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The Philippian Jailer toddler Bible story

The Philippian Jailer Bible story is found in Acts 16:25-34. Paul and Silas are in prison at midnight at the beginning of our story. By the end they are having a meal with the jailer and his family.

For young children a few details have been ommitted or simplified.

The Philippian Jailer Toddler Bible story

In the story bag – dolls/puppets representing Paul, Silas, the jailer, some play food. Take the items from the bag as you need them. You can add some movement in the story too.This is indicated in the text below.

Telling the story

‘Say hello to Paul and Silas. They had had a very tough day. People in the town of Phillipi weren’t happy with them talking about Jesus. They had been locked up in Jail! It wasn’t very nice at all. It wasn’t clean and tidy and it definitely wasn’t comfortable.

What could they do? They might have decided to moan and groan. They might have decided to be really angry and upset. But they didn’t do any of those things.

In the middle of the night when it was dark, they were praying to God and singing.

I think they were singing quite loudly because the Bible tells us that all the other people in the jail could hear them!

Suddenly the ground began to shake and shudder! (you could all shake and shudder here).The jail walls moved! The jail doors opened! Everyone’s chains fell off!

The man in charge of the jail was frightened. He would be in big trouble if Paul and Silas escaped. But they didn’t. Paul called out,’ Don’t worry, we are still here’.

The jailer ran into the room, he was shaking with fear, ‘What do I need to do to be saved?’ he asked Paul.

What would Paul say? He told the jailer about the Lord Jesus, the only one who can save. And the jailer believed in Jesus.

The jailer took Paul and Silas into his home and he and his family looked after them and they had some yummy food to eat.

The next day Paul and Silas were set free and the people who had hurt them and put them in jail said, ‘We are sorry Paul and Silas.’

This was the beginning of the church in the town of Phillipi.’

For another story about the new church in Philippi have a look at Lydia hears about Jesus

Philippian Jailer Bible Story Toddler Play Ideas

Make a music area for the children to explore. Collect toddler friendly musical shakers and drums and place on a mat. Allow children to explore making music. You could do this at the end of song time and play some music/songs in the background.

colorful xylophones and hand bells on display — Photo by Lena Ti on Pexels.com

a kid covering his eyes with maracas — Photo by Lena Ti on Pexels.com

Make musical instruments using yogurt pots, uncooked rice, lentils and beans and paper lids secured with tape. Decorate the pots with stickers and glitter glue

Decorated transparent cup filled with grains and covered with colourful paper — A colorful homemade shaker filled with dried grains brings creativity to sensory play.

Song ideas For Toddler Group

Paul and Silas were singing praises to God in prison – here are some songs you could sing with the children in your T

From my head down to my toes God loves me

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands

My God is so great so strong and so mighty

Paul and Silas in Jail craft For Toddler Group

Paul and Silas collage showing them singing in Philippian Jail

Scroll down for the printable downloads you need for the above craft. Cut out the pieces you need and provide an A4 piece of sugar paper for the background. You also need crayons and glue.

Printable Resources – Philippian Jailer toddler group craft

Bible Men (3 up)Download

Prison bars (6 up)Download

Singing (Musical notes) (6 up)Download

Jesus feeds four thousand people

Jesus feeds four thousand people is a story from Mark 8:1-10. A large crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus and have stayed so long that they have no food. Jesus shows his compassion and feeds everyone from a small amount of bread and fish.

Jesus feeds four thousand people story idea

Jesus was talking to lots and lots of people about God. There were mums and dads, grandads and grandmas and children! They had been listening for a long time. They had been listening – for – 1,2,3 days!!! Can you imagine that!?

I think they had some time to sleep too and some food to eat. But the food had all gone and it really was time to go home.

Jesus called his twelve special friends together, ‘We must give everyone something to eat,’ he said. ‘They have to be able to walk home and some of them have got a long way to go’. Jesus cared about all the people.

His friends didn’t know what to do. ‘We are so far away from anywhere,’ they said.

Jesus asked them, ‘how much food do you have?’ They looked at what they had – it wasn’t much. Just 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 small loaves of bread and some fish. Oh dear. Not really enough for Jesus and his twelve friends never mind everyone else!

Jesus told everyone to sit down. Jesus thanked God for the seven loaves and the few fish and then he started to share it out. All the tired and hungry people; all the mums and dads and grandmas and grandads and children had more than enough to eat. And once they were full, they started to go home.

Jesus’ friends had to tidy up – there was so much food that there were 7 baskets of leftovers!

