The Ten Commandments Children's Sunday School Lessons part 2

Blessings to you, children's teachers! This is second of my two-part series on the Ten Commandments. These 6 children's Sunday School lessons cover the last 5 of the Ten Commandments, those that deal with how we should treat other people. There's also a summary lesson to wrap the entire ten-week series.

• Honoring Our Parents – why we should and how we can honor our parents
• You Shall Not Kill – controlling our anger and living in peace
• You Shall Not Commit Adultery – what students need to know now about marriage
• You Shall Not Steal – being content and thankful for what we have
• You Shall Give False Testimony – the damage of lying about other people
• The Two Greatest Commandments – loving God and others helps us follow all the rest

If you missed it, go back and start with part 1 of the series, Loving God . It covers the first 5 commandments in 4 lessons.

As always, you'll find a variety of games, crafts, or other activities to help kids learn the message of the lesson.

Check out my Children's Sermons about the Ten Commandments for ideas on how to teach these messages during a worship service or as a short devotional.

Recommended Extras

I always like to give you some ideas from what I've used in my ministry. They're not necessary to work with the lessons, but can add to the lesson or the theme of the series. Here are my favorites that you can order fairly inexpensively or print out from other sites for free.

Paid Resources

Add these videos, lessons, and take-home gifts to your planning to enrich kids' experience learning God's Top Ten rules.

Videos

This Superbook episode is more of a background on the giving of the Ten Commandments. As I said in part 1 of this lesson series, I recommend showing it as an introduction, especially if you haven't talked much about Moses and the giving of the Law yet. You could, however, also use it as a wrap-up video to answer the question, "Now that we know God's rules, where did they come from?" You could then springboard into talking about Moses and the Exodus.

The video itself is sure to capture kids' attention with the revamped character models of the classic series. If you're unfamiliar, the series follows the main character children and a robot named Gizmo who have different adventures traveling back in time where they meet the Biblical characters and observe the historic action.

If you're going to show videos during this lesson series, though, this is probably where you want to focus. It's unique in that each episode shows the main character, an Israelite child, learning one of the Ten Commandments.

Both videos help kids get an idea of the Biblical setting of the story, but this one goes into much more depth about what the Ten Commandments actually are. It also shows some great application of how to follow each Commandment.

I recommend showing one episode per week as the intro or close to your lesson or else alternating a lesson with an episode or two of the series. Teach the lesson the first week and then show the corresponding video or videos the next week. Some of my lessons cover more than one of the commandments, so there won't be an exact one-to-one ratio. After the video, review what you talked about in the lesson the week before.

---

Lesson Resources

I enjoy highlighting Mary Kate Warner's Bible Fun Factory series. She doesn't always cover every story or go into as much depth as I do, but her lessons are fantastic.

I recommend picking up a copy of this volume and using it to supplement my own lessons below. She has five lesson plans in which you'll find new games and activities to add to what I've provided below. You can also substitute some of her activities in for mine if you have a younger class.

Some of our most instructive folktales and fables are falling by the wayside. But you can use this one to help with your teaching on not giving false testimony. It's an amusing story that's easy to understand. I like it because it shows the importance of being a truthful person and the consequences of losing people's trust. In the lesson below, there's a game I created based on this story.

This book by B.G. Hennessy adds some more storytelling elements to the fable that you and your class will enjoy. And Boris Kulikov's unique art style makes it stand out from some of the other storybooks that tell this fable.

---

For Home

You could use this in the classroom to review the Ten Commandments each week or to show their application as a wrap-up to the series.

It is, however, written in the context of the family and works very well as a family devotional and conversation starter. The only drawback is that it's written from a Catholic perspective. You can suggest that families take the opportunity to talk about how that branch of Christianity is a little different or simply change the words as you read. Going to "Mass," for instance, simply becomes attending the "church service" in talking about the Sabbath.

It shows exactly what the commandments mean and has great application for kids' modern lives.

Even if you have a small children's ministry budget, you can help kids remember the Ten Commandments with these bookmarks. They have each of the commandments phrased succinctly so that kids can understand them easily.

Even if kids don't read many physical books nowadays, they can hang the bookmarks from a tack on their wall or over their doorknob to serve as a constant reminder of God's standard for our lives.

