Background Scripture (read 2-3 times during the week)
John 6:1–15, Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31–44, Luke 9:10–17
Story Summary
Jesus Feeds the 5,000: The Bible Story for Kids
Jesus was trying to get alone with his disciples after a great tragedy happened with his cousin John (we learn this in the Matthew and Mark versions of the story). He wanted to go away with his disciples to a remote place to rest and recover, so he got into a boat on the Sea of Galilee to go to the other side. Because he was becoming so popular with the people, they followed them and met them on the shore when they got there. Word traveled fast!
Jesus, still grieving and tired, began teaching them. As the day wore on and the people stayed, practical concerns about feeding all these people arose (the Bible says five thousand, but most understand that to be five thousand men, so the actual number would have been much higher). They suggested that Jesus send them Even though the disciples couldn't come up with a plan for how to feed all these people, Jesus had one.
He asked the disciples to find out if anyone in the crowd had any food. They found one boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. To their amazement, Jesus told them to begin feeding the crowd with that little bit of food. Surely it wouldn't even be worth giving that out. It would probably just start a riot! But they had enough faith to obey Jesus and started the food distribution.
We don't know exactly how the miracle occurred, but we know that when they were done distributing food and eating, they gathered up 12 baskets full of bread left over.
The people were amazed at this miracle, and Jesus knew that they planned to try and make him King of Israel by force. That wasn't his plan, so he withdrew to a mountain to be alone - this time where no one could find him...
Where Is the Feeding of the Five Thousand in the Bible?
You can find the Feeding of the 5,000 in John 6:1–15, Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31–44, and Luke 9:10–17.
Jesus also fed 4,000 at one time, which happened after this story. You can find that story in Matthew 15:32–39 and Mark 8:1–10. We know from Matthew 16:9–10 and Mark 8:19–21 that these were two separate events, not just a retelling of the same event.
They also happened in different places. The Feeding of the 5000 happened near Bethsaida, which would have been where many Jews live. The Feeding of the 4000 happened in the region of the Decapolis, which is where many Gentiles lived.
The Only Miracle in All Four Gospels
Outside of the Resurrection, the Feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle to be recorded in all four Gospel accounts. All of the Gospel writers thought this was an important story to include!
What Happens in the Story, Step by Step
- Jesus' cousin John was killed by Herod Antipas.
- Jesus tried to get away with his disciples so they could be alone and grieve together, so he set out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee to go someplace remote and away from the crowds.
- The crowds followed them anway and met them on the shore when they go to where they were going.
- Instead of ignoring the crowds, Jesus taught them all day.
- As the day was getting long, the disciples became concerned about how they were going to feed all the people. It would take 200 days wages to feed them all!
- Jesus told them to go among the crowd to see who had food. They found only a boy with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
- Jesus told his disciples to sit the crowd down and begin feeding them with this small amount food.
- Even though they couldn't see how this was going to work, they obeyed him anyway. When they were done, they had 12 basketfulls of bread left over.
- The people were amazed by this miracle and Jesus withdrew to a lonely place to keep them from trying to force him to become their king.
5 Loaves, 2 Fish, 12 Baskets: The Numbers in the Story
There are a lot of numbers in the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. After telling the story, throw out these numbers and see if your kids can tell you what they represented in the story.
- 2 - The number of fish the boy had
- 5 - The number of loaves the boy had
- 12 - The number of disciples and the number of baskets of bread they had left over after Jesus multiplied the boy's food
- 50 and 100 - The disciples grouped the people by 50's and 100's had them sit down so they could distribute the food in an orderly way.
- 200 - The disciples said that even 200 days pay wouldn't buy the food necessary to feed the whole crowd.
- 5000 - The number of men in the crowd.
Who Was the Boy With the Loaves and Fish?
None of the stories name the boy who had the five loaves of barley bread and the two fish. But the details these Gospel writers give us can help us to think about him.
First, the stories tell us he was a boy. Jesus' adult disciples couldn't figure out how to feed all these people, so he used a child instead. This is a great point to make with your kids!
