Bible Crafts and Activities

Jonah and the Whale

Scripture Reference:  Jonah 1 - 4
Concepts - God knows where we are at all times.  You can't hide from God.

1. Play a bean bag toss game - Make bean bags that look like Jonah and toss them into the mouth a whale.   Use the pattern and directions provided to make Jonah bean bag dolls.  Make a whale out of a plastic milk jug. Let the children take turns throwing their dolls into the whale.  Or make a whale for each child and let them try to catch the Jonah bean bag in the mouth of their whale.

"Hide and Seek" Bible Lesson for older children - In this lesson children learn about Jonah and how he tried to hide from God. They learn that they can't hide anything from God. When they do something wrong, instead of trying to forget about it, or hiding from it, God wants them to tell him about it, and to ask him for forgiveness. This lesson is available on The Resource Room a subscription site. 

Free Sample Lesson from The Resource Room

"Hide and Seek" Bible Lesson for younger children - In this lesson younger children think about all the different emotions Jonah went through throughout the story. The teacher uses simple hand puppets with different emotions to tell the story. This lesson is available as a free sample lesson. Just click the link above to view the free lesson.

Activities for the lessons:

Play "Find Jonah" Card Game by turning over Jonah cards and seeing if Jonah is hiding behind the card. If he isn't, they act out part of the story defined on the card. Card pattern available on The Resource Room.

Sing a song and act it out - Younger children will enjoy singing a song about Jonah while they act out the story. Prepare a large appliance box to look like a whale. Have a child enter the box while the other students sing the song. At the end of the song when it says Jonah was spit out, the child in the box should come out of the box pretending to be spit out. Keep singing the song until all the children have had a chance to act it out. This song is available on The Resource Room.

Crafts

Face Puppets - Older children make face puppets on which different emotions are depicted. They use the puppets during the lessons by raising their puppet to indicate when they think Jonah may have experienced the emotion their puppet depicts.

Emotions Booklet

- Younger children make a booklet with pictures of the different emotions Jonah may have experienced. They practice making the same faces during the lesson.

Envelope Fish and Jonah Paper Doll - Small children will love playing with they envelope fish puppet. The put their hand inside and make his mouth open and close.

Color Sheet - Jonah and the Whale Color Sheet and Bible verse card.

Jonah and the Whale with Jonah Paper doll - Children can use this craft to tell the story of Jonah.

"What did the Big Fish Eat?" game - This big fish has swallowed many things including Jonah. Your children answer questions and then reach into the fishes mouth and pull out a piece of paper with a picture of something the fish has swallowed. They will be amazed and entertained by all the different things he has eaten. The child who pulls out the picture of Jonah wins.