Kids will love this Ark of the Covenant craft activity! It's a great way to learn about the Tabernacle from the Bible. Follow our link to get the free printable worksheet and craft instructions. #TheTabernacle #BibleLesson #KidsCraft

A cardboard cut-out model template for the Ark of the Covenant (from Exodus 25:10-22). PDF version (142 KB)

A cardboard cut-out model template for the Ark of the Covenant (from Exodus 25:10-22). PDF version (142 KB)

Our story this morning was about David bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). I had the boys carry the "ark" in a relay for our active game, a shoe box on some pool noodles. They loved it!

A cardboard cut-out model template for the Ark of the Covenant (from Exodus 25:10-22). PDF version (142 KB)

Enjoy our free Bible worksheet: Ark of the Covenant. Fun for kids to print and learn more about the Bible. Printable Homeschool resources and activities.

The animals went in two by two - and they certainly packed into this Noah's ark! Can the kids find the differences between the two pictures, top and bottom?

Digital sheet music for choir (2-Part) NOTE: Lyrics included, chord indications may be included (please check the first page above before to buy this item to see what's included)

VERSES: 1 Samuel 6, 7 MEMORY VERSE: 1 Samuel 7:15 "And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review, once again, all the books of the Old and New Testaments. Try singing The Books of The Old Testament and The Books Of The New Testament on this blog. PRAYER: Let us always remember that when God says something, He means it! May we always do the LORD's commands and shine our lights to tell others. SPECIAL SONG: This Little Light Of Mine (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 on this blog.) VISUAL AID: Whiteboard or Chalkboard Drawing of the Acvtivity (see below) LESSON POINTS: The ark of the covenant had been in the country of the Philistines seven months when the Philistines called for their leaders and priests to tell them what to do with the ark of the covenant. The Philistine leaders and priests told the people to make an unusual gift: five tumors and five mice made out of very valuable gold. They made a brand new cart, hooked two milk cows that had never been yoked together and tied them to the cart. They took the ark of the covenant and put it in the new cart and placed their golden gifts inside the ark of the covenant. Then, they said, "Let's watch to see if the cows go up on their own by way of the coast to Bethshemesh. If they do, then we will know that the LORD of the Israelites made all these bad things happen. But, if not, then we will know that this was just a happening." So that is what the Philistines did with the ark of the covenant. Right after they were finished with the ark, they let the cows go and the cows traveled up the coast to Bethshemesh and went along the highway, mooing loudly as they went. They did not turn to the right or to the left, but went straight and the Philistines followed them to the border of the city. The people that lived in the city were reaping wheat in the valley and when they looked up, they saw the ark coming to them and they rejoiced and were happy! The cart stopped in a field where there was a great stone and the men stopped and offered a burnt offering to the LORD. The men of Bethshemesh looked inside the ark and saw that there were golden gifts inside. God has always been very specific in what He wanted (He still is!) and we remember that God had specific rules concerning the ark of the covenant. Because the men of Bethshemesh looked inside the ark of the covenant, they and 50,070 additional men died because of it. The people of Bethshemesh were afraid of the ark of the covenant and did not was to touch it or go near it, so they sent messengers to a city named Kirjathjearim to come and get the ark of the covenant. The men of that city came and took the ark of the covenant to the house of Abinadab. It stayed there twenty years which was a long time and all of the people of Israel lamented after the LORD. Samuel told all of the Israelite people that they should return their hearts to the LORD and not to worship strange gods or idols. Samuel said if they only served the LORD, then He would deliver them out of the hands of the Philistines. So, the children of Israel threw away their idols and only loved and served the LORD. After the people fasted or ate no food that day to show that they were sorry they had disobeyed God so many times, they said out loud that they had sinned against the LORD. Samuel judged the people who lived in Mizpeh. When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were all gathered together at Mizpeh, then the leaders of the Philistines came to fight the Israelites. The Israelites were afraid and told Samuel. Samuel offered an offering to the LORD and the LORD was pleased. God thundered a great thunder that day and it scared the Philistines, so the Philistines were defeated by the Israelites that day. From that time on, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days that Samuel lived. All of the cities that once had been the Israelites, but were captured by the Philistines were restored or given back to the Israelites. There was peace in the land between the Israelites and the Amorites after this. Perhaps the Amorites were a little afraid of anyone who could defeat the might Philistines. Samuel judge Israel all the days of his life. "Older Student" Tips: Take a look at Bethshemesh on a map. Notice the distance from the Ashdod and Gath and Ekron, Philistine cities. The reason that the cows were mooing all the way to Behshemesh was because the Philistines had locked up their baby calves (1 Samuel 6:10). ACTIVITY: 2 Milk Cows And The Ark Of The Covenant Materials needed: 4" x 6" dark brown construction paper,, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, 6" x 8" light brown construction paper, 12" string, glue, scissors, marker, crayons. Hand out 3" x 3" dark brown paper. Round corners of 3" square dark brown paper so it resembles a circle. This is the wheel. Glue wheel on 4" 6 " dark brown rectangle. Draw lines on rectangle to resemble wood. This is the wagon. Glue Wagon on right side of paper. Hand out light brown construction paper. Fold light brown paper in half. Draw a cow. (Remember a cow is a cow if everyone says it is a cow. Student may write "cow" on drawing if need be. Cut out cow out of paper, cutting through two pieces of light brown paper at the same time. When cut, there should be two cows looking a lot like each other. Glue cows in front of cart. Wrap string around the necks of both cows. Optional: String may be glued. Draw eyes and mouths on cows. Write "Moo!" around the cows. Write "2 Milk Cows And The Ark Of The Covenant" and "1 Samuel 6, 7" at the top of the paper. Draw triangles for spokes inside wheel.