---

Free Resources

Here are some coloring and activity pages on the Ten Commandments from Free Sunday School Curriculum and Sermons4Kids . The first also has a craft for making bracelets or necklaces with the Ten Commandments written on them. It can make a great take-home for the las lesson.

You can also print out these posters from Ministry-to-Children to help kids remember the Ten Commandments. The site also has a great lesson on honoring fathers that you can adapt to include mothers as well for the first lesson in this series.

Honoring Our Parents Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the Ten Commandments to teach children about honoring their parents.

Needed: white board or large piece of paper, drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils

Intro Game: Simon Says – Students follow your commands and motion when you say, "Simon says" first. If you don't say, "Simon says" before the command, and they do it anyway, they're out. If they follow a motion that doesn't match the "Simon says" verbal command, they're out. The winner is the last one in the game.

Momma or Poppa Says – Play again, but this time, tell students that you want them to practice not listening when their parents or grandparents tell them to do something. Instead of saying, "Simon Says," you're going to say "Momma Says" or "Poppa Says." They should only listen to you when you don't say "Momma" or "Poppa Says" first first. If anyone does do what you tell them when you say, "Momma" or "Poppa Says," they're out.

Play a couple of times if you like, letting the winner of each round be the new Momma or Poppa for the next game.

Afterward, ask, How does it make your parents feel when you don't listen to them?

It makes your parents upset, doesn't it? But we love our parents and we don't want to make them upset, so when we go home, let's be sure to listen when they tell us something.

Lesson: (Note: Always allow students enough time to think about and answer the questions before clarifying the teaching.)

Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

How many of you have parents?

How many of you have grandparents?

Most of us have at least one parent or a grandparent. So, let's look at how the Bible says we should treat our parents and grandparents.

(Have a student read Exodus 20:12 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"Honor your father and your mother,so that you may live longin the landtheLordyour God is giving you."

God says that we should honor our parents. We can also say that we should honor our grandparents. What do you think it means to honor someone?

To honor someone means to show them respect, to obey them, and to be thankful for the things they do for you.

Why should we honor or show respect to our parents and grandparents? What are some things that they've done for us or still do for us that would make us want to honor and respect them?

(Write students' ideas on the white board or paper and help them think of others. Here are some examples: gave us life, take care of us, teach us, buy us what we need, love us, spend time with us, etc.)

God gave us our parents because He knows that we need them. God made our parents to do all of those good things for us and He knows that we will learn the right things if we listen to and obey our parents.

So, because our parents do so many good things for us and because we know that God gave us our parents, we honor and respect them. What are some things that we can do to honor and show respect to our parents and grandparents?

(Again, write ideas on the board or paper and lead students into thinking of more. Examples: obey them when they tell us to do something, don't talk back, offer to help them with the chores, tell them thank you for the things they do for us, etc.)

But what happens if our parents make a mistake or do something wrong? Have any of your parents or grandparents ever made a mistake or done something wrong?

Should we still honor and respect our parents and grandparents if they make a mistake or do something wrong?

Our parents and grandparents are still people, and every person makes mistakes. Every person does something wrong once in a while. We have to be able to forgive our parents and grandparents and still honor and respect them for the good things that they do.

But God is also our parent, isn't He? The Bible says that God is our Heavenly Father because He made all of us and He takes care of us. He also gives us His rules, just like our parents give us rules, to keep us safe.

I think one of the reasons God gave us parents is to help us practice listening to Him. If we can learn to listen to our parents here on Earth, then we can learn to listen to our Heavenly Father too.

Craft: Thank You Letters to Earthly and Heavenly Parents – Give students drawing supplies and instruct them to write two letters. One will be a thank you letter to their parents or grandparents. The other will be a thank you letter to God.

Tell the children to start their letter by thanking their parents or God for all the things that they do for them. They should then end the letter promising to honor their parents and God as the commandment teaches.

If children can't write, they can draw their sentiments. They can draw a picture of what their parents or God do for them followed by a picture of them listening to or honoring their parents and God.

Game: Momma or Poppa Says – This time, play it so that kids do listen when you say "Momma" or "Poppa Says" first.

