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Cain and Abel sort
One of the things I learned for studying the Bible is to make charts. Now that’s easy to do if you are reading easily and know how to compare, but what if you’re younger and just now learning how to make comparisons, and that’s where today’s Bible lesson comes into play. If you prepare the chart ahead of time it can help the kids make the comparisons. So, this Cain and Abel sort will help the kids look at how each of Adam and Eve’s sons acted.
Prepping the Cain and Abel sort
I read through Genesis 4 several times and each time I wrote down what I noticed about the brothers.
Here is what I’ve learned about Cain and Abel (and yes many of these observations are very simple, but it’s useful to get kids used to noticing things):
- Cain is older, and Abel is younger
- Cain is a farmer
- Abel is a shepherd
- Cain gave fruits and vegetables
- Abel gave a sheep
It feels like there should be more, but the other things I noticed aren’t as much comparisons between the two. It gets into how Cain reacted to God when God rebuked him.
Check out more of the various Fall of Man ideas I’ve shared.
Why make it pictures?
As I started working on the Fall of Man Unit, I knew I could have kids write it all down, but after working with a bunch of kindergarten and first graders this past year, I remembered just how much extra time takes when dealing with young kids.
Especially if you want them to write something. Any time you expect an early elementary kid to write, add 10 minutes to the project.
So, I drew pictures for this Cain and Abel sort. And yes, in the Fall of Man Unit (or just pick up the bundle and get all the stuff) you can print off either a black and white or a color version. I like to print the color versions because they make for better pictures than the amount of coloring and how well I color with my crayons.
But Ticia, what’s the point of this Cain and Abel sort?
Again, it’s an easy way to start showing kids to learn how to make charts and comparisons, but there’s also what you talk about as you complete this chart.
You can talk about expectations for older versus younger siblings. Do we expect more of the oldest?
What is the difference between farmers and shepherds? Think about how shepherds have to care for their sheep, and how farmers have to make sure the weeds don’t take over the garden.
What is the difference between their two offerings to God? This is where you can start to really dig into spiritual things. Why might God have been upset with the fruits and vegetables? Why did God like the sheep?
That’s the thing about crafts, they give you a chance to talk with your kids as they work on the project and you get more information from them than you would if you were just trying to talk to them.
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