The Precious Pearl
This parable is very popular with the Level I children, ages 3-6. They love looking into the small treasure boxes. The merchant gives up everything he owns to acquire heaven. This theme is also seen in The Hidden Treasure parable. I stained the inside of the merchant's house and painted the outside market with paint and sand for texture . I also glued rocks outside the door.
The small treasure chests I purchased at second hand shops and a store which sells items from around the world. I glued the jewels in the boxes because otherwise curious hands take things out of the box and they get all over. Even when glued after a couple of years they pick them out so I have to glue new ones in to replace them. At the end of every year there are repairs to do over the summer and some repainting of the figures. I enjoy improving on the materials each summer as I get some creative ideas after I present the Scripture.
I chose a very large pearl to be the pearl of Great Price. However, I've seen others who have used one small pearl. The larger pearl makes sense to me when you compare this parable to The Mustard Seed, where it says that the Mustard tree is so large it has branches for all the birds of the air. Heaven must be pretty big then, right?
I tried to get a box which would hold everything neatly. I've drawn the shapes on the bottom of the box to help the children place the objects in the box as shown here so that the lid will close. I made sure to make the room so that the box would fit snugly on the small shelf. It has a ribbon nailed to the lid for easy opening. It has been very frayed and I'll need to replace it.
In all honesty, I believe I could make this house myself. Over the years I've become knowledgeable watching my husband do this work. He's a perfectionist and uses glue and nails. I'm sure I'd take short cuts like using Liquid Nails. However, I now can use the Jig saw and small Band saw pretty well - not as afraid as I used to be.
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