Missionaries are hard for preschoolers to understand. Teach them about the wonderful job missionaries do through games and activities. Great ideas can be found here.
Missionaries are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. It is an important job to talk to people about Jesus, and to bring them closer to God so they may feel his power in their lives. The ideas below may help you when teaching a lesson about missionaries. Feel free to use these ideas to supplement your current curriculum or to make your own lesson.
The story of Jonah is an excellent example of why we must obey and spread the word of God. Children find this story easy to relate to and to understand. God wanted Jonah to do something, and he really didn’t want to, but he did it any way. Children face that situation on a daily basis from their parents, teachers, and from God.
Children love adventure and missionaries have many adventures!
Directions: Lead the children across a blue rug to represent the ocean, then climb over a hurdle (a pile of pillows) to represent a mountain range, tiptoe quietly past the “wild animals” (stuffed animals), and then sing Jesus Loves Me to the people who have never heard about Jesus before (dolls).
Directions: Place the names of countries in a bowl, then let a child pick one, show them the location on a globe and talk about Christian life in that country. Choose a country in which to build the church using blocks or empty boxes.
Directions: Cut out pictures that show other cultures and foreign places. Glue them onto the poster board to make a mural.
Directions: Have the kids color pictures from bible stories. Write the addresses on the front of the cards. Let the children affix the stamps.
Print and use the coloring pages below that show some of the places missionaries would have lived in Bible Times, and some of the things they may have faced, like harsh weather.
Thank you, God, for this day, for all the fun games we did play. Thank you, Jesus, for your life, so that mine could be so nice. Amen
See more Sunday School lesson ideas and great Bible crafts here!