The Good Samaritan

In my first grade CCD class this week, we talked about the parable of the good Samaritan.

It's a simple story that children can understand and relate to. 

First we discussed what a parable was.

What is a parable?

Parables are stories that Jesus told to show and teach us important spiritual and moral truths.

The parable of the good Samaritan was a story Jesus told after a man asked,  "How do I get into Heaven?" and  "Who is my neighbor?"

Jesus told the story to teach us that everyone was our neighbor. He wanted us to love one another .

For my class we started off with a coloring page of the Good Samaritan. 

I give my kids a coloring page to do while waiting for the other students to arrive.

Once everyone was there, we opened class off with The Morning Offering.

Father has asked us to teach it to our classes this year.

After our prayer, I read a story about the The Good Samaritan.

Once the story was finished, we talked about how we can be good Samaritans  We went around the room and each child offered 2 to 3 ideas.

They then colored a picture of one of the ideas they had mentioned.

I found a Love your Neighbor as Yourself coloring page here.

I liked this page because of the bible verse at the top of the page.

Once the children were done with their pages, they came up to the front of the room and told the class about their pictures. They shared a variety of ideas.

Next, we played a game called clusters.

The children were in a group and the leader called out directions.

Right, Left, Front, Back

The leader also called out numbers to have the kids paired off.

We used the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6.

We the numbers were called out the children had to get into a group pertaining that number. Once in their group, they performed an action.

2- they knelt down and raised their arms towards each other to form a church steeple

3- one child was injured and the other two helped the injured one like crutches

4- they got into groups and took care of an sick/injured person

6- they formed a bridge(tunnel)...four kids faced each other and made a bridge with their arms and the two remaining kids went through the bridge.

Before we started the game, we talked about what each action represented.

2~The church was to represent the Kingdom of Jesus

3~ Crutches represented we all need help sometimes

4~ Helping the sick reminds us to be like the good Samaritan.

6~ The bridge showed us that we should follow Jesus and His ways.

While researching for this lessons, I came across Saint Augustine's interpretation of the parable.

Saint Augustine believed the good Samaritan was Jesus and the injured man was Adam. Adam was the symbol of all fallen mankind. Jesus came down from Heaven to earth to cure man's wounds.

Here is a list of symbols I discovered too.

Jerusalem is Paradise

Jericho is the world 

Man is Adam or the whole human race

Priest and Levite are the Law and the Prophets

Samaritan is Jesus

Inn is the Church

Innkeeper is Paul

Two coins are the Old and New Testament or the two Great Commandments

Coloring pages for the Good Samaritan

Sermons4kids

Funny Coloring Pages

Ministry to Children coloring and sequencing page

Parables of Jesus

Parables Coloring pages

Worksheets

Puzzle

Crossword puzzle

Helping Hands Challenge

Samaritan Crossword Puzzle

Samaritan Maze

Here is a link to a song about the Good Samaritan. It is sung to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.

Crafts

Who is my neighbor craft

Kindness Flower

Another idea I had was have the kids act out the story. They could do it with puppets or themselves. They would have fun acting the story out.

God Bless,

Monique