Greet your students as they enter. While everyone is getting settled, ask your students about their Father’s Day plans. Be sensitive to the family dynamics in your class and the fact that some students might not have a dad at home to celebrate. Make mention of the fact that some single-mom homes celebrate mom on this day since she is doing double-duty. You can ask if they plan to celebrate any grandfathers or uncles or stepdads or other father figures, too.
Show this video to your students [3:00]:
Kids Perspective on Dads- The Fatherhood Project
- What were some of the themes you noticed in this video? What did you hear over and over again? (Answers will vary but may include: Dads are strong, they appreciate quality time and gifts from their dads, dads protect you and keep you safe, dads love you, etc.)
Draw a large stick figure person on the whiteboard. Hand out sticky notes and pens/pencils.
Let’s use those ideas we saw in the video, plus some of our own, to cover this person in what we think makes a great parent. Write a characteristic of a good dad or other father-figure on a sticky note and stick it to our drawing. Share aloud what you’re writing so we can come up with as many different answers as possible.
Once the drawing is filled up, read or ask a student to read the sticky notes. Ask the class if there are any great characteristics that were missed and add those too.
Name a few of the major themes represented in the sticky notes (examples might be: loves us, provides for us, and takes care of us). Some of us probably have dads that are good at those things, and some of us probably don’t. The good news is, God, our heavenly Father, is the best dad we could imagine. Sure, He takes care of us on earth, but He has promised to take care of us eternally, too! Our lesson today focuses on our heavenly Father’s guarantee to take care of us for all eternity. Let’s see what He did to guarantee us a future with Him.