Second, John 6:9 tells us that they were barley bread loaves. This tells us that he was not from a rich family as barley bread was the "common person's" bread, as opposed to wheat bread.
Third, we don't know why he came with five loaves of bread and two fish. Surely that wasn't just for him. Maybe he had been put in charge of his family's food for their journey. At least someone (probably a mom!) was thinking ahead and planned for her family to be able to eat.
Fourth, it had to have taken great faith for the boy to give up this food to be used by Jesus. But can you imagine the stories he could tell when he got back home!? And if he hadn't responded in obedience and faith, we would never know about him. Jesus could have made bread and fish out of nothing. He didn't need this boy's food. But he invited the boy into the story and allowed him to be a partner in the miracle.
Why Didn't Jesus Just Send the Crowd Home?
Even though Jesus was trying to get alone with his disciples, Mark 6:34 tells us, "When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things." This shows us the incredible patience and compassion Jesus has for us!
It also helps us know that when we show compassion on others, even when we are tired or worried about our own problems, Jesus can give us the strength to be a blessing to others anyway, if we will just make ourselves available to him.
Why Were There 12 Baskets Left Over?
The Gospel accounts don't tell us the meaning of the twelve baskets that were left over, but that number 12 sure is significant in the Bible, isn't it?!
12 Disciples, 12 Tribes of Israel. Jesus came to be the Bread of Life (John 6:35) for all of Israel.
What Jesus Feeding the 5,000 Teaches Kids
- Jesus can give us the strength to be a blessing and encouragement to others, even when we are tired.
- Jesus has great compassion for people. He cares about every part of our lives.
- Jesus can use what we have to be a blessing to others, no matter how young or poor we are.
My Notes
Video Options
From Saddleback Kids
From Crossroads Kids Club
From Kids on the Move
Resource Sheet
This coloring sheet depicts the disciples' response to the amazing miracle Jesus performed
1 Warm Up get your kids talking and engaged
What is your favorite meal? What would you do if you came to church and you were fed bread and fish for a snack?
(Consider doing the "Bread and Sardines Picnic" reinforcement activity below now)
Today, we're going to learn about a time when Jesus and his disciples had to feed over 5000 people, and the only food they had was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
2 Teach the Story teach a holistic story
Read story from a Children's storybook Bible for younger children.
For older children, read the story from an age-appropriate Children's storybook Bible or read directly from the Bible.
3 Bible Mastery give them basic Bible skills
Scripture for Kids to Read Aloud John 6:5-15
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?
- What happened just before this miracle happened?
- Jesus and the disciples found out that John the Baptist had been killed by Herod
- Where was Jesus going when the crowd followed him?
- He was trying to get away to a desolate place with his disciples
- What did he do when he saw the crowd?
- He had compassion on them and began teaching them
- Why did Jesus and the disciples have to feed the crowd?
- They were in a remote place and it was getting late in the day, so there wasn't a source of food available
- How much did the disciples say it would cost to feed the crowd?
- 200 days of pay
- Who provided the food Jesus multiplied, and how much did he give?
- A boy gave 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish
- How did the bread and fish get multiplied as the disciples were handing it out?
- We don't know, use your imagination!
- How much was left over after they were done eating?
- 12 basketfuls of bread
- What did the people want to do after Jesus fed them?
- Make him King of Israel
- What did Jesus do instead
- He snuck away to a solitary place
5 Faith Questions open up a conversation about faith and the gospel; close with prayer
- In this story, we learn that Jesus provided for a great crowd of people who were hungry. But instead of just making the food appear, he used the small amount of food a boy had.
- How do you think the boy felt when he gave up his only food?
- What do you have that God could use to provide for someone else?
6 Memory Verse hide God's Word in their heart
All 11 activities below are free to use with no sign-up — complete with instructions, supply lists, and an age label for all-ages, early elementary, or late elementary classes.
Bread and Sardines Picnic
- Take students outside for a picnic, if possible. If not, have an indoor picnic.
- Give each child several crackers or break of a piece of bread.
