This Jonah Sunday School Lesson offers a new and fresh way to engage with the popular story of Jonah in the Bible. It starts off with an icebreaker and two games to gently introduce the themes found in the story. The teaching portion consists of fun facts about the Book of Jonah, a Bible memory verse, and a lesson. After that, a worship song allows the kids to respond to the message with praise which is followed by a craft activity. Lastly, there is a prayer prompted by the Bible story about Jonah.
To kick off this Jonah Sunday School Lesson well, begin by introducing the idea of the City of Nineveh by asking the kids the following question during your name game: Where is the last place on earth you want to go to?
Example:
Child 1: “My name is Anna & I don’t like going to the library because I have to be super quiet!”
Child 2: “I’m Brody. Um… maybe, like having to wait for my mom when she’s at the store.”
Try saying:
Hello everyone! Welcome to church! My name is _______ and I’m so happy to be here today. Can you try saying my name? (Give them a chance to respond) That was super good. We’re going to have lots of fun learning a Bible story from the Old Testament today. There once was a man named Noah… Can everybody say “Hi Noah”? (Give them a chance to respond) Awesome. Well, God sent Noah to the one place he really did not want to go. We will learn where he went later, but for now, can you think about this: Where is the last place on earth you want to go to? Maybe it’s the dentist, the mall, or the opera…
Everybody will have a chance to tell us 2 things:
1. Your name
2. The place you don’t like going
Focus: Jonah is called the reluctant prophet because he REALLY did not want to go to Nineveh.
Supplies: A blindfold and an object (e.g. a ball / apple / book)
Instructions:
This game is rather simple. Jonah did the opposite of what God told him to do, so in this activity, the kids need to give someone the opposite instructions of what’s really needed. Left is right; Up is down; Forward is backward – You get it? Someone is blindfolded and the rest of the kids need to lead them to find an item BUT they can only give “Opposite Clues”.
Focus: Jonah walked the opposite way of where God told him to go.
Game 2: Whales and Worms
Energy-level: Medium
Teacher: Playful
Kids: Start by sitting in a circle
Supplies: None
Instructions:
This game introduces 2 creatures from the story of Jonah into your Bible lesson plan. It’s kind of like playing duck-duck-goose, but the kid chasing has to act like a whale and the one being chased has to be the worm. The aim of these games is to “prepare the soil” for the Jonah Sunday School Lesson that will follow.
Focus: We can find both a whale and a worm in the story of Jonah.
(*To avoid chaotic situations with younger children, you might want to bring in more volunteers and helpers from this point onwards as the program’s energy-level and entertainment focus will shift a little for the next 3 parts.)
Fun facts about the Book of Jonah
Energy-level: Medium – Low
Teacher: Clever, Encouraging
Kids: Sit down, facing teacher
Supplies: Bible
Instructions:
To make this a memorable Bible lesson for the kids, we will start by doing a little bit of Q and A.
Example:
Teacher: “Here’s the first question. Is the book of Jonah in the Old Testament or the New Testament? Child 1: “New?” Teacher: “Ah, no, it’s actually in the Old Testament. But let’s try again. You’ll get this next one…”
Focus: There is much to learn about the Book of Jonah.
Content:
1.
QUESTION: Complete the sentence… Jonah was swallowed by _______
ANSWER: A great fish / giant fish / whale / sea monster’s belly / fish’s belly
2.
QUESTION: Where did God send Jonah?
ANSWER: The people of Nineveh / people of Ninevah
3.
QUESTION: How did Jonah end up in the belly of the fish?
ANSWER:There was a great storm / a terrible storm at sea
4.
QUESTION: Is Jonah in the Old Testament or New Testament?
ANSWER: Old Testament
5.
QUESTION: How was Jonah saved from the belly of the fish?
ANSWER: He prayed to God!
Memory Verse on Jonah
Energy-level: Medium – Low
Teacher: Guiding
Kids: Stand up, facing teacher
Supplies: None
Instructions:
The key Bible verse about the time Jonah went to Nineveh will help the kids remember better. If your target age group is a little older, you can have them memorize a larger part of this Scripture (Include verses Jonah 1:17 – 2:1 with verse 2 below). Memory verses take a long time to remember, so I suggest asking them about the past week’s memory verse and perhaps doing this verse a second time as well.
Focus: We need to get the Bible into our minds and hearts.
Content:
Let’s see what the Bible says in Jonah 2:2: “I was in very bad trouble. I called to the Lord for help, and He answered me.”
Jonah (Make a J with your hands) 2 verse 2 (Show the number 2 twice) I was in… (Point to your own heart) very bad trouble… (Pull a scared face) I called to the Lord for help… (Put hands in prayer) and He answered me… (Lift hands in praise)
Now it’s the time that comes in all Sunday school lessons when you are going to teach the kids with a Bible reading and a lesson.
Try saying:
You guys, we’ve been having so much fun. I’m pretty tired from all of that playing- aren’t you too? Let’s see if we can sit still and listen to the lesson for a while. Can you touch your ears? (Let them respond) Great – We need to use our ears to listen well right now. Let’s get our last wiggles out. (Shake your body and let them do the same) Ready? Let’s go…
Focus: We can learn a lot from the story of Jonah.
Content:
Jonah’s story shows us God’s mercy. It begins with God telling Jonah to go to a place called Nineveh – But Jonah ran the other way. He did not want to go there!
