The ideas below may help you when teaching your preschoolers a lesson about the Jesus being the Good Shepherd and how he laid his life down for us. Feel free to use these ideas to supplement your current curriculum or to make your own lesson.
Story Suggestions
- John 10:1-18
- Psalm 23
Game Ideas
Hide and Sheep
Directions: Play the traditional game of hide and seek, but with a twist. This is best played in an open, but secure area. Designate a part of the room as a pen. One child is chosen to be "The Good Shepherd" and the other children hide, as if they were lost sheep. "The Good Shepherd" must find all of his sheep and bring them back to the pen. Once a child is brought back to the pen, she or he cannot leave.
Complete My Sheep
Directions: Draw a picture of a sheep, cut it out, and place it on a big sheet of black paper. Hang the paper on a wall in your room. Place a blindfold on a child, hand him a cotton ball with a little dab of glue on it, and direct him to the wall where the sheep is. Without peeking, the child has to try and put the cotton ball on the sheep. Take off the blindfold and let him see where his cotton ball landed. Repeat this for each child in the class, and see how well your sheep is covered up at the end of the game. Make sure the sheep is low enough for the shortest child in the class to reach.
Snacks
A good snack for this lesson would be:
Lamb Cakes
Ingredients:
- Angel food cake (prebaked to save time)
- White frosting
- Flaked coconut
- Pretzel sticks
- Black jelly beans
- Green food coloring
- Zip-lock bags
Directions:
Preparation: Fill a zip-lock bag with flaked coconut and add a few drops of green food coloring. Work the food coloring into the coconut.
- Give each child a piece of angel food cake that is precut into the shape of a lamb.
- Let the children frost the cake with white frosting and roll it in flaked coconut.
- Give each child four pretzels to use as legs.
- Add two black jelly beans to be the eyes.
- Let the kids sprinkle the green coconut around the legs of their lambs to represent a pasture.
Another good snack idea for this lesson would be:
Sheep Snack
Ingredients:
- Cauliflower
- Raisins
- 1/2 piece string cheese cut into 4 equal pieces
- Cheese spread
Directions:
- Cover the bottom of the cauliflower with cheese spread.
- Attach 4 pieces of cheese to the cauliflower to make legs.
- Dip 2 raisins in the cheese spread and attach to make eyes.
- Dip 1 raisin in the cheese spread and attach it to make a nose.
Art Center Ideas
Jesus' Little Lamb
Materials:
- Two toilet paper tubes
- Scissors
- White poster board
- Pencil
- Markers
- Glue
- Cotton
Directions:
- Cut a 3-inch length of tube for the lamb's body and a 2-inch piece for its base.
- Cut the 2-inch tube in half lengthwise to make a stand. Glue the round 3-inch tube to the outside of the curved tube.
- Use a marker to draw to legs on each side of the stand.
- Trace and cut out one head and two ears from a piece of white poster board.
- Glue an ear on each side of the lamb's head.
- Use markers to draw an eye and a smile on each side of the head.
- Cut a 1/2-inch slit at the top of the lamb's body and insert the head. Glue it in place.
- Glue cotton on the lamb's body. Let dry.
Elbow Macaroni Sheep Craft
Materials:
- 4” x 6” piece of cardboard
- 2 spring clothespins
- Elbow macaroni
- Wiggly eyes
- Black felt
- Paint (black, white and pink)
- Glue
- Paintbrush
Directions:
- Cut a 3-inch circle for the body and a 1-1/2-inch circle for the head from the cardboard.
- Paint the body circle white on both sides. Paint the head circle black on both sides. Let dry.
- Paint top 1/3 of the head white.
- Take the clothespins apart and paint the wooden pieces black. Allow to dry completely and then put back together. Attach the clothespins with glue to the body circle.
- Glue elbow macaroni to the front of the body circle and to the top 1/3 of the head circle where it was painted white. Paint the macaroni on both pieces white.
- Cut two ears from the black felt and glue to the back of the head. Glue two goggle eyes to the front of the head. Paint a nose on the face with pink paint. Glue head to body. Let dry.
Suggested Prayer (or use your own)
Thank you, God, for sending Jesus, who loves me very much. Thank you, Lord, that I am a sheep and He is my shepherd. May I never wander from his sight. Amen.
See the full list of Sunday School lesson ideas on both the Old Testament and the New Testament!