- Pass around sardines to go on them. (Most won't want these, but encourage them to at least smell them).
Price is Right Game
Provide different items from your pantry that would be familiar to the kids (ex: cereal, cans of soup, mac & cheese, bag of chips, loaf of bread, can of tuna)
Divide class into two teams (or more depending on class size). Place items on a table. There are two ways you can play this game
Option 1: Guess the Price
- Write the actual price on an index card and place the card face down in front of the item.
- For each item, each team guesses the price.
- The team with the closest price, without going over gets a point.
Option 2: Higher or Lower (better for younger students)
- On the front of an index card, write an incorrect price for the item.
- On the other side, write the correct price. You will want to label which side is which.
- Prop the index cards up on the items with the incorrect price showing.
- Each team takes turns guessing whether the actual price is higher or lower than the incorrect price shown on the front of the index card.
- The team gets a point for guessing correctly.
At the end of the game, the team with the highest number of points wins. Give candy or some prize to the team that wins.
Food Distribution Relay
- Split your class into 2 teams and put each team in a line.
- At the start and end of each line, put a bucket.
- At the start of the line, put 7 squares of toilet paper or sheets of paper towel in the bucket.
- Ask the kids if they can figure out why the number 7? (Hint: 5 loaves + 2 fish)
- The object of the game is to take each individual item (the toilet paper or paper towel) and pass it down the line to place in the bucket at the end of the line.
- Have the kids pass the item in a creative way, like through their legs backwards, or alternating through legs and over their head, or spin around 2 times before passing it.
- While they are passing the items down the line, have someone add more items to the start bucket, one at a time. The objective is to make sure the start bucket never runs out of toilet paper.
- Set a timer for 3 minutes.
- Have the students count how many items ended up in the other bucket. The team with the most items passed wins!
- Talk about how the number at the end was different, just like the amount of food they ended up with was more than what they started with.
Fish and Bread Craft
- Print out a basket craft printout for each student.
- Give each child a small pile of bread pieces and goldfish.
- Have children glue bread and goldfish in the baskets.
Loaves and Fish Lunch Sack
- Give each child a lunch bag.
- Allow each child to decorate the bag.
- Place a handful of fish and bread at the bottom of the lunch bag.
- Place the brown construction paper rectangle over the fish and bread. This looks like the bottom of the bag.
- Place 5 loaves and 2 fish on top of the construction paper.
- Have the kids look in the bag and see the 5 loaves and 2 fish.
- Then reach in and move the construction paper and grab a handful of fish and loaves!
- It looks like a magic trick!
- They can take the bag home and retell the story.
Twelve Baskets Trail Maze
- Give each student a Twelve Baskets Trail printout along with colored pencils or markers.
- You can work on counting skills as they complete the maze (for very young students) or talk about the story and lead a conversation about how the disciples must have reacted when they just kept on collecting more and more leftovers!
Making Baskets
- Follow directions to weave a basket.
- Place 5 small pieces of bread 2 swedish fish in the basket.
Elephant Toothpaste Activity
- This activity is to represent something that multiplies, like Jesus multiplied the bread and fish.
- Dissolve yeast in 2 Tbsp very warm water.
- Stand the bottle up in the center of the cake pan.
- Put the funnel in the opening.
- Pour the peroxide through the funnel into the bottle .
- Add the Dawn detergent to the peroxide in the bottle.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the bottle and quickly remove the funnel.
Fish Prints
- Fish printing dates back to Japan over 100 years ago. Anglers made fish prints to record their catches and to save information on fish biology. The Japanese term for fish printing is"gyotaku" (pronounced ghio-ta-koo).
- Clean fish gently and pat dry. Place on newspaper.
- Paint entire fish. Don't make the paint too thick.
- Press paper down onto the fish. Make sure all of the paper makes contact.
- Peel paper off gently.
Step by Step Instructions to Draw the Boy with the Loaves and Fish
- Give each child a piece of paper and a marker
- Follow the step by step instructions from the video below to draw the boy from this story.
Multiplying Magic Trick
Teach a magic trick to make one ball appear to become 2 balls.
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