Craft Idea

Jesus feeds the four thousand craft of a basket and bread and fish

To make the bread and fish in a basket

Basket download
Bread and fish download
Crayons
Glue
Shredded paper for the basket decoration

7 loaves & come fish – LOAVES & FISH (3-up)Download

7 leaves & some fish – BASKET Download

Here’s a link to a similar story

Jesus calls Levi

Jesus calls Levi is found in Mark 2:13-17 , Luke 5:27-28 and Matthew 9:9-13 In Matthew’s gospel Levi is called Matthew. When you tell the story it’s up to you which name to use.

To tell the story you need some props for Levi and the Lord Jesus , a picture of a house, some of Levi’s friends. I’ve used a set of power point pictures from lampbiblepictures.co.uk You have to purchase from the site but they are good value. I won’t be using them as a power point but as printed pictures that I’ve attached to lollipop sticks. I’ve also made a large house picture that opens up to reveal Levi and his friends having a meal with Jesus.

Jesus calls Levi – Bible story

There was once a man called Levi who had a job that meant that most people didn’t like him very much at all! I wonder what that job was? Let’s say hello to Levi and find out.

Hello Levi! (Take Levi out of the story bag)

Levi! Aren’t you going to say hello?

He’s too busy counting all the money. Levi is a tax collector. Everyone thinks he is really awful. His only friends are other tax collectors. He probably takes too much money and keeps some for himself.

One day someone comes along to just where Levi is sitting doing his job, collecting the money. But this isn’t just anyone walking along, this person is Jesus. He knows all about Levi. He knows he isn’t a good person. he knows he does things that are wrong and unfair. What is Jesus going to do?

Jesus looks at Levi and he says to him, ‘Follow me’.

Levi stops counting the money. Levi gets up and he follows Jesus. And Levi wants his friends, all the other tax collectors to meet Jesus too so he invites them all to his home for some food.

Some people were cross! ‘Look at what Jesus is doing’, they said. ‘Doesn’t he know how bad those people are?’ But Jesus said, ‘I’ve come to help the people who know they need me.’

Some of the pictures below are from Lampbiblepictures. The large house picture opens up to show Levi’s friends

Large Bible time house for story telling

Pictures for telling the bible story Jesus calls Levi

Jesus calls Levi – craft idea

I really like a ‘lift the flap’ craft and this one is very simple. Part of the craft is the house and inside are some people.

All you need

House printed on to A4 (portrait) and folded in half (if you use the download below the house will be in the lower half of the A4 page – and this is right.)
Group of people printed out. You need a group of 4 for each house. (Have some extra as children often use more than 1)
Tissue paper, crayons, glue to decorate the house and the people

Friends of Levi in a lift the flap house craft

Lift the flap – House Download

Lift the flap – Crowd Download

Sarah laughs! – women in the Bible 2

Sarah laughs when she is told she will have a baby. She is old, too old to have any children and she just can’t quite believe the message of the three visitors (who we know are messengers from God) and so she laughs. This is where our story begins.

It ends with the birth of Isaac whose name means ‘laughter’. God kept his promise to Abraham and Sarah; God always keeps his promises.

Read the story for yourself from Genesis 18:1-16 and Genesis 21:1-7.

Sarah laughs! story idea

Are you ready to hello to Sarah? she was a real person who lived a long time ago. Let’s get ready to meet her! Say ‘hello Sarah!’

Sarah was married to a man called Abraham. They had lots of things – lots of people working for them, lots of sheep, lots of goats, lots of money. But there was something they really wished that they had. They really wanted to have children. Now God had promised that they would have a huge family but they were getting really old and still no family of their own. It was difficult for them to believe God and to wait patiently.

Days and days went by. Months and months. Years and years. Then one day Abraham was sitting outside his home. (He lived in a tent!). It was a warm, sunny day. Abraham wasn’t really doing anything in particular when he saw three men walking along. He got up and started running. He wasn’t running away he was running to them. ‘ Please come to our home and have something to eat’, Abraham said. ‘Yes’, they said.

Abraham hurried back to his tent and asked Sarah to make some bread. He went to his servant and asked them to make some hot food. The visitors sat outside and ate the lovely food.Now, they weren’t just people like us – these men were sent from God with a special message. ‘Where is Sarah? they asked. She’s in the tent, Abraham replied. ‘This time next year she will have a baby son’, the LORD said.

Now Sarah heard what was said. She thought, ‘I’m too old to have a baby!’ and she laughed.

But nothing is too difficult for God and a year later Abraham and Sarah welcomed a new baby son. They called him Isaac which means ‘laughter’! God always keeps his promises.

Sarah laughs bible story props

Have dolls or puppets representing Sarah, Abraham and baby Isaac. Make a tent by draping a blanket over a clothes horse.

