Sin, sin, sin. We are just pressing through the Children’s Catechism and right now we want to make sure we have a grasp on what sin is, how it entered the world, and what the effect of it was in the garden. 

I think it is especially helpful when we are in these sections to make sure we are also looking ahead to Jesus so that our kids (and us too) have hope!

This post is in a series of posts working through the Children's Catechism! For more information on how this started, be sure to read the beginning of this earlier post. My kids I'm working on this with are now 7, 5, and 2.

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The three questions covered in this lesson:
 
Q. 31. What was the sin of our first parents?
A. Eating the forbidden fruit.
 
Q. 32. Who tempted them to this sin?
A. The devil tempted Eve, and she gave the fruit to Adam.
 
Q. 33. What befell our first parents when they had sinned?
A. Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.

Materials needed for lesson:

• The Ology by Marty Machowski

• Ask Me Whooo Volume 1 - two songs: Q & A 33-34, Q & A 35 (Yes, the numbers are different since this is a slightly different version, you can read about that here.)

• The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung

• Paper cut into two inch strips

• Tape (you can use glue, but tape is easier)

• Coloring supplies

This is a simple lesson that you could easily do in a single day. 

First, read Chapter 14 in The Ology. This chapter recounts the story of the fall with some helpful insights for kids (and beautiful illustrations, hopefully you already have it!). Satan twisted God’s words and tempted Adam and Eve. This is so similar to when we are tempted to sin. Adults and kids alike often think that our choice is justified because it will bring pleasure, comfort, or even is just easier in the moment but that doesn’t make it right in God’s eyes. 

After the reading, go over the Catechism questions explaining as you go. For question 33, you would want to make sure you reflect back on question 21 where the kids first learned that God made Adam “holy and happy”. That will help make memorizing question 33 easier. 

Then you can listen to the songs from Ask Me Whooo (Q & A 33-34 and Q & A 35) covering the material at least a few times. We decided to hop in the car and listen as we drove to a park! You could listen at home but some days you just need a change of scenery and a short trip with purposeful music is sometimes necessary!

In those songs, the following verses are read (one at the end of each track):

Genesis 3:4-6 (ESV): But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:8-10 (ESV): And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."

From there (or when you get back from the park), you can move on to the craft! Making a snake!

This is just a simple paper chain but by adding eyes and a little face, you can make it into a snake!

I love crafts like this because they appeal to a variety of ages. Toddlers like seeing it created even if you help. Older pre-school kids can do it independently. And elementary age kids can create patterns and make it as long as they want in a shorter period of time. You can tell from the pictures my kids loved this and made very long snakes! 

I like to also read the verses and ask the same Catechism questions or simple comprehension questions while we work on our craft too. 

Finally, once we created our snakes and talked about how the snake was sneaky we read the following Bible verses. 

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  - Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. - Romans 16:20a (ESV)

We finished up the day by reading The Biggest Story to see how this one act had an impact on everything else and how Jesus is our rescuer from death, sin, and Satan! This surely is something to be joyful about and thankful for even when it seems our houses are full of sin - we have hope! I love how this book makes references to Jesus as the "snake crusher" throughout, which makes it a perfect read for today.

If you don’t have this book, it’s a great one to add to your shelf to read all about redemptive history in one artistic book quickly (but not too quickly). You could read the whole thing in about 25 minutes or break it up and read it over a two days, five days, or even ten days (as there are ten "chapters").

I hope this helps you see how you can very simply weave in good books and simple crafts to help your kids not only memorize the Children's Catechism questions but also really understand the big picture!

Be sure to check out all the Children’s Catechism resources here. 

There are also lots of other questions covering sin, so be sure to check out these posts too if you haven't already: Lesson on the Covenant of Works and Lesson on Definition of Sin.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.