Closing Prayer: Lord, we thank You for giving us our parents. We thank You for inventing the idea of the family. Help us to honor the parents You gave us and to honor You as our Heavenly Father in all that we do. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

You Shall Not Kill Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the Ten Commandments to teach children not to harm others.

Needed: soft play balls or paper wads

Intro Game: Don't Hit Dodge Ball – Divide students into two teams. They stand at opposite sides of your play area. Their goal is to not hit the other team while making the other team hit them. If someone throws and hits a member of the other team, they're out. Meanwhile, members of the other team can dive in front of thrown balls to get the thrower out.

Players can't hold balls. They have three seconds to throw, or they're out. If a ball stays on one side for more than five seconds, the whole team is out. You can pretend the balls are bombs that they want to throw out of their area without hitting anyone else.

The first team to get all the members of the opposite team out wins.

Lesson: Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

How many of you are allowed to go kill someone if you wanted to?

How many of you are allowed to hit someone else?

You mean no one is allowed to hit or kill or another person? Why not?

(Have a student read Exodus 20:13 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not murder."

What does God tell us not to do in this commandment? (God tells us not to murder.)

Why doesn't God want us to murder?

Who made people? (God made people.)

Does God love people? (Yes.)

If we kill someone whom God made and someone whom God loves, how will God feel about that? (He will be sad that person died and He will be mad at us for killing them.)

Okay. So we're not allowed to kill people, but we can at least hit them, can't we? (No.)

God doesn't wantus to kill or to even hurt anyone in any way. We are not allowed to hit.

Game: Alex and Alicia – Help students apply the lesson by giving advice to two fictitious students. Tell students that you're going to tell them a short story. Then, they'll have to decide what the character in the story should do.

Story #1: Alex's Pesky Brother. Alex's brother, James, has been bothering him all day. He just won't leave Alex alone. Alex has tried to nicely ask James to go away, but that didn't work. Alextold his mom about it and his mom made James leave him alone for a little bit, but when their mom isn't looking, James just starts bothering Alex again. Alex is getting really angry and he thinks that maybe if he hits James, that'll make James go away.

What do you think? Should Alex hit James to make him go away?

(No.God doesn't want us to hit or hurt anyone, even if they're really bothering us. We have to keep our tempers under control and solve the problem a different way. Maybe Alex could talk to James and tell him how much he's bothering him. Maybe Alex could play with James to give him some attention.)

Story #2: She Hit Me First. Alicia and Lisa got into an argument at recess. Alicia thought High SchoolMusical 2 was the best, but Lisa liked High School Musical 3 better. They started to really argue about it and then, Lisa suddenly smacked Alicia on the arm. It hurt and Alicia really wants to smack Lisa back.

What should she do? Should Alicia hit Lisa back?

(No. God doesn't want us to hit or hurt anyone, even if they hit us or hurt us first. God wants us to forgive and love other people, not hurt them. Maybe Alicia can ask Lisa to apologize. If Lisa won't apologize, maybe Alicia can walk away and talk to someone else for a while.)

Story #3. What to do about the Bully? Alex and Alicia were walking home from school one day. When they turned the corner, they saw Jimmy, the school bully, punching Chris, a kid who was younger than them.

What would you do if something like that happening?

Alex wants to run in and fight Jimmy to protect Chris. Alicia says he shouldn't because they're not supposed to hit. What should they do?

(No one should hit anyone else, even if it's to protect someone. Instead, maybe Alex can go stand between Jimmy and Chris to break up the fight. Maybe Alicia can call an adult for help.)

Game: Don't Hit Dodge Ball – Play the intro game again as long as time allows.

Closing Prayer: Father, we thank You for creating and caring about all humans. Help us to respect the people You made by never hitting or harming anyone. Help us to find other ways to solve our problems. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

You Shall Not Commit Adultery Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the Ten Commandments to teach kids about the meaning of marriage.

Needed: drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils

Intro Game: Act it Out – Divide students into teams of two. Give them each a scenario related to dating or marriage to act out. They'll have a few minutes to plan their scene. Then, each group will show the class what they came up with.

Scenario examples include Asking someone out on a date, Asking someone to marry you, Picking out a wedding dress, Getting married, Moving out of your parents' house to move in with your new husband or wife, Getting into a fight with your husband or wife, Saying you're sorry to your husband or wife after you fight

Lesson: Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

How many of you are married?