VERSES: 1 Samuel 4:1-22 MEMORY VERSE: 1 Samuel 4:17 "...and the ark of God is taken." BOOK TO REMEMBER: Review all 66 books of the Bible. As a different kind of review, the Bible teacher may want to write each book on a good-sized piece of paper. The Bible teacher holds up a random book, and the students must name the book that comes AFTER that book. Too easy? Try a 'Challenge Test!' The students must name the book that comes BEFORE that book! PRAYER: If God is on our side, we can do anything. May we always stay close to the LORD and His Word and obey Him, then God will be with us and help us in all that we do. SPECIAL SONG: God called Samuel (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog). God Raised Up Fifteen Judges (see June - Lesson - Deborah, A Female Prophet on this blog). VISUAL AID: Whiteboard or Chalkboard Drawing of Activity (see Activity below) LESSON POINTS: God spoke to Samuel and Samuel would tell the people what God said. That is what a prophet is: a spokesman for God or a messenger of God's Words. The Philistines and Israel never did get along very well. They had many fights and battles. Sometimes the Philistines would win, and sometimes, when Israel was obedient to God, Israel would win. In our lesson today, the Philistines were winning a battle against Israel, in fact, the Philistines had killed 4,000 Israelites. When the Israelites returned to their camp, the elders or leaders asked, "Why did the LORD let us be defeated by our enemy, the Philistines, today? " Then they had the idea of going to get the ark of the covenant or ark of God from Shiloh and keeping it in their camp. They thought that the ark of God would save them from their enemies, but they were mistaken. God never rewards disobedience. The Israelites were not obeying the LORD and were living very wickedly. Even the judge of Israel, Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were among the most wicked because they were causing Israel to sin (1 Samuel 2:23-25). When the people sent messengers to Shiloh and wanted the ark of the covenant brought to where the army was fighting, Hophni and Phineas were the ones who brought the ark of God to the battleground. When the ark of the covenant was brought into the camp, there was a shout from all of the soldiers of Israel because they thought that God would help them. The Israelites' shout was SO loud that the Philistine army heard them. They wondered what could have made the Israelites shout like they did and when they realized that the ark of God must have been brought into the camp, they were afraid. The Philistines said to one another, "How sad for us! Nothing like this has ever been done before! These are the Gods that brought all of those plagues to the Egyptians! We need to act like men and fight or the Israelites will be our masters if we fail!" So the Philistines fought the Israelites very hard and made all of the Israelites run to their own tents. The Philistines killed 30,000 soldiers of Israel and they killed both Hophni and Phineas. There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin that ran back to Shiloh with word that there was a great defeat of the Israelites and many, many soldiers had died. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head because he was very sad. When the man came into the city and told the people what had happened, everyone was crying. Eli was sitting by the wayside, and when Eli saw the man, his heart trembled because he thought something might have happened to the ark of the LORD. He asked the man, "What has happened? What has caused everyone to cry?" The man hurriedly came and told Eli what had happened. Now, Eli was 98 years old and his eyes were almost blind and he was not a thin man. The man said that the Israelites had many soldiers killed and they had run away from their enemy. He said that his two sons were killed and that the ark of God had been taken by the Philistines. When the man mentioned the part about the ark of God being taken by the enemy, Eli fell backwards off his seat by the side of the gate and broke his neck and died. Eli was a very old man, was very heavy, and had judged Israel forty years. "Older Student" Tips: We remember that God had been with the children of Israel many times before this time and the Israelites had won their battles. What made this time different? (The children of Israel were not obeying the LORD and living wickedly.) ACTIVITY: God NEVER Rewards Disobedience Materials needed: 12" x 18" white construction paper, crayons, marker. Hand out white construction paper. Fold paper in half. Fold paper in half again, so that there are four sections. Write "God NEVER Rewards Disobedience" and "1 Samuel 4" at the top of the paper. Number each section. In Section #1, draw a soldier and write the number "30,000." Make X's for eyes because the soldier has died. In Section #2, draw many circles, representing the faces of the children of Israel. Also, write "The ark of God is taken!" in a speech bubble. In Section #3, draw two men. Also, write "Hophni and Phineas killed." Make X's for eyes because they also died. In Section #4, draw heavy-set Eli sitting on a bench. Draw an arrow pointing the way he fell backwards and died.

