Jonah and the Whale | Sunday School Lessons

The story of Jonah and the whale is one of the most famous bible stories of all time. That one simple story could be used to teach kids many different life lessons. Today our Sunday school lesson is going to focus on 'obeying God'.

At first, Jonah chose to run from God instead of obey him.

Where did that get him?

Inside the belly of the whale (or big fish).

Jonah and the Whale
Sunday School Lessons
Photo: James Tissot (1836-1902), French painter

Sunday School Lesson

At the beginning of the bible story, God told Jonah he was to go to a city called Nineveh. He was to tell the people there to turn from their sinful ways and turn to God instead.

For some reason, Jonah didn't want to help the people of Nineveh.

Ask, "Does anyone know what Jonah did?"

Wait for answers.

Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah went to the boat docks and paid for a ride. The ride he paid for was on a ship. The ship was going to a place called Tarshish not Nineveh. It was going in the complete opposite direction!

Ask, "Did Jonah obey God?" (No.)

Wait for answers.

Ask, "Where was Jonah supposed to go?" (Nineveh.)

Wait for answers.

There are many times God needs us to do things for him, but we ignore him because we are scared or think we don't have time or that we can't do it.

Use yourself as an example.

Say, "What if I didn't obey God when he wanted me to teach Sunday school? I love to teach Sunday school. But, if I chose not to obey God because I was scared, God would have chosen someone else and I wouldn't be here teaching you today. I wouldn't want to miss out on God's blessing because I was too scared."

Go on to explain that God blesses those who are willing to obey him and do his will.

Bible Verse for this Sunday School Lesson

Teaching bible verses with your Sunday school lesson helps reinforce your lesson with God's word. Go over your weekly bible verses more than once as repetition helps kids remember.

Story Of Jonah Felt Flannel Board Set

John 12:26 KJV

²⁶ If any man serve me, let him follow me;

 

Another bible verse you can use with this lesson is as follows:

John 14:15 KJV

¹⁵ If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 

So, What Happened to Jonah?

As the ship sailed away with Jonah, God sent a strong wind onto the sea. The ship rocked back and

forth so badly the men on the ship was scared. They thought they were going to die.

They began throwing things off the ship thinking that if they made the ship lighter, it wouldn't sink.

The men found Jonah asleep down in the ship and woke him up.

When they discovered the storm was because Jonah ran from God instead of obeying, they wondered what they should do.

Jonah said, "Pick me up and throw me overboard into the water."

At first, the men didn't throw Jonah overboard, but finally they realized it was the only way to stop the storm.

As soon as Jonah hit the water, the storm stopped.

But, this wasn't the end of Jonah. You see, God still needed Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people there to stop sinning and turn to him.

Get the Jonah and the Whale Game
FREE Sunday School Game

 

Jonah and the Whale

The bible doesn't say that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, but since the fish had to be big enough to swallow a man whole, people believe it was a whale.

So, God prepared a big fish to come along at just the right time. The big fish opened his mouth up wide and swallowed Jonah whole.

God wanted Jonah to know that he couldn't run away. He needed to obey.

After three days in the belly of the great big fish (maybe a whale?), Jonah knew he must obey God and agreed to go to Nineveh.

You see, God heard Jonah praying in the belly of the fish.

God allowed the fish to swim near the shore and spit Jonah out on dry land.

Jonah then knew he must obey God and went to Nineveh just as God needed him to do.

What We Learned in this Sunday School Lesson

No matter where we are or what we are doing, God can see us and hear us just as he heard Jonah in the belly of the great big fish. When God needs you, you can be sure he'll find you.

Obeying God the first time will lead to a life of blessings from God instead of a life of running from him.

Obey him when he calls.

Some ways God may need children:

• telling friends about him
• inviting friends to Sunday school or VBS
• helping mom or dad
• leading others to ask Jesus to come into their hearts
• keeping parents in God's word
• reading the bible to those who can't read
• praying for other
• becoming a Sunday school teacher
• becoming a preacher
• the list goes on and on

Jonah and the whale teaches kids that obeying God the first time is much better than trying to hide or run away. Don't be scared if God needs you. He won't leave you. He'll be by your side the whole time.