How many of you think you will be married someday?

Chances are that most of us will fall in love and get married someday, so it's important for you to start learning some of the things that God says about marriage now. That way, you can think about these things before you do get married.

Right now, who is the most important person in your life?

(Have a student read Genesis 2:24 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is unitedto his wife, and they become one flesh."

Right now, the most important people in your lives are probably your parents or grandparents or maybe a friend. But this Bible verse is telling us that when we get married, that person that we get married to, ourhusband or our wife, will be the most important person to us. We'll move out of our parents' house and we'll start our own family with our new husband or wife and our husband or wife will be the most important person to us.

Let's look at another Bible verse.

(Have a student read Exodus 20:14 , NIV.)

"You shall not commit adultery."

God says, "Do not commit adultery." This means that when we get married, we can't have any other boyfriends or girlfriends.

If you were married, but then you liked somebody else, how do you think that would make your husband or wife feel? (You may have students whose parents have divorced for this very reason, so be sensitive to that and listen to anything that your students may have to share on the subject.)

We can't have crushes on or like anybody else. We can only love our husband or our wife in that way. If we like somebody else or have another girlfriend or boyfriend, that will really hurt our husband or wife's feelings and we wouldn't want to do that because we love them.

But what happens if someone decides that they don't love their husband or wife anymore? Can they get divorced and then have other boyfriends or girlfriends?

Lots of people do get divorced because they decide they don't love their husband or wife anymore. But when people get married, they make a promise to stay married forever. God wants us to keep our promises when we get married. In fact, God says that He hates divorce.

So, what should two people do if they decide they don't love each other anymore?

They should try to work out. They can talk to counselors. They can learn how to not fight. At the very least, they can live how to keep living with each other so that they keep their promise to stay married. Maybe after a little while, they'll start loving each other again if they keep their promise to stay married.

So, the three things for you to understand about marriage for now is that when you get married, your husband or wife is the most important person to you except for God. And you are only married to that one person. You can't have any other girlfriends of boyfriends. You love only your husband or wife in that way. Third, marriage is forever, so you have to learn to work out any problems you have with your husband or wife.

Craft: The List – Give students drawing supplies and have them make two lists. On one side of the paper, they should list what they're looking for in a future spouse. Remind them that the most important things will be the person's spiritual qualities, not how they look or how much money they make.

On the second side of the paper, have the students list how they will treat their future spouse. Remind them of what you talked about in the lesson.

Game: The Course of Life Dice – Make a grid on the floor with six rows across and as many columns as you have students. Have the students line up at one side of the grid, each in front of one column. They take turns rolling a die. The winner is the first student to roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in a row.

When a student rolls a 1, they move into their first square. Announce that they asked a boy or girl out on a date.

When a student rolls a 2, they move forward to the next square. Announce that they asked a boy or girl to marry them.

On a 3, announce that they got married.

On a 4, announce that they had a baby.

On a 5, announce that they had an argument with the husband or wife and must take one step back.

On a 6, announce that they made up with their spouse and can take two steps forward. They win the game.

Students do not move forward until they roll the next number in their "story."

Play again to give someone else a chance to win.

Closing Prayer: Father God, thank You for giving us the idea of marriage. As we get older, help us to always remember that marriage is to one person, who will be the most important person to us and who we need to keep our promises to. In Jesus name, amen.

You Shall Not Steal Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the Ten Commandment to teach children about not stealing or coveting.

Needed: soft play balls or paper wads, a snack or other prize

Intro Game: Snatch Ball - Mark a line down the center of your play area. Place soft play balls on the line. If you don't have play balls, you can wad up waste paper to play with. Form two teams and tell the students to stand a certain number of steps away from the line. Give each team one ball. On "Go!" the students race toward the line to snatch the other balls. They then throw the balls at the other team. When a student is hit with a ball, they're out for the round.

Play as many rounds as you like, and then point out that the kids had to snatch the balls to make sure the other team didn't get them.

Lesson: Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

How many of you have everything you want? Can anyone think of something that you don't have, but you want? (Listen to kids' ideas and prompt them to think of something if they don't come up with anything right away.)

