### Lesson Plan: The Arrest of Jesus
**Age Group**: Toddlers (Ages 2-4)
**Duration**: 30 minutes
**Objective**: Introduce toddlers to the story of the arrest of Jesus in a simple, age-appropriate manner, focusing on the key elements of the story while reinforcing the themes of love, bravery, and forgiveness.
### Materials Needed:
- Simple picture book or illustrated cards showing the scenes of Jesus' arrest
- A soft toy or prop to represent Jesus
- Coloring sheets with outlined images related to the story (optional)
- Crayons or markers
- Quiet background music (optional)
### Lesson Plan:
**1. Welcome and Introduction (5 minutes)**
- Greet each student warmly as they arrive.
- Begin with a short prayer, thanking God for bringing everyone together and asking for His blessing on the lesson.
- Introduce the topic: "Today, we are going to hear a story about Jesus and some very important things that happened to Him."
**2. Storytelling (10 minutes)**
- Gather the children in a circle and show them the picture book or illustrated cards.
- Calmly and simply narrate the story of the arrest of Jesus. Key points to include:
- Jesus praying in the garden
- Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss
- Soldiers coming to take Jesus away
- Use the soft toy or prop to represent Jesus and act out the key scenes, helping toddlers visualize and understand.
**3. Discussion and Engagement (5 minutes)**
- Ask simple, open-ended questions to engage the children and help them reflect:
- "How do you think Jesus felt when the soldiers came?"
- "What did Jesus do when they arrested Him?"
- "How can we show love like Jesus did?"
- Reinforce the themes of love, bravery, and forgiveness by relating them to the children’s everyday experiences (e.g., being kind to friends, forgiving others).
**4. Creative Activity: Coloring (10 minutes)**
- Hand out coloring sheets related to the story and provide crayons or markers.
- Encourage the children to color while you play quiet background music.
- As they color, walk around and talk to each child about their picture, reinforcing the story's key points.
### Closing (5 minutes)
- Gather everyone together and admire their artworks.
- Summarize the lesson, emphasizing that Jesus loves everyone and showed love and forgiveness even when things were hard.
- Close with a simple prayer, thanking God for Jesus and asking for help to be loving and forgiving.
**Note to Parents/Caregivers**:
- Provide a brief summary of the lesson at pick-up time, highlighting what the children learned.
- Suggest they continue talking about the story of Jesus at home, using the colored pictures as conversation starters.