We are now in week 5 of our “Kids On A Mission” series. This week, we will be traveling to Iceland…one of the most beautiful places on earth! Even though the handiwork of God can be seen all over Iceland’s majestic landscape, most of the people there have forgotten who their Creator is. Our prayer is that this series helps develop in our children the desire to see Jesus come in to every special and unique culture and redeem the people in it.
Kids On A Mission: Iceland
Lesson 5
Purpose:
By the end of this lesson, children will be able to:
- Describe some of the geographic features that sets Iceland apart from the rest of the world
- Recall the history of how Iceland got its name and why it is now known as the “Land of Fire and Ice”
- Pray for the people of Iceland in respect to their culture and heritage
Materials:
- Bible
- Passport
- Map/globe
- Orange, yellow, blue, and white streamers
- Tape
- Paper with the word “Iceland” printed in large, block letters
- Orange yarn/string and blue yarn/string
- 2 poster boards
- Markers
- Blindfold
Lesson Prep:
- Choose the room that you want to conduct the lesson in. On one half of the room, hang the orange and yellow streamers from the ceiling and on the other half of the room, hang the blue and white streamers. Fill it in as much as you have the patience for. Be prepared for all of your kids to think that you are decorating for a surprise birthday party, and for the disappointment that follows.
- Prepare the children’s passport:
- Have pictures of Iceland handy via Google Images.
- Cut orange and blue yarn into 1-2 inch pieces
- On the 2 poster boards, draw identical scenes as beautiful as you are capable of…mountains, valleys, rivers, etc. (Do not color them in.) Tape poster boards side by side on wall
Introduction:
Begin the lesson by seating the children in your room with the streamers. Have them sit underneath the border between the orange/yellow streamers and the blue/white streamers.
Teacher says:
- Children, today we are traveling to the amazing country of Iceland! Iceland is a large island located in the North Atlantic Ocean.
(Show children on a map/globe where Iceland is located.)
- If a country is named Iceland, what do you think it must be like there?
(Allow children time to answer.)
- Well, there are a lot of mysteries to be found in the country of Iceland, starting with its tricky name! The name Iceland comes from a group of explorers called the Vikings who discovered the large island over a thousand years ago. It was such a beautiful and special land that they didn’t want anyone else to move there…they wanted to keep it all for themselves. So they named it Iceland. They thought that a name like Iceland would keep people from wanting to move there for the same reasons that you mentioned…it must be cold and barren. The Vikings tricked the whole world! Iceland is not an icy land it all…it has warm summers and good, cold winters, and is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
- If the Vikings had decided to use a name that described Iceland for what it is really like there, what do you think they would have named it?
(Allow children time to answer.)
- Today, Iceland is known as the Land Of Fire And Ice.
(Acknowledge the streamers hanging from the ceiling. The orange/yellow streamers represent fire and the blue/white streamers represent ice.)
- Why do you think a place would be called a Land Of Fire And Ice?
(Allow children time to answer.)
- Iceland is a land of contrasts. There are volcanoes with bubbling lava (point towards orange streamers) and there are icy glaciers (point towards blue streamers). There are deep pools of hot mineral water called hot springs (orange streamers) and there are ice fishing villages (blue streamers). This is why it is known as the Land Of Fire And Ice. There is hot and cold everywhere!
(Show children the pictures of Iceland.)
- Now that we have an idea of what Iceland is like, let’s fill out our passports!
(Children will place their stamp in the box and then fill out the 2 pages of Iceland’s contrasting geography. On the “Fire” page have them draw elements of Iceland’s geography that would fall under that category (volcanoes, lava, hot springs), and do the same on the “Ice” page (glaciers, snow, ice fishing).
Lesson:
Pass out the papers with “Iceland” printed on it, along with the blue yarn and the orange yarn pieces. Tell them to glue pieces of the blue and orange yarn to the block letters, representing the fire and ice aspects of Iceland.
As children are gluing yarn to the paper, Teacher says:
- The people in Iceland are surrounded by some of God’s most majestic and beautiful creation! He made clean rivers that they can drink out of; He made tall mountains and deep, green valleys; He made bubbling hot springs and flowing lava; He even made colorful sparkling lights – called the Aurora Borealis – that shine in the sky at night…and it’s all right there in their backyard! What an amazing place to live…what a blessing!
- The Bible tells us that all of the beauty around us proves that there is a powerful and wise God. How could such a remarkable place like Iceland exist without a Creator creating it!?!
- Let’s read Job 12:7-10
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the seainform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”
- Wow! Everything on earth that God has created points to Him and proves that He is in charge! But you know what? Even though the people of Iceland are surrounded by some of God’s most amazing work, most of the people there do not know who King Jesus is.
- Unless God changes our heart, the Bible says it is like we are blind. That means that even though God’s love and goodness are all around us, we do not even see it. It takes a miracle of God to make a blind person – meaning a person who doesn’t know God – see. Salvation is always, always a miracle…for you, me, and the people of Iceland.
Activity:
Direct children towards the poster boards on the wall. Ask for a volunteer to go first; blindfold that child.
Explain that the purpose of this game is to show us that before we know Jesus, we are blind. The people of Iceland see the beauty all around them, but they don’t see God in it.
Hand each blindfolded child a basket of markers and instruct him to color one portion of the scenery. You may want to tell one to “color the river blue” and another to “color the valley green.” Not only will picking out the correct color marker be impossible, but filling it in properly on the poster will be very tricky.
Once all children have had a turn, take a look at the picture…it’s a mess!
Have them then turn to the other poster board with the same scene drawn on it. As a group, the children will color it in un-blindfolded. When they are done, stand back and admire the difference! When a person is blind, the beauty is all messed up. But a person’s eyes being opened allows for everything to come together the way it is supposed to.
Teacher says:
- Because we know the joy of being in God’s family and having our sins forgiven, our desire should be that all people have the salvation that we do! The people in Iceland who don’t know Jesus need to have their hearts changed and their eyes opened, so that they can finally see who made their beautiful and wonderful country!
- This week, we are going to pray for the people of Iceland in special and specific ways. And we are going to keep our messy picture that we made hanging up on the wall all week to remind us of the blindness that we had before we knew Jesus.
Conclusion:
As you conclude the lesson, hold hands in a circle and sing Amazing Grace. Ask each child to say one short sentence as you pray for the people of Iceland.
Week Of Prayer:
Day One:
Pray for the grown-ups who don’t know Jesus, that God would open their eyes and give them new hearts.
Day Two:
Pray for the children who don’t know Jesus, that God would send someone to them to tell them about God’s amazing love and grace.
Day Three:
Pray for the people in Iceland who are Christians, that God would give them the right words to say to help others understand who Jesus is.
Day Four:
Pray for the missionaries to Iceland, that they would make friends and that the people would listen to them.
Day Five:
Pray for the leaders of Iceland, that their hearts would become humble and they would look to God for wisdom.
Day Six:
Pray for the rich people, that their money would not make them feel satisfied and they would look to God for joy.
Day Seven:
Pray for the poor people, that the Christians would help take care of them and they would find their rest in King Jesus.
We hope that you are enjoying following along in our “Kids On A Mission” series!
Please let us know what your experience has been so far, and if you have
any recommendations or ideas. We would love your feedback!