 

Continue

Jonah and the Whale Obeying God | Sunday School Games

This fun Sunday school game will have the kids laughing and learning all at the same time! We came up with this game to go along with the FREE Sunday school lesson about Jonah and the Whale.

The great thing about this game is you don't need any extra props or equipment!

The only thing you'll need for this game is room to run and kids who want to have fun! This is a great game to use in VBS and church youth groups too!

Jonah and the Whale Game
Sunday School Games
Photo: EJ Fox, Wikimedia Commons

Jonah and the Whale Sunday School Game

Depending on how many children you have will determine the amount of room needed for this game.

The kids will start the game on one side of the room or area. Pick one person to go first. This person will be the 'whale'.

The 'whale' will stand in the middle of the room.

When you yell, "STORM!"

The kids will try to run from one side of the room to the other without getting caught, or tagged, by the whale.

Tip: The area should not be too big as the 'whale' will have a hard time catching anyone and may become discouraged. It is more fun to allow the whale to catch someone each time across.

If a child is tagged by the whale, that person will stay in the center too. The more children who are tagged the harder it will be for those remaining to make it across.

This game moves pretty fast making it easier to play over and over which kids love.

The game ends when only one player is left who hasn't been tagged and the center is full of whales.

Sometimes, everyone gets tagged and that's okay too!

Just pick another 'whale' and start again!

Continue

Avoiding Sins | Sunday School Activity

Teaching Sunday school kids about avoiding sins can be fun! You only need a few items. Sin comes at us from every side each and every day. So, what better way to teach kids about sin than with a fun activity? It can also be adapted into a game, as well.

Sunday School Activity

This is a simple, yet fun activity that can be adapted for all age children.

Avoiding Sins
Sunday School Activity
Photo: |Chris| Flickr

What you'll need:

• construction paper (different colors so the kids will know which one is theirs)
• pens or pencils for older children

For this activity, you'll need to explain to the kids about sin. You can use the 'Avoiding Sins' Sunday school lesson or just jump right into it using the guide below.

What to do:

Ask the kids if they know what sins are.

Wait for answers.

Then, ask if the kids can name some sins they may encounter from day to day.

Wait for answers.

Older kids can write down some of those sins on the pieces of construction paper. Younger kids can just talk about the different sins out loud.

The point of this Sunday school activity:

Have the kids wad their paper up into balls. Pretend these balls are sin balls that we may encounter each and every day.

Have the kids sit on a line holding their paper balls.

Choose one kid to begin the activity.

The first child will try to run from one side of the room to the other in front of the other kids. As he runs, the children will throw their paper balls at the child.

Explain to the kids that one side of the room represents the morning. The other side of the room represents the evening. The child running is trying to make it from morning until night without encounter sins during the day.

Sometimes, we don't mean to sin, but we do. Just like the child running doesn't mean to get hit with the balls.

Sin is all around us. We can't get through each day on our own. We make mistakes.

Because Jesus died on the cross, our sins are forgiven.

Let each child have a turn to run. The kids love this activity and it is a great time to talk about every day sins and how we must lean on God to get us through.

Remember to stress the fact that we all mess up. When we do mess up, we need to ask God to forgive us, then try really hard not to do that sin again.

Activity Turned Into Game

Make this activity into a fun Sunday school game by counting how many times each child gets hit with the paper ball.

The child with the least about of hits - wins!

Extra Idea!

 

If you need some activities to send home with your kids or even need an extra page for them to do during class, here are some activity sheets. You get a dozen books and near as I can tell, it doesn't say you can't copy them once you buy them. For example, if your lesson is on Jonah and the Whale, copy enough of that page for all your kiddos!

There are many different activities and bible stories in these activity books. Of course, you could put your kid's names on a book of their own and let them use them week after week until they are finished.

>>>>>>Get more Sunday school activities!<<<<<<<

Continue

Avoiding Sins | Sunday School Lessons

Teach Kids About Avoiding Sins
Sunday School Lessons
Photo: Ece Turkoglu

Sins can be a tricky Sunday school lesson to teach. The problem I've faced when teaching kids about sins is that they don't see how it applies to them.

For instance, we go over the 10 Commandments regularly and talk about sins. That seems pretty simple, right?

Wrong.

Think about some of the 10 Commandments - 'Thou shalt not kill', 'Thou shalt not commit adultery', and 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife or house'.

