Toddler
with Special Helps for
Teachers of Infants
Teacher’s Manual
for Ages Birth through Three
Winter • 2013-14
WORD AFLAME STAFF
Editor: R. M. Davis
Associate Editor: P. D. Buford
Children’s Editor: Melanie Claborn
Toddler Editor: Chris Anderson
On the Move with Jesus:
Our Town
Features
Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The iPacifier by Chris Anderson
A Look at the Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
REACH for Teachers of Infants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A Preview of Next Quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Unit I: Special Travels
Unit Aim: To teach that Jesus is born
Lesson 1: week of December 1
Jesus Is Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Lesson 2: Week of December 8
Finding a Hotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Lesson 3: Week of December 15
Mary Has a Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
EDITOR IN CHIEF
United Pentecostal Church International
Robin Johnston
WRITERS
Chris Anderson, Brenda Carr, Barbara Westberg
Lesson 4: Week of December 22
Shepherds Find the Baby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Lesson 5: Week of December 29
Following the Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Unit II: Jesus on the Move
Unit Aim: To show that Jesus did good things
Lesson 6: Week of January 5
DESIGN
Art: Kat Moyou
Layout: Chris Anderson
Jesus Goes to Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Lesson 7: Week of January 12
Jesus Heals a Man at Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Lesson 8: Week of January 19
Jesus Stops the Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
James E. Boatman, Donald Bryan, P. D. Buford,
Daniel L. Butler, Steve L. Cannon, R. M. Davis,
Jack C. Garrison, G. W. Hassebrock, Robin Johnston,
Jeremy Painter, Jason Ramsey, Charles A. Rutter,
Janice Sjostrand, R. L. Wyser
___________________________
Join our Facebook group:
Word Aflame Toddler Curriculum Teachers
To order literature:
www.pentecostalpublishing.com
(866) 819-7667
Toddler Teacher’s Manual, Winter 2013-14
Manufactured in USA, December/2013, 102411
www.wordaflame.org • All rights reserved.
©2013 Pentecostal Publishing House,
8855 Dunn Road, Hazelwood, MO 63042
Lesson 9: Week of January 26
Jesus Walks on the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Unit III: Jesus Meets the People
Unit Aim: To teach that Jesus will meet our needs
Lesson 10: Week of February 2
Jesus Hears the Blind Man’s Cry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Lesson 11: Week of February 9
Jesus Sees the Man in the Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Lesson 12: Week of February 16
Jesus Heals the Lame Man at the Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Lesson 13: Week of February 23
Jesus Feeds His Hungry Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Only individual items accompanied by the “OK to copy” icon may be copied for use in
the local classroom. Do not reproduce, distribute, or transmit any other part of the Word
Aflame curriculum in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without possessing prior documented approval
from Pentecostal Publishing House, a department of the United Pentecostal Church
International. To request permission, contact [email protected].
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.
A Look at the Curriculum
O
Toddlers on the Move with Jesus
ur Town is the perfect place for Toddlers to be on the
move as they learn about Jesus’ special travels—from the
manger to the ministry. Since modes of transportation
have advanced since the New Testament, use this lively theme
to engage children in meaningful play and interaction as you
share Bible truths. Create a welcoming, colorful, inviting room,
and toddlers will eagerly explore their environment.
For ideas on room décor, network with toddler teachers from
around the world through our Facebook group: Word Aflame
Toddler Curriculum Teachers. Once you have your theme in place,
share pictures with our Facebook group to inspire others. We
always appreciate receiving high-resolution photos along with
permission to use them in future literature. Be sure to have
signed parental permission if pictures contain children’s faces.
(A model release form can be downloaded through the resource
packet.) Email your pictures to [email protected], or snail mail
them to Chris Anderson, Word Aflame Publications, 8855 Dunn
Road, Hazelwood, MO, 63042.
Our Town theme-art posters are provided in the teacher’s
resource packet. Enhance them with child-sized cars (e.g., Little
Tikes), wagons, three-wheeler tricycles, scooters, and ageappropriate train sets. We have seen teachers do incredible
things to transform their classrooms into interactive learning
environments. Once your students enter Our Town, they should
be on the move, exploring and learning through play.
If possible, once your room is completely decorated, test your
décor by allowing one or two toddlers to freely explore (before
submitting it to an entire class), to see if any safety precautions
(like choking hazards or dangerous areas) have been overlooked.
Using bulletin boards in toddler classrooms is discouraged
because tacks and staples are easily swallowed by curious twoand three-year-olds. As a general rule, if something fits in the
hole of a paper-towel tube, it is a choking hazard.
