Puzzle of Life: Understanding God's Plan
Following the news that our school will be closing after this school year, the second grade class was somewhat upset about it, and did not understand how this can happen to them. Several of these students had been coming to our school/church since they were 2 years old, and this was all they knew!
Beginning the lesson, I gave each student one puzzle piece (from a 100 piece puzzle). I told them to not let anyone else see their piece. Next, I asked them to draw what they think the entire picture would look like, based ONLY on that one piece of the puzzle. Each student's picture looked different from everyone else's, as expected. I explained that just like this activity, we only see a small piece of what God is doing. He already knows how each piece fits in the puzzle, but we only see this one piece of the puzzle.
Next, I had each student gather around a table where they would work as a class to complete the puzzle. The teacher and I stood back to observe the process, intervening if necessary. While they were putting the puzzle together, I was taking notes about how they were solving problems and working together as a team. Right away, I noticed that the students were cheering each other on, and encouraging one another as they found pairs. I noticed that they were helping each other figure out what piece they were holding, and where it would fit into the picture. I also noticed that many of them would try so hard to make two pieces fit when they clearly did not belong together. Towards the end, some students started to get frustrated and wanted to give up, not seeing how all the pieces were going to fit together.
After they had finished the puzzle, I pointed out my observations to the class, and asked them what that could mean in terms of understanding God's plan. I was amazed at the connections they were able to make! We talked about handing our worries over to God, because he already has a perfect plan in place. We don't have to force the pieces to fit, because they already have a perfect place.
Beginning the lesson, I gave each student one puzzle piece (from a 100 piece puzzle). I told them to not let anyone else see their piece. Next, I asked them to draw what they think the entire picture would look like, based ONLY on that one piece of the puzzle. Each student's picture looked different from everyone else's, as expected. I explained that just like this activity, we only see a small piece of what God is doing. He already knows how each piece fits in the puzzle, but we only see this one piece of the puzzle.
Next, I had each student gather around a table where they would work as a class to complete the puzzle. The teacher and I stood back to observe the process, intervening if necessary. While they were putting the puzzle together, I was taking notes about how they were solving problems and working together as a team. Right away, I noticed that the students were cheering each other on, and encouraging one another as they found pairs. I noticed that they were helping each other figure out what piece they were holding, and where it would fit into the picture. I also noticed that many of them would try so hard to make two pieces fit when they clearly did not belong together. Towards the end, some students started to get frustrated and wanted to give up, not seeing how all the pieces were going to fit together.
After they had finished the puzzle, I pointed out my observations to the class, and asked them what that could mean in terms of understanding God's plan. I was amazed at the connections they were able to make! We talked about handing our worries over to God, because he already has a perfect plan in place. We don't have to force the pieces to fit, because they already have a perfect place.