3. Noah
Background Scripture (read 2-3 times during the week)
Story Summary
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth because their hearts were full of evil. He decided to wipe mankind, animals and other creatures from the face of the earth. Noah was a righteous man, in whom God found favor. He gave Noah very specific directions to build an ark. He told him exactly how long, wide and high to make it. He told him what kind of wood to use and how to divide the space.
God gave Noah instructions for his family to go inside the ark (He had three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth.) He told him to take seven of every kind of clean animal, male and female and two of every kind of unclean animal, male and female, into the ark. Noah did all God commanded him, then the Lord shut him in.
For forty days, it rained. The waters rose 20 ft. above the mountains and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. (Note that the flood waters remained, even after it stopped raining. Oftentimes, this story is taught as if the total time on the ark were 40 days and 40 nights.) At the end of the 150 days, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. He waited 7 more days until the dove returned with an olive leaf. After 7 more days, he sent the dove out again. This time it did not return.
Noah, his family and all the animals came out of the ark. Noah built an altar to the Lord. The Lord created a covenant, or agreement, that he would never destroy all life with a flood again. He set a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of the covenant for all generations to come.
What You Will Need
- Snack Suggestion
- Cut banana in half. Hollow out the middle to make boats. Let students place animal crackers in their boat, animal fruit snacks, or M&Ms (ask the children to eat them two by two or make rainbows)
Video Options
From Crossroads Kids Club
From Saddleback Kids Hey-O Series
Resource Sheet
This coloring sheet depicts the dove returning to Noah's ark with the olive branch
1. Warm Up get your kids talking and engaged
What is the biggest job you have ever had to do? We are going to read today about a man who was given a really big task.
2. Teach the Story teach a holistic story
For younger children, read the story from a Children's storybook Bible so they get a summary of the entire story.
For older children, read the story from an age-appropriate Children's storybook Bible or you can tell the story yourself (using the "Story Summary" from above as a guide). If you tell the story yourself, make sure you fully understand the story prior to class time.
3. Bible Mastery give them basic Bible skills
Scripture for Kids to Read Aloud: (choose several, depending on the size of your class) Genesis 5:32, Genesis 6:5-8, Genesis 7:1-5, Ge
4. Comprehension Questions make sure they understand the story
First, ask the children if they have any questions about the story. What to do if you don't know the answer?
- Why did God flood the earth? (humans had become very evil, 6:11)
- What is an ark? (a very big boat)
- How many of each type of animal did Noah take inside the ark? (7 of every clean animal, 2 of every unclean animal)
- Who shut them in the ark? (the Lord, 7:16)
- How many days did it rain? (40, 7:17)
- On which mountain did the ark come to a rest? (Ararat 8:4)
- Why did God send out the raven?
- What did the dove bring back? (Olive leaf, 8:11)
- What did Noah build when he came out of the ark? (an alter to the Lord, 8:20)
5. Faith Questions open up a conversation about faith and the gospel; close with prayer
- God had to punish those who were living during Noah's time because their sin had gotten out of control. They didn't care at all about what God says was right or wrong.
- God is a perfect God, and he deserves to be able to judge us for our sins. But did you know that God sent his Son Jesus to take our judgment for us?
6. Memory Verse hide God's Word in their heart
Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me. Psalm 119:105Animal Charades
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
- Have each child (who is willing) act out an animal and have others guess which animal they are acting out.
- As the children get older, encourage them to think of more obscure animals to stump their classmates
- Some ideas: duck, bird, cow, giraffe, fish, deer, lion, rabbit
- Or
- You choose one person to be "it."
- The rest of the class acts out the same animal and "it" must guess the animal.
- "One, two, three, guess which animal we might be!"
Boat Races
Scripture So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. Genesis 6:14
Supplies straw for each student, large tub of water, paper, plastic or aluminum boats
- Use straws to blow or race boats across a tub of water.
- Early elementary students may need boats made prior to lesson or plastic boats.
- You can also cut styrofoam ups down to about 1/4 its original size to use as boats.
Make a Rainbow
Scripture So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth." Genesis 9:17
Supplies clear glass with water, sunshine
- Pour water into a clear glass.
- Set the glass in a sunny window and allow the sunlight to shine through the glass to create a rainbow.
Animal Match 2
Heads up! This activity is more fun with a large group of students.
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
- Students are divided into groups of 2.
- Each group chooses an animal.
- Have students spread out around the room.
- Students close their eyes and turn around 10 times.
- With eyes closed, they must make the sound of their animal to find the other person in their group.
Rainbow Craft
Scripture So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth." Genesis 9:17
Supplies paper plates, colored streamers, glue, cotton balls
- Cut paper plates in half.
- Give one half to each student.
- Glue cotton balls to the paper plate.
- Glue colored streamers hanging down from the cotton ball cloud.
