Children's Preschool Sunday School Activities

Got Fish?

by Craig

An old favorite but with a few new surprises.

Materials:
Fishing pole or long stick
String and clothes pin
Bed sheet or blanket (blue if available)
Got Fish cutouts (see below)

Duration:
Approximately 15 minutes

Topics:
Caring, Helping, Provision, Serving

Target Age:
Preschool to Grade 1

Cutout sheet 1 (print two copies)
Cutout sheet 2 (print one copy)
Cutout sheet 3 (one or more copies depending on class size)
Cutout sheet 4 (one or more copies depending on class size)

Preparation:
Before class, fashion a fishing pole using the string for line and the clothes pin for a hook. Print and cut out an appropriate number of Got Fish cutout pictures for the size of your class. Use medium card stock, or past pictures to cardboard for durability. Drape a sheet or blanket over some chairs to provide a place for someone to hide as they attach the cutouts to the hook. This activity works very well leading up to snack time. A snack of goldfish crackers or snack crackers and canned cheese spread will go very well.

What you will do:
Before doing this activity, tell the children the Bible story, or read John 6: 1-13 about the time Jesus fed 5000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish from a small boy.

"Today, we are going to pretend that we have been following Jesus all day long. We followed him up and down four hills, over three valleys, around a forest, and up to the edge of the sea. Now we are pretty hungry. But we have nothing to eat. However, since we are pretending, we can pretend to go fishing. Before we can eat, we must catch two good fish, and five loaves of water bread. That's right, water bread. The bread we must catch will come out of the water."

Let each child take a turn with the fishing pole, by dangling the line over the sheet. Your teacher's helper can attach the items, and then tug on the line to let the child know it is time to pull up the pole to see what he or she caught. Remind them often that they must catch 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread before they can eat. Place a couple of loaves on the line at fist, then a fish, but wait for the final fish and loaf until the last two children put in their line so everyone will have at least one chance. When finished, have a snack as you discuss the following questions:

1. Have any of you gone real fishing?
2. Does fishing take time, or is it something you can do in a few minutes?
3. It took us a little while to get 2 fish, how long do you think it would take to get enough to feed 5000?
4. How many fish do you think it would take to feed 5000 people?
5. How many fish did Jesus need to feed 5000 people?