Tell Me the STORIES of Jesus

I come from a family of storytellers, my mother being the best of all.  She is well-known in the kids' schools for her stories and props.  Where do you think I get a lot of my good ideas?!  Anyway, I introduced the new song "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" (pg 57) by focusing on the first line about telling stories. 

"Who likes to hear stories?" I asked.  All of them raised their hands.
"And who tells you stories?" Most of them said their parents or teachers.
"What stories do you like to hear?"  Everyone had an answer which I let a few share, then I told them that some of my favorites stories were about Jesus.  Ask them to share a few that they can remember.

Then introduce the song by breaking down each line this way:

1st line: Imagine you are sitting in front of your mom or your dad and you are asking them to "Tell me the stories of Jesus, I love to hear."  Tell them that when they sing the song at the program, they should look right at their parents as if they are actually asking them.

2nd line: Now imagine that you are sitting around Jesus, that he is here, and you can ask Him to tell you his own stories and hear about them from himself.  What would you ask Him to tell you about?  "Things I would ask him to tell me, if he were here"

3rd line: Ask the kids if they like books with pictures or no pictures best.  Most will answer pictures.  Pull out two pictures similar to these and explain that "wayside" actually means "countryside", showing that Jesus often taught the humble people who were farmers, shepherds and fishermen.

"scenes by the wayside"

"tales of the sea"

4th line: Just repeat the 1st line, but backwards.  You can joke about how kids ask over and over for the same thing, like: "tell me a story please, please just one story, one story and I'll go to bed..." so the 4th line is like you repeating yourself but in a slightly different way.

I think this was very effective and the kids understood the song so much better and I think they really enjoyed the story concept.  If I had a smaller primary I might even gather them around on the floor like they are listening to a story.  I also plan for the program to have a couple of older kids sing vs 2 and 3, and then have the primary all together repeat the last line.  Love this song and these kids!