Jacob and Esau

I love teaching this lesson!  :)  This year I combined it with Isaac and Rebekah meeting each other.  The story of the servant asking for the right woman for Isaac to be the one to give water to the camels always makes the kids laugh.  We imagine how long it would take to carry buckets of water for camels, and one of them always says, "Why didn't she just turn on the water?!"  Love it!!

I'm still tweaking the Isaac and Rebekah part of this lesson.  This time I used a worksheet I found online that "traced" the journey of Rebekah to Isaac and had pictures along the way to help the kids retell the story.  It was okay, but not my favorite.  I would love ideas to make this story more hands-on and engaging for little ones.

But...Jacob and Esau!

To start with, the kids make playdough "pots."   In the pots, we put dried lentils, which historians seem to think is what Jacob's "pottage" was made from in the story.   The kids love the sensory feel of the playdough and lentils.  

Next, we start telling the story, with plenty of emphasis on Jacob's deceitfulness and how "silly" it was of Esau to treat his birthright so lightly.   When we get to the part of the pottage, I whip out some cooked lentils for a taste test.   I am always amazed at how many kids LIKE them!!!!   My co-teachers and I always crack up at them chowing down on lentils for breakfast!  :)  But, it makes it more real to them.

Later, when we talk about Jacob "stealing" the blessing, we pretend to put on hairy goat skins and we pretend to smell like we've been in the field.  For whatever reason, the kids really "get into" these stories.

Finally, I have accumulated various pictures representing Jacob and Esau...and I admittedly now have no idea where they came from, so I will not post them here, but if you want a pdf let me know...

We fold a black sheet of construction paper in 1/2 and they have to glue the correct pictures with the correct brother.  Again, repetition is key to their remembering!  They end up retelling the story while creating their page.  The pictures are fun and colorful, so they engage the kids.