Toddler Bible Lessons – Week 13: Disciples

Posted by Sarah on December 16, 2020

Day 1: No Fish

*There are 4 activities for this day’s lesson. Feel free to choose one or two of the activities OR spread them out over several days! :)

Materials:
Bible (I like the NirV)
Activity #1: Vehicle toys – cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, boats (make sure to have at least one boat!), Stickers (make sure to have 2 of each), Large rectangle cardboard
Activity #2: Shaving cream, Blue food coloring, Plastic tub, Cups, bowls, spoons
Activity #3: Large piece of butcher paper, painter’s tape, Markers
Activity #4: Clothes basket, Mesh laundry bag

Day 1: Lesson and Activities

Open Bible to Luke 5:5. Ask if child wants to touch God’s Word. Touch gently. Then, read: Simon said, “We’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.”
Open hands to show empty. Put hands on cheeks in surprise and say, “No fish?!”

Activity #1: Transportation Hide-and-Seek Matching Game

Prep: Draw parking spots on the large rectangle cardboard. Place a sticker on the bottom of each vehicle – place a matching sticker on parking spots. Hide the vehicles around the room.
The disciples were fishing in a boat. Let’s look to see if we can find a boat. Or another way to travel like a car, truck, train, or airplane!
Sing (Tune: Are You Sleeping?) Looking, looking. Looking, looking. What will we find? What will we find? A __________! A __________! Driving/chugging/flying/sailing to a parking spot. _______ to a parking spot. Where does it go? Where does it go?
Find the sticker and match it up to the correct parking spot. Then, search for more vehicles.

We had played with a tub of some colored rice earlier, so after Katelyn found all the correct parking spots, she had some fun with the vehicles in the colored rice.
I left it out the rest of the day, and Katelyn came back to play several times. Later on she had fun taking off the stickers and rearranging them.

Activity #2:

Prep: Fill tub with about an inch of warm water. Spray some shaving cream all over the top, squeeze in some food coloring and stir it around. (I added some plastic seaweed.)
The men were out fishing all night long, but they didn’t find any fish! Can we find any fish?
Dig, scoop, and pour the blue shaving cream – there are no fish!
Sometimes when we try to do things by ourselves, we are empty. But God is powerful and can provide for us. Do you think Jesus could help the men find fish?
Sing (Tune: The Farmer in the Dell) I’m working by myself. I’m working by myself. There are no fish! There are no fish! I’m working by myself.

I put a lid on the shaving cream/water and saved it for Day 2’s lesson. I took out the messy tools and seaweed, and Katelyn enjoyed playing in the sink to clean them off.

Activity #3:

Prep: Tape a large piece of butcher paper to hard floor. Draw blue lines for a river going long ways across the paper.
Have child help you decorate the water with shades of blue and dirt, grass, and flowers along the banks.
Play with toy boat and sail it down the river.
If possible, leave butcher paper on the floor for tomorrow’s lesson – or take it up and save it.

Activity #4:

Climb into a clothes basket “boat.” Throw out the “net” (mesh bag) to catch fish, but there are no fish! Move the basket to a new spot and look for fish there – still no fish! We need God’s help! (We also sailed our clothes basket boat on our river!)
Sing above song with added verse: We’re sailing on the sea. we’re sailing on the sea. There are no fish! There are no fish! We’re sailing on the sea.