To take up offering, Unit I suggests an offering manger made
from a milk carton and tongue depressors (see design on page
10). For units II and III, use a toy dump truck, a train with an
open car, a boat, or a car with an appropriate space (sunroof
or convertible) to collect offering. If space and time allow, let
children drive their offering to a designated drop spot, such as a
cardboard box labeled “Bank.”
Divide the Our Town classroom into four sections with a
simple crossroad. Create the road using white, silver, and yellow
duct tape. Silver duct tape designates the curb around each
corner area. White or yellow duct tape cut into 6-inch strips
depicts the lane markings on the street. Place the stoplight,
railroad crossing sign, and stop sign from the resource packet on
the walls as indicated in the sketch on page 4.
Officer Dan directs traffic flow in the classroom. Cut him out and
mount the figure to foam core board. Then move and stand him
in the area you wish students to congregate. Hang a traffic whistle
around his neck and use the attention getter to direct students to
appropriate spaces. Establish Officer Dan as an authority, rather
than a toy, allowing only adults to move him when necessary.
On the outside of the entry door, attach the poster showing
Officer Dan welcoming the toddlers. Hang the attendance chart
near the entrance at a toddler’s eye level. Cut apart and laminate the
nametags provided in the resource packet. Punch two holes in each
tag and run yarn or shoelaces through them to create a lanyard.
Older toddlers who are learning to recognize their name will enjoy
searching for their nametag as they enter class each week.
Because every class is different regarding room space, number
and age of students, and length of class time, teachers may select
when and how to best utilize the following learning centers
designed to teach the lesson objective. Use your imagination
and enhance each.
Our Town (Role-Play)
Our Town doubles as the teaching and role-play area. From
black art paper, cut a city skyline silhouette. Use gray paper at
the base of the wall to make a highway moving from the city to
the countryside. Cut out the car from the resource packet and
place it on the highway. Construct a simple countryside scene
using colored butcher paper—blue sky, green grass, and a white
picket fence running along the edge of the road. Place a tree to
the right side, leaving the sky area open to display the Bible art
pictures and visual aids, as well as to hang children’s artwork.
If you would like to construct a 3-D tree for your design, an
article providing several methods to build a tree is available for
download through the resource packet.
Our Town Train Station (Books, Art, and Writing)
Our Town Train Station will serve as a center for this quarter’s
reading, drawing, and writing. Create train tracks using gray and
red duct tape (gray for the rails and red for the cross ties). Cut out
the train from the resource packet and place it on the rails.
Provide a wide array of books depicting all modes of
transportation, as well as children’s Bibles and Bible storybooks.
Use this area to read the student paper stories to children. Small
benches, beanbags, and stools are inviting places for toddlers to
sit and look at books.
In addition to the books, add a table(s) and chair(s) for students
to complete art and writing activities. Each lesson will begin by
directing students to this art and writing center to complete the
front-page activity of the student paper.
Our Town Lake (Blocks/Sensory)
Our Town Lake provides a perfect backdrop for sensory
learning. In this section’s corner, use blue plastic tablecloth or
material to create a lake spreading to both walls. If space allows,
let some of the lake puddle on to the floor. Cut out the boat from
the resource packet and attach it to heavy cardboard or foam
board to place it in the lake, or design your own boat using heavy
cardboard or insulation foam board for the boat’s body. Then
attach a sail of colorful plastic tablecloth or other material, and
set the boat diagonally across the corner to give depth to the
scene. For security, anchor the boat to the side walls.
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A Look at the Curriculum
Provide a wide variety of props and toys to help the students
learn through sensory and movement activities. If space is
available, children love a water/sensory table, and it will coincide
nicely with the boat dock. Other items for this area include
•
•
•
•
•
•
Blocks, Legos, and road-building materials,
Toy transportation vehicles of all varieties,
Roadmap carpet,
Wagons, tricycles, and push cars,
Small plastic tubs/tub toy boats,
Transportation-themed puzzles.
Our Town Airport (Music/Movement)
Cut out the airplane from the resource packet and attach it
a few feet higher than the toddlers’ heads to the left wall of this
section. Each unit’s Memory Work banner will fly behind this
airplane. To assemble this banner, cut apart the poster and tape
the pieces end-to-end. Attach this banner behind the airplane,
connecting it to the opposite wall. Each banner is two sided:
one side shows the Bible Words, the other the Bible Passage.
