Jesus Loves Me Toddler Lessons
- Show Jesus loves the toddlers by teaching them about Creation from Genesis 1. Go through the days of creation, emphasizing that God created human beings to communicate with and follow him. Explain God made each of the toddlers special -- one-of-a-kind -- and they can talk to God any time because he loves them. Have them color a picture of Creation or make books of the different days of creation from illustrations they color, along with appropriate text. Have the children label a small living plant with Genesis 1:1 and the text, "Jesus loves me enough to make a beautiful world for me to live in."
- Use John 3:16 and the story of Jesu's death and resurrection to help the children understand Jesus loves them so much he took their place. Share a story of a person who did a wrong thing, such as steal a cookie, but allowed another person to take the punishment he deserved. Explain that people do bad things. Jesus died to take the punishment because he loves his people so very much.
Glue a world onto a piece of paper. Take pictures of the children and print them out. Cut out the pictures. Help the toddlers glue the pictures in a semi-circle left, right and under the world. Add the toddlers' names and write, "Jesus Loved Enough to Die For..." across the top.
From two pieces of cardstock cut the vertical and horizontal parts of a cross. Glue them together. Let the children color the vertical piece. Across the horizontal piece, print in red, "Jesus loves" and the child's name. - Talk to the toddlers about families and other adults who love and care for them. Explain Jesus loves them so much he put others into their lives to love them and help them grow up healthy and strong. Print out a picture of Jesus and basic illustrations of parents and siblings. Help each toddler cut out the illustrations that best fit his family such as a mother and father, two sisters and a brother. Include a picture or illustration to represent the toddler. Glue to a sheet of construction paper and add family names. Let the toddler color the pictures.
In the center of a paper plate print, "Jesus loves me enough to give me family." Use stickers of family members such as mother, father, brother and sister stickers to add to the paper plate. With a marker, write names of family members radiating from the middle. - Teach a lesson on how much Jesus loves the toddlers. Explain that Jesus loves them and wants them to love him back. They can do this by talking to God anytime and, when they get older, read God's Word. They can also show Jesus' love to others by being kind. Print out a picture of Jesus for the toddlers to color. Print out pictures of the toddlers as well. Help the toddlers glue a picture of themselves next to Jesus. The heading should read, "Jesus loves me and I love him, too." Teach the toddlers the song "Jesus Love Me," and have them sing it for their parents at the end of class.