Nicodemus has a lot of different facets to the story, the friendship that continues throughout Johns gospel, the leader who hides from his peers and the two key verses about rebirth and Jesus’s mission.
Matching the body – Using magazine pictures cut the head from the body of the models. Place the heads on one side of the room and the bodies on the other. Have the children match the heads and the bodies. Include at least one baby picture. Link to craft and Nicodemus being confused.
Sneaking through the city – Adaptation of the game ‘Hot lava crossing’ featured in the homefront magazine (May’13 issue, page 12). Lay out a grid on the floor using printer paper. Have the same grid printed on a single sheet of paper and mark out a route from one side to the other. Keeping the route hidden have the children navigate one step at a time, on route you are safe, off route you are discovered. Link to Nicodemus’ journey to find Jesus.
Circle verse – Sit your children in a circle and have the words to John 3:16 printed as big enough for them all to read it. Go round the circle saying one word each. Get faster and faster until the children are confident. Then have the children clap every second word, miss every third child, go backwards or other patterns.
Bright hands – Dim the lights in the room. Have a leader stand in as high a position as possible and using a bright flash light shine a circle of light on the floor. Tell the children they must follow the light trying to keep one hand always lit. As the leader moves the light the children need to run to re-illuminate their hand! Link to Nicodemus sneaking through the dark streets.
