wondering what a fish has to do with Jesus being your friend. Well, there’s a cool story in the Bible of Jesus cooking a meal for some of his friends. His friends were called Disciples. Guess what He cooked for them? (let kids respond) That’s right…He cooked fish for them. He shared meals with His friends. He loved His friends and spent time with them.
The cool thing about asking Jesus to come into your life is He becomes your best friend. He’s always there for you. You can talk to Him by praying. When you are afraid, He will be there to help you be brave. When you are sad, He will be there to cheer you up. When you are lonely, He will be by your side. Isn’t that cool!!!
You guys have really done a great job listening and participating today. Let’s go back and review our bands one last time.
(point to each item as you go back through them)
The Bible band represents what? (let kids respond) Yes, God’s Words or message to us.
The marked up shirt represents what? (let kids respond) Yes, our sin.
What is the payment for sin? (turn shirt around and let kids respond) Yes, death. Which means being separated from God forever.
But the cross represents some great news. What did Jesus do for us? (let kids respond) Yes, He died on the cross to pay the bill for our sin.
Why was Jesus able to do this? (point to hula-hoop and let kids respond) That’s right….He never sinned. He was God’s Son.
What does the present mean? (let kids respond) Yes…you have to reach out and accept God’s forgiveness.
You do that by asking Jesus to be your…? (point to the heart and let kids respond) Yes…your Forgiver.
You ask Him to be your…? (point to foot and let kids respond) Yes…your Leader.
And you also ask Him to be your…? (point to fish and let kids respond) Yes…your Friend.
If you have never asked Jesus to be your Forgiver, Leader, and Friend…then I want to invite you to a class where you can learn more about this. It’s called the Journey Class. (hold up brochure and put logo on screen)
It’s a class you attend with your parent or guardian. If you would like to come, then talk to your parent or guardian. Ask them to sign you up. There are forms by the doors when you leave. If you want one of our awesome God’s Kids Leaders to help you talk with your parent/guardian about the class, they will be glad to. Just ask them and they’ll help you.
Let’s bow our heads and pray. (start slow background prayer music and continue it until the end of the prayer – have every child get still and quiet with their eyes closed)
Dear God,
Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. If there is anyone here today who has never asked Jesus to be their Forgiver, Leader, and Friend, help them to talk with their parents. Help them to come to the Journey class so they can learn more about Your gift of eternal life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Guess what kids? When you leave today, you’re going to get two free silly bands that are in the shape of two of these on stage. Wear them this week. If you’ve never been to the Journey Class, then let the bands be a reminder to ask your parents to sign you up. And tell your friends at school, sports team, and neighborhood what the bands mean!
Dale Hudson is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach, Florida. You might enjoy his article on Children’s Ministry Magazine titled “Ministry Lessons from Walt Disney.”