Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer Bible Story for young children based on Acts 8:26-40.
To tell the Story have some items in a story bag – Philip, The Treasurer, chariot, horse, scroll.
The Chariot is made from a shoe box. I turned the box inside out and put it back together and then cut the shape. The wheels are from a cardboard box. They are sturdy enough to take the weight of the chariot.
Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer Bible Story
Say hello to Philip! Philip was a follower of Jesus and everywhere he went he told everyone he met that Jesus had died and come alive again. He was very busy. Lots and lots of people listened to what he said about Jesus and they became followers of Jesus too.
Then one day an angel told Philip to leave the towns and all the people and go to a road where no one lived! How was he going to tell people about Jesus if no one was there?
But he went.
And there he was on the road. When he heard something coming! Clip, clop, clip, clop. It was getting closer and closer. A chariot was coming along the road with a very important man inside. This very important man was on his way home to Africa. Can you guess what he was doing? He was reading and Philip could hear him reading the words out aloud. Philip recognised the words; he knew that the very important man was reading part of the Bible.
‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked the man.
‘No! How can I unless someone helps me.’ the very important man replied.
Philip knew he could help. He got into the chariot and he explained the Bible and helped the very important man to understand that Jesus is the forever king sent from God who came to save us.
The very important man went home happy!
Philip and the Ethiopian craft idea
The Ethiopian Treasurer would have been reading from a scroll. This is a simple way of making a scroll that can be written in by the child. You could choose to encourage children to make marks or write their name. It depends on their age and how much they enjoy having a go at writing.
I used A3 sugar paper cut in half length ways and toilet rolls. If you aren’t happy using toilet rolls you can buy cardboard rolls from craft shops or cut kitchen rolls in half.
Secure the toilet rolls to the sugar paper at both ends using cellotape (I tried using pritt stick but it just didn’t stick!) The children can write in their scroll. To hold the scroll together you can use wool or pipe cleaners.
