Day 3: Swallowed By a Large Fish
*There are 2 activities for this day’s lesson. Feel free to choose one of the activities OR spread them out over several days! :)
- Materials:
- Bible (I like the NirV)
- Children’s Bible (I’m using My First Bible Stories, a Silver Dolphin book)
- Activity #1: Blue plastic cup (draw on whale eyes and teeth with sharpie), Yarn or string about 1-1.5 feet long, Balloon blown up small (draw on eyes and mouth with sharpie)
- Activity #2: White and blue streamers, Several balloons blown up larger (optional), Blanket (optional)
Day 1: Lesson and Activities
- Open Bible to Jonah 1:17–2:1 and 2:10. Ask if child wants to touch God’s Word. Touch gently. Then, read the verses.
- Open My First Bible Stories and read pages 124-129. Emphasize the sound effects, “Splosh!” when Jonah got thrown in the water. “Gulp!” when the big fish swallowed him. Notice the huge waves and Jonah overboard.See the big fish? God sent the big fish to swallow Jonah and protect him!
Activity #1:
- Prep: Draw a face on the small balloon for “Jonah” – attach Jonah balloon to the inside of the whale cup with yarn/string (I poked a hole in the bottom of the cup with a metal skewer and then wrapped tape around the end of the yarn to thread it through).
- Have the fish “swallow” Jonah – you can either pull on the string to pull him into the mouth or try to throw Jonah in the air and catch him in the cup.
- Sing: Who did, who did, who did, who did – Who did swallow Jo-Jo-Jo-Jo (3x) Who did swallow Jonah, who did swallow Jonah, who did swallow Jonah down? Whale did, whale did, whale did, whale did – Whale did swallow Jo-Jo-Jo-Jo (3x) Whale did swallow Jonah, whale did swallow Jonah, whale did swallow Jonah down!
- Have Jonah pray to God, and then the whale spits him out!
Activity #2:
- Prep: Cover table with blanket and hang down some white whale streamers “teeth” from the top and fill with balloons OR streamers hanging down in doorway to run back and forth through
- I chose to hang some streamers in the doorway because Katelyn tends to stand up and hit her head if she’s crawling under something (especially if she’s distracted). I stretched a piece of painter’s tape across the doorway partway down and then hung the streamers down from that.
- When Katelyn was done playing, she had fun pulling down all the streamers herself. She even wanted to help throw them in the trash! So the only thing I had to clean up was the strip of painter’s tape!
- Get swallowed by the big fish, pray to God, then get spit out
- Speak: Jonah, Jonah in the storm! God sent a fish so big, big, big! (run inside the fish – GULP!)
- Jonah, Jonah in the fish – 1 day, 2 days, 3 days long (hold up fingers while counting)
- Jonah decided to pray, pray, pray! (fold hands) “God, I’m so so sorry now!”
- God made the big fish spit, spit, spit (run back outside the “fish” – BURP!) Jonah now is out, out, out!
Closing: Psalm 73:23, I am always with you. Wherever we are, God is always with us!