While these are very important to teach the kids in Sunday school, it is also important to teach them about every day sins they will face, as well.

Sunday School Lesson

In this Sunday school lesson, we'll talk about the sins kids will face every day and how they can avoid them. Be sure to click on the 'Avoiding Sins Activity' to help reinforce the lesson.

Ask the kids, "What are some sins you can think of?"

Wait for answers.

Some answers may be stealing, killing, disobeying mom and dad, lying, taking the Lord's name in vain, and so on.

Today, we are going to focus on several of the above sins.

First - stealing.

Stealing, no matter how big or small, is stealing.


Get the Avoiding Sins
Sunday School Activity!

Some men and women may steal a car, someone's purse, or even someone's child.

But, did you know that 'borrowing' someone's jacket, pencil, eraser, toy, calculator, game, movie, or anything else and not returning it is stealing?

Kids tend to borrow things from other kids all the time, but do they return them?

You may have good intentions to return what you borrowed, but if you don't return it, it's stealing.

Second - lying.

Why kids think they have to lie to impress others is beyond me, but they do.

When someone asks you, "Have you seen the latest movie?" or "Do you have the new Xbox game?", what do you say?

Believe it or not, many kids will say 'yes' even if they don't.

Some people call lies 'little white lies', but a lie is a lie no matter how big or small.

If you lie, no matter what the reason, ask God to forgive you. He will, but that doesn't mean you can do it again and again just because he forgives you. It means you have to try harder not to lie again.



Get the entire
Children's Bible Study
of
Abraham
and other Bible Stories

Third - taking the Lord's name in vain.

The bible tells us that any time you use the Lord's name in vain it is a sin.

There are people in churches across the world that know this commandment by heart, but still don't obey it.

Let's put this plain and simple - when you say, "Oh my, G - -", it is a sin!

When you say the name of the Lord in any form, it is a sin. The exceptions to this commandment is when you are speaking of him, talking about him, teaching about him, or reading about him.

Otherwise, keep his name holy and do NOT say his name carelessly.

Some of the other names you may hear people say are: Jesus, Christ, Lord, and God.

Avoiding Sins

Bible Verse for This Sunday School Lesson

 

Psalm 119:11 KJV

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

There are so many other sins that kids need to learn to avoid. Ask the kids now as the Sunday school lesson is winding down to see if they can think of any more ways that people sin.

Wait for answers.

When faced with sin, talking to God is the best way to avoid it.

You can say a silent prayer or just think about him in your head. God will help you with the sins you face daily.



 

Continue

Daily Prayer | Sunday School Activities

Crossword puzzles are a fun way to give the Sunday school kids something extra to take home or to use as an added time filler during class. Below is a puzzle we simply titled 'Prayer' crossword puzzle. It can be used with many of our Sundays school lessons, or with the Daily Prayer Sunday school lesson.

Daily prayer is an important part of every Christian's life. Stress the importance of taking time to talk to God aside from thanking him before meals and before bed. God is there waiting on us. We are the ones who are too busy to talk to him.

Sunday School Activity

Daily Prayer Crossword Puzzle

(Double-click to print)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue

Daily Prayer with Prayer Partners | Sunday School Lessons

Sunday school lessons should teach kids about daily living as well as bible stories. For instance, how many of your Sunday school kids practice daily prayer? If you ask the kids this question, most will probably say they pray each day.

Prayer Partners
Sunday School Lesson
Photo: 松岡明芳
Wikimedia Commons

Now, ask them when they pray and what they pray about.

Wait for answers.

Most of the answers will be "praying over food", "thanking God for family", "praying for family", and other things similar.

Today's Sunday school lesson is going to focus on daily prayer with prayer partners. Prayer partners can mean many different things, but today we are going to pair up the kids so that they can pray for each other all week long.

Teaching kids to pray for each other will help them understand the other person better along with following the Word of God and learning to develop a great prayer life.

Bible Verses About Prayer

Colossians 4:2 KJV

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

 

Matthew 18:20 KJV

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

 

1 Thessalonians KJV

Pray without ceasing.

 

Matthew 21:22 KJV

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

 

 

Sunday School Lesson - Daily Prayer



Prayer Crossword Puzzle
Click to Get It!

