Under 3
Weekend Bible Story and activity ideas for kids under 3. Most recent weekend at the top.
April 25&26:
Holy Spirit at Pentecost: Acts 2:1-21
PLAY!
- Grab a fan, or if it’s windy outside, take your child out to feel the wind. Ask your child questions like, “Do you feel the wind?” Laugh and enjoy it together. If your child is older you can say, “We can feel the wind but we can’t see it. We only see the effects of the wind. It’s the same with the Holy Spirit! We can’t see him, but we can see him working around us and in us.”
MUSIC!
READ!
- The Jesus Storybook Bible: “God Sends Help” p. 326
- Beginner’s Bible: “The Holy Spirit Comes”
PRAY!
- Dear Jesus, thank you for sending the Holy Spirit. Help me continue to learn about your Holy Spirit and to be open to what He can do in and through my life. Amen.
COLORING PAGE!
NATURE SENSORY BIN!
- Studies have shown that engaging with nature is a very important part of early child development. It reduces stress, fosters creativity and problem solving skills, improves social relations, and so much more! We’ve been in our homes a lot these past few weeks, but we can still be intentional to create opportunities for our kids to engage with nature! Here is one idea. Grab some kind of bin or large container and head outside! Start collecting things from your yard (or go on a short walk), putting them in your bin. Just a reminder to make sure it won’t become a choking hazard. Either way, be sure to supervise the whole time! Here are some ideas: grass, flowers, a branch with leaves on it, sticks, rocks (again, makes sure they aren’t a hazard and can’t fit through a toilet paper roll!), pinecones, fruit, ladybug, ant, etc. Take your child with you to collect the items, and then let them have at it! Let them tear stuff apart, feel textures, feel different weights, smell different smells, let an ant crawl on their finger, etc. Talk to them while they play. “That rock looks heavy! Is that leaf soft? Are you smelling that flower with your nose? You like to throw the grass!”. It’s fun to experience nature in a new way together!
APRIL 18&19:
The Ascension / The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20
PLAY!
- “Tell Them Jesus Loves Them!” The goal of this activity is to tell your family members and friends that Jesus loves them. First, pick a person in the room to start with. Say, “Who does Jesus love?” Then say, “Sister, Jesus loooves you!!!” and point to the baby’s sister. After that move to the next person. Say again, “Who does Jesus love?” Then say, “Mommy, Jesus loooves you!!” Try to be expressive and excited! Repeat as many times as you want to. You can say family and friends names who are not in the room as well.
MUSIC!
READ!
- Beginner’s Bible: “Jesus Goes Home”
- The Jesus Storybook Bible: “Going Home” p. 318
GAME!
- “Let’s do what Jesus says!” Try to have your child copy an action you are doing, similar to Simon Says. For example, say, “Mommy says to jump up and down!” Jump up and down and tell your child to copy you. Repeat with a different action. Some ideas are: Mommy says to clap your hands, dance, wave your arms in the air, touch your toes, point to your nose, give someone a hug, shout hurray, sing a song, etc.
At the end, do a couple “Jesus says”. You can say, “Jesus says to tell our friends about his love!” Put your hands on either side of your mouth when saying “tell” and then make a heart with your hands when saying “love”. Have your child copy you.
You can also try, “Jesus says, Teach them to obey the Bible”. Make a Bible with your hands and have your child copy you.
Lastly, you can say, “Jesus says, I am with you”. Give your child a hug and encourage them to hug someone else.
PRAYER!
- Take some time to pray with your child for their friends. List their names first and then say, “Let’s pray for your friends!” Here is an example of a prayer: “Dear Jesus, please help (friend’s name) to know how much you love them.”
COLORING PAGE!
APRIL 4&5:
This Sunday is Palm Sunday! We will be learning about the Triumphal Entry in Luke 19:28-44.
FIND!
- Find a big leaf, a palm branch outside, or cut a piece of paper into a palm branch. Show your child how to wave it and say, “Hosanna!” just like the people did when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. You could also play the song for today (Hosanna Rock) and have them wave it during the song. Explain that Hosanna means “to save, rescue, Savior”. Depending on your child’s age and understanding, you can explain why Jesus came to earth to save us: “Jesus is God and came to earth to save us, forgive us and give us new life”.
MUSIC!
DISCUSS!
- Tell your child why we praise God. Here are some ideas.
- “We praise God for his love!” Make a heart with your hands and put it on your heart (have your child copy you) or give them a big hug.
- “We praise God for our family!” Gather everyone together for a group hug or all hold hands in a circle.
- “We praise God for giving us joy!” Joyfully jump up and down or clap your hands with your child.
- “We praise God for giving us peace!” Close your eyes and pretend to sleep peacefully. Have your child do the same.
READ!
- The Beginner’s Bible- “Make Way for the King!” pg. 464
PLAY!
