Bible Crafts and Activities For
Sunday School

Bible Themes: Faith - Friends

Scripture Reference: Genesis 2:18
Concepts:  God gives us families, God doesn’t want us to be alone, We belong to God’s Family

Crafts and Activities:
1. Draw a picture of your family and make a fun foam picture frame to put it in.

Fiery Furnace
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - Daniel 3

Lesson Aim - God helps us through hard time. He doesn't always take us out of them but goes through them with us and makes something good out of them.

Craft: Made cymbals out of pie plates with stickers of musical instruments. Instead of stickers you can use Microsoft Word to print out clip art of musical instruments and have your children glue them to the cymbals.)   
Used the cymbals later for a hands on activity in the lesson when, in the story, the music played and the people had to bow.  You can also play music and have the children march around the room and when the music stops they should all shout "Don't bow down."  

For an introduction to the story, you can put a lighter in a box or bag and have the kids see if they can figure out what's in the bag according to the clues you give. Talk about fire safety and also how fire can hurt you. Today's lesson is about three men who walked in fire and didn't get burned.

For the lesson we made a furnace out of a garment box we got at a U-haul store. We cut a rectangle in the side for the furnace window and covered it with orange cellophane. We pulled apart a black trash bag for a covering over the top. You could also spray paint the box. During the lesson three of the kids volunteered to be lightly tied up with either rope or toilet paper and then they crawled into the furnace with one of my helpers wiggling a flashlight in the box to create the fire effect.  We also used the furnace for a reinforcement activity where the kids answered a review question and then took orange and red markers and crawled in the furnace to color fire on the walls of the box.

Also we found a tall stand-up cardboard picture of a race car driver at a Napa Automotive Store . The store let us have it and we spray painted it gold for the statue in the story.   We talked about hard times that the kids might be going through. You would be surprised that the age 4 or 5 kids can have some tough times. Especially with so many parents getting divorced.

For the scripture we used Psalm 3:3, "Lord you are my shield." We took the bottom of a vegetable platter that you get at party stores and put a handle on it for a shield. We had some of those water Nerf balls and torpedoes and the kids took turns trying to hit me when my shield was up and down.  For the repetition of the scripture we put pictures of actions in a bag such as: touch your nose while you say the verse, touch your toes, clap your hands etc. The kids closed their eyes and picked out a card to do. Sent in by Jenny.

Fighting

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 26:17
Concepts:  Don't get involved in someone else's fight or you may be sorry. And don't get others involved in your fights.

Beware of the Dogs - This is another ABC Lesson (Available to members only) - Children learn that D stands for Dog, and that getting involved in someone else's fight is like pulling the ear of a dog--you just might get bit. This lesson is presented in the form of a story about a poor, foolish frog who gets involved in the fight of three dangerous dogs. You'll find lots of doggy games, crafts, and learning activities to go along with this lesson. This lesson is not only good for Sunday school, but will work great in preschools, and home school.

Crafts and Activities:

1. Practice printing and writing - This lesson was designed to go along with ABC worksheets using the Bible verse. Children practice writing the letter D in print or cursive or write the complete verse in cursive. (Print outs available to members only.)

2. Make a picture of a dog. This is one dog in which the children can pull his ear and not get bitten. Print out the pattern and cut around the square of the dog. Cut the ear and little note out. Use an Exacto knife to cut a slit in the mouth and where the ear should go. Make the slit only big enough to get the ear in by folding it a little. When the ear is flat it should fall out. Insert the ear from the back pointed end first. You can print whatever message you would like on the message paper. I wrote, "Don't get involved in other's fights." (Pattern available to members only.)

3. Play Doggy Doggy, Who Pulled Your Ear? - Make a headband out of wide elastic or stretchy material. Cut dog ears from felt and sew them to the band. Play just like "Doggy, Doggy, Where's Your Bone? except say, "Doggy, Doggy, Who pulled Your Ear?"

4. Play "Doggy Doggy, Where's your Bone" Bible Verse Game. (Older children) Before class cut out some dog bone shapes from construction paper. Write one word of the Bible verse on each bone. Pick a child to be the doggy. Place the bones in order behind the doggy to spell out the Bible verse. Have the children say the chant. The doggy then turns around and decides which bone is missing by reading the words on the bones. He then tries to guess who stole the bone.

