Week 686 · about 45 minutes
Proverbs 22
Proverbs 22 · Memory verse Proverbs 22:11
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Queues the lesson plan, this story’s coloring page (Proverbs 22), the matching word search and answer key (Proverbs 22 word search), the memory-verse tracer, and a parent slip.
Five-minute object lesson
Prop: a cup of water
Hold a cup of water. Read Proverbs 22 in about four minutes, stopping at Proverbs 22:11: “He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.” Ask, “What does this prop have to do with Proverbs 22?” Let two children answer, then say the memory verse together.
Story script
Proverbs 22 is a real chapter from the Old Testament. It starts, “A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.” That is not a motto invented for a poster. It is the first sentence a family hears when this page is opened at night.
Keep going a little further. The chapter also says, “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child: the rod of discipline drives it far from him.” Proverbs 22 opens with these words: “A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold.” The line to keep is Proverbs 22:11: “He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.” Carry the word “loves” from that verse into the rest of the day.
The line worth learning out loud is Proverbs 22:11: “He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.” If the rest of the chapter feels crowded, hold that one sentence until the room is quiet.
What happens first in Proverbs 22? Then try this: Read “He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.” once more. What does it show you about God? You do not have to finish every verse. You can close the book after the memory verse and still have read the Bible together.
Group game
Walk the room as if you are moving through Proverbs 22. Every time you freeze, a child says one word from Proverbs 22:11. The last child says the whole verse.
Craft
On a US Letter sheet, draw one picture from Proverbs 22 and write Proverbs 22:11 under it. Send it home as tonight’s reminder, not as a decoration contest.
Memory verse
Proverbs 22:11
“He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.”
Take-home prayer
Father, thank you for Proverbs 22. Help us remember Proverbs 22:11 when we wake up, and teach us to notice you in an ordinary night. Amen.