1: Jonah and the giant fish
While Jonah was fleeing from God, he ended up on a boat and there was a big sudden storm on the sea. So, the people on the boat cried out: “The gods must be mad at someone on this boat. What did you do!?” After a while, Jonah told them it was him. The people on the boat were so scared when they heard that Jonah ran in the opposite direction of where God told him to go that they did something really silly: They threw Jonah overboard. That’s right! Into the sea!
And, do you know what happened to the storm? The wind calmed down and the water became still. So, the people on the boat praised God.
But wait, what about Jonah? He swallowed some water and he sank down and down into the deep water…
Until a massive fish swallowed him. Inside, the fish Noah was still alive somehow. He stayed inside the fish for 3 days before he was ready to repent.
Then Jonah prayed for God to save him.
He actually prayed our memory verse of today. Who can remember it? (Let them answer. Hint: I was in very bad____)
That’s what Jonah prayed in the belly of the fish. And then the fish spit him out!
2: Jonah goes to Nineveh
Jonah knew what he had to do now. He was done fighting God. So he went to Nineveh and gave them God’s message. The people of Nineveh actually listened – this surprised Jonah to much that he ran away. He sat on a hill outside Nineveh and said to God : “No! They are BAD people! They don’t deserve Your love! Why don’t You punish them for all the wrong they do!? It’s unfair!”
3: Jonah and the worm
Jonah was feeling really sorry for himself sitting there in the hot sun. But God was still kind to him, and God made a plant shoot up so that Jonah could sit in its shade. The next morning Jonah saw that a worm had eaten up the plant and he was super sad. Then God said: “If you can be sad about a plant that you did not even tend to, of course, I am sad about a city like Nineveh full of people and animals I made! That’s why I wanted to save them!” The End
Jonah Sunday School Lesson Take-away
God has a lot of grace and mercy for His people. Even the people in Nineveh who did terrible things… God wanted to save them. Sometimes we do really bad things and we think we are too far gone. But I want to tell you today, you can never mess up so badly that God does not want you anymore. God loves you so much. He will always give you a second chance.
Just like He did with Jonah, He will offer you a way out. Who can remember what Jonah had to do to get out of the fish’s belly? (Let them answer: He had to pray). If you ever feel stuck and like there is no way out of a scary situation you are in, pause and pray to God. If He could save Jonah, again and again, He can surely save you too!
The story of Jonah shows us that God gives us second chances. He is not the kind of God who is always angry at His people and who just punishes them. No! He is a good, good Father who will do anything to save us. God’s plans for you are wonderful! Don’t walk in the opposite direction of what He has for you. Walk in step with the Holy Spirit and talk to Jesus in prayer and you will end up where God wants to take you.
Even if a worm comes and eats up the last piece of hope that you have left, God is always full of love and care for you.
(*This might be a good natural break to do a snack if that’s part of your program)
Worship with our bodies in Sunday School
Energy-level: High
Teacher: Join in!
Kids: Spread out
Supplies: Phone / Speaker / Screen
Instructions:
Encourage the kids to stretch their bodies and get moving. Then, play the worship song and do some dance moves. If they get bored, change it into a round of freeze-dance.
Focus: Jonah did not want to do what God told him to do. When we worship, we teach our bodies to do things that please God.
Content:
Here are three options of worship songs / videos you can show for the kids to remember what they learned today.
Craft and artful response to the Jonah Sunday School Lesson
Energy-level: Medium
Teacher: Encouraging
Kids: Spread out in the room and sit down
Supplies: Paper plate, coloring supplies, scissors
Instructions:
They’re going to make a large fish and a tiny man out of a paper plate. Start by folding the paper plate in half, then cut out the shape of a whale’s body from the paper plate (like shown in the picture). When it’s been cut out, the kids can spend some time decorating it by coloring it in, drawing clothes for Jonah, and so forth. Let them play with it for a little while. (Tip: Ask them to act out the story they learned!)
Focus: Jonah was so small and the fish was so big – but God still saved him!
Sunday School Prayer inspired by Jonah’s story
Energy-level: Low
Teacher: Present (Discerning)
Kids: Lay down on their backs, spread out
Supplies: None
Instructions:
Pray this prayer over the kids while they rest. This is a time to speak good things over them. This kind of extended prayer time is usually more challenging for the teachers than for the kids. Pray for peace, and even if the kids get fidgety, try not to lash out at them. If you stay in the state of prayer, the kids might change their behavior. If not, gently pray out loud and ask the Holy Spirit to calm down everybody in the room.
Focus: Simply make space for the kids to hear from God.
Content:
Dear God, thank you for our lesson today. We learned about Jonah who didn’t obey, Instead of listening, He walked the other way! God, I don’t want to be that way. So hear me say: As I am here at church today Listening to my teacher pray while, on my back, I lay…
Thinking of Jonah who did not go Your way, swallowed by a fish, and spit out on the bay! By your grace He was okay! And when he came to Ninev(ey), the people listened to what He had to say. You prepared their hearts that day.
But Noah was mad and ran away to sit on a hill, far away You sent him shelter from the sun’s ray a cucumber plant where he could stay but the very next day a worm came by and said:”Hey!” Jonah still could not see Your way.
But help me to not be that way. Instead of waiting for a day I want to listen right away! When I don’t want to bend or sway help me to become like clay.
Even when I’m old and gray I’ll still listen to what You say. This is what I want to pray.
I know if I follow Your voice, I won’t stray. Amen
Eljoh Hartzer is combining theology and art to nurture faith journeys across generations. She is a Masters-level Practical Theologian with the University of Stellenbosch. She is also a writer and editor in the niche of Christianity and children's content and she illustrates children's books. Eljoh resides in the Swartland area in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
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