Sarah laughs bible story puppet with Abraham puppet outside their tent

Craft idea

Make a tent – this is a fun ‘lift the flap’ craft. All you need to make this lovely craft is

A4 paper for the background
Different coloured paper for the tent. Fold this as shown in the picture
Abraham, Sarah and Isaac printed out. (downloads at the end of this post)
Crayons/felt tips to decorate
Tissue paper to decorate the tent
Flower stickers to use around the tent

Abraham-Sarah-x-2 Download

Baby-x-12 Download

Easter egg with cross symbol craft

Easter egg with cross symbol craft ideas for children of all ages! The basic printout of the symbol of the cross hidden in an egg shape can be used in several different ways. Very young children can decorate the egg with crayons and tissue paper. Older children (10 plus) can trace the picture onto tracing paper and use felt tips to create a beautiful stained glass effect. Just be careful of smudging. Tracing paper is a little more tricky to use. Important Note – you do need to be careful with Sharpies and other Permanent Markers because of the smell they give off – they aren’t suitable for young children. Check if there are rules about their use in your country before using with anyone under 18.

Easter egg with cross symbol craft ideas

Print out the egg and heart shapes (PDF below) Cut out the hearts and if you want to cut out the egg shape. (You can do this before or after decorating). Then use tissue paper strips, crayons, felt tips to decorate and add the red heart. We did this at Toddler Group and they had a lovely time (make extra hearts as toddlers like to add several!). We also made this at a Children’s after school club and they enjoyed it too.

Older children can colour the cross first and then layer strips of tissue paper across the egg shape. Then trim the tissue paper to fit and add the red heart

Egg with cross on tracing paper

This version of the Easter egg with cross symbol craft takes a while to complete – older children can add extra lines and shapes and then carefully colour the egg – bright colours are best! I made the outline of the cross and heart thicker so they would stand out. Once completed place in a window. I think this would be a great craft to try at home.

Easter-Egg-Pattern-with-Cross-A4-1 Download

Heart-shape-3×4-1 Download

If you can print the hearts on coloured paper.

Abram leaves home

Abram leaves home is part of our Story Series ‘What’s in God’s Big Book?’ We started by making a Big Book and then each week we take out a page for our story. So far we have done God made everything , First sad day, Noah built the Ark and The big tower to Heaven ( I tell the story first and we finish by taking the page out of the book and reading the words)

The story is from Genesis 12

In the story bag have Abram and Sarah.

Knitted dolls to use to tell the Bible story about Abram and Sarai leaving home.

You can add actions to the story and ask the group to repeat phrases (I’ve written these in Bold).

Abram leaves home story idea

Say hello to Abram! Hello Abram. Abram lived a long, long time ago with his wife Sarai.

One day God spoke to Abram and said to him, ‘Leave where you live and go to a new place that I will show to you. I will bless you and make your family a great nation and bless all the world through you.’

Wow! That was a big promise.

Abram listened to God. Abram got ready to do what God had said.

He packed up his bags. He said goodbye to his neighbours and friends and off he went! Can you wave and say goodbye. He didn’t travel in a car or aeroplane. He didn’t even use a boat. But he probably had a donkey or camel to ride on and sometimes he would have walked.

Abram trusted God and was sure that God would be with him and keep his promise.

Every day he and Sarai travelled and every night they put up their tent and went fast asleep.

Today God speaks to you and me in The Bible and we should do what he says. We can trust God to keep his promises just like Abram.

Abram in his tent craft idea

Abram in his tent craft made with sugar paper.

Abraham-1 Download

I have added a download for you to print and use for Abraham standing in his tent. For full craft instructions see this post. This is one of my favourite crafts – the children really love the lift the flap element!

The Wheels on the Bus Craft

The Wheels on the Bus is a well known and often sung song at Toddler Group so we made a fun craft to go with the song. The Bus can be decorated with collage materials and crayons. We added some fun face stickers too.

Some ideas for collage materials

Tissue paper squares (lots of colours)
Wool
Sugar paper cut up into different shapes
Bits of wrapping paper
Fabric (Cut into squares using pinking shears – it won’t fray)
Felt
Card shapes – often designed for card making, you might find some in charity shops
Petit four cases/Cup cake cases

You can decide if you want to use lots of different materials or just a few. It’s good for children to have some choice.

Here’s a printable of the bus

Bus-The-wheels-on-the-bus…Download

Here’s some lyrics for the Wheels on the Bus.

Make a beautiful picture for Spring

Make a beautiful picture for spring using stickers and colours! There are loads of great stickers suitable for young children and if you don’t feel like using glue they are a good alternative. It also saves you from having to find lots of pictures to cut out so a really useful time saver. When you set up the craft space provide a pot for all the left over sticker backing. It’ll make tidy up so much easier.