- One of my kids favorite things to do is play horsie, where they ride on my or my husband’s back and pretend we are a horse! In this case you can pretend you are a donkey and your child can ride into Jerusalem like Jesus did. You can spread blankets or garments down on the ground to form a path, and then have the remaining family members stand on either side of the path cheering, waving a palm branch, and shouting, “Jesus is here! The Savior is here!” as your child rides on one of the parent’s backs along the path.
PRAY!
- Thank Jesus for coming to earth as a humble, gentle King in order to save us. Take some time to praise Him for specific things in your life. You can list some things your child might connect with as your pray. For example: “We praise God for songs! We praise God for hugs! We praise God for grandma!” etc.
CRAFT IDEA!
- Trace your child’s hand onto green construction paper. If they are old enough to use child safe scissors, they can try to cut out their hand shape by cutting on the traced line. Otherwise, parents can cut out their hand shape. After that, simply glue it on the back of a popsicle stick. For a fuller palm branch, trace and cut many more hands and glue them on the popsicle stick. You can glue two popsicle sticks together before adding the leaves to make a firmer handle.
COLORING PAGE!
MARCH 28&29:
Today we are focusing on the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15:11-32. Below are some ways to engage the scripture with your little one. Praying that you are able to connect with your child and with God during this time!
PLAY!
- Place a sticker or piece of tape on the floor and instruct your child to stand on it. Walk to the other end of the room and crouch down. Tell your kid to run as fast as they can to you and then scoop them up into a big hug. Repeat as many times as you want to. Explain how this is God the Father’s posture towards us. You can say, “God is your Father and loves you and wants to be close to you.”
Discuss: For older children that have an earthly father involved in their life, you can explain that they have two fathers that love them! For those that do not have a father involved in their life, tell them they have a Heavenly Father that loves them perfectly.
- Play Hide and Go Seek. Someone can be the “lost son” and go hide, and then the other family members can go find them.
** For babies 12 months and under, you can play peek a boo instead!
MUSIC!
READ!
- Jesus Storybook Bible – “Running Away!” pg. 272
- Beginner’s Bible – “The Lost Son” pg. 422
FIND!
- Ask the question, “How can we be close to God?” Tell your child to find their eyes, and then hold up the Bible and say, “We can be close to God by reading the Bible with our eyes.” Then ask them to find these other parts of their body and explain how we can be close to God by using these parts:
- Ears: Listening to His voice and obeying Him. Also listening to and obeying mom and dad!. As they point to their ear, point to your own, whisper and say, “Shhh listen closely to what God says and what mom and dad say because He loves you and we love you!”
- Mouth: Singing worship and praises to Him and prayer. Say, “Our mouths help us sing worship and praises to God! We can also talk to God” Then sing a song like “Jesus loves me” together. Say a quick prayer, “God we love you! Thank you for loving us!”
- Hands: Helping other people, sharing, being generous, giving hugs. Ask your child to use their hands to either share a toy or give a hug to a parent or sibling.
- NOTE: These are bigger concepts, so younger children might not comprehend what you are sharing. That’s ok! If nothing else they are learning body parts and will be hearing truth about God. They soak in way more than we think!
PRAY!
- Take time to talk to God the Father with your child. Thank Him for loving you and your child, and tell Him how much you love Him as well. Always invite your child to pray if they want to. They can repeat after you or say a prayer on their own.
COLORING PAGE:
March 21&22:
READ!
- Jesus Storybook Bible – “Heaven Breaks Through” & “Let’s Go!”
- Beginner’s Bible – “John Baptizes Jesus”, “Jesus Chooses Disciples” & “Jesus Feeds Thousands”
MUSIC!
FIND!
- Find some food (crackers, apple slices, etc.) and have your child pass some out to each member of your family, just like Jesus did with the 5000 people that were hungry.
- Find things around the house and outside that God has given to your family. (ex: food in the fridge, trees outside, sister/brothers, etc.). For example, say, “God gave you your sister!” and point to the child’s sister. Then move on to the next object. Tell your child about how God gives us the ultimate gift of perfect love through Jesus.
PLAY!
- The Giving Game: Line up 5 objects (toy car, ball, banana, sock, etc.) Ask your child to give you each object one by one. Example: Give me the ball. After the child gives you the ball, ask them to give you the next object. “Give me the car” and so on until all the objects have been given to you. If the child is older, you can leave the objects in their places all over the house and have them get them from where they are at. Example: “Give me a sock,” and the child goes to their room to get a sock from their sock drawer.
Ask: Who takes care of our family and gives us what we need?
PRAY!
- Take some time to thank God for all that He has given your family and the ways He has taken care of you. Thank Him for giving us His love and forgiveness through Jesus.
COLORING PAGE:
March 14&15:
