The King Is Here
17 New Testament lessons to choose from that all tell us something about Jesus as the king.
Perfect for playgroups, crèches, your youngest Sunday Schoolers and even teaching the Bible at home. Each lesson includes a written story and powerpoint pictures to go with it, a craft idea, and suggestions for songs and toys that fit with the theme of the story.
Take the ideas you need for your kids.
1. God’s King is Coming
God’s King is Coming tells the story of John the Baptist and enocourages us to get ready for Jesus as well. [Mark 1:1-8]
Story: God’s King is Coming
Powerpoint: God’s King is Coming
Theme: Washing
Song Suggestions:
Way down in the valley, Head shoulders knees and toes, All the little ducks, This is the way we take a bath, Here we go round the mulberry bush
Toy Ideas: Fill some shallow boxes with water and bath toys, have some towels ready for the floor and the kids! Get some washing liquid and let them wash the toys.
Craft: Water color
You Will Need:
Paintbrushes
White watercolour Paper
Watercolour paints
Step One; let the children ‘paint’ on the watercolour paper with water. Try not to let them completely soak it.
Step Two; let them dip paintbrushes with dry watercolour paint on into the water and watch it spread.
2. God’s King is Different
God’s King is Different shows us Jesus’ Baptism and how he’s not like other kings; not even like other men. [Mark 1:9-11]
Story: God’s King is Different
Powerpoint: God’s King is Coming
Theme: Love
Song Suggestions: If I go climbing, He’s got the whole world in his hands, 5 little ducks went swimming one day, Skidamarink a-dink a-dink, If you’re happy and you know it.
Toy Ideas: Choose toys that the children love: I found that bouncy balls always go down well. It’s also good to get books out their are lots about love.
Craft: Heart Pocket
You will need:
Card (any colour)
Hole Punch
String or wool
Stickers or a verse written onto Paper and glue.
Use a template to cut large hearts out of the card.
Pair the hearts up and then punch holes through them. Leave the top unpunched.
Help the children to thread the string through the holes to ‘sew’ the two hearts together. They can use the pocket to keep their treasures in.
3. God’s King Heals and Forgives
God’s King heals and forgives is the surprising story of the paralysed man and a hole in the roof! [Mark 2:1-12]
Story: God’s King heals and forgives
Powerpoint: God’s King heals and forgives
Theme: Bodies
Song Suggestions: Heads shoulders kneels and toes, 1 Finger 1 Thumb keep moving, If you’re happy and you know it, Hokey Cokey, If I go climbing
Toy Ideas: People or dolls, mirrors and dressing up, a big piece of paper and a flat dish of paint for hand or foot printing
Craft: Paper People
You will need:
Paper (any colour)
Scissors
Colouring pencils
Fold the paper like a fan, draw the outline of a person on the front making sure the hands touch the edge. Older children can cut the shapes out with help. For younger children have some pre-cut out and let them decorate.
4. God’s King wants us in his family
God’s King wants us in his family! Mark 3 shows us who Jesus sees as his real family and it’s the best news. [Mark 3:13-21 and 31-35]
Story: God’s King wants us in his family
Powerpoint: God’s King wants us in his family
Theme: Family
Song Suggestions: 5 little ducks went swimming one day, Tommy Thumb, Grandma’s Glasses, The wheels on the bus
Toy Ideas: Have a go at playing houses with any dolls houses or cardboard boxes or even just making forts with blankets, chairs and cushions.
Craft: Pipe cleaner people
You will need:
Pipe cleaners
(Scissors)
Let each child choose their colour of pipe cleaner then let them follow along with you as you make a person shape. You might find it easiest to do this with three short pieces (Head and body, arms, legs) or with one piece that doubles back on itself.
Be careful of the slightly pointy and scratchy wire ends!
5. God’s King gives
God’s King gives shows us how generously Jesus does that - even to more than 5000 people or more. [Mark 6:30-44]
Story: God’s King provides
Powerpoint: God’s King provides
Theme: Food
Song Suggestions: 10 fat sausages sizzling in a pan, A pizza hut, 5 little peas, Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake, Chick chick chick chick chicken.
Toy Ideas: Have a go at playing houses with any dolls houses or cardboard boxes or even just making forts with blankets, chairs and cushions. Serve a meal together.
Craft: Icing
You will need:
pre-made Cupcakes or Biscuits,
Icing tubes in different colours
An easy to clean tray or plate
Let the kids use the icing tubes to decorate their chosen biscuit.
6. We can see God’s King
As Jesus opens a blind mans eyes we can also who God’s King really is. [Mark 8:22-30]
Story: We can see God’s King
Powerpoint: We can see God’s King
Theme: Colours
Song Suggestions: A Sailor went to sea sea sea, Baa baa black sheep, Bouncing along on the big red tractor, I can sing a rainbow
Toy Ideas: Colouring books, matching coloured balls to the right coloured bag or pot. Crayons and paper to make rubbings of different plants.