We used a printed background for our spring picture that has hills, trees, a sun and some water. The children then decorated the scene with crayons and stickers. Wax crayons are great to use as you can blend colours and cover an area more easily that with felt tips of pencils. The stickers stuck to the crayon just fine.

An outdoor scene decorated with animal stickers and crayons

The background is available to download

Create-a-spring-picture Download

We used stickers from Amazon. They come on a roll – we cut them up into individual stickers for ease of use. They are a great size for children to be able to peel the backing off themselves – great for using fine motor skills.

Here are links to some stickers. They are different designs as the ones we used are no longer available! (Affiliate link – some of the links in this blog are affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you)

Woodland Animal stickers

Sea Animal stickers

Flowers and Butterflies stickers

Easter Craft – a paper Easter Garden

Easter Craft – a paper Easter Garden that is easy to make. Easter Gardens are lovely but if you don’t have the time to make a garden with soil and real plants then this is a simple alternative. It is a great reminder of the Story of Easter.

To make the Easter Garden you need

picture of the empty tomb printed onto card (see file to download – there is a choice – one has the words ‘Jesus is alive!’)
pictures of flowers from garden catalogues or magazines
glue
pencils and crayons

Make the picture while the card is flat and then fold in half so the tomb and hills are vertical.

This craft is suitable for toddlers upwards. Older children can cut out the flower pictures and or draw their own. You can add stickers and tissue paper shapes too.

cross-empty-tomb-jesus-is-alive-2 Download

cross-empty-tomb-blank-3-1 Download

Here is another Easter Garden idea using a paper plate

My Easter Pinterest Board has lots of Easter themed craft ideas

God knows when I feel….. busy!

God knows when I feel busy! This term we are telling Bible Stories that remind us that God knows how we feel. We start with Martha feeling busy. The story is from Luke 10: 38-42. Each week there will be a different emoji paper plate face that represents how the character in the story is feeling.

I’m not sure that toddlers dislike feeling busy but the adults listening in to this story will probably relate to Martha.

God knows when I feel busy bible story idea

In the story bag I had – the emoji paper plate face, Martha, Mary, pan, wooden spoon and an apron that I put on during the story. As you introduce the characters take them from the story bag and say ‘hello.

One day Martha invited Jesus to come to her home for a meal. She lived with her sister Mary

Jesus was very happy to go to Mary and Martha’s house.

When he got there Jesus began to talk about God. Mary so wanted to listen to everything that he had to say. She sat down and listened.

But Martha had a lot to do! There was tidying to be done. There was the cooking to be done. Pans needed stirring!(Use the props from the story bag – encourage the children to mime the actions too) Food needed chopping! Plates needed wiping! Water needed pouring! She was busy, busy, busy! (Can you say that with me? She was busy, busy, busy!) – show the face of the busy person.

Mary sat still and listened to Jesus.

Martha was not happy! She was so busy and no one was helping!

She said to Jesus, ‘Tell my sister to help me!’

But Jesus didn’t do what Martha said. Instead he said to Martha, ‘You don’t need to be so busy. You need to sit and listen to my words too.’

Today we can stop being so busy and instead listen to the words of Jesus by listening to stories about him and reading the Bible.’

God knows when I feel bust bible story props — Martha – God knows when we are busy

The print out is from pixabay. Here’s the link to the plate for you to print

4.-busy-craft-plate-g532901bca_1280 Download

I cut out lots of food pictures from magazines for the children to choose from to decorate their plates. Here’s a photo of the craft table set up (minus the glue which I always put out last so I can put the lids away – they are small and could be a chocking hazard)

The Man with Four Friends – A Bible Number Story

The Man with Four Friends is our next Bible number story in the series. We are up to the number four! For the other numbers we have told stories about have a look at these links – Number One, Number Two, Number Three

This week the Bible Story is from Mark 2:1-22. The Bible Truth for Toddlers is ‘Jesus can forgive the wrong that people do’.

Man with four friends story bag ideas

To tell the story you need 5 puppets/dolls, a bed/mat and a model or picture of the house and a storybag.

Man with four friends bible story puppets — The four friends

puppet of man on mat — The man on his mat

model of bible time house — Bible time house

The Man with Four Friends – story idea

Can you do some counting with me? Let’s see – use your fingers to count – 1,2,3,4! Today our Bible Story is all about the number 4. Listen to find out when to join in with some counting.

Our story begins in a house with a flat roof and some steps up the side. It had windows and a door. I wonder what could be happening in this house? We are not told who lived in this home, (show the house) but when Jesus arrived lots of people went to the house to meet him. They squashed themselves inside. There was hardly any room. The house was full!

