These activities can be used with the entire class, as learning centers, or as extra projects for students who finish their class work.
Early Education
Art Center:
The Beja people raise camels. Show the children pictures of camels. Then have each child draw or color a picture of a camel.
Circle Time:
- Show the children a picture of the Eritrean flag. The flag of Eritrea has three main colors: red, green, and blue. Let children identify red, green, and blue things in the room. Then point out the yellow symbol on the flag and have children find yellow things in the room.
- Use a map to show the children where you live, and then show the children where Eritrea is located. Take a piece of yarn and make a straight line between the two countries. Let the children count the number of countries that touch the yarn.
Dramatic Play/Home Living Center:
The Beja people are nomadic shepherds. Have the class pretend to be Beja shepherds. Talk about life in the desert areas where Beja camel herders live. Walk around the room pretending to follow the herd; point out things you see along the way. Talk about how you would need to take a tent with you. Talk about what it would be like to live in a tent with few possessions.
Library Center:
Bring in library books that show pictures of life in Eritrea. As you look at the pictures, have children pray for the Beja people.
Math Center:
Show the children the triangles on the Eritrean flag. Have the children find triangle shapes around the room.
Science Center:
Talk about the animals in Eritrea: baboons, gazelles, jackals, monkeys, warthogs, and wild cats. Show the children pictures of each of the animals, and then let the children move around the room pretending to be these animals.
Sensory Center:
Show children a map of Eritrea. Set out play dough and let the children make the shape of the country of Eritrea. Lead the children in prayer that the Beja people in Eritrea will hear about Jesus.
Snack Time:
Look online for a recipe and make injera for the children to sample—or ask a parent to do so. As the children tear off and eat pieces of the flat bread, talk about how the Beja people in Eritrea use injera the way the children use spoons and forks.
Writing Center:
Have the children practice making the upper case B to remind them of the Beja people.
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Elementary
Art:
Show your class a picture of the flag of Eritera. Have the students draw an Eritrean flag as a reminder to pray for the Beja people of Eritrea.
Language:
- Have the children sit in a large circle to play this game Say, “I’m going to be a missionary to the Beja people, and I’m going to take …” Complete the sentence with an item that begins with letter a (for example, atlas). The first student repeats your sentence and adds something that begins with the letter b: “I’m going to be a missionary to the Beja people, and I’m going to take an atlas and a Bible.” Continue working your way through the alphabet.
- Have students write a story using this prompt: “I was visiting a Beja village. Suddenly the camels began to run around wildly …”
- Write BEJA OF ERITREA down the left side of the board. Ask children to write next to each letter a sentence that tells something they learned about the Beja people. The first word of the sentence should begin with that letter. For example, B: “Beja people live in three different countries”; E: “Everyone in the clan is related.”
Literature:
Bring in library books to talk about the land, animals, food, and people of Eritrea. Ask students to talk about what they think it would be like to live in Eritrea.
Math:
The Beja people are nomadic shepherds; they have herds of cattle and camels. Make up story problems dealing with the Beja people and their animals. Example: At the beginning of this year, a Beja family had 450 camels. The drought was hard on the herd, and they lost 75 camels. How many camels are in the herd now?
Missions:
Check with your church’s denomination or look online for information about current ministries or missionaries who are trying to reach the Beja people in Eritrea. Read their prayer request and have the children pray about those requests.
Physical Education:
Play Prayer Ball. Take an inflated globe ball and toss it to a student. Look at the country under the student’s right thumb. Let the student pray for the people in that country. If the thumb is on water, the student can pray for the people in the closest country to the thumb. If the student is hesitant to pray, lead the student in a simple “repeat the phrases” prayer. Whenever a student ends a prayer with amen, have all the other students move their hands down to their sides and stomp their right foot as they say yes together. Explain that they are agreeing with the person’s prayer by doing this. Then let the student who chose the country toss the ball to another student. Continue until all the students have had a turn to pick a country and to pray.
Science:
Have students find Internet articles about droughts in Eritrea and surrounding countries. Ask students to describe how droughts affect the life of the Beja people.
Social Studies:
- Let the students compare and contrast their life with the life of Beja children in Eritrea. (Practice Venn diagrams.) Pray that the Beja children will hear about Jesus and want to give their lives to Him.
- Go to the Eritrea page on the SIM. Read the questions on the page and have students research them. You may want to have the students play on teams to see which team can find the answers first.
Thanksgiving Idea:
Have the students write notes and draw pictures to send to missionaries. You might want to give students a writing prompt such as this: “I’m thankful for missionaries because …”
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Middle School/High School
Art:
Find pictures of the deserts of Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea. Have students draw a scene depicting the animals and plants of that area.
Comparative Worldviews:
Have the students research the “folk Islam” practiced by the Beja people. Compare the beliefs and practices of the Beja people with the religion of most Sunni Muslims. Have students make a list of prayer points relating to the Beja people.
Current Events:
Have students find recent news stories about Eritrea. Students can share the stories with the class through bulletin board displays. Student presentations should include suggestions for praying for the situations and people in the stories.
History:
Have students study the history of the Beja people. Students should try to discover why the Beja people live in desert regions, why they believe what they believe, why they practice certain customs, and other key information.
Language Arts:
Have students write letters or e-mails to missionaries. The letters should express thanks for the service of these missionaries and encourage them in their work.
Missions:
Have students research Christian ministries and missionaries who are trying to reach the Beja people. Summarize and print out this information for student prayer groups. Great resources are Joshua Project and 24-7 Prayer
Social Studies:
- Have students make a map that includes Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt. The map should show the distribution of the Beja people.
- Have children research the cultural differences between the Beja people and other people
groups in Eritrea.
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Chapel Activities
Begin by asking students, What is an unreached people group? (Accept all answers.)
This month our focus is on the Beja people in Eritrea. God loves these unreached people and has a special plan for them even though they don’t know God or believe in His Son, Jesus. Many of the Beja people live in fear of evil spirits. They try to do and say things that will keep the spirits from getting angry. Jesus came to take away the fear of evil. When Jesus died for our sins and rose again, He showed that He had power over evil and sin. If the Beja people trust in Jesus as their Savior, they won’t need to fear the spirits.
Is it acceptable to God that the Beja people don’t know that Jesus Christ can forgive their sins? (Encourage the kids to shout, “No!”)
Is it acceptable to us that the Beja people haven’t all been reached with the gospel? (No!)
Let’s pray that the Beja people will learn about Jesus and will trust in Him as their Savior.
Give several students the opportunity to pray that Christians around the world will find it unacceptable that the Beja people remain unreached with the gospel. Pray that Christians will do what they can to help the Beja people hear about Jesus.
Concert of prayer for the Beja people:
Just like a musical concert—all voices or instruments joining together on the same song—a concert of prayer allows many people to pray at the same time about the same topic. You might want to have small prayer groups with a different student in each group praying for each topic, or you can have all of the students lift their voices to God at the same time for each topic. Here are some prayer topics:
- That Beja children will hear the gospel message and desire to follow Jesus
- That the Beja people will see their need for a Savior and worship God
- That the Beja people will have an opportunity to learn about forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ
- That Christians will spread God’s love to the Beja people
- That missionaries will go to Eritrea and share the salvation message with the Beja people
Other ideas:
- Have parent volunteers make injera bread for a snack. (Simple recipes can be found on the Internet.)
- Invite someone who has visited Eritrea or who has been a missionary there to speak and show photos in class or in chapel.
Contact us
K.I.D. Time Supplemental Activities 11 08
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