Archive for the ‘Bible’ Category

Pentecost Activities for Kids

Friday, November 14th, 2014

pentecost-activities-for-kidsWhen I taught my kids about Pentecost, here are some of the activities that we did:

  • We read the story from Acts 2.
  • We drew pictures of Pentecost.
  • We talked about being filled with the Spirit.
  • We compared the Spirit to the wind.
  • We made a fire headband to represent the tongues of fire.
  • We watched a video about Pentecost.

First of all, we read the story of Pentecost from Acts, chapter 2. Pentecost was 50 days after Passover, which was when Jesus was crucified. Jesus appeared to the disciples for 40 days; then He went up into heaven. He told them to wait in Jerusalem for Holy Spirit to come.

pentecost-drawing

When the day of Pentecost came, a noise like a violent wind came rushing into the house where the believers were congregated. Over each person’s head appeared something that looked like a tongue of fire. The believers felt a rushing of the Holy Spirit as He descended upon them. And they began speaking in other languages that were understood by the people outside.

As a result, Peter stood up and gave a sermon that caused 3,000 people to be saved!

Pentecost Drawings

pentecost

My children drew a wind, and tongues of fire landing on each believer.

pentecost-wind

The people experienced joy as they were filled with the Spirit.

pentecost-fire

How are the Holy Spirit and a wind similar?

Jesus compares the Spirit of God to a wind:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (ESV)

How are the Holy Spirit and a wind similar?

  • It’s invisible.
  • You see what it does (its effects).
  • It goes where it wants to go.
  • It has power that is somewhat uncontrollable.
  • You hear the sound of it.
  • It moves.
  • It causes a reaction.
  • Sometimes it’s gentle, sometimes it’s strong.
  • Refreshing; you can enjoy it.
  • You don’t walk against it but with it.

We talked about how to be controlled by the Spirit of God, and how to pursue holiness.

pentecost-activities-for-childrenPentecost Headband

We made a headband with a strip of orange card stock paper stapled together. For the flame, we cut out flame shapes out of red, yellow, and orange card stock paper, We attached it together with staples.

Video about Pentecost

Here is a video clip about Pentecost, so you can picture it better.

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If you enjoyed these Pentecost activities for kids, you will love the huge Bible section of the Unit Study Treasure Vault!

The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus

Thursday, November 13th, 2014

crucifixion-and-resurrectionMy children drew the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and we did many hands-on activities to understand this powerful event. First we read about the crucifixion and resurrection. You can find the story in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. A great time to study the resurrection of Christ is the week preceding Easter. You can start by re-enacting Palm Sunday by waving branches in the air and shouting “Hosannah!” to the Lord.

By the time Jesus was eating His last supper, His disciples were told that one of them would betray Him. Judas ran out of the room, accepted 30 pieces of silver in exchange for handing Him over to the authorities to be crucified, and then went and hung himself.

crucifixion-of-Jesus-drawingMeanwhile Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, interrupting His deep hours of prayer where He was crying out for the cup to be passed from Him. But He wanted the Father’s will, even if it meant suffering and death.

Crown of Thorns

The soldiers placed a purple robe on Him and a crown of thorns, and they mocked Him. Here is a painful craft, which will help you to understand how painful thorns can be:

crown-of-thorns

The Cross

Jesus was sentenced to die on a cross, even though Pilate had washed his hands of it and said he found no fault with Him. To understand the story of the crucifixion, we went to a living re-enactment of the life of Christ, culminating in His crucifixion and resurrection:

cross-mosaic

You can make a beautiful cross mosaic to commemorate the fact that Jesus died to take away our sin:

crucifixion-resurrection

The Resurrection

But Jesus did not stay in the grave. On the third day, He rose again, claiming victory over death. Here are two fun activities to do with children to show the resurrection:

resurrection-garden

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If you enjoyed these crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus activities, you will love the huge Bible section inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault.

Triumphal Entry

Wednesday, November 12th, 2014

triumphal-entryMy children drew the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the week ending with His crucifixion. The people were hailing Him as king and saying, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

The Pharisees wanted Jesus to rebuke the people for glorifying Him, but He told the Pharisees that if He quieted the people, even the very rocks would cry out in praise to Him!

triumphal-entry-of-JesusOf course, the Pharisees hadn’t realized that Jesus was God because they were too busy being jealous of His popularity with the people and of His wisdom in disarming all their cunning traps to catch Him in what He said. He always had supernatural wisdom which surprised and silenced them.

triumphal-entry-of-ChristJesus rode on a donkey. This donkey was pre-chosen by God. When the disciples untied the donkey, the owner asked what they were doing. “The Master has need of it,” was what the disciples said, and the owner let them borrow his donkey for the day.

palm-sundayThe triumphal entry fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus would come into Jerusalem seated on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). The people waved palm branches and laid out clothes for a path for Him to ride through the city. They were rejoicing in the Lord.

I find it ironic and poignant that these very people who were shouting hosanna’s right now will be shouting “Crucify Him!” near the end of this week.

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If you enjoyed these drawings, you will love the whole series on Drawing through the Bible!

Feeding the 5,000

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014

feeding-the-5,000My children drew pictures of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The story is found in Matthew 14: 15-21, Mark 6:33-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14. The disciples told Jesus to send the people away because it was getting late. The Bible says this took place “when it was evening.” For some reason I always picture it during the daytime. It might have been early evening, maybe around dusk, while it was still light outside.

Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “You give them something to eat!” The disciples looked at Him like He was insane because it would cost a lot of money to feed 5,000 people!

multiplying-bread-and-fishThe disciples found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish, so they gave those to Jesus. Looking up to heaven, Jesus blessed the food and began breaking it apart and putting it into baskets. The food began multiplying itself. This was not the first time that food had multiplied itself. Elijah and Elisha had caused food to be multiplied many years before (through the power of God in prayer), to take care of widows who were starving during famine.

God is able to multiply food because He is in control of all the atoms in the universe and created everything from nothing anyway (Hebrews 11:3).

multiplying-food

The people were told to sit in groups of 50, and the disciples served as the waiters of a huge restaurant on the green grass. After everybody was fully satisfied, the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover food. The leftovers were more than what they started with!

Here is a hands-on activity to leach the lesson of Feeding the 5,000. It includes a diorama and some kids placing fish crackers in piles of 50 on a large blanket:

feeding-the-5000

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If you enjoyed this “Feeding the 5,000” children’s drawing activity, you will love the huge Bible section inside the Unit Study Treasure Vault!