In another part of town there was a man who couldn’t walk. He lay on his bed. (show the man on his bed) He needed the help of his friends everyday. Let’s count the friends together as they come out of the story bag – 1,2,3,4

His friends wanted him to see Jesus.

So, they picked him up and carried him to the house where Jesus was – carefully, carefully they carried their friend through the town to the house where Jesus was…

…they believed Jesus could help their friend.

When they arrived at the house they could not get in the front door because of the crowd. They didn’t give up!

They carried him up the outside stairs and onto the roof – slowly, slowly – carefully, carefully…

…they made a hole in the roof, then – slowly, slowly, carefully, carefully they lowered him down in front of Jesus!

When Jesus saw that they really believed he could help the man he said, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Some people in the house didn’t believe that Jesus could forgive the wrong people do. So, Jesus said to the man, “So that you can be sure that I can forgive sin, get up, pick up your mat and go home.” Straight away and really quickly he got up and walked home!

All the people in the house were amazed!!

We never saw anything like this! They said to one another.

Craft Idea – free download to colour and/or decorate with tissue paper

number-4-friends Download

This story is also a short video!

Jesus and Three Disciples – A Bible Number Story

Jesus and three disciples is our next Bible number story. We are up to the number 3. This Story is from Matthew 17:1-13. (We have already thought about Jonah and One Big Fish and Noah and Two of Every Animal.) This week’s Bible Truth for Toddler’s is, ‘We can listen to Jesus.’ To tell the story you could have three people to take out of a storybag – say hello to them and count them too.

Jesus and three disciples story idea

Meet three of Jesus’ disciples (friends) – Peter, James and John. They knew each other really well.

One day they went for a walk up a mountain – up, up, up they went. No one else was at the top. Just the three of them.

And then something extraordinary happened. Jesus began to shine really brightly.

Peter and James and John looked at Jesus. Something very special was happening. Although Jesus was a man just like them, he was also the Son of God. They were seeing a little bit of his glory. They were seeing just how special Jesus is.

And then they were surrounded by a bright cloud. Not an ordinary cloud – but one that was shining. And they heard God’s voice say, ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.’

And then it was over – and they walked back down the mountain.

Jesus really is God’s Son and we can listen to him today by reading God’s Special Book – the Bible.

Three Friends of Jesus – Peter, James and John

Craft Idea

We made shiny pictures – using various types of paper and celophane. Wrapping paper is really good for this. We also had a colouring sheet with the three disciples/friends of Jesus. This is a free download.

number-3-disciples Download

Candle – colouring stained glass craft

Candle – colouring stained glass craft. This is a very simple candle craft – you can choose whether to cut out the flame and glue tissue paper to the back for a stained glass effect or just colour in the flame or add some glitter!

And you can choose whether or not to add a Bible verse to the heart shape. Sometimes it depends on how much time we have for preparation and the age and stage of the children who are making the craft.

One of the downloads for the candle craft comes with the words from John 8:12 printed on the heart, the other is left blank.

In the picture the bible verse is written by hand but I felt the downloadable version needed an upgrade!

The picture is made up of

a candle – to represent light,
a heart – to remind us of God’s love, and
the Cross – to remind us that Jesus died for us and in doing so showed his love for us.

This would make a great Memory Verse craft to help children learn John 8:12.

What you need to make the candle colouring stained glass craft

Wax crayons or blendable colouring pencils are great for adding colour to the candle design; they can be layered and blended (you can use felt pens but I’m not sure that they would have such a good effect as sometimes you just end up with a streaky effect! If young children are using felt tips it’s best to make sure they are water based pens )
Glitter (optional)
Yellow tissue paper if cutting out the flame and adding the stained glass effect
Glue if doing the above
Printouts of the design

heart-and-candle-no-bible-verse Free printable to download

heart-and-candle-with-john-8v12-1 Download

Noah and two of every animal – A Bible Number Story

Noah and two of every animal is our second bible number story. Last week we thought about the Number One and told the Bible story about Jonah and the One Big Fish. This story is all about counting to two! The Bible Truth for toddlers is, ‘Those who trust in God are rescued’. You can read the story from Genesis here.

To tell the story you can use – an ark, animals in pairs, Mr and Mrs Noah, a toy saw and hammer.

Noah and two of every animal toddler group story props

Storytelling props for Noah

Noah and two of every animal toddler group story script

Say hello to Noah! God told Noah to start building. He needed to cut lots of wood and use a hammer and a saw. But what was he making? It wasn’t a house. It wasn’t a new bed. It wasn’t a table. It wasn’t even really a boat! It was an ark. It was like a big, big box that would float. God had told Noah to build an ark, he told him exactly how big it should be and what sort of wood to use.