Craft: Face Painting
You will need:
Face paints
Water
Mirror
Brushes
Damp cloths for cleaning up
Paint their faces or on their arms. Sticking to abstract designs - dots, wiggles, stars, lines - will make your job a lot easier.
7. God’s Kingdom is different
When a rich young man asked Jesus a very important question - Jesus tells him of a very different kingdom. [Mark 10:17-31]
Story: God’s Kingdom is different
Powerpoint: God’s Kingdom is different
Theme: Shopping
Song Suggestions: The wheels on the bus, Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake, Hot Cross Buns, Baa baa black sheep, A pizza hut
Toy Ideas: Plastic foods, market stalls set up with empty cereal and juice boxes, dressing up clothes they can try on and ‘buy’.
Craft: List writing
You will need:
Pens
Paper
Stickers
Allow the kids to write shopping lists; stickers could help them to think of ideas and make it fun!
8. God’s King wants what God wants
The night Jesus was arrested he had some tough choices to make yet he always did what God wanted. [Mark 14:12-52]
Story: God’s King wants what God wants
Powerpoint: God’s King wants what God wants
Theme: Gardens
Song Suggestions: Mary Mary quite contrary, Round and round the garden, Here is the beehive, Ring-a-ring of roses.
Toy Ideas: Plastic bugs and flowers, you could gather leaves, conkers, seeds, pinecones, lavender etc. and make a sensory box with whatever is seasonally appropirate.
Craft: Cress Egg HEads
You will need:
Clean egg shells
Earth or cotton wool
Water
Egg boxes/cups
Cress or mustard seeds
Put the shells in the egg cups or boxes to keep them steady. (You can skip the shells altogether and grow the cress in an egg box). Help the kids fill the shell with earth or a cotton ball, and damp it. Sprinkle the seeds on top and tell the kids to grow them in a sunny place.
9. God’s King dies for us
On the cross we see what it really means to be God’s king. [Mark 15:21-40]
Story: God’s King dies for us
Powerpoint: God’s King dies for us
Theme: Royalty
Song Suggestions: If you’re a princess and you know it (If you’re happy and you know it), Crowns shoulders knees and toes (Heads shoulders kneels and toes), Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, The grand old Duke of York, 5 Little Princes (5 Little Monkeys)
Toy Ideas: Use bricks to build castles, hold a royal procession, try on gowns and crowns, play some music and have a royal ball.
Craft: Tape Remove Cross
You will need:
Paper
Washi Tape
Colouring pens/pencils/crayons
Tape a cross onto the paper, let the kids draw and scribble over it. Encourage them to draw on the tape too! Then help them peel the tape off.
10. God’s King Lives
God’s King lives even after he dies - because death isn’t as strong as he is. [Mark 16:1-8]
Story: God’s King lives
Powerpoint: God’s King lives
Theme: New Life
Song Suggestions: Skidamarink a-dink a-dink, He’s got the whole world in his hands, He died upon the cross, My God is so big.
Toy Ideas: Babies and stuffed baby animals etc. fit the theme well. Butterflies too. Stringing bits of coloured paper from the ceiling as ‘butterflies’ for them to jump and touch is fun. Also the very hungry caterpillar fits the scenario well.
Craft: Folded Butterfly
You will need:
Paper cut into butterfly shapes
Paint
Fold the paper in half and let the kids fingerpaint patterns onto one half of it. then help them to fold the paper the other way and push the paper down so that the wet pain prints onto the other side.
11. God’s King goes home
God’s King goes home to his father in a most unusual way. [Acts 1:6-11]
Story: God’s King lives
Powerpoint: God’s King lives
Theme: The Sky
Song Suggestions: The blades of the ‘copter go round and round (The wheels on the bus), If I go climbing, Here is the beehive, 5 little ducks went flying one day, Itsy-bitsy Spider,
Toy Ideas: Anything that flies, from toy bugs to planes, making a throwing pit for balls. Roll out a rug and pretend it’s a flying carpet.
Craft: Fan Wing Bird
You will need:
Card cut out in the shape of a bird
Coloured paper
Pens
Scissors
Cut a slit in the stomach, fold your coloured paper like a fan and help the kid feed it through the slit and fan them out. The children can decorate the bird as they like.
12. God’s Spirit comes to us
In the story of Pentecost we see how God’s Spirit comes to us and what a difference he makes in the lives of Peter and Jesus’ other friends. [Acts 2:1-41]
Story: God’s Spirit comes to us
Powerpoint: God’s Spirit comes to us
Theme: Words and languages
Song Suggestions: Alphabet Song, Zoom zoom zoom We’re going to the moon, I’m a dingle dangle scarecrow, Skidamarink, Frère Jacques,
Toy Ideas: Books, alphabet puzzles and letters. You could set up a letter box (any cardboard box with a slit in it) and get kids to post and deliver old envelopes, they could even write letters and put them in the envelopes.