Animal Match Up Game
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
Supplies Animal cards (download at link below), prizes for winners
- Students will receive an animal card and must mimic the animal to find their partner. See the instructions below from biblegamescentral.com.
Animals Blow Wind Blow
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
- Use this variation of "Blow Wind Blow" to introduce the animals that Noah had on the boat with him.
- (From biblegamescentral.com)
Floating and Sinking
Scripture The waters rose higher and higher on the earth. And the ark floated on the water. Genesis 7:18
Supplies tub, water, small toys or objects that will float and sink
- Fill the tub with water.
- Provide small objects for students to experiment with.
- Before they place the object in the tub, ask them whether they think it will float or sink.
- Remind them why God had Noah build the ark (to protect Noah and the animals during the flood, or they would sink)
Animal Sounds
Scripture They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock. They had every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And they had every kind of bird that flies. Genesis 7:14
Supplies Mobile device or computer, website with animal sounds
- Play animal sounds and see how many students can identify.
- Remind the children that God cared about the animals, so he had Noah build the ark to protect them.
Fruit Loop Rainbows
Scripture I have put my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13
Supplies Fruit loop candy, paper with lines in shape of rainbow, one per student, glue
- Glue fruit loop cereal to create rainbows.
- Younger students may benefit from having colored rainbow lines to glue cereal in correct spaces.
- Ask the children why God sent the rainbow (as a sign to Noah that he would never flood the earth again)
Animal Match
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
- Each student receives a picture with an animal.
- Students must find another student with the same animal without using words.
- They can use actions to try to find their match.
- Younger students can use animal sounds to find their match
- Some ideas for animal pictures
Animal Cracker Ark
Heads up! Don't use liquid glue as it tends to disintegrate the cookies.
Scripture They had every kind of wild animal with them. They had every kind of livestock. They had every kind of creature that moves along the ground. And they had every kind of bird that flies. Pairs of all living creatures that breathe came to Noah and entered the ark. Genesis 7:14-15
Supplies card stock with printed ark, animal crackers, glue dots, crayons
- Print or draw a picture of an ark on card stock for each student.
- Have students use glue dots to attach animal crackers on the ark.
- Enjoy some animal crackers for snack!
Noah says
Scripture They had every kind of wild animal with them. Genesis 7:14
- Assign each child a different animal (make sure you give them animals that make recognizable sounds)
- The teacher is Noah
- Noah can either give commands to "all creatures" or just to a specific animal.
- For example, if Noah says, "All creatures jump!" - everyone should jump
- But if Noah says "Bunny - hop!" only the bunny should hop.
Hide and Seek Olive Branch
Scripture In the evening the dove returned to him. There in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the water on the earth had gone down. Genesis 8:11
Supplies small tree branch
- Hide a small tree branch in classroom.
- Students must look for the branch.
Large Box Fun
Scripture So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. Genesis 6:14
Supplies large boxes, stuffed animals or small plastic animals
- Cut 3 sides of a door, so it opens down and provides a "ramp" to walk into box.
- Allow students to play in boxes with animals.
Origami
Scripture So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. Genesis 6:14
Supplies mobile device, computer or printed instructions, paper cut into squares
- Make Origami boats
- Video tutorial
- Printable instructions
- Remind the children that God cared about Noah, his family, and the animals and gave Noah instructions in advance to build the ark
Aluminum Foil Boats
Scripture So make yourself an ark out of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Cover it with tar inside and out. Genesis 6:14
Supplies index card for each student, paper clips, aluminum foil, cut into pieces for each student
- Remind the children that God cared about Noah, his family, and the animals and gave Noah instructions in advance to build the ark
Crayon Rainbow
Scripture I have put my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13
Supplies Crayon shavings, wax paper, iron, cloth
- Place crayon shavings on a piece of wax paper, in the shape of a rainbow.
- Leave some space between each color.
- Place another piece of wax paper over top, being careful not to mess up shavings.
- Place cloth on top.
- Use a warm iron to melt crayon shavings. (You might want to put a cloth under the first piece of wax paper before you begin, to protect your table)
- Cut the wax paper around the shape of the rainbow
Rainbow
Scripture So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth." Genesis 9:17
- Have children sit in a circle in the chairs, with one less chair than students.
- Call out a color. If any student is wearing that color, they must run to another seat.
- Whoever does not find a seat stands in the middle and calls out another color.
Walking length of Boat
Scripture Here is how I want you to build it. The ark has to be 450 feet long. It has to be 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. Genesis 6:15
- Have students walk about 450 steps with one foot in front of another to measure the length of the ark.
Animals Who Am I? Game
Scripture Two of every kind of bird will come to you. Two of every kind of animal will come to you. And two of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you. All of them will be kept alive with you. Genesis 6:20
Supplies Animals cards (download at link below)
- The objective of the game is to identify the animal you have been assigned by asking only yes or no questions.
- (From biblegamescentral.com)
Rainbow Craft Example