5. Play a game with paw prints - Before class use the paw print pattern and print out enough dog prints to have one for each word of the Bible verse. Write one word of the verse on each print. Tape the paw prints in order of the verse around the room. Make it go around in circles, over and under chairs, around tables, and cross paths. See if the children can follow the paw prints to spell out the Bible verse. You may want to have a doggy treat at the end of the path. If you have younger children, write the verse on the board so they can look at it if they have problems.

Learning Activities

1. Review the Alphabet or numbers - Use the paw print pattern and print as many dog prints as you will need. Write one letter or number on each print. Tape the paw prints around the room in order. Make your trail go around in circles, over and under chairs, around tables, and cross paths. See if the children can follow the paw prints in order. You may want to have a doggy treat at the end of the path.

2. Discuss why people call dogs "mans best friend" - Not only do they make great companions but they are also used for therapy in hospitals, in the army on dangerous missions, by the police, as search & rescue dogs, tracking, hunting, and seeing eye dogs.

3. Play a variation of "Doggy Doggy, Where's your Bone"- You can make this game correspond to your child's level.

Here are some ideas:

1. Write the lower case and upper case letters of the alphabet on the bones, only use 2 or 3 letters at a time. Have a child be the doggy. Show him that all the lower case letters have a corresponding upper case letter. Mix up the letters. Have the child turn around and then take one of the bones away. Say the chant and have the child turn around and match up the letters to see which one is missing. If he guesses right he gets the bone back.
2. You can also just use the alphabet or numbers, put the letters or numbers in order, mix them up, take one bone, and then have the child put them back in order and tell you which one is missing.

You will find the complete lesson and even more activities on The Resource Room.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Fishers of Men

Fish Games

1. FISH MEMORY - find ten pictures of different kinds of fish. Duplicate 2 copies of each picture, tape them or glue them to sturdy cardboard or card stock Lay the pictures face down on the floor or table, play "memory" card game.  (Younger children seem to really like using larger pictures, almost full size pieces of paper.)
2. FISHING FOR MY SNACK - Place a small wading pool on the floor, or use masking  tape to mark out a round pond.  Place card stock fish cutouts with several  paper clips taped to them on the floor inside the pond.  Make a fishing pole out of a long dowel rod or other piece of wood, tie some string to the rod and attach a strong magnet to the end of the string.  Let each child fish, one at a time, for their fish.  If you make each cutout a different color, they can take that fish to the snack table and find the snack plate or whatever you use that matches the fish color.  For older children, write a Bible verse reference on the fish, and have them look up the reference and read you the verse before they can get their snack.  Have matching verse references taped  to their snack cups.  (This is a great time to make fishy Jell-O cups!)
3. TICK TACK FISH - make a giant tick tack toe board on the floor with masking tape.  Use large fish and broad leaf cutouts for pieces.
4. RED FISH GREEN FISH - Play Red Light Green Light, only instead of holding up red and  green cards or calling out "RED LIGHT" use red and green construction paper fish cutouts, and yell out "RED FISH!" "GREEN FISH!" for stop and go.  Play outside, make the goal a wading pool or marked off "pond" with small bags of gummy fish or fishy crackers for snack as the "prize".
5. FISH UNDER MY CHAIR -  For children who can read, tape one fish to the bottom of each child's chair before class. Write a few words of the verse for the day on each fish.  Attach a long piece of twin to the bulletin board or wall so that each end is attached to the wall horizontally.   Have the children find the fish, put the verse in order and then clip the fish in that order to the fishing line using clothes pins. For a variation, have them fish from the pond for each fish, or put each fish cutout into a woven basket and have them pick one out then place in order on the fishing line.
6. MUSICAL FISH - Use a stuffed fish (toy or one you make with newspaper)  to pass around the circle of children seated on the floor inside the pond you have marked off.  Play music (find "I will make you fishers of men" if  you can) as the fish is being passed around.  When the music stops, the  child left holding the fish has been "caught" and moves back outside the pond area.  When everyone has been "caught", move to the table for snack  or craft.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Fish Crafts

