The Parable of the Scarecrow

A Bible Lesson about Controlling Your Tongue, Watching Your Ways, and Standing Up for Jesus for Children's Ministry

 

Here’s a fun and friendly fall-themed Bible lesson that kids are sure to love! Jesus was great at sharing important messages through simple stories called parables. In this lesson, we get to hear a delightful tale about a farmer who builds a scarecrow for a really important job—to keep his crops safe! Through this charming story, kids will learn that they have a special purpose in life, just like everyone else. They'll discover that they can do good things just like Jesus did, be mindful of how they act, watch their words, and stand up proudly for their beliefs. It’s a wonderful way for children to connect with these important lessons in an enjoyable and relatable way!

The following crafts and activities come from the Bible lesson "The Parable of the Scarecrow" Bible lesson. A complete lesson with all the crafts and activities on this page is available to members on The Resource Room and as an instant digital download.

 

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

Children color the picture and then discuss different way to keep their tongues from sin including:

1. Gossip – Proverbs 20:19
2. Speaking Bad About Others – Titus 3:2
3. Lying – Ephesians 4:25
4. Complaining –  Philippians 2:14
5. Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain, Swearing - Exodus 20:7
6. Sassing – Ephesians 6:2
7. Boasting – Jeremiah 9:23
8. Arguing –  Proverbs 20:3

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

As your students color the picture of the scarecrow and crow ask them to give examples of each type of sin listed on the coloring sheet.

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

Use a mini-jumbo craft stick and jumbo craft stick to make this memorable scarecrow with a crow on it's shoulder. Crafts are a great way to reinforce the Bible lesson. Use this scarecrow craft as a reminder for your students to memorize their Bible verses at home. Pattern for this craft are available to members on The Resource Room and as an instant digital download in the Bible lesson.

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

Preparation: Before class, print out the scarecrow patterns and tape them together to make a poster to use as a visual during the lesson. The pattern of the scarecrow is available in both color and black and white.

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

The Lesson

Jesus used parables or simple stories to explain how we should live. Here is a story about a farmer, it wasn’t told by Jesus and it isn’t in the Bible, but we can learn some important lessons from it.

The Parable of the Scarecrow

There once was a farmer who grew a beautiful field of sunflowers. The sunflowers were so tall that the farmer could barely reach the tops. But there was a problem in the farmer’s field. At first, it wasn’t too bad.  A local crow came every morning to help itself to some of the seeds so it could feed its family. But the crow was so noisy and excited about the large field of sunflowers it had discovered that it couldn’t keep quiet. (Ask your children if they know what a crow sounds like. Let them do their best caw.) Not only did the farmer hear the loud caws of the excited crow, but every crow in the countryside heard it and decided to come check it out. Soon the farmer had hundreds of crows feeding on his sunflowers.

The farmer had to save his crop from these hungry crows so he ran down to the field. Lifting his hands up and down as he made his way along the rows of sunflowers, he scared all the crows away. He was happy with the results so he went back up to his barn to get some work done. But it didn’t take long for all the crows to return. The farmer had too much work to do to spend all day protecting his sunflowers so he came up with a plan. He created a figure that looked a lot like himself. He stuffed a pair of his overalls and a shirt with straw to make the body. He used an old grain sack for the head. He sewed on buttons for eyes and used some yarn to make his mouth. To finish, he placed one of his beat-up hats on top of the grain sack head.  He took the stuffed figure down to his field of sunflowers and attached it to the highest fence post he could find. When the crows saw this beady-eyed stranger high up on the fence post, they were so frighted that they took off to find a more amicable field. The farmer was very pleased. He looked up at his creation and said, “Thank you for scaring away the crows. I think I will call you scarecrow because you are so good at scaring away my crows.”

Scarecrow stayed up on that fence post day and night silently doing his job even when the weather was bad, the wind threatened to blow him down, and the crows gave him a hard time. The farmer was pleased with his creation because, at the end of the growing season, the fields had produced more sunflower seeds than ever before.

Learning Concepts:

1. We were created in God's image - Genesis 1:27
2. Be more like Jesus - Ephesians 2:10 and Galatians 5:22-23
3. Keep your eyes open and watchful - Galatians 6:10 and Philippians 2:3-4
4. Keep your tongue from sinning - Psalm 39:1
5. Take a stand - Ephesians 6:10-13

 

1. In class show your students pictures of the crows, one at a time. Read the name of a crow and ask your students to give an example of the word on the crow. For example, for Lying Larry a student might say, "Telling your friends you received an A on a test when you only received a B. For Arguing Angie, a student might say, "When you argue with someone just because you want to be right, even if you don't even know if you are right. Or arguing until you make someone so mad that he wants to hit you."

2. After you have gone through all the pictures, pick them up and hide them from your students. Ask your students to think about the different crows that you showed them.

3. Tell your students to hold up their hands if they remember one of the names of the crows. If a child can name one of the crows, give him a picture of the crow.

4. Keep playing until all the crow pictures have been given out. 

5. If the children can't remember one of the names, give them the first name and see if they can remember the last name.

Member's 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson - KJV - 

Instant Digital Download Complete Lesson- NIV - 

 

 

(Sing to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot".) ©2023, Digital by Design, Inc. (Do not publish any where on the web.)

I'm a little scarecrow,
Watch me work!
High up on the fence post
So I can watch out
Out in the fields, I scare the crows away.
I'm so scary, not one will stay.