 

You can use any of the above bible verse about prayer for your lesson, or find another one you like. It's always a good idea to go over a bible verse with the kids each Sunday as it helps them learn God's Word and keep it close to their heart.

 

The bible teaches us about many people who prayed and God answered their prayers.

 

Daniel prayed every morning, noon, and night and God saved him from the lion's den.

 

The famous prayer of Jabez found in 1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV says, "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested."

 

There is also the famous 'Lord's Prayer' where Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray.

 

Jesus himself even prayed.

 

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before he died on the cross for our sins. He prayed again on the cross asking God to forgive those around him. Another time he prayed was when he blessed the food before breaking it when he fed the 5000.

 

Prayer Partners - What To Do

 

What You'll Need:

 

• something to write on
• something to write with
• cut pieces of yarn large enough to tie around a child's wrist or ankle

 

Once you've discussed some of the prayers above, sit the kids down in a semi-circle on the floor. Have a large paper, poster board, or dry erase board to write on for everyone to see.

 

Go through each child one-by-one and ask for prayer requests. Write them on the board or paper for all to see. Be sure to write the child's name beside the prayer request.

 

Ask the next child in the circle, "Did you hear that prayer request?"

 

Then, tie a piece of yarn around that child's wrist and say, "You are in charge of praying for that request every day until next week."

 

The yarn will serve as a reminder for that child to pray for their partner's prayer request.

 

Instruct the child to pray for that person and their prayer request every time the yarn reminds them to pray. Even if it is 10 times each day.

 

Now, go to the next child and ask for their request.

 

Continue this until every one has someone praying for their request and everyone is praying for someone.

 

What You'll Learn

 

Praying for yourself and your own family is wonderful, but when we join together and pray for someone else and their prayer request we learn the importance of caring for others. It helps us to understand one another, grow closer to God, and get in a routine of praying all throughout the day.

Continue

Book of Numbers | Sunday School Coloring Pages

When you're Sunday school class is studying the books of the bible, print out the FREE books of the bible Sunday school coloring pages on our site. We have lots of coloring pages for you to use and are adding more each week, so check back often. Adding your e-mail address to the right, will ensure you don't miss any of the FREE stuff we offer.

Books of the Bible Sunday School Coloring Pages

Below is the book of Numbers coloring page. Just to give you a bit of back ground on the book of Numbers, I've added a little bit about the bible story.

The children of Israel moved from place to place living in tents for 40 long years. What they didn't know when they started their journey to the promised land was that it was only a few short days walk from where they were to where they were going.

Instead, they wandered around the wilderness. The sad part was that none of the people who left Egypt made it into Canaan. Only their children was allowed to cross over into the promised land. Moses wasn't even one of them.

The Book of Numbers Coloring Page

(Double-Click to Print)

 

The words in the circle read 'The Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years.'

 

Continue

Prayer - Trust in the Lord | Coloring Pages

Proverbs 3:5 is a verse kids and adults alike need to keep close to their hearts. It should be a verse that is automatically thought of when times are tough and when times are good.

Trusting in the Lord should be a daily practice for Christians. How can we, as teachers or parents, expect kids to trust in the Lord if they don't see us trusting?

No matter what life throws your way, 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding'. Teach this verse and learn it yourself. Keep it close.

Another way to help kids understand this is with prayer. Kids often pray for the things they want or the people they know, but do they pray for God to lead them and guide them?

We used this coloring sheet to go along with the King David Sunday school lesson.

Coloring Pages

Here is just one of the coloring pages we have available for FREE on this blog. If you're looking for something different, just scroll through the pages to see what you can find.

The coloring page below can be used as a plain sheet for coloring or it can be folded in half to allow the kids to write on the inside. It can be folded the opposite way for the kids to draw on the outside whichever they prefer.

For older kids, have them write some of the things in their life they need to be trusting God to help them with. Have them keep it under their pillow as a reminder to trust God to lead their lives.

Have prayer with your class and ask God to lead each child they way he would want them to go.

Prayer - Trust in the Lord

Coloring Page

(Double-Click to print)

 

 

 

Continue

King David - Sunday School Lessons

King David
Clipart: Christians Unite
Sunday School Lessons

Even though Jesse's youngest son became known as the famous King David, it wasn't an easy road. The road was long and hard. In fact, the road was so rough that only David himself was fit to walk it. But, because David trusted God and praising him all the way, David became king and was known as 'a man after God's own heart'.

