Sunday School Lessons - Learning the Creation Story

The creation story is a central component in Sunday school lessons for any age group. One great way to teach the creation story to the pre-school age group is through a garden unit. A Sunday school garden unit goes through the different elements - air, water, and soil - and explains how God created everything to work together in harmony.

Garden Unit Set Up

Because pre-school kids are so active, it is important to have lessons that incorporate a lot of different activities. For the garden unit, try to teach about the different elements in as many ways as possible - through songs, skits, snacks, and crafts.

Air

Air is a good way to start the garden unit, because it fits with the start of the creation story.

Read the start of the creation story, and talk about how we perceive light and darkness. We might sometimes think it's scary in the dark, but God is everywhere and He always protects us (watch or sing Veggie Tails "God is Bigger than the Boogie Man").
Talk about how smells travel through the air and do an activity where the kids close their eyes and guess what smells you put into the air.
We experience the air through wind, which helps us fly a kite or sail a boat. Have the kids draw pictures of "air" and how we use it.
End by thanking God for making clean air for us to breathe. Talk about how it's our responsibility to take good care of the air.

Water

After the heavens and light and darkness, God created water.

Talk about the different forms of water (lakes, oceans, rain, bathtub, swimming pool) and have the kids draw pictures of water.
Discuss how humans, plants, and animals need water to live.
Sing "Deep and Wide."
Thank God for our water and talk about not wasting it.

Soil

God also created the earth, which is made from soil, or dirt.

For a messy activity, have the kids close their eyes and feel inside boxes filled with different kids of "dirt," like rich soil, sand, and clay. Talk about how we find different kids of dirt in different places and how they each serve a certain purpose.
Spend one week planting bean sprouts in clear cups and talk about how plants grow. Check on the plants from week to week to see their progress.
Make "ants on a log" for a snack and talk about all the different kids of life God created. Use celery for the base, and fill the stalks with peanut butter to make the log. Place raisins on top for the ants. Talk about how we need to protect animals and the rest of God's creations.
Finish by thanking God for the earth and all He created.