Craft: Hidden Name
You will need:
White wax crayons
Paper
Watercolour paints
In white crayon write the name of the child on the paper then let them paint over the top and see the letters of ther name revealed.
This idea came from here.
13. God’s King works through his people
As Peter and John meet and heal a lame man begging by the temple we see that through his Spirit God’s King is still very much at work through his people. [Acts 3:1-10]
Story: God’s Spirit works through his people
Powerpoint: God’s Spirit works through his people
Theme: Bodies
Song Suggestions: Heads shoulders knees and toes, If you’re happy and you know it, 1 finger 1 thumb keep moving, Hokey Cokey, If I go climbing,
Toy Ideas: Dolls and dressing up. Any climbing/running/jumping activities - it’s a reat week for parachute games if you have one. You could measure the children and mark it on a wall (or on some paper taped to the wall if you shouldn’t mark it permanently).
Craft: Bottle Top Faces
You will need:
Permanent Markers
Bottle tops
Help the kids draw faces on bottle tops. Because you need a permanent en for this they will need supervision!
14. God’s King is for the whole world
In this story Philip meets an Ethiopian official who wants to hear about Jesus. When people from so far away believe it shows us that God’s King really is for the whole world. [Acts 8:1-41]
Story: God’s King is for the whole world
Powerpoint: God’s King is for the whole world
Theme: Bodies
Song Suggestions: He’s got the whole world in his hands, A sailor went to sea sea sea, The wheels on the bus, Row row row your boat,
Toy Ideas: Trucks, trains, planes, cars. Cardboard boxes they can sit in and ‘drive’ or ‘sail’.
Craft: Mix ‘n’ Match Train
You will need:
Card rectangles - any colour
Card Train engines - any colour
Bottle tops or card circles
Paper with a train track drawn on
crayons
Glue - liquid and stick
Give each cild a piece of paper with the train track drawn on. let them pick an egine and a few rectangles as carriages. Help them to stick it down onto the track. Then help glue down wheels by dipping the lid into some liquid glue then holding firmly in place on the page. the kids can finish the picture off by drawing steam.
The idea came from here.
15. God’s King is for everyone
God tells Peter to go to see Cornelius, someone who is different to Peter in nearly every way, to let him know that God’s King is for everyone. [Acts 10]
Story: God’s King is for everyone
Powerpoint: God’s King is for everyone
Theme: Food
Song Suggestions: Pease porridge hot, 10 fat sausages sizzling in a pan, A pizza hut, 5 little peas,
Toy Ideas: A kitchen setup for cooking play food. Empty cereal and juice boxes. Dry pasta and beans etc. in bowls for them to explore.
Craft: Paper Chain Snake
You will need:
Strips of paper in different colours
Googly eyes or eyes drawn on paper
Small red triangles for the tongue
glue or double-sided tape
scissors
Help the kids make the paperchain by making a loop of paper then feed the next paper through the loop before sticking it together - then continue to make a chain. At one end stick the eyes and a tongue at the other make a final loop but glue one end to the middle and cut the over lap into a triangle to be a tail.
16. God’s King answers prayer
Peter gets locked up in prison for talking about Jesus - but prison walls, guards and locks won’t stop God from answering prayer. [Acts 12:1-19]
Story: God’s King answers prayer
Powerpoint: God’s King answers prayer
Theme: Questions
Song Suggestions: See the little Bunnies, Twinkle twinkle little star, If I go climbing, Hokey Cokey
Toy ideas: Lots of children’s books have questions, puzzles fit the theme well and making an obstacle course with the kids will elicit a lot of questions and answers.
Craft: Thinking cap
You will need:
Patterened Paper cut into large semi circles
String/wool/ribbon
Tape or glue
Allow the kids to decorate the semicircles with stickers. Make a cone by bringing the corners of the semi-circle together. Attach a piece of string long enough to fit under the chin to each side of the cone. Then war your thinking cap. For more detailed instructions go here
17. God’s King changes lives
Onesimus is a runaway sevant - he owes his master a massive debt - so what would make his master take him back an treat him like a brother? Only a King who changes lives. [Philemon]
Story: God’s King changes lives
Powerpoint: God’s King changes lives
Theme: Friendship
Song Suggestions: Mary had a little lamb, If you’re happy and you know it, If I go climbing, 5 Little Monkeys, Skidamarink,
Toy ideas: A good time to get their favourite toys out!
Craft: Friednship Bracelets
You will need:
String/ribbon
Beads
Scissors
Measure a bit of string long enough to go round the child’s wrist with a bit of extra length for tying knots. Tie a knot near one end. Let them choose beads and help them thread them onto their string. If you have letter beads help them to spell the name of a friend they can give the bracelet to (it’s good to plan that they’ll also want to make one for themself!)