Leader Guide

Leader Introduction

Today’s Bible story reinforces and expands the previous lessons about David and Jonathan. Jonathan and David’s bond is an example of what true friendship looks like. They remained loyal to one another and God, even when facing death at the hands of a king filled with jealousy and rage.

At Quantum Labs, Widget is having a teeny tea party in her treehouse and her friend Rig is invited. The two soon discover a problem, a really BIG problem. Could their differences weaken their friendship or make it stronger?

*Scripture is quoted from the New Living Translation unless noted.

Optional Opening Game

Hold up the Jonathan and David card. Do you know the names of these two men in our Bible story today? Jonathan and David

Yes, Jonathan and David were best friends. Their friendship was even stronger because both men loved God!

Hold up the heart card. Jonathan loved David very much, so much that he gave him five gifts that were very special to him.

Hold up the different gift cards. Jonathan gave David his royal robe, his tunic, his bow, his sword, and his belt. (1 Samuel 18:4).

In this game, you are going to find two of the same gift cards, two hearts, and the two friends—Jonathan and David. Now, there are also two blank cards hidden with the other cards. When you choose those, we will turn them over so everyone can see them.

Shuffle the cards and place them face down on the table in four rows of four cards.

Have the first player go to the table to select a card and hold it up for all to see.

The player then selects a second card to see if it is a match with the first card.

If the cards match, the pair is removed from the game. If the cards do not match, they are placed down in the same location.

When a blank card is revealed, it is turned face up on the table for the remainder of the game.

Conclusion: Hold up a Jonathan and David card. Friends that stick together and help each other at all times are a perfect match—just like Jonathan and David. Look, they stuck together so much that they needed to be on the same card!

Video Lesson

Play Video (Bible Story)

Bible Story

In today’s video, Jonathan and David are best friends even when Jonathan’s father, King Saul, wants David to be gone—forever! Let’s watch the video to see how the two best friends stayed loyal to each other so David could be safe!

Teaching Time

Make one copy of each sign in color or black and white.

Tape a sign to the back of each of the two chairs.

Tape a line, several feet long on the floor leaving lots of space on both sides of it.

Place the King Saul chair on one side of the end of the line.

Place the Jonathan chair on the opposite side of the same end of the line.

The two signs should now be facing the line on either side of it.

Have children stand in a single row on the tape and facing the signs. Make sure children have space in front and behind.

Read the following true and untrue statements. Add your own statements as desired. Children decide if each statement is true or untrue. Each child then moves to the King Saul side of the tape for untrue statements or to the Jonathan side of the tape for true statements. Have a quick talk about each statement, especially Bible truths, so children know the truth.

For untrue statements, ask children to make a statement that is true. For example, if Jonathan didn’t give David a spear as a gift, what gifts did he give him? (Bow, sword, tunic, robe, belt).

If two true or untrue statements are read in a row, children can move back and forth from one side and return back to the side where they were standing. Do as many statements as time permits.

True statements are bold text.

We watched the Bible story about Jonathan and David, now let’s see what you remember.

At the beginning of today’s Bible story, Jonathan was king. Children choose a side.

Saul was king.

Jonathan was King Saul’s son. Children choose a side.

David played the drums for King Saul to cheer him up when he was sad. Children choose a side.

David played the kinnor or harp.

Jonathan and David became were friends. Children choose a side.

Jonathan gave a spear as a gift to David. Children choose a side.

Jonathan gave David a bow, belt, tunic, robe and sword.

King Saul was so jealous of David that he threw his spear at him. Children choose a side.

Jonathan was not angry at David or jealous of him, because he believed God chose David to be king instead of him. Children choose a side.

Jonathan would not help David escape from King Saul. Children choose a side.

Jonathan helped David and protected him from King Saul.

Jonathan and David promised to always be friends. Children choose a side.

David never became king because King Saul would not let him. Children choose a side.

David did become king.

After David became king, he kept his promise to take care of Jonathan’s family. Children choose a side.

Jesus is your friend, and He is the best friend you could have. Children choose a side.

Wow, you remembered a lot from today’s Bible story! Jonathan and David show us what it means to be a good friend. But you have an even better friend, and His name is Jesus. He loves you, forgives you, protects you, and saves you from your sins. He will never leave you and He always hears your prayers! With Jesus as your friend, you are never alone.

Optional Object lesson

Choose a volunteer to be Jonathan and another child to be David.

Raise your hand if you have ever been waiting in line and someone cut in front of you? Children respond.

Maybe you were next in line to ride a ride at the fair or amusement park, or to play a game, or buy popcorn or a drink at the movie theater and someone stepped in front of you. How did it make you feel? Angry, disappointed, cheated.

Have the Jonathan volunteer stand beside you and face the class.

Let’s say this is Jonathan. Jonathan is King Saul’s son, so he is next in line to be king.