If David had chosen his own path, God couldn't have used him.

Bible Verse for this Lesson:

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

King David

Begin the Sunday school lesson by asking the kids if they know of a famous David in the bible. More than likely, they will think of David and Goliath.

Wait for answers.

While this is the same David, our Sunday school lesson today isn't about that particular story.

The lesson...

David was the youngest of 8 boys. His job was to watch over the sheep. But, even though he was the youngest and just a shepherd boy, God chose him to be a king. Normally, the king's son would become the new king, but not this time. God had a different plan.

Of course, David didn't immediately become the new king. There was already a king - King Saul.

The problem was that as time went on, King Saul became jealous of David and tried to kill him over and over.

Instead of David fighting back, he left.


Get the Trust in the Lord
Coloring Page

If it had been time for David to become king, God would have made it possible, but it wasn't the right time yet. For many years, Saul sought to kill David, but was unsuccessful.

Time and time again, David had the chance to kill Saul too. But, he didn't.

Once he sneaked up behind Saul and cut a piece of his robe off. He wanted to show Saul that he could have killed him, but he chose not to.

Another time, he sneaked into Saul's tent and took his spear and canteen. Again, he could have killed Saul, but chose not to.

He wanted Saul to know that he wouldn't go against God.

In the end, Saul fell on his own sword and died. Then, King David took the throne.

It took 20 years for David to become king.

What We Learned:

God does things in his own time. While we tend to want things now, God doesn't always see fit for us to have it now. Sometimes, we have to wait years and years before he answers our prayers while other times he answers our prayers with a simple 'no'.

David was chosen by God to become King David, but 19 years later he still wasn't king.

David chose to serve God and to praise him through all those years. When the time was right, David took the throne.

When you pray, pray that God will have his own will with the answers to your prayers.

No matter what happens, God knows best and we must trust in that.
 

Continue

Father's Day Sunday School Activity

Over the years, we've come up with some interesting gifts and crafts for the kids to make as a Father's Day Sunday school activity. Some were hits and others were less than great.

Father's Day
Sunday School Activity
Photo: changeorder - Flickr

But, one of our favorites stands true year-after-year.

It is simple, but does require a little help from some other adults.

Sunday School Activity for Father's Day

 

This Sunday school activity goes great with the Father's Day Sunday school lesson.

You can do this activity one of two ways. I'll tell you right up front - one is messy and the other is not. Although, we do prefer the messy one.

What you'll need for the NOT-so-messy activity:

• construction paper
• scissors
• glue
• markers

What to do:

Trace the child's foot on one piece of construction paper, cut it out, and paste it onto another sheet of construction paper. The papers should be two different colors.

Then, print on the sheet this little message to the fathers or grandfathers:

I am following in your foot prints (or steps - whichever you like).

Proverbs 22:6 KJV

 

You can print out the verse or leave it like it is above. With small paper, you may not have enough room for the entire verse. Of course, you can always print it out using a printer which will give you more space.

If a child in your class doesn't have a father figure, he or she can give it to a special man in the church that they choose.


What you'll need for the VERY messy activity:

Older kids can get more creative
if they choose and according to the
amount of time you have.
Photo: dekade 

• construction paper
• paint (be sure to get the kind that washes out of clothes easily)
• makers
• old sheet, blanket, or plastic table cloth
• bucket for water
• old towels

What to do:

Have the children take off their socks and shoes. Be sure to have a large work area covered with a old blanket or sheet. We like to use a plastic table cloth from our local dollar store.

Next, paint the bottom of the child's foot and place it onto the paper to make a footprint. Be sure to have a bucket or bowl of water nearby for rinsing the foot and an old towel for drying.

Do one paper for each child and let dry.

When the paper is dry, print this message to fathers or grandfathers:

I am following in your foot prints (or steps - whichever you like).

Proverbs 22:6 KJV

 

You can print out the verse or leave it like it is above. With small paper, you may not have enough room for the entire verse. Of course, you can always print it out using a printer which will give you more space.


If a child in your class doesn't have a father figure, he or she can give it to a special man in the church that they choose.

Continue