Play Through the Bible -- Jonah

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Play Through the Bible – Jonah

April 2018 – We really had a lot of fun with the story of Jonah! It’s kind of a fun story to begin with and there are great lessons in the story of Jonah that kids can easily related to, like the importance of obedience and being nice to people who may not be nice to you.

For our playtime with this story, we used Playmobil Characters for the people of the story, used a little plastic canvas castle we had (which was actually a castle tissue box cover) to represent the city of Nineveh.

We used a small tupperware container to make a little boat with a simple stick mast with construction paper sails.

We talked about how Jonah was running away from God and traveling in the wrong direction and how God sent the storm that almost sunk the ship. The kids had fun just waving their arms around and using them to represent the wind and the heavy rain. And of course, to help the storm to stop the sailors throw Jonah out of the boat!

The fish was fun! We just used an old sock and put it on our hands for a little sock fish puppet. The kids had fun each trying on the fish and taking turns “eating” Jonah and spitting him back out.

And finally, Jonah decides to obey God and he goes to the city of Nineveh and tells the people there to “stop being naughty!!!”.

Jonah Paper Craft

Here is a little paper craft I made with the kids. I basically just used construction paper to cut out the different shapes ahead of time and let the kids help me glue them together on the page.

When we glued the bottom piece of the boat to the paper we only glued the bottom and the two sides, leaving the top part of the boat open to create a little pocket for the people to stand in.

For the whale, we cut out a little “window” to be able to see inside its belly. I cut out a little piece of clear plastic to cover the hole with and glued it to the whale before gluing the whale to the picture. When gluing the whale, we only glued the back and the edges on top and below the whale but left the mouth and the belly alone so that it would create a little pocket that Jonah could go inside of when he gets swallowed.

I scanned the individual pieces to keep as a pattern for later, so if you are interested in doing this craft you can download the following link and use it to create your own paper craft.

>> Download the Jonah Paper Craft

For the people needed for this craft I actually purchased the set of Bible Stick Puppet Characters from Danielle’s Place, but if you would like some free printable characters there are some available here: MyHeartVine – Jonah Bible Paper Dolls.

Bible Memory Verse

Here is a printable Bible Memory Verse card for the study of Jonah. For younger kids it might work best just to have them memorize the first half of the verse, so I made two separate cards, one with a longer verse and one with the shortened verse.

I designed these cards to be 4x6 inches because I like to print the memory verse cards on glossy photo paper, but feel free to use them however you like.

(This Bible memory verse comes from the English Standard Version of the Bible)

>> Download the Jonah Memory Verse Card

>> Download the Shorter Jonah Memory Verse Card (for younger kids)

Here is also a full-color memory verse card! Sorry, I don’t have the shorter version for this, only the complete verse . . .

>> Download the Jonah Full Color Memory Verse Card

Printable Mini Coloring Book: Jonah Tries to Run Away

Jonah Tries to Run Away is a printable, mini book that is free to download and print to help teach children the story of Jonah. Available both in color and black and white (coloring book).

I Can Read: Jonah, God’s Messenger

I Can Read! Jonah, God’s Messenger. Jonah loves God and wants to do his work. But what happens when Jonah wants to ignore God’s request to travel to Nineveh to teach the people there?

This is a Level Two I Can Read! book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences and will be of interest to children Pre-K to 3rd grade. The books in the I Can Read! Bible Story Series have really fun, appealing illustrations. The stories are short and simple but stay mostly true to the Biblical account.

YouTube: God’s Story - Jonah

God’s Story - Jonah. Short, but very informative and entertaining teachings. A great way to introduce the story or use as a way to reinforce the lesson.

YouTube: Read and Share Bible – Jonah

Read and Share Bible – Jonah. A very short and simple animated video that tells the story of Jonah. The animation is cute, and the story sticks with the Biblical account of the story.

YouTube: VeggieTales Jonah

VeggieTales Jonah. VeggieTales has a cute full length movie about the story of Jonah, and while it is a rather silly movie, it is both entertaining and does do a great job of teaching about mercy and compassion.

Share Faith Kids: Jonah and the Whale

Jonah and the Whale. The Share Faith Kids website has a set of children’s Bible story resources for the book of Jonah, including a video narrative of the story, a picture PowerPoint if you wish to tell the story yourself, and also printable activity sheets for kids. There is a membership fee to access all the resources on their website, however they do allow you to have 4 sets free to “try it out” . . . or, if you don’t mind the logos on the video and aren’t planning to use the activity sheets, you can just watch the videos directly on their website!