But then there is a change of plans. Have David stand directly in front of Jonathan and face the class.

David appears and God chooses him to be king instead of Jonathan!

That is like when someone cuts in front of you, isn’t it?

If you were Jonathan, how could you have felt? Hurt, sad, disappointed, jealous, angry.

King Saul was angry because his son was supposed to be the next king, that’s how it is supposed to work!

But Jonathan wasn’t angry or jealous, why? Because he loved David and knew God had chosen David to be king.

Have Jonathan stand beside David. Yes, Jonathan loved God and David, and he chose to follow God’s plan and support David. Instead of it destroying their friendship, their friendship became even stronger!

Object to GO!

Hold up the teabag or the image. Lead a discussion with the comments and questions below:

● Raise your hand if you have seen something like this? Children respond.

● What is it? A teabag.

● How do you make tea to drink? You put it in cup of (hot) water.

● In the next video, Widget is having a tea party and invites another friend to come. Who do you think she invites? Gizmo, Miss Tina, Gears, Rig, or Professor Quantum? Children guess.

● Let’s watch the video to see who guessed correctly and why there is a problem at the party!

Leave the question unanswered until it is revealed in the video.

Play Video (Tea for Two)

tea for two

After the video, ask the following discussion questions:

● Who did Widget invite to her tea party? Rig.

● Raise your hand if you guessed correctly. Children respond.

● Where was Widget having her party? In her treehouse teahouse.

● What problem did the two friends have that they needed to work out? Rig was too big to fit in the treehouse.

● What had Widget never thought about before? How different she and Rig were.

● In his song, what did Rig say that differences did for friendships? They made them stronger.

● What did Rig do so he could be at the tea party? He used a remote-controlled mini robot of himself with virtual goggles to see.

Rig said that the cool thing about Widget and his friendship is that they each could do things the other couldn’t do. God made everyone different and special with different abilities and strengths to share with one another. Friendship is sharing life with someone you like and trust!

Verse to GO!

Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT)

Today’s memory verse from the Bible is Ecclesiastes 4:9:

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 

To succeed means to reach a goal or to accomplish or finish something you planned to do.

Let’s learn this verse together with some actions.

Stand facing the children and lead them in to repeat phrases and imitate the motions

Two people…. hold up the index finger on both hands.

Are better off than one,… hold up only one index finger, put the other hand down.

For they can help… hold up the other hand again and place both index fingers together.

Each other succeed…. Make a happy face and move both fingers forward together.

Repeat slowly a few more times.

David was better off with his friend Jonathan! David could not have escaped King Saul by himself. Jonathan loved David and risked his own life to help David. Good friends find a way to help each other even when it isn’t easy. Jesus is our friend too, and you can always trust that He will help you even when no one else is near.

Note: Preschool children may not be able to memorize the entire verse. They may simply repeat it with you. Be sure all children understand its meaning.

Prayer Time

Close the lesson in a simple prayer to encourage the children to be a good friend.

For example: Dear Jesus, thank You for being the best friend we could have. Help us to be more like you and look for ways to be a good friend to others. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Music Time

Friendship

The lyrics and chords for this song are found in Resources.

Create your own motions or use the suggested motions as seen in the Quantum Karaoke “Friendship” under Resources.

Play the video song “Friendship” to your students.

Encourage the children to dance and move to the music. Optional: lead children in saying and doing actions to specific parts of the song below:

Verse 1

Line three: hold fingers up and shout “one, two, three!”

Line four: hug self when at “friendly hug.”

Line four: cover your eyes at “and hide-and-go seek!”

Verse 2

Line two: point to sky and shout “firmament!”

Line three: hold arms up and make big muscles at “stronger than cement.”

Chorus 1

Line three: sing “oh, oh, oh, oh” (x3)

Verse 3

Line two: shout “your very self”

Chorus 2

Line 4: sing Love, love, love, God’s love. Love, love, love, God’s love.

Verse 4

Line two and Line four: hold palms together at “prayer.”

Friendship

Singing Activity

Lead the children in singing the song “Be Nice to Your Friends.” Additional instructions are located in Lesson 1.

Take Home Coloring Page

As children color, review today’s lesson using the discussion points below:

● What are the two robots drinking? Tea.

● What kind of sandwiches did Widget make? Tiny triangle sandwiches with cucumber slices.

● Why didn’t Widget want to have the tea party outside? Because she wanted to have it in the treehouse tea house.

● In today’s memory verse, what is better than one person? Two people.

● In today’s memory verse, what can two people help each other do? Succeed.

Rig was right when he said differences don’t break friendships, they make them stronger! The two bots found a way to make the tea party possible and found another fun thing to share together.

Game

Play the Optional Opening Game “Two are Better” at the beginning of this lesson.

Play the game “Who Am I?” from Lesson 1. 

Play the game “It Takes Two” from Lesson 2. 

Play the game “Hitting It Off” from Lesson 3.