Depending on which Memory Work option you choose, display
the appropriate side of the banner.
Also in this area, add Poly-fil clouds and hang toy airplanes
with clear fishing line to give a 3-D effect. Leave the floor space
clear for body movement activities.
Teacher’s Manual
Those who have used Word Aflame’s Toddler curriculum in
the past will notice some excellent changes to the material that
started in the fall quarter.
The teacher’s manual is now downloadable. While the
resource packet has offered downloads for years, now you can
download the teacher’s manual in PDF and DOC formats. Open
the PDF using a reader (like Acrobat) to study your lesson on the
go using your favorite handheld device (like an iPad). The DOC
files open using a word processor (like Microsoft Word), allowing
you to add to or delete from a lesson and to craft the material
to suit your particular interests and needs. Please purchase one
manual for each toddler teacher.
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How to Download Word Aflame Teacher’s Manual Web Material
To access the PDF and DOCs of the teacher’s manual online:
1. Go to www.pentecostalpublishing.com
Note: First-time visitors must create an account. Click on
the link “Create an account” and follow the instructions.
A verification email will be sent to your registered email
address. If the verification email does not appear within
a couple of minutes, please check your junk folder. Open
the email and follow the activation instructions to finish
setting up your account. Also, a credit card will need
to be added to your account to give you access to the
“Download Now” button.
2. In the search box type in: Winter Toddler
3. Click on the item to access the item detail page.
4. In the coupon box under the “Download Now” button,
type in the coupon code from page 5 in TM.
These downloads will be available until June 1.
5. Once the code has been entered, click on the “Download
Now” button and complete the purchase of the file, which
will be $0.00.
6. The file will be available for download from the “My
Downloads” link.
7. Select the file you want to open.
8. After downloading, unzip the file to access the material
for printing.
NOTE: Not all lessons offer downloadable resources. Reproduction
of these resources is granted for local church use only, and only to
those who have purchased the appropriate Word Aflame materials.
Teacher Resource Packet Downloadable Resources
To access the reproducible items from the resource packet (TRP), see the resource packet instruction sheet. If you have not
purchased a packet, you can do so by going to www.pentecostalpublishing.com or calling 866-819-7667.
A student paper activity is found in the front of the lesson.
This fun, hands-on activity introduces the lesson topic. Because
it is done at the start of class, projects have time to dry before
being sent home. A read-aloud story and additional student
paper activity are also incorporated at various points throughout
the lesson. Order one student paper per student. Student papers
are a vital part of each lesson.
The end of each lesson features five or six application
activities. Teachers can use these options to further apply the
lesson through playtime. Select the activities best fitting your
group and setting to drive home the lesson objective.
The Memory Work contains two options: Bible Passage
and Bible Words. The Bible Passage quotes the verse from
the KJV while the Bible Words simplify the passage into an
age-appropriate phrase. Because Toddlers learn best through
repetition, each unit utilizes a set of Memory Work to be
learned over a four- to five-week period. Determine which level
of memorization works best with your teaching method and
students’ maturity.
The Infant Insight REACH pages are a three-page layout
at the front of the manual. Download and print these pages for
those in your church who work with infants. Perhaps you could
schedule a quarterly meeting to discuss the material to help
ensure the infants in your care are being properly nurtured.
• Research features findings from studies done on infant
and toddler development.
• Environment features dos and don’ts on creating
appropriate environments.
• Attachment features the importance of providing
proper nurturing behaviors.
• Caregiving features the issues involved in actual care,
such as diapering, feeding, and so forth.
• Home Connection features ideas to build the relationship
between the classroom and the home/family.
This curriculum, On the Move with Jesus, is Bible-based and
written on a developmentally appropriate level for toddlers. Each
lesson consists of four sections:
W
O
R
D
Welcome to the Word (welcome, attendance, and offering)
Open the Word (worship, prayer, and memory work)
Reveal the Word (snack and Bible story)
Do the Word (life-application activities)
Unit I, Special Travels, focuses on the events surrounding the promise and
birth of Jesus.
• Bible Passage: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son” (John 3:16).
• Bible Words: God gave us Jesus.
Unit II, Jesus on the Move, focuses on the early years of Jesus’ life, His
temptation, and His demonstrations of power.
• Bible Passage: “Jesus of Nazareth . . . went about doing good”
(Acts 10:38).
• Bible Words: Jesus did good things.
Unit III, Jesus Meets the People, focuses on Jesus traveling to meet the
people and performing various miracles.
