Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction - Bible Point - Release Our Sadness to God Like Hannah Did!

As I've mentioned I teach a class of first graders - mostly boys - on Sunday mornings and these children LOVE science projects . . . whenever I use one I have their complete and total focus! Plus - and more importantly - they remember the project AND the point which goes with it, so to me, it seems like a "no-brainer" to add science projects to my lessons whenever possible!

This Sunday the Bible lesson is about how Hannah prayed and asked God for a baby. Hannah was really sad because she was being bullied by her husband's other wife who had children, so not only did she feel sad because she really wanted a baby - which she did not have - but she was bullied and feeling bad about herself for not having a baby. Hannah could have let her sadness grow and cause a chain reaction of anger and bitterness, but instead, she turned to God! She poured out her heart in prayer to God and asked Him for a baby. As we know, God answered Hannah's prayer and she had a son who she named, Samuel, which means, asked of God. Hannah's sadness was turned to joy when she turned to God with her sadness!

This Sunday I'm going to use a fun new experiment which I found on-line - it uses popsicle sticks - LOTS of popsicle sticks. When we lay them on the table in a certain pattern, children will see first hand what a chain reaction looks like. More importantly, I'll connect the project to how sadness can "weave" into our lives and cause a chain reaction of anger and bitterness which will "hold" us down, but when we turn to God, He causes this sadness to "release" and the result will be noticeable!

After our project I'll have kids each take a popsicle stick and write, "talk to God" on one side and add a magnet strip to the other so they can take it home and remember to release their sadness to God like Hannah did!