Noah worked hard. He trusted God and he did what God said. Everyday he sawed and hammered. Every night he went fast asleep. Then he woke up and sawed and hammered until one day the Ark was finished. It was huge!

It was too big for just Noah and his family. Who else was it for?

God sent animals to go inside the ark. Two of every kind. Let’s count them! (show animals in pairs and count – 1,2). They went into the big ark that Noah had built. Noah collected all the food that they would need and put in safely in the ark and then Noah and his family went inside too. And then God shut the door.

Everyone inside the Ark waited. They waited. And they waited.

And then it began. It rained and it poured. It rained for such a long time. But Noah and his family and the animals were safe in the ark. God took care of them and rescued them from the big flood.

And when the flood had gone they were able to come out of the big ark that Noah had built. God had rescued them from the big flood.

Noah and two of every animal craft idea

number-2-animals Download

We added tissue paper in different shades of blue for the water and used animal stickers. I liked that they were photos of animals. Lots of opportunity for naming animals while making the craft.

Song Idea

Instead of ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’, we sang ‘Mr Noah had an ark’ and added the animals that we had used in the story with any sounds that they make.

Noah's ark shape sorter to tell Noah and two of every animal bible story — Noah’s Ark shape sorter that we used as a storytelling prop.

Answers in Genesis have lots of information about Noah’s ark if you’d like to read more.

Jonah and the One Great Big Fish – A Bible Number Story

Jonah and the One Great Big Fish – A Bible Number Story. We are thinking about counting in toddler group. So we have some Bible Stories with numbers. First up is Jonah. The Bible truth for toddlers in this story is ‘God always knows where we are’. The story is from the book of Jonah.

To tell the Story you need –

Jonah (we used a figure from happyland),

a big fish (the one pictured is VERY big – made over a tent) and

a toy boat.

Jonah and the One Great Big Fish story

God said to Jonah, ‘go to the big city called Ninevah (can you say that? repeat the name together) and tell everyone there about me.’

Jonah listened to God.

But Jonah didn’t like the people in the big city of Ninevah.

‘I don’t want to! I’m not going to go!’ He said (have you ever said that?)

Jonah thought to himself, ‘I will go far away – so far away that God won’t know where I am.’ He went and got on a boat and sailed away, far, far away from Ninevah.

But then the rain came and the wind blew – and out of the boat came Jonah – and splash into the sea!

Down, down, down he went. ‘Please God, help me!’ he prayed.

God knew exactly where Jonah was, God always knows where we are; and he sent something to help. It wasn’t a boat – it was one great big fish. The one great big fish opened up it’s mouth and swallowed Jonah. He was safe!

The one great big fish took Jonah back to land. God said, ‘Jonah, go to Ninevah’. And this time Jonah did exactly what God said.

Jonah craft idea

Decorate the big fish! It’s a free download.

number-1-big-fish Download

The other stories in this Bible Number Story Series

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil craft ideas

Elisha and the widow’s oil is a story from 2 Kings 4:1-7 where we read about Elisha helping a widow who needed to pay her debts. He told her to borrow as many empty jars of oil as she could from neighbours and then go inside her home and close the door. What happened next shows us God’s care for his people.

Elisha and the widow’s oil Bible Story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God cares about us

To tell the story to young children – you need a bottle of oil.

‘There was once a woman who had two sons. Sadly, her husband had died and she was in trouble. She owed some bad people money and she had no way of paying them back.

She went to see Elisha. He was God’s prophet. ‘I am in trouble. Can you help me?!’ she asked

What do you have at home? Elisha asked

I have one jar of oil. (Show the oil)

Elisha told her what she must do. ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your neighbours. Then go home. Shut the door and start to pour the oil into the empty jars and then sell the oil and pay your debts’

What would the woman do? She started to borrow empty jars. She went to one home and then another and then another. Soon she had lots of empty jars.

Then she went home and closed the door.

Her sons helped her start to pour the oil into an empty jar. And something amazing happened. As they filled the empty jar the oil that they had started with didn’t run out. They filled another jar and still it didn’t run out. Soon all the jars were full of oil. And once they were all full the oil that they had started with stopped flowing.

Now oil is expensive and the woman was able to sell all this extra oil. She had enough money to pay her debts and money left over for her and her sons to live on.

Elisha was able to help because he was God’s prophet. God cared about this woman and her sons. God cares about you and me too.’

Craft ideas – free downloads

One idea is to colour/decorate jars of oil. The other is to add more jars of oil to the picture and then colour or decorate.