Do some of your friends or cousins have some of the things that you want?

What could you do to get those things you want? (Listen to kids' ideas and help them to think ofmore. Suggestions could be that they could do chores, save up allowance, ask for the item for their birthday or Christmas, etc).

You could always just steal what you want from the store or from your friend if they have what you want. Do you think that's a good idea?

How would you feel if someone stole something of yours?

(Have a student read Exodus 20:15 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not steal."

What is God telling us not to do in this Bible verse? (God is telling us not to steal.)

So, when we want something, we just have to work for and earn the money for that thing we want, or we have to wait and ask for them as a present.

But God has another rule that goes along with this one about not stealing.

(Have a student read Exodus 20:17 , NIV.)

"You shall not covetyour neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

God says that we're not supposed to covet what other people have. What does that word "covet" mean?

It means to want what someone else has, to be envious of them or jealous that they have it and we don't. God says not to want something that someone else has and not to be mad at someone for having something that we don't have.

(Have a student read Hebrews 13:5 , NIV.)

"Keep your lives free from the love of moneyand be content with what you have,because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"

God says that we should be content with what we have. What does it mean to be content?

It means to behappy with or satisfied with you what have. God doesn't want us to always be wanting more things. He wants us to just be happy and thankful for what we do have.

And we know that we always have the best thing because we always have God. Even if we don't have everything that we want, God has promised that He'll always be with us. And having God with us is much better than anything else we could want.

Game: Give It Away – Tell students that one way we show that we're content and not wanting to get more for ourselves is when we give things away.

Divide students into two teams. Give one team a handful of pennies. Have them keep as much as they think they need, giving a rationale for each cent. Question their decision on what they need to keep their money for and what they don't. You are trying to get them to see the difference between needs and wants.

Tell them to give away the rest, putting it into an offering plate. The leader takes some of that money, explaining that it's for the church to pay its bills, and then gives the rest to the other team. Now, ask the second team to keep what they need from what they've been given by the first team. Again, they put their extra into the offering.

Then, the leader pulls out more money to give to the first team to reward them for their generosity. The more they gave away during their round, the more they receive as a reward from God. They are also given the offering from team two. This is how offering works and how God rewards us for it.

Play three rounds. At the beginning of each round, the money that the teams kept is "spent" on their necessities and recycles back into the leader's supply.

Explain that God is happy with us when we're content with what we have and give to help other people.

Game: Snatch Ball with a Twist – Set up to play Snatch Ball again. But instead of putting all the balls on the line, only put one ball on the line. Give each team one ball and keep the rest with you. On "Go!" the students will run for that one ball. Give the rest of the balls to whichever side doesn't get the one in the middle, and continue playing normally.

After the round, remind students that we should be content with what we have and not always rushing to get more.

Set all the balls in the middle again. Tell students that you want them all to be content and not rush to get more. See what happens when you say, "Go!"

Keep dropping hints that you actually don't want the teams to run forward to get the balls. Once they understand and don't immediately run for the balls, give them a snack or a prize. Tell them that because they were content, you're going to reward them.

Closing Prayer: Father God, You have given us everything we need. You've even given us Yourself, the most important thing we could ever ask for. Help us to be content with and thankful for all You've blessed us with. In Jesus' name, amen.

You Shall Not Give False Testimony Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Use this children's Sunday School lesson on the Ten Commandments to teach children the importance of telling the truth.

Needed: nothing

Intro Game: Lie Detector - This game is similar to Two Truths and a Lie. Tell students that you're going to tell them a story about what happened to you. Most of it will be true, but someone of it won't be. It's their job to call out whenever they think you're saying something that isn't true. The story is over when the students correctly detect a lie.

Play this game a couple times telling a different story or allowing some of the students to try telling a story.

Lesson: Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

Alex and Alicia – Help students prepare for the lesson by giving advice to two fictitious students. You'll tell them ashort story. Then, they'll have to decide what the character in the story should do.

Story #1: Alicia's Blame Game. One day, Alicia invited her friend, Stephanie, to come over and play after school.They were playing Wii Tennis and Stephanie kept winning, match after match. Finally, Alicia put down her controller and said, "That's it!" and she started chasing Stephanie all around the house. Alicia wasn't really mad at Stephanie. She was just having fun chasing her.