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After creation God rested with His beloved creation in the garden of pleasure (Eden). Click to read more… This craft is a great visual to teach children that Sabbath begins and ends at sunset. Talk to your children/class about special things they can do to welcome and end Sabbath. Materials & Equipment Printer Paper Colouring ... Read more

Find what’s different and color this picture: The Ark of the Covenant. Help your children learn Bible accounts using these free printable picture activities.

New updated posters and worksheets have been added for the Tabernacle, Aaron's High Priest outfit and the High Priest Breastplate. This is a very condensed lesson on the tabernacle. For the students that I have, I decided to teach the basics about the High Priest's clothes and the tabernacle and how it was set up. God told the people exactly how He wanted them to set it up and how He wanted them to worship Him. I made a lapbook and the students filled in each numbered item that was in the tabernacle as we discussed it. Review: Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Old Testament, and our lesson today is in Exodus. God gave Moses the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai and when Moses came down after 40 days, he saw the people worshipping a gold calf that his brother Aaron had made. Moses was so angry; he threw down the 10 commandments and broke them! Moses melted the gold calf and mixed it in the water and made the people drink it. Then, Moses cut 2 new tablets, went back onto Mount Sinai, and God wrote the 10 commandments again. (Exodus 34:28) Lesson: Today we are going to talk about how the Israelites worshiped while they were in the wilderness for 40 years. (Scripture is Exodus 35-40) God gave Moses His instructions to build a tabernacle. Tabernacle means tent and was a place to worship God. They could pack everything up and move it when they traveled through the wilderness. They built a tabernacle 2 years after they left Egypt. (Exodus 40:17) They made it exactly as God told them He wanted it. The people donated gold, jewels, oil for the lamps, and fabric for the priests. There was so much gold given by the people, Moses had to tell them not to bring anymore! (Exodus 36:6-7) Moses wanted anyone that could make items for the tabernacle to help with the work. Aaron was the first high priest, and his sons were made priests. The tribe of Levi also worked in the tabernacle with Aaron. There were special clothes made for the priest. (Exodus 39) The priest wore a turban on his head, also called a Mitre. (Exodus 39:30) There was a gold plate on the front that said HOLINESS TO THE LORD and was tied on with a blue cord. The high priest wore an ephod (looks like an apron) that was made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. It had shoulder straps to hold the pieces together. They were engraved pieces of gold with onyx stones on the shoulders as a memorial for the sons of Israel. (Exodus 39:2-7) And over the ephod, the priest wore a breastplate. It had 12 different stones on it to represent the12 tribes. (Exodus 39:8-12) (I briefly went over who the 12 tribes were) Under the ephod was a blue robe of the Ephod. It had gold bells and pomegranates all around the bottom hem. (Exodus 39:22-26) And, under the blue robe was a tunic made of fine linen. (Exodus 39:27) That is the clothing for the high priest, let's talk about what was inside the tabernacle. (Exodus 40) The Lord told Moses to set up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month. God told Moses exactly how and where to set everything up. Outside, in the outer courtyard, Moses put the bronze altar or altar of burnt offering. (Exodus 40:29) He offered animal and grain sacrifice to God. He put water in the laver for washing and hung up a screen at the court gate. Whenever Moses, Aaron or his sons went into the temple, they washed their hands and feet first in the laver. Our Bible verse for today: Thus, Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did. (Exodus 40:7) Moses set up the tent and put the ark of the covenant inside. He put the mercy seat on the ark. He hung the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. (Exodus 40:3) Moses set up the table of showbread. (Exodus 40:22-23) It had 2 plates with a total of 12 loaves of bread to represent the 12 tribes (flat round circles like pancakes(?). New loaves replaced the old ones every Sabbath. There was also a bowl & pitcher. He added the golden lampstand that had 7 branches on it and lit the lamps with the best olive oil they had. (Exodus 40:24-25) (Exodus 27:20-21) The altar of incense was also inside the Holy Place. They had a special formula to make the incense, and it was used every morning and evening and only used in the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:26-27) (Exodus 30:34-38) There doesn't seem to be any tabernacle visuals available with just the items in the tabernacle, so I used the Sweet Publishing visuals and cropped them to save ink. I wanted the words on them for the students. Whether you use the file folder game or the fill in the blank worksheet, the above visuals are what I wanted so the students can see the picture with the words (and it keeps me from spelling the same words repeatedly). Click here to download the items in the tabernacle visuals. See below for updated posters. When the cloud covered the tabernacle, the Lord was there and Moses did not enter the tabernacle and the people did not travel. The cloud was above the tabernacle during the day, and the fire was at night through the Israelites journey in the wilderness.