For our Daniel Unit Study, we dramatized many of the events, drew pictures, and made interesting crafts. These are some of the most famous stories in the book of Daniel:
- Daniel and his Friends Brought to Babylon
- Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: Prophetic Statue
- Fiery Furnace
- Nebuchadnezzar Goes Insane
- The Writing on the Wall
- Daniel and the Lion’s Den
- The Visions of Daniel: End Times
Daniel and his Friends Brought to Babylon
When the book of Daniel starts, Nebuchadnezzar has just captured Jerusalem and set it on fire. He takes the court officials, the best of the best, back to his palace in Babylon. Daniel and his three friends are some of these youths. They decide not to defile themselves with the king’s food, and they end up being healthy and the wisest in the kingdom.
Here is a video clip that will help you to envision this event:
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: Prophetic Statue
King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream which no one can interpret. He demands that the magicians and wise men tell him what his dream was. When no one answers him, he gives an order to kill all the wise men in Babylon. Finally Daniel steps forward and interprets the dream. You can make a model of the statue from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The directions for this activity are here: Prophetic Statue from Daniel.
Fiery Furnace
Soon after having a dream about a statue, King Nebuchadnezzar makes a large gold statue of himself, which he forces everyone to bow down and worship. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to the statue, the king becomes so angry that he throws them into a furnace. But God miraculously saves them. To find out how to make a diorama about this story, click here: Fiery Furnace Craft.
Here is a video clip that will help you to envision the Fiery Furnace event:
Nebuchadnezzar Goes Insane
King Nebuchadnezzar is so prideful that God strikes him with insanity. He chews grass. After a while, he regains his sanity and praises and glorifies God. One of my sons drew a picture of the king going insane and eating grass.
The Writing on the Wall
The next story is Belshazzar’s Feast, where Belshazzar is using the utensils and goblets from the Temple. A disembodied hand writes on the wall, and Belshazzar frieks out. Daniel interprets the writing, and it is a prophecy that Belshazzar would be conquered. He is conquered that very night! My oldest son drew a picture of the writing on the wall.
Here is a video clip that will help you envision the scene of the writing on the wall:
Daniel and the Lion’s Den
Daniel begins serving the new king Darius, who has conquered Belshazzar. The people in high positions in government are jealous of Daniel and have Darius pass a decree that anyone who prays to anyone other than the king will be cast into the lion’s den. Since Daniel prays three times a day with the windows open, he is arrested and thrown into the lion’s den. But God saves his life by stopping the mouths of the lions, and the conspirators are eaten by the lions instead.
If you would like to do this simple craft about the story, you can find it here: Daniel and the Lion’s Den.
The Visions of Daniel: End Times
The final chapters of Daniel include prophecies of the End Times that fit into the book of Revelation. Daniel is reading the book of Jeremiah when he finds out that 70 years had expired, and that the Jews were supposed to return to Jerusalem after 70 years. Daniel prays and confesses the sins of his people, and he lives to see the day when Ezra takes the first group of thousands of Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple:
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