Old Testament stories can be tough to teach with little ones. However, the stories and lessons are so good, and are the foundation to our New Testament beliefs. Bible activities should be fun and engaging. I love creating activities that keep my students wanting to learn more! The story of Joshua and Jericho has a powerful meaning, and the lesson is so fun to teach!
Introduction to the Lesson
When your bible lessons are fun and engaging, the kids in your class learn so much! I start every lesson with the Bible story and a picture book (if I can find one!) With this lesson, I chose two different stories in the Bible. We read Joshua and the Spies and The Battle of Jericho.
Every bible unit in my store includes an age appropriate memory verse. After we read the stories, we go over our weekly memory verse.
Retelling Activity
Next, we take the story, and retell what we learned. All of my units have some sort of retelling activity. This provides your little learners a chance to show what they know and learned. Of course, they will be so excited they will share with their parents and grandparents as well!
In this case, we use the retelling cards to tell the story of Joshua and Jericho. There are illustrated cards as well as cards that describe each event.
Whole Group Activity
You can’t teach the Battle of Jericho without a horn and blocks, right?! In this unit, your learners can decorate a horn to use in reenacting the famous battle. I brought my son’s cardboard blocks. We stacked them high, marched around the structure seven times, blew our horn and then knocked the walls down!
Learning Centers
To break up the structure of the lesson, I like to include centers into the lesson. This breaks our group into small groups to work on various activities. With this unit, I break the class into three groups.
One group works on the before and after activity. This printable includes an easy version of the memory verse. Use sand or have your learners color the walls of Jericho. Staple the half sheet (the before image) to the top of the full page. This is a great interactive activity to show the before and after of Jericho!
Your learners will become journalists in this next activity! Each photo illustrates a day of the battle to create a photo book. If you have little ones that can’t draw yet, use the illustrated cards from your whole group lesson. You will need to adjust the size in your printing options!
The last rotation will be tracing and saying the weekly memory verse. Every unit includes a page like this, with a bracelet that can be worn home. It’s a great way to keep parents and grandparents informed on the study and memory verse!
When you bring engaging activities to your bible class, you are creating a strong love of Christ in our little ones!
You can grab my Joshua and Jericho unit from my store by clicking the link below!!