Elisha and the widow's oil craft colouring jars — Decorate the jars of oil

widows-oil-jars-x-4 Download

widows-oil-jars-add-a-jar-1 Download

Make a Paper Plate Christingle for 7-11 year olds

paper-plate-christingle-1-1 Download

Angel tree topper instructions

Angel tree topper instructions that are easy to print. We made these angels last year in our toddler group. There are some instructions here on the blog in a previous post but this printable instruction leaflet is much easier to print and share. It can be handy to have some instructions for the adults to look at on the craft table. You could also make them available as a take home for parents and children to make during the Christmas holidays.

Printable instructions showing how to make an angel tree topper

how-to-make-a-christmas-angel-1-2 Download

Zacchaeus story, video, and craft

Zacchaeus story video and craft idea

Zacchaeus story, video and craft for young children.

Zacchaeus story telling idea

Jesus was walking along the road to a town called Jericho. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus as he walked through their town. They had heard a lot about all the amazing things that he had done.

One man really wanted to see Jesus. His name was Zacchaeus (can you say that name?) Let’s say hello to Zacchaeus as he comes out of the story bag.

Now Zacchaeus was very, very rich. He had loads of money. Some of his money he had by taking what wasn’t his! So people didn’t like Zacchaeus.

But that wasn’t all. Zacchaeus was a short man. So when Jesus was coming to his town he had a problem! He couldn’t see past the crowds! The crowds of people didn’t like Zacchaeus so they weren’t going to let him get to the front. Standing on tip toe didn’t help either. So Zacchaeus began to run. He ran to a tree. Then he did something that he hadn’t done for a long, long time. He climbed the tree. Now he could see Jesus.

And there Jesus was, walking along the road. And then Jesus stopped! Right under the tree. ‘Zacchaeus, come down. I’m coming to your house today!’ said Jesus.

Zacchaeus came down the tree. ‘I will give back all the money that isn’t mine and I will give extra money too’ he said.

Zacchaeus was a different person now that he had met Jesus.

Jesus said ‘I came to look for and to save the lost’. All of us are lost without Jesus. He is looking for us and is able to find and save us.

Zacchaeus story video

Zacchaeus craft idea

Craft Idea – download and print the tree and Zacchaeus. Decorate with tissue and /or sugar paper and colour. Stick Zacchaeus in the tree.

Templates for making Zacchaeus in the tree craft

Zacchaeus in the tree craft — Zacchaeus in the tree

Zacchaeus-x21 Download

tree Download

The story of Zacchaeus is from Luke 19.

There are several other similar videos on the let their light shine youtube channel.

Easter egg colouring printables

Easter egg colouring printables!

These A4 Easter Egg designs can be coloured or made into collages. Whatever you feel like doing! I’ve used wax crayons (you can blend the colours!), felt tips, tissue paper and some sugar paper circles. Cut out the egg shape after you’ve decorated it. If you want to paint the eggs then maybe print the shape onto card. Enjoy!

easter-egg-happy-easter-a4 Download

easter-egg-jesus-is-alive-a4 Download

easter-egg-pattern-a4 Download

On the Way to Easter…Zacchaeus

Jesus is now in Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Last time he met Bartimaeus. Now he meets Zacchaeus. Two very different people!

To tell the story… from Luke 19:1-10

Have a tree – you can make one from a pringle container or draw one – and a person to represent Zacchaeus. Place Zacchaeus in a story bag.

Jesus was now getting nearer to Jerusalem. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus as he walked through their town. They had heard a lot about all the amazing things that he had done.

One man really wanted to see Jesus. His name was Zacchaeus (can you say that name?) Let’s say hello to Zacchaeus as he comes out of the story bag.

Now Zacchaeus was very, very rich. He had loads of money. Some of his money he had by taking what wasn’t his! So people didn’t like Zacchaeus.

And there Jesus was, walking along the road. And then Jesus stopped! Right under the tree. ‘Zacchaeus, come down. I’m coming to your house today!’ said Jesus.

Zacchaeus came down the tree. ‘I will give back all the money that isn’t mine and I will give extra money too’ he said.

Zacchaeus was a different person now that he had met Jesus.

Jesus said ‘I came to look for and to save the lost’. All of us are lost without Jesus. He is looking for us and is able to save us.

Craft Idea

The tree and Zacchaeus are available to download. The tree can be decorated with tissue paper, crepe paper and/or leaves cut from sugar paper with brown tissue paper for the tree trunk.

Tree Download

Zacchaeus-x21 Download

Our next paper plate to add to our ‘Journey to Jerusalem….’

This is what we are aiming for …..

Jesus is born craft

All you need for this craft – paper party bags, shredded tissue paper, stars, baby picture, glue, crayons or material for the swaddling cloths.

A free download of the baby baby-jesus-x-8-1 Download

There is a lot of cutting out to do beforehand and not loads for children to do – they decorate the baby, add the tissue paper and the star – so you may want to make a paper plate Mary, Joseph or a shepherd as well!

