Imagine hearing that Jesus was coming through your town, but you could not see him over the crowds because you were small. That is how Zacchaeus felt.

The ideas below may help you when teaching your preschoolers a lesson about Zacchaeus and how Jesus changed his life. Feel free to use these ideas to supplement your current curriculum or to make your own lesson.

Story Suggestion

Luke 19:1-10

Game Ideas

Biggest and Smallest

Directions: Divide the children into two teams, one being the "Biggest Specialists" and the other being the "Smallest Specialists." Pick out an object such as a book, and tell one team member from the "Biggest" group to find the biggest book in the room, and one team member from the "Smallest" group to find the smallest book in the room. Try having them search for other items like dolls, blocks, crayons, etc. Have the teams switch roles, if there is time.

Career Charades

Directions: Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. Have a child come up to you and whisper what he or she wants to be when they grow up. Have them act out what they want to be, and see if the rest of the class can guess what they are. You can help each child with actions, if they need help. Give each child a turn at acting.

Snacks

A good snack for this lesson would be:

Dirt Snack

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 package chocolate instant pudding
• 1 (8 oz). Cool Whip
• 1 (16 oz.) package Oreo cookies, crushed
• Clear plastic cups

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add pudding mix.
3. Beat with whisk until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Let stand for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in whipped topping and half of the crushed cookies.
6. Place 1 tablespoon crushed cookies into bottom of cups.
7. Fill cups 3/4 full with pudding mixture.
8. Top with remaining crushed cookies.
9. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Another good snack idea for this lesson would be:

White Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds white chocolate
• 2 cups roasted peanuts
• 2 cups small pretzel sticks, broken

Directions:

1. Cover baking sheet with waxed paper.
2. Melt white chocolate on stove or in microwave.
3. Stir in pecans and pretzels.
4. Quickly spread onto prepared sheet. Cool. Break into pieces.

Sing a Song

Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man

Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed him by, he looked up in the tree, and he said, “Zacchaeus, you come down from there; for I'm going to your house today, for I'm going to your house today.” Zacchaeus came down from that tree, as happy as he could be, he gave his money to the poor, and said: “What a better man I'll be."

Art Center Ideas

Zacchaeus in a Tree

A helper is recommended for this project.

Materials:

• Brown and blue construction paper
• Crayons
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Pencil

Directions:

1. Give each child a piece of brown construction paper. Trace the child's forearm and outstretched hand onto the construction paper. Cut it out. This is a tree.
2. Give each child a piece of blue construction. Have them glue their "tree" to the blue construction paper (representing the sky).
3. Let the children draw a man sitting in the tree. This will be Zacchaeus.
4. Write the following verse (or another verse of your choice) on the bottom of each child's drawing: "Today salvation has come to your house." Luke 19:9a

Suggested Prayer (or use your own)

Thank you, God, for letting us know you. Thank you for taking care of us, too. We love you with all of our hearts, and all of our minds, too! Amen.

See the full list of Sunday School lesson ideas on both the Old Testament and the New Testament!