Category: Bible story

Josiah reads God’s Book

Josiah reads God’s book bible story. Josiah was King in Judah at a very difficult time. The temple was in need of repair and God’s people were not following God’s law. This Bible Story tells of how God’s Book was found and how Josiah read God’s Book to the people. It’s taken from 2 Kings 22:1 – 23:2. As this story is intended for toddlers a lot of detail has been left out. There are some fun actions to do during the story so that everyone can join in.

Josiah reads God’s Book – story idea

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God’s Book is for Everyone
  • In the Story Bag – King Josiah puppet/doll, a toy hammer, a brush, a Bible (Take these from the story bag as you need them)
  • Before you begin – explain to everyone that there are some things to join in with during the story; some sweeping, hammering and saying ‘no’.

‘Let’s say hello to King Josiah! Josiah was King a long time ago. He was very upset that the Temple, where people went to worship God, was really messy and untidy. Parts of it needed cleaning. Parts of it needed mending. Josiah said, ‘Let’s fix and tidy the Temple,’ and so work began.

There was sweeping!

There was hammering!

Everyone was busy!

But then they stopped…… Everything went quiet…..They had found something.

What could it be?

Was it silver? NO!

Was it Gold? NO!

Was it lots of money? NO!

It was even better than those things.

They had found God’s Book. (It didn’t look exactly like this Bible but the words inside are the same)

Josiah read God’s Book. ‘This is so important that everyone should hear it’, he said

All the people came to the Temple – the important people, the ordinary everyday people, the old people, the young people. People just like you. People just like me. And King Josiah read God’s Book to everyone.

God’s Book is for everyone!

Story bag props for Josiah Reads God's Book

Here’s a blog post all about making Pringle people. Josiah is made from a Pringle tube – you could use a bread stick tube too. The advantage of using a pringle tube is that it is fairly solid so a pringle person will stand up easily leaving your hands free for storytelling actions.

X is for Xerxes

X is for Xerxes is part of our Bible Alphabet. The following is a much shortened telling of the story of Esther, King Xerxes and Haman. When you are telling a story in a toddler group you have to shorten the narrative and find a way to tell the story simply. To read the full story see Esther

X is for Xerxes story idea

Our story happened a long time again in a country called Persia. There was a powerful king called King Xerxes. He was in charge of a huge kingdom and in his kingdom lots of God’s people lived. They were a long way from home.

Now one of God’s people had married the King (he didn’t know that she was one of God’s people – he had married her because she was very beautiful) Her name was Esther.

And there was another man whose name was Haman. The king liked him very much but he was a very bad and horrible man.

Haman didn’t like God’s people at all. He wanted to get rid of all of them. And so he asked the king, ‘Can we get rid of all these people?’ And the King said, ….. ‘yes!’

Now Esther was very sad and worried. She had to find a way to keep God’s people safe. She knew that she needed help. But who could help her? She sent a message to her family – Pray to God. Ask him to help me. And I will pray too.

Esther asked God to help her. She went to see King Xerxes. She told him what was going to happen to God’s people and how she was one of them. The King was horrified. He was angry with Haman and he protected God’s people. They were kept safe.

King Xerxes was very powerful – but not as powerful as God who is able to keep his people safe and hears them when they ask for his help.

X is for Xerxes props for story telling

People characters made from cardboard tubes

King Xerxes and Queen Esther are made from Pringle Containers. Xerxes is a regular Pringle container and Esther is a whole wheat Pringle tube which is slightly smaller (perfect for making storytelling people of different heights!)

To make you just cover the tube in coloured paper (I used a glue gun to stick this) and then add a face , hair and some clothes. Pipe cleaners are very useful for holding everything together. As they are royalty I added crowns but often it’s just a piece of material held in place with a pipe cleaner as in the case of Haman. There are instructions here

People characters made from cardboard tubes

W is for Water from the Rock

The People of God were in the wilderness. They had escaped from Egypt but were thirsty. They moaned! God told Moses to strike the rock and out came water. The story is from Exodus 17:1-7

W is for Water from the Rock – story idea

Have you ever felt hungry? God’s people had been hungry and so God had given them food to eat.

Have you ever felt thirsty? God’s people felt thirsty. But instead of asking God to help them find water they moaned and groaned! Why isn’t God helping us? they said to Moses.

Why are you moaning and groaning? Moses said

Then Moses asked for God’s help. What shall I do with all these moany and groany people?

God heard Moses. God helped Moses. God said, ‘Moses, take your staff and hit the rock’.

Moses did what God said. He lifted up his staff and struck the rock and out came water!

God gave the people water to drink. He looked after them.

God is able to look after you and me too.

Water from the Rock Craft Idea

A simple collage to make. Beforehand prepare the rock from brown paper, a sun, some blue paper strips for water and Moses (Pdf below). The children can build the scene.

Moses-Water-from-the-rockDownload

Here’s a link to another story about Moses

Parable of The Builders – Stories Jesus Told

  • Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive commission at no extra cost to you.

This parable of the builders is from Luke 6:46-49. It’s a great story to tell as you can dress up as a builder, use actions, sing the song ‘The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock’, and, if you are feeling adventurous, use sand rock and water. But it is really helpful to explain why Jesus told this story – so that is where we began. A simple sentence – ‘Jesus told this story to show how important it is to listen to and do what he says.’ It’s also helpful to finish by saying , ‘If we listen to and do what Jesus says our lives last, just like the house on the rock lasted’.