1. STUFFED FLOUNDER - Cut fish shapes out of newspaper, staple or tape almost completely closed, stuff with shredded paper or newspaper, staple shut. Hang from fishing line or put in fish net.
2. FISH T-SHIRT** - This one  is best suited for VBS and primary classes.  Each child brings a plain white  T-shirt to class.  You supply the REAL FISH.  You need the whole fish, not  just a fillet, tail and all.  Lay out newspaper or drop cloth to cover the entire work surface.  Lay each T-shirt flat on the work surface. Brush a thin layer of fabric paint onto the fish, being sure to use enough paint to cover  the whole thing.  CAREFULLY lay fish onto shirt, paint side down, and press hard.  Remove gently.  Don't use too much paint or the details won't show and the paint will be too thick to dry quickly.  Let dry flat for a while, then hang on clothes line or use coat hangers.  The day before you make the fish  print, you could have the children use a fabric pen or paint to write the  words "I will make you fishers of men" on the opposite side of the shirt from the fish print.  **If you don't want to use a real fish, make oak tag templates or buy fish stencils for the same effect.**
3. FISHING LINE - One length of heavy string or twine per child, five large cardboard or card stock fish cutouts. After children decorate each  fish piece, tie to twine, leaving 6 or 8 inches between each fish. Hang  fish lines from bulletin board or windows.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Jesus Helps some Fishermen or "I will make you Fisher's of Men"

Scripture  Reference: Luke 5:1-11

Games and Activities:

1. Have children pretend they are fishermen in a fishing boat.  Make fishing poles and paper fish. box  boat,

2. Let’s go Fishing Game

You will need: construction paper or heavy paper, paper clips, magnets, string, stick or something you can use as a pole.

Directions:

1. Draw some fish or use clip art onto heavy paper.
2. Put paper clips on the mouths of each fish or glue tiny magnets on to each fish.
3. Tie the string to the end of a stick to make a fishing pole.  Tie a magnet to the end of the string or a paper clip depending on which you put on the fish.

   To Play: Place the fish on the floor. Catch as many fish as you can until all the fish are gone. The person who catches the most fish wins.

3.  Dress up with bible costumes (see making no-sew  bible costumes in the Bright Ideas Section) and act out the story. Use the props above, but instead of fishing poles use a net.

4.  Paint fish with water colors - Before class pour plaster of Paris into fish molds. Add a half opened paper clip to the wet plaster of Paris to make a hook for hanging the fish. You can find molds in the cake decorating section, or use the molds used for playing in the sand. You can make these for less than 30 cents each if they are small. In class have the children paint them with water color paints.

5. Hang a toy net on the wall (you can buy these at toy stores) and have the children throw fish into the net.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Crafts:

1. Fish puppets  - Make fish puppets from toilet paper rolls found on the the trash to treasure page.
2. Make a fish and water picture using sponge rollers and sponge shapes found on paper crafts 2 page.
3. Make Fish in Water Paper Plate from the Paper Plate Craft Page.  (See picture above)

Free Bible Lesson from The Resource Room

"Go Fish" - In this lesson children learn what it means to be a "fisher of men". They will enjoy playing a "fishing for men" game in which they pull in a "fishing line" to see if they can catch a fish. If they do "catch a fish", they are given real life examples of things they can do to "fish for men" or tell others about Jesus. They will also have fun "pulling in nets" to find words to the memory verse and placing them in the correct order.

This lesson also talks about what kind of bait we can use to be "fisher's of men" for Jesus. It is one of the lessons in the ABC series of lessons in which children learn their ABC's using animals to teach Biblical concepts. The lessons are designed for children preschool through third grade. They included worksheets for printing the ABCs, cursive writing or printing the word, and cursive writing or printing the memory verse. If you would like more information about these lessons you can go to the ABC Bible themes page. You will find some free sample lessons here. These lessons are great for Christian preschools and home school children when you are teaching more than one age at a time. They also include learning activities for math, reading, writing, science, and much more.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Food

Scripture Reference: Daniel 1:3-20
Concepts: God gives us good food, making choices, Daniel made good choices and grew healthy and strong. 