Make Your Own Advent Calendar

All you need to make an advent calendar with Bible verses that help us to prepare for Christmas

Advent calendar on a long piece or string

Are you looking forward to Christmas? One way of helping our children understand the real meaning of Christmas is to point them to what the Bible has to say about the Birth of Jesus. This ‘make your own advent calendar’ is a simple way of helping us to re-focus on Jesus as we get ready to celebrate Christmas. There is one picture for each day (tree, sheep, star and a manger for Christmas Day) with a Bible reference to look up and read as a family.

How to make this advent calendar

You will need…

A print out of the three parts of the advent calendar (see end of the post)
Small colourful envelopes
Number Stickers 1-24 (you can buy stickers or write the numbers on)
Piece of string/ribbon
Small pegs
Small treat if liked

Print the symbols onto card and cut out. Place each one in an envelope with a number on the outside (you can buy inexpensive special advent stickers for this), add small treats to the envelope too. At the beginning of December put up some string or ribbon and use pegs or paper clips to attach the picture each day during advent. You can leave the pictures black and white or colour them. There are Bible verses to read each day – help the children to find the verse in the Bible (some are a bit tricky to find) and read the verse with them.

You can add a chocolate treat too if you wish. When our children were small we’d have eaten the chocolate treat either straight after breakfast or straight after school and read the Bible verses at bedtime. But you pick a time that fits in with your family life!

The envelopes, pegs, stickers and string can be used another year and you can print out as many of the Christmas shapes as you like.

Free printable is here Christmas 3-shapes 3 ( verses) Christmas 3-shapes 2 ( verses) Christmas 3-shapes 1 ( verses)

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase it helps fund this blog at no extra cost to you.

Nehemiah and the fox! – animal stories

Nehemiah was given the job of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. His enemies made fun of him, ‘if a fox climbs on your wall it will fall down!’ (Nehemiah 4:3) they said. But Nehemiah kept building and with God’s help the wall was finished!

In the story bag – wooden bricks for the wall (not in the photo – I used our toddler group bricks), two men – Nehemiah and Sanballat and a fox.

Craft Idea – fox collage – crayons and crepe paper. Free fox PDF to print – fox

Jonah and the Whale (big fish) – animal stories

Week three of Bible animal stories was Jonah.

Craft Idea –

Can you spot Jonah? He is hidden away inside the big fish!

Here is a PDF of the fish whale (1)

Jonah was made from cutting up concertina people bought from Amazon.

The sea is crepe paper strips and cellophane strips. You have to be careful with the cellophane – if you think children might put it in their mouths then don’t use it. I was stationed at the craft table all morning as we had extra helpers.

We last did Jonah at toddler group in 2015 (where does the time go!) Here’s a link to the story and our huge big fish!

Autumn craft

Autumn craft and activities to enjoy! I love making seasonal wreaths. They can be taken home and used to decorate. It is good for children to see their art work displayed and treasured.

We’ve used faux leaves for this wreath that were bought. You could use cut out leaf shapes instead and add tissue paper berries. Use autumnal colours – reds, oranges and yellows, browns and add a pop of green. The wreath in the first photo is a circle of cardboard bought from Amazon. If you would rather make your own use a paper plate and cut out the centre or cut a circle from card.

Autumn wreath using faux leaves

Autumn wreath made with paper leaves — Autumn wreath using paper cut out leaf shapes and tissue paper berries

Home made playdough can be used to decorate an autumn tree.

Tree picture decorated with playdough leaves

The tree printout has been laminated – if you don’t have a laminator (and lots of us don’t) then use tacky back to cover printed or drawn tree.

The playdough is homemade and coloured with poster paint. Leaves were cut out using a cake decorating cutter. This would be a lovely activity for a small group in Sunday school or at home. If you add vanilla extract to the dough it smells amazing. If you would rather not use a cutter then just make leaf shapes by rolling the dough and shaping it with hands.

Playdough recipe – This playdough is a no cook recipe – it uses boiling water so has to be made by an adult.

1 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

1 teaspoon cream of tarter (you really do need this – don’t be tempted to leave it out and make sure it’s in date. It’ll stop the dough going slimy)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (don’t use a nut oil in case children are allergic)

3/4 cup boiling water

Food colouring paste or ready mix water colour paint for colour

To make – add all the dry ingredients together in a mixer and then add the oil, boiling water and colouring and mix till a soft dough. You can mix by hand but it’ll take longer.

Tree free pdf to print

As well as an autumn wreath and autumn playdough trees another Autumn craft you can make extra large autumn leaves! Just cut large leaf shapes from coloured sugar paper and decorate!