(Exodus 40:34-38) My husband and I made the Ark of the Covenant. My husband made the ark to the scale of the guys we found at Dollar Tree. I will post the directions and more pictures later. This was a long lesson to prepare and I ran out of time to write up the info! I read several places there are 50 chapters written just on the tabernacle! God wanted to make sure the people worshipped Him HIS way. He was very clear about how they were to do everything! I decided to update the Tabernacle posters and add new worksheets to correspond with everything. These (and the High Priest outfit) were designed to be used with Aaron's Life. This is Aaron's High Priest outfit. The first is a completed teacher's visual. The worksheets are the same in color and black and white. I added these to teach the High Priest's Breastplate. I originally designed these for 2021 VBS. Please note: I have researched the 12 stone colors extensively. There may be differences because of the Biblical wording and the color of the stones from the area. Their dirt and lands; not ours. It is an interesting study but there are differences in the actual stones. A single stone might have several different colors in the stone itself. There are so many variables. Also, since the original text is read from right to left, that is how I placed the stones; not the English reading of left to right. The Tabernacle has two posters and the same color and black & white student fill-in-the-blank worksheets. I added separate posters for each of the items God specified that they make for the Tabernacle. Click here to download the Tabernacle, High Priest and High Priest Breastplate posters and worksheets. Click here to download the updated visuals. All these visuals and more are included in this file. This set of visuals do not have any words. Click here to download the pictures to color. If you do not want to make the lapbook, you can click here to print this fill in the blank worksheet. Because of time, I decided to use this worksheet, with the High Priest on the back and let the students fill in the blanks as we discussed each item in the tabernacle. You can click here to print the same as the above, but with the answers for the teacher. *This lapbook has been updated as shown above. * I made these lapbooks to use during our lesson today. I used a basic picture for each item in the tabernacle that we discussed. The inside where the students write the info is blank, so you can add as much or as little as you want. I put the lapbooks together before class, but if you are using at home, or want to use it for several weeks and want to let the kids put them together, the first thing to do is print everything. I usually print on cardstock, especially the cover. Due to a larger class, I have been printing everything but the cover on regular paper. I take the file folder and fold the sides toward the center of the inside line, making sure it is straight along the bottom. That way when I open it up, I have the center which holds a piece of paper and the sides, which holds a half sheet of paper. I lay out the front cover and open it up to draw the folder line on the back of the cover and carefully cut. I use Aleene's Tacky Glue for my projects. Next, lay out the inside parts however you decide looks best for you. I laid out the numbered parts along the side flaps of the folder and put the other questions in the center with the tabernacle drawing. I added the High Priest on the back for reference and it is easy to use for discussion. Sorry, the black & white is not included in this file. Click here to download the updated lapbook. This is today's cut & glue picture to color. I print the backgrounds on different color cardstock, and the pictures for the students to cut are on regular paper. You can print it here. Click here to print the same picture, but is a picture to color (no cutting). You can see all the Moses cut & glue pictures to color here. We marked our Moses map for his travels. You can find more information here. Click here for the lesson. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. I also used the Betty Lukens felt set while I told the lesson. I did not read the paper insert that is package, since I read the Bible and found my information there, so I do not know if that is correct. But, I do like the flannelgraph. The kids like it, and I use it once in a while because it new to them! You can print and make your own free tabernacle model here (#219). Yah! Click to see this post as the most clicked on:

Recreate Noah's ark from a cardnboard box using your own stuffed animals from the toy box to fill it. This is a fun pretend play idea for preschoolers!