Crafts and Activities:

1. Make scratch and sniff pictures. Add one or two tablespoons of  water to a package of powdered Kool-aid. Draw pictures of fruit on a piece of paper and write at the top “God gives us good food”. Have the children paint with the appropriate Kool-aid mixture to make fruits that actually smell like the picture they are painting.  When the pictures are dry, show them how to scratch them with their fingernails to smell the fruit.

2. Bring in food pictures, some healthy and some not so healthy (recipe cards work well for this). Hold up two pictures at a time, one healthy and one not so healthy.  Ask the children which would be a better choice to eat for dinner. Explain that we don’t want to eat too many desserts because they are not very healthy and that we should eat them after we have eaten healthier foods.

3. Play with Fruity Putty -

Fruity Putty

What you will need:
0.3 -ounce package of sugar free fruit flavored gelatin
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons cooking oil

What to do:
Mix the dry ingredients in a pan. Add the boiling water and cooking oil. Stir
over medium-high heat until the mixture forms a ball. Place the ball on waxed
paper to cool. Store in an airtight container. Cut the fruit picture from the
gelatin box and paste to the lid. Use different flavors to make all different
colors and smells.

4. Make a stuffed carrot -  This is a fun project but it does take some preparation. If you don’t have a sewing machine you might try using a hot melt glue gun.

“God gives us good food” Carrot

What you will need:
White cotton material, pinking shears, sewing machine, black permanent marker, orange and green crayons or paint or markers, and polyester fiber fill, yarn.

What to do:
1. Before class print out the carrot pattern, cut it out, and place it on the white material.  Trace around the pattern and then cut out the material.
2. Fold and sew the material where indicated on the pattern. 
3. Turn the fabric right side out.  Using a black marker, write down the side of the carrot near the seam “God gives us good food”.
4. Have the children paint or color the bottom 2/3s of the material orange and the top 1/3 of the material green. Let them draw a face on their carrot with a black marker if they would like.
5. When a child is done coloring show him how to stuff the carrot with fiber fill about 2/3s full.
6. To finish tie the carrot closed with a piece of yarn by gathering up the material where the green and orange colors meet. *Having the children stuff the carrot first and then using markers or water color paints work best. Coloring the material is kind of hard for little children.  The material moves around quite a bit, although it does work okay.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

5. Thank you for the food we eat - Cut out carrot shapes from card board and give your children cut-up orange pieces of tissue paper and green pieces of tissue paper to glue onto the shape. Cut out banana shapes from card board and give your children yellow pieces of tissue paper to glue onto the shape. Sent in by Jeannette

 6. Thank you for the food we eat dinner -  Photocopy an outline of a plate, knife, and fork and give your children ideas for different types of food they can glue to their plates. Use long cream-colored rectangles for chips, a white oval and orange circle to make fried eggs, a long brown oval to make sausage, etc. Sent in by Jeannette

 7. Necklace - Thread Cheerios onto licorice shoelaces to create a food necklace.

8. First Aid for the Soul Band-Aid Box Craft

What you will need: Band-Aid boxes from Oriental Trading Company (Type in 90065 in the search box at the top fo the page to find this item.), card stock (Heavy paper), computer printer, rubber cement (paper glue) and a red colored pencil or marker.

What to do:

1. Print out the "First Aid for the Soul" labels: Black and White - (Large file or small file) or Color (Large file or small file) on to card stock. Color them and cut them apart. Glue them to the front of the boxes.

2. Print out the "Soul Food" cards (Large file or small file) and cut them apart. Place them in the box.

Comments: You can use a jello box covered in white paper or spray paint it with white paint, or you can use an Altoid box (candy box) in place of the Oriental Trading Company's boxes.  Narita

 

Other Food Ideas on The Resource Room The following lessons are available on The Resource Room a subscription site. Food Lessons Soul Food - Your children will learn that feeding their souls with God’s words is much more important than feeding their bodies. That they need a daily filling of God’s words to grow strong in their faith. Jesus Makes a Big Picnic - (Jesus feeds the 5,000) Children learn that God blesses and multiplies our giving. That anything is possible with God, even things that seen impossible. They will learn of God’s deep love and compassion for us, that he cares about us and provides for us. Food Crafts 1. Grocery Bag full of Soul Food - Children decorate a grocery bag and go to the Soul Food Market to buy soul food. 2. Soul Food Candy - Children wrap candy with a Biblical message so that people can eat a little “soul food” while eating their candy. 3. Fish and loaves in a picnic basket craft - Children color and cut out the fish, loaves, and ants and glue them into the basket. 4. Arnie the Ant Paper and Pipe Cleaner Craft - Arnie the Ant carries a message that Jesus loves you. Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Forgiveness

