1. Welcome everyone to Large Group, and keep them on their feet for WORSHIP time!

2. Tech: When all of the kids have taken a seat in the Large Group area, cue “Battle Squids” intro video. When the video is finished, cue title graphic. Oh yeah—that’s right! It’s time for our first ever “Battle Squids!” Are you pumped? Are you excited? Kids respond. Me too!!

3. We’re going to have a blast today, but best of all, we’re going to battle our way through another book of the Bible—the Book of Proverbs. Open your Bible to the beginning of Proverbs. Take a look—this is the Book of Proverbs; it’s really close to the middle of the Bible, just after the Book of Psalms.

4. Does anyone here know what the word “proverb” means in the Bible? Take answers. Take a look at our definition of a proverb: Tech: Cue Definition Slide Proverb, (noun): a small saying filled with big wisdom from God.

5. The Book of Proverbs is packed with these wise sayings that help us live a Godly life. During “Battle Squids”, we’ll be looking at one of these proverbs each week. In fact, let’s reveal our first proverb right now. Tech: Cue Verse Slide It says: “It is much better to get wisdom than gold. It is much better to choose understanding than silver.” Proverbs 16:16

6. Have the kids read the proverb with you a couple times or repeat it after you. Sounds pretty wise, doesn’t it? For the rest of the day, we’ll be battling to figuring out what exactly that proverb means. Here’s how: Have boys move to one side, and Girls move to the other.

7. Point to Boys’ side. On one team we have our Squidudes! Point to Girls’ side. On the other team we have our Squidettes! Throughout our time today, each team will try to earn points in one of three ways: Team Energy, Team Participation, and Team Competitions. Tech: Cue Team Points Graphic

8. At the end of the hour, we’ll count up the points to see which team wins—if you’re ready for battle, wave your tentacles in the air and cheer. Toss the Squidudes some points. Squidettes— if you’re ready for battle, wave your tentacles in the air and cheer. Toss the Squidettes some points. Tech: Cue “Battle Squids” title graphic

9. In the Bible, during the reign of the kings, there was a young king named Solomon. One night, while he was sleeping, God visited young Solomon in a dream and said, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.” Can you imagine that? If you could have anything you wanted, what would you ask for? Take answers back and forth between teams. Toss points for answers.

10. Those sound like some pretty cool things, but let’s see what Solomon asked God for. The first team to open a Bible to 1 Kings 3:9 will get some points. Tech: Cue “1 Kings 3:9” slide Toss some points to the team who finds the verse first. Have the child who found the verse read it aloud.

11. 1 Kings 3:9 “So give me a heart that understands. Then I can rule over your people. I can tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Who can possibly rule over this great nation of yours?” Tech: Cue “Battle Squids” title slide

12. Did you hear that? Solomon could have asked for great riches or long life, but instead he asked for wisdom—the ability to make good decisions. God was so pleased with Solomon’s request that He gave him both incredible wisdom and enormous riches!

13. Later on, two women came to Solomon to help settle an argument. Call up one pre-selected volunteer from each team. Give the male volunteer a wig to put on. Give the female volunteer a baby doll.

14. Put your arm around the male volunteer. The first women was very upset and said, “She took my baby while I was sleeping!” (Move over to the female volunteer.) The second woman said, “No way! That baby is mine!” (Look towards kids in audience.) When I point to your team, I want you to yell, “No, it’s my baby!” Have the volunteers play “tug-of-war” with the baby as their teams yell

15. Toss points for energy and participation. “Enough!” Solomon yelled. He had an idea. He asked his servants to bring him a sword. I’ll give points to the first team to bring me something I can use as a sword. Kids will have to find something in the room to serve as a sword. Give points to the team that finds something first. Stand between the two volunteers as they hold the baby and raise the “sword” in the air.

16. Solomon said, “We’ll just cut the baby in two. Then you can both have half!” Whoa—time out! (Step out in front of volunteers.) I thought Solomon had asked for wisdom, but that just sounds plain crazy! I hope he knows what he’s doing. (Step behind volunteers again and raise “sword”.) Time in! As Solomon raised the sword, the first lady stopped him.

17. Lower “sword” and step toward male volunteer. “My master,” she said. “Please give her the baby. Don’t kill him!” Solomon knew at that moment who the baby belonged to. “Give the baby to the first woman,” he ordered. “She is his mother.” When the people of Israel heard about Solomon’s decision, they knew that God had given Him incredible wisdom. Thank volunteers and dismiss.

18. Were you all listening closely to the story? (Kids respond.) I hope so, because it is time for the “Feeding Frenzy!” Here’s how it works. I’m going to ask you some questions. If you think you know the answer, turn to your leader and tell him what it is. Your leader will hold up the sign with the most popular answer.

19. Read the questions one at a time. Once all of the multiple choice options have been read, give the groups about 8- 10 seconds to choose their answer and hold up the right sign before the answer is revealed. Once the answer is revealed, toss out one point to all of the groups with the right answer.

20. Tech: Cue Question Slides one at a time How did God speak to young Solomon? Through an angel Through a prophet Through a vision Through a dream

21. What is wisdom? The ability to make good decisions The ability to know a lot of things The ability to get good grades The ability to outsmart people

22. In addition to wisdom, what else did God give Solomon? Incredible strength Fabulous hair Enormous riches The ability to talk to squirrels

23. What happened to the second woman’s baby? He was kidnapped He died He fell down a well He got lost

24. What did the first woman do that convinced Solomon she was the real mom? She broke down crying She grabbed Solomon’s sword She showed him a birth certificate She gave her baby up

25. At the end of the “Feeding Frenzy”, have the kids place all of their points inside their teams bucket or bag and count up their points Announce a winner! Tech: Cue “Battle Squids” slide (Hold up baby doll.) I’m wondering something—do you think Solomon ever planned on cutting the baby in two? (Take answer.) No—he didn’t.

26. So why do you think he said he would? (Take answers.) Solomon knew that if he threatened to cut the baby in two, the real mom would give the baby up to save his life. It was Solomon’s way of figuring out which woman was really the mother. That was pretty wise of him—wasn’t it? In fact, God had given Solomon so much wisdom that he wrote most of the wise sayings in the Book of Proverbs.

27. Do you remember the wise saying we looked at earlier? Let’s look again: Tech: Cue Verse slide “It is much better to get wisdom than gold. It is much better to choose understanding than silver.” Proverbs 16:16 (Read verse aloud with kids.) Tech: Cue Battle Squids Title Slide

28. Solomon wrote those words. He could have asked God for anything in the world. He could’ve asked for a bazillion dollars. He could’ve asked for a gold chariot with sweet rims. He could have asked for a unicorn with laser eyes. But Solomon knew that the greatest thing in the world was to have wisdom— the ability to make good decisions. That’s why he said, “It is much better to get wisdom than gold.”

29. So who do you think we can go to for that kind of wisdom? Take answer. That’s right—God is the source of all understanding, so we can go to Him for wisdom. He can help us make good decisions in our life. I’m curious—do any of you have a situation right now that you could use wisdom for? Is there something that you need God’s help figuring out?

30. There are three ways we can find wisdom from God in times when we need help… I want to see if you can guess the ways. Call on children to give you answers. (You’re looking for “Praying”, “the Bible”, and “knowing/following Jesus”) There are a lot of people who spend their whole lives trying to get lots of money and lots of stuff, but God says that having wisdom is way better.

31. Let’s be like Solomon and spend our lives getting wisdom from God—the one true source of all understanding! Close in prayer, then introduce GO! DEEP Stations Tech: Cue Response Music After a few minutes, dismiss older/younger groups to specific sides of room for GO! Further activities.