But then, as Alicia almost caught up to Stephanie, she tripped and ran right into one of the end tables in the living room. The lamp that was sitting on the end table fell to the ground and smashed into a hundred pieces. That night, when Alicia's mom came home, she saw that the lamp was missing and asked Alicia what happened. Alicia knew she would be in trouble for rough-housing in the house and breaking the lamp, so she didn't really want to tell her mom the truth. She thought maybe she could tell her mom that Stephanie broke the lamp instead of her.

What do you think? What should Alicia do? Should she tell her mom the truth that she broke the lamp or she should lie and say that Stephanie broke it?

(She should tell the truth.)

What would happen if Alicia lied and said Stephanie broke it? (Alicia's mom mightcall Stephanie's mom and get Stephanie in trouble for something she didn't do.)

Story #2: Chad Wets the Bed?! One day, when Chad and Alex went out for recess at school, they couldn't decide what to play. Chad wanted to pretend to be characters from his favorite TV show, Chaotic: Mirilian Invasion, but Alex wanted to play Yu-Gi-Oh. Theycouldn't agree on which one to play, so Chad said, "Okay. I'll just go play with someone else today."

It made Alex mad that Chad didn't want to play what he wanted to play, so he went around to the other kids and told them that Chad still wet the bed at night. Chad didn't wet the bed, but Alex still said that he did.

What do you think? Should Alex have told that lie about Chad?

(No, he shouldn't have lied.)

How do you think Chad would feel if he knew Alex was telling that lie about him? (Chad would feel bad. His feelings would be hurt.)

Think back to the story about Alicia and Stephanie. If Alicia told the lie and said that Stephanie broke the lamp, but then Alicia's mom found out that Alicia really broke the lamp, what would happen to Alicia? (She would get in trouble for breaking the lamp and get in trouble in for lying.)

How would Stephanie feel about Alicia trying to blame her? Do you think she would be mad at Alicia? (Yes.)

And do you think Alicia's mom would want to trust Alicia again if she found out Alicia lied to her? (It would be hard for Alicia to get her mom's trust back.)

If the rest of the kids found out that Alex was lying to them about Chad, do you think they would want to trust Alex again? (It would be hard for the kids to believe other things that Alex told them.)

So, it sounds like lying probably isn't a very good idea, right? It sounds like some bad things can happen when we lie. That's probably why God tells us not to do it.

(Have a student read Exodus 20:16 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

Who can tell me what that verse means?

"Don't give false testimony" means "Don't lie" and"against your neighbor" means "Don't tell lies about somebody else." Your neighbor doesn't mean the person that lives next to you. It means anybody. Don't tell lies about other people.

That's why Alicia couldn't tell a lie about Stephanie and why Alex shouldn't tell lies about Chad. God wants us to be honest and tell the truth so that people's feelings don't get hurt and so people don't get in trouble for things they didn't do. He also wants people to be able to trust us.

So remember, "Don't give false testimony against your neighbor." Don't tell lies about other people.

Game: The Child Who Cried Wolf – Tell students the story or read a storybook of The Boy Who Cried Wolf beforehand. Then, have all the students close their eyes. You'll silently tap one to choose them to be the Wolf. Then, students open their eyes and walk around the room. Their goal is to guess one which is the wolf. The wolf can't guess.

If someone guesses wrong, they're out. If someone guesses correctly, everyone chases the Wolf. When someone tags the Wolf, they win. If the Wolf is left with only one other student, the Wolf chases the student and wins when it tags them.

Afterward, explain that it's okay to be wrong sometimes, but we have to be very careful that we're telling the truth about other people.

Play as long as time allows, choosing a different student to be the Wolf each time.

Closing Prayer: Lord, You are a God of truth. Help us to always tell the truth when we speak. Don't let us be tempted to tell lies about other people. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

The Two Greatest Commandments Children's Sunday School Lesson

Purpose: Wrap up your children's Sunday School lesson series on the Ten Commandments by teaching children to love God and their neighbors.

