27. Daniel And The Lion’s Den

Materials Needed

• toothpicks
• four small bowls and a spoon
• food coloring

Recipe For Icing

Blend the above ingredients together while slowly adding the icing sugar. Separate the icing into four equal portions. Place each portion into separate small bowls and add a different color of food coloring to each bowl. Stir until the color is uniform.

Recipe For Sugar Cookies

Cream together the margarine and sugar. Add the eggs. Beat until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend until smooth. Lightly flour your counter top and roll your dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut the cookies into the shape of Daniel, King, two or more bad men and two or more lions using a dull knife and your imagination. Bake them at 3750 F for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool before using.

Setting The Stage

Sometimes we can go through a whole day and not even think about taking time to pray to our God. In this story found in Daniel 6 we see that Daniel has the privilege of praying taken away from him. Daniel’s response is a commitment to pray, no matter what. This should be our motto and one you will want to communicate to your family.

Project

Once the cookies have cooled you can begin devotions. Have the cookies, bowls of icing and toothpicks on the table. Let each person choose a person or an animal cookie shape. Not only will they decorate the shape they have chosen, but they will also play that same role as the story is being enacted. You can give them the details of the story while you are decorating the cookies.

Details:

• Daniel was a Jew who was a captive in one country while his family lived in another country. He was such a smart man he was asked to help the king a lot. Even though Daniel was a long way from home, he had not forgotten God.
• Daniel loved to talk to God and everyone knew it. If you looked inside his window you could see him kneeling down to pray. He did this three times a day.
• A bunch of men who also worked for the king did not like Daniel and they wanted to kill him. So they tricked the king into making a rule that no one was allowed to pray to anyone except the king. If anyone disobeyed this rule they were to be thrown into the lions’ den to be eaten by the lions.
• Daniel could not obey the rule because he loved to pray to God. So Daniel was thrown into the den of lions. This made the king sad since he really did like Daniel, but a rule is a rule and even the king could not break his own rule.
• Surprise!! The lions did not eat Daniel because God closed their mouths. The next morning the king found out Daniel was alive and he was so happy. The king decided to throw the bad men into the lion’s den and those men were all eaten by the lions.
• The king then made a new rule that everyone was to pray to Daniel’s God because he was the real God.

Drama:

• By now the cookies should be decorated and you all should be ready to act out the story.
• Keep the acting simple. You can give them the idea and let them try to figure out what to say.
• Have Daniel praying and the bad men talking about wanting to kill Daniel.
• The bad men are with the king making the rule about only praying to the king.
• Daniel says he will still pray to God.
• Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den and the king is sad.
• The next day Daniel is still alive and the king is happy.
• The king throws the bad men into the lions’ den and they are eaten.
• The king makes the new rule that everyone is to pray to Daniel’s God.

Once the story is over, enjoy eating the cookies together.

Song

“One Little, Two Little, Three Little Lions”

(use the tune of “One Little Two Little Three Little Indians”)

One little, two little, three little lions, four little, five little, six little lions, seven little, eight little, nine little lions, ten little lions in a den

The adult calls out, “Did they eat Daniel?” In response the children call,
“No!”.

Prayer

Ask God to help you remember to pray to Him everyday this week.