• Bible Passage: “But my God shall supply all your need”
(Philippians 4:19).
• Bible Words: Jesus meets all my needs.
Examples of wording you could use when teaching the lesson
or songs are in bold type. Bible words are always in underlined
bold type. Please let us know how the lessons work for you. Your
feedback influences our future. Our goal is to help you be a more
effective teacher!
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A Look at the Curriculum
Teacher’s Resource Packet (TRP)
The TRP contains teaching tools, supplements, and visual
aids to enhance every lesson. Use the Our Town theme-related
posters from the teacher’s resource packet as a springboard for
ideas to decorate your room. Mount the door poster at a toddler’s
eye level to welcome them to the classroom. Unit Memory Work
banners fly behind the airplane at Our Town Airport.
Use the transportation stickers on the large group chart to
document accomplishments like attendance, memory work, and
so forth. An alternate motivational chart is on the inside cover of
the student paper wrapper.
Several lessons implement downloadable music and sound
effects to enhance the learning environment. Once downloaded
(using the access code on the TRP instruction sheet), burn these
audio files to a CD, or download them to an iPod or other playback
device. Determine your preferred playback method now and
prepare the entire quarter’s sound tracks for easy accessibility.
Child Information Form—Make copies of this form, asking
parents to fill it out at a child’s first drop off. Keep these forms
on file. By asking for this information, parents see the teacher
taking responsibility, which garners trust. Remember to keep the
information pertinent by asking parents to review them at the
start of every quarter. When a food allergy or other potentially
difficult condition or situation (like a divorce) becomes known,
communicate it to all helpers and make a special note. Disregard
of this information violates trust. In this litigation-happy world,
maintenance of this file can decrease church liability should a
situation arise.
Sign-in Sheet—To further reduce church liability, maintain a
Sign-in Sheet at the class entrance. Parents sign this form every
time a child is picked up or dropped off. Streamline this process by
printing the names of regular attendees (and any special notes or
concerns) prior to making copies. This form ensures that children
are clearly signed in and signed out by a responsible, authorized
adult. If a child is not to be released to a person identified on the
Child Information Form, communicate this with a special note.
Baby Observation—For nursery workers, the TRP also includes
a Baby Observation form. When watching infants, use this form to
communicate diaper changes, meals, and any other significant
interaction to parents. By using these forms, parents will sense
responsibility in the worker, ultimately resulting in greater trust.
Postcards—A sheet of postcards is also included for teachers
to mail to students. Parents love it when their children receive
mail showing how their child is appreciated. If you run out,
additional postcards are available as a download to print with a
color copier and cardstock.
Teacher Training Article—Each quarter also features an
article written especially about topics pertinent to Sunday school
classrooms and teachers. The piece is hole-punched for a threering binder so you can compile the articles into a useful resource,
especially to train new teachers. Download previous training
articles from the Word Aflame website: www.wordaflame.org;
click on the Teacher Training button. Please contact us if you
would like to have a specific topic addressed in the future.
Toddler Student Paper
The student paper is a four-page activity/take-home paper
to be used as an integral part of each week’s lesson. Order one
student paper per student with a few extras for potential visitors.
At the beginning of the quarter, remove the staple from the
binding to separate each book into thirteen individual lessons.
Then group the lessons together so you can quickly grab a folder
for all lesson 1 student papers, and so forth.
• The fun, hands-on activity on the front page is used at the
beginning of each lesson to introduce the topic.
• Incorporate the Read Aloud story (page 2) as part of the
Our Town Train Station, providing an opportunity to read
even if you have no lesson-related books.
• The activity on page 3 usually consists of coloring and
drawing and can be used as part of the Our Town Train
Station, unless otherwise noted.
• The back page of each week’s student paper communicates
the essentials of the lesson, including Bible words, lesson
objectives, key words, application questions, and activities
that can be used at home to reinforce the lesson.
The inside of the student paper cover contains a twopage Our Town street scene useful to chart various incentives
like attendance and memory work. Students will place the
transportation stickers around the town to mark their attendance
or achievements. Mount this chart at the students’ eye level and
use in place of or in conjunction with the attendance/incentive
poster in the resource packet.
Did you know, after accounting for all maintenance and
supply expenses, it costs a church more to make boring grayscale copies of the student paper than it does to buy a full-color
student paper? Churches sometimes think they are saving
money by buying one student paper and making copies, but in
reality it is costing them more! (Not to mention that copying the
student paper violates copyright laws.)
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