1. Love is Forgiving Cross - I saw a similar project in the Oriental Trading Company catalogue a couple of days before VBS so I decided to adapt it to our subject and make it myself (Desperate times and all that! I wanted the children to have something nice to take home each night). I sized the cross pattern to fit the hearts I had (from the bulk package I bought; these are the larger and smaller medium sized ones). I cut out all of the crosses and glued on the magnets before class. I also took a permanent marker and wrote "Love is forgiving" on the red heart and glued it in the middle of each cross. Each night of VBS we glued on a set of 2 hearts wherever the child wanted them, so it kind of served as an attendance chart as well. Sent in by Beckye Mosher

You can order crafts similar to this one from Oriental Trading Company already to be assembled. Type in 48/2199, 48/2179, 48/1425, 48/1520, 48/816 or the word cross into the search box.

Friends

Ladybug Friends

"Ladybug Friends" - Children learn about helpful ladybugs and that Jesus wants us to be helpful and to be a good friend. Gal. 5:13 “Help one another.”

Free Sunday School Lesson for Children - For a complete lesson, activities and crafts go to the Resource Room Sample Lesson Page for "Ladybug Friends".

God gives us Friends

Concepts: God gives us friends

The following 2 suggestions come from Elizabeth off of our bulletin board

1. Share Food - We have used a sharing activity in the past. We bring in large bowls and dump in fruit loops, miniature colored marshmallows, Cheerios, raisins, (chocolate chips is also a possibility). The children all have a turn stirring the mixture. We put a plastic bag inside a small Styrofoam cup. The children scoop some of the mixture into the bag inside the cup. Tie the bag and place a circle of material over the cup and tie a piece of wool around to the secure the material in place. We attach a card to the wool with a "TO" and "FROM" and an appropriate verse from the lesson on the back. The children color and decorate the card and also put stickers on the cup. They get to fill another sandwich bag for themselves and so leave Sunday school with one for a friend and one for themselves.

2. Make Paper Dolls - We have also cut a string of paper dolls for each child. We use a large size piece of construction paper (I think it is about 11 X 17") and fan-fold it wide enough to cut out 'gingerbread men' shapes where because of the folds, they are attached at the arms and legs. We can usually get 3 - 5 dolls in a string. Give each child one or two strings of dolls to color and decorate (they can glue scraps of material, wool, ribbon) anyway they choose. At the end of the activity time we cut the string apart and encourage the children to give all but one of the dolls to other children. (You need to explain ahead of time that you will be doing this, it does sometimes create upsets). We then tape the new set of dolls together for each child to take home. I guess this could also be used as an activity for God creating us all different since we usually start with a few different colors of construction paper. No two chains are the same at the end of the class.

Jesus is our Friend

Jesus Is Our Friend
(Sung to: Sing a Song of Sixpence)

G
Jesus is our friend,
        D
And this is how I know.
D
He died on the cross for us
G
Many years ago.
G
He died for every one of us,
    D
Including me and you,
D
I just want to thank Him now
                                  G
And say, "I love You too."
© Mary Flynn

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, home, clubs, etc. only. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

I Love God
(Sung to: Three Blind Mice)

G   D       G          D        G
I love God, I love God
G        D              G                D              G
God is my friend, God is my friend.
G                                 D                       G
He's here in my heart and he answers my prayers,
G                              D                    G
I know that He loves me, I know that He cares.
G                                D                    G   
He helps me to pray and to love and to share,
G          D          G         D       G
Oh, I love God, I love God.
© Mary Flynn

If you like these songs, consider purchasing "Praise 4 God ~ Just 4 Kids©"a collection of more than 75 simple songs and poems of praise.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, or home use only. The copyright notice must be included on all copies. To request permission to copy this material for any other use contact me by e-mail.