We can’t always explain everything about the parable in the way we might like because the children are so young but we can say something to encourage the adults listening to begin to think further about Jesus.

The Parable of the Builders Story Idea

We had two people to act out the story. One of them also narrated what was happening. We dressed up as builders! Everyone joined in with actions of building, the rain, the floods and the crash as one of the houses fell.

Once upon a time there was a builder who just wanted a house as quick as possible! He chose to build on the sand. It would be quick and easy to build a house. He did a bit of digging and found some stones to make a house on the soft sand. Soon he was finished and sat down to have a rest!

There was another builder who also wanted a house. This builder wanted to build the house really well and so he built his house on rock. He worked so hard digging the foundations, cutting the stones, building them on top of each other. It took a lot longer to complete the build! But then the house was finished and he sat down to have a rest.

Suddenly the rain came and the floods. The house on the rock kept standing! But the house on the sand fell down with a crash!

If there is just one person telling the story they could stand in a different spot for the foolish builder and act out the part and then move to a different spot for the wise builder.

Props for acting out being a builder
Parable of the builders Bible Story props

The builders craft idea

For the craft we made a house – print out the outline and cut up loads of paper to make bricks that can be stuck on the house.

A picture of a house to colour or decorate as a collage
Parable of the builders craft idea
house-on-the-rockDownload
The Song – The Wise Man Built his House upon the Rock !

The Good Samaritan – Stories Jesus Told

  • Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive commission at no extra cost to you.

The Good Samaritan is one of the stories that Jesus told and is from Luke 10. It teaches one simple truth about how we treat other people. Here is a simple storytelling idea for young children..

Knitted toys to tell the story of The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan Story Idea

To tell the story I had several of the characters (the man who was hurt and the three men who were walking on the road) and a donkey in the story bag. You can make the sounds of the men walking and the donkey going clippity-clop when you tell the story. Get everyone to join in with ‘Oh No!’ when it appears in the story.

‘One day a man asked Jesus a question – ‘how can I get to heaven?’ Jesus said to the man, ‘what do you think you need to do?’ 

‘I need to love God and love my neighbour. But who is my neighbour?’ The man was hoping that he had been good enough and that he really only needed to love the people that he liked. So Jesus told this made up story…

Once upon a time a man went on a journey and was hurt. He needed help but there was no one to help him. Oh No! (get the children and adults to join in with ‘Oh no’ each time you say it)

Then he heard footsteps. Someone was coming! A man was coming along the road. He looked, he saw that someone needed help but he kept on walking! Oh No!

Then he heard more footsteps. Someone was coming! Another man was walking along the road. He looked, he saw that someone needed help but he kept on walking! Oh No!

But then he heard something a bit different – it was clippity clop. A donkey was coming along the road and a man. The man looked, he saw that someone needed help and he stopped. Now this man was from far away and from a different place. But he was happy to help the man and he put him on the donkey and took him to a place to stay and gave him medicine until he was better. 

Jesus has finished telling the story. ‘Who was a good neighbour?’ Jesus asked. ‘The person who helped’, said the man. And he knew he hadn’t loved other people like that.

We all find it hard to be a good neighbour to everyone. No one can never be good enough to earn a place in heaven. We need Jesus to help us. 

Craft Idea

Collage of peoples faces. A craft to go with the Good Samaritan bible story that Jesus told
Collage of peoples faces
Collages of peoples faces made by children

Lots of photos of people to make an ‘everyone is my neighbour’ collage. Use magazines and catalogues to find photos and cut them out beforehand. Try to provide a wide variety of people from different cultures, backgrounds and ages. The Good Samaritan is a great story to teach children to love others!

Glue the pictures of people onto A4 Sugar Paper/Construction Paper. Here’s a link to some recycled paper.

This story is one of several in a series for toddler groups – the others are linked for you

God knows when I feel….thankful

God knows when I feel thankful is a story from Luke 17:11-19.

God knows when I feel thankful story props

God knows when I feel thankful story idea

I used 10 wooden spoons to represent the ten men that asked Jesus to help them. On one side there is a sad face and on the other a happy face. Turn the spoons around as the men are made well. You can stand the spoons in some foam, oasis or a wooden block with drilled holes. A wooden block will last a lot longer so if you can go for that option.

One day, as Jesus was walking along the road, 10 men called out to him. They didn’t come close because they weren’t very well and they didn’t want anyone to catch what they had. They called out to Jesus, ‘Please help us.’

Jesus saw them. Jesus heard them. And Jesus helped them. He made all 10 men better! They were so happy! They started to go back to their families and friends. But one man stopped. He turned round and came to where Jesus was. ‘Thank you’, he said.

It is always good for us to be thankful for the things we have and to say, ‘thank you’.

God knows when I feel thankful storytelling wooden spoon props

Free Email Updates
Get the latest content first.
We respect your privacy.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. View more
Cookies settings
Accept
Decline
Privacy & Cookie policy
Privacy & Cookies policy
Cookies list
Cookie name Active
Save settings
Cookies settings