Needed: white board or large paper to write on, drawing paper and crayons or colored pencils

Intro Activity: Top Ten – As a class, have students think of their Top Ten favorite things in a particular category. As students call out answers, write them down on the board. Not everyone will agree on every answer, which is part of the fun.

Categories could include Top Ten Movies, Video Games, Animals, Foods, Places, etc.

Make two or three Top Ten lists. Then, transition into the lesson by saying that God also gave us His Top Ten by giving us the Ten Commandments.

Lesson: Ask students, Does anyone remember why God gives us rules? (God gives us rules because He loves us. The rules He gives us are meant to protect us and others.)

Does anyone remember what some of God's top ten 10 big rules are?

1 and 2. We can only have one God, the real God. We can't have any idols or things that are more important to us than God.

3. We have to use His name respectfully. We can't use God's name unless we're talking to Him or about Him.

4. We have to keep the Sabbath. We need to have one day a week that is special to us for worshiping and learning about God. It's also important for us to rest on that day.

5. We have to honor and respect our parents and grandparents.

6. We can't kill or hurt any other person.

7. When we get married, our husband or our wife has to be the most important person to us, and we can't have any other boyfriends or girlfriends.

8. We can't steal. We have to work for or ask for what we want.

9. We can't tell lies about other people.

10. We have to be happy and content with the things that we have instead of always wanting what other people have.

That's a lot of rules for us to follow, isn't it?

What if we could just follow two rules instead? Would that make it easier?

Let's look up those two rules.

(Have a student read Deuteronomy 6:5 , quoted here in the NIV.)

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

What is this rule telling us to do? (To love God with all our heart and our soul and our strength. In other words, to love God with everything that we have.)

If we love God with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our strength, will we have any other gods that we worship? (No.)

Will we use God's name in the wrong way if we really love Him? (No, we will only use God's name respectfully.)

If we love God with everything that we have, will we want to take time to worship and learn about Him on the Sabbath? (Yes.)

So this rule, "Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength" is a good summary of the first four rules. If we love God, we will automatically keep the first four rules.

Let's look at the second rule.

(Have another student read Leviticus 19:18 , NIV.)

"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."

What is this rule telling us to do? (Love other people as we love ourselves.)

So, firs is to love God. Second is to love other people. If we love our parents, for example, will we honor and respect them or will we be disrespectful to them? (We will honor and respect them.)

And if we love other people, will we kill or hurt them? (No.)

If we love our husband or our wife when we get married, will we hurt their feelings by having other boyfriends and girlfriends? (No. We will only love our husband or wife in that way.)

If we love other people, will we steal from them or get jealous of them if they have something we don't? (No. We will love them and be happy for them that they have nice things.)

If we love other people, will we tell lies about them? (No. That would hurt their feelings.)

So, this second rule, "Love your neighbor as yourself," is a good way to remember the other six big rules God has for us. Because if we love other people the way God wants us to, we won't do anything bad to them.

So remember, "Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you can do that – loving God and loving other people – you will be following God's other rules automatically.

Craft: Loving God – Give students drawing supplies and instruct them to draw three pictures on one sheet of paper. The first picture will be of them loving God with all their heart. The second, with all their soul. The third, with all their strength. Have students write the Bible verse somewhere on their picture.

Service Project: Loving Others – Lead students in a short service project. It could be serving a snack to an adult class, cleaning or organizing something around the church, preparing the sanctuary for worship, doing a task for the church office, picking up trash or raking leaves outside, etc. Explain that when you help other people, you're showing them love.

Closing Prayer: Father God, thank You for the good rules You gave us. Help us to love You and to love other people like You want us to so that we're always following Your rules. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

I trust this ten-part lesson series has been helpful to you. Feel free to use the lessons as complete lessons or as supplemental material for your teaching.

If you'd like to take advantage of the printable lessons, game aids, and graphics for all of my resources here on Blessed Steps and on Bible Helps , consider becoming a Patreon partner for $1 per month.

If you'd rather have lessons on your Kindle app or in a printed book, you can pick up The Lord's Top Ten: Children's Sunday School Lessons on the Ten Commandments by by Rev. Steve Wilson .

Not ready to get into your next series yet? My lesson on Job works well any time as a standalone lesson.

Thank your for visiting Blessed Steps, and may God's Spirit be close to your spirit this week! - Steve