Your kids will use simple materials in order to create their own ark of the covenant. While your kids are making their very own ark of the covenant, go over why the ark was built, its purpose and s…

I have combined the usual lesson of God Talking to Samuel with more about Eli and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant in a battle. As you can see below, I had the lesson on the floor on blankets and turned off the lights since it was nighttime. Samuel will lead us to David next week. Today's lesson is found in 1 Samuel 1-4. There was a man named Elkanah and he had two wives. One was named Peninnah, and the other was Hannah. They went to worship and sacrifice to God every year. Elkanah loved Hannah, but she could not have any children, and Phinehas made her miserable because of it. So, every year when they went to worship, Hannah would cry and not eat. Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle. (1:9) Eli was watching Hannah as she cried and prayed for God to give her a baby boy. She told God that she would give the baby to God and wouldn't shave his head. Eli saw Hannah praying and told her to go in peace, that the Lord would give Hannah her request. Hannah had a baby boy and she named him Samuel because “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.” Hannah told Elkanah that she didn't want to go give sacrifices to God until Samuel was finished nursing (about three years according to research). When they did go to worship as a family, they took three bulls, flour & wine with them. Elkanah & Hannah left Samuel at the temple to minister with Eli the priest. Hannah would make Samuel a new robe when they visited every year. Hannah also had three more sons and two daughters. Later, Eli and Samuel were lying down. Eli was old and couldn't see very well. The Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Eli told Samuel that he didn't call for him and to lay back down. This happened again, then the third time Eli realized that God must be talking to Samuel. Eli told Samuel to answer the Lord and say that His servant hears. The next time the voice said "Samuel! Samuel!" he answered. The Lord told Samuel that He was going to do something to Eli because of Eli's wicked sons. Eli knew what they were doing, and he didn't stop them. Samuel laid in bed until morning and was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord told him. Eli wanted to know what was said, so Samuel told him everything the Lord had told him. Eli told Samuel “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.” Samuel grew up and everyone knew that he was a prophet from the Lord. Israel lost a battle to the Philistines. About 4,000 men were killed. They wondered why they lost the battle and decided to take the ark of the covenant from Shiloh and bring it to their camp. Maybe it would help save them from their enemies. Eli's two bad sons were there. When the ark of the covenant came into camp, they shouted so loud the ground shook! The Philistines wondered what was going on! They worried that they would have to fight God! But they shouted to fight! The Philistine's won the battle. There was a huge slaughter with 30,000-foot soldiers killed. The ark of the covenant was taken! Both of Eli's sons were killed. A man went running to Shiloh and told the city what had happened. Eli was 98 years old and was blind. He asked the man what had happened. The man told Eli about his sons and that the ark was taken. When Eli heard about the ark of the covenant, he fell off his seat backward and broke his neck! He was a judge for Israel for 40 years. Samuel became judge to Israel. He was a good judge and turned the people back to God. We will continue with Samuel next week as we talk about David. For today's activity, I decided to lay a blanket on the floor, and sit on the floor to do the lesson. First, we talked about if God called to them, what would they do, think, how would they answer. Does God talk directly to us today? We have the Bible. Can we talk to God? Yes, in prayer. We looked at the following question sheet and discussed things we can do to listen and obey the various people listed. I started the lesson and turned off the lights and said "Samuel, ..." I used this lantern to have Samuel answer Eli. We continued the lesson on the floor, then moved to the table to finish worksheets, etc. You can print the above question sheet here. Click here to download the worksheet. Click here to download 1 Samuel 1-4 updated visuals. Not all are shown. Click here to download the pictures to color. Click here to see all the worksheets for this quarter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. 

This straw and paper flame launcher makes a great Pentecost activity to do with the kids. Perfect for Sunday school or at home. Creatively engage kids in the story.

The blog adventures of homeschooling active boys, preschool at home, and other educational activities.

Christian crafts for kids: ideas for Sunday school, vacation Bible school, CCD classes and home school.

Jan Brett's intricate illustrations make a stunning picture book of a favorite story--this time featuring Noah's granddaughter. As the floodwaters rise, she helps take the animals onto the ark and get them settled down. But it's not easy when giraffes are sleeping next to pandas and lions are curled up with turkeys. Finally the gentle rocking of the ark lulls them all to sleep until the waters recede and Grandpa Noah, his family, and all the animals leave the ark. This simple telling, combined with extraordinary illustrations of every animal imaginable, makes On Noah's Ark perfect for young and old.

Jesus did something pretty strange to heal the blind man. He made a little mud from his spit and dirt, put it on the blind man’s eyes, then told him to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. This story presents a good learning opportunity for both parents and children. …Click to read more… ... Read more

This colorful rainbow jar is a surprisingly simple kids' science experiment! In fact, you probably already have everything you'll need.