Here is a fun presentation of the Bible story of Gideon for preschoolers:
Would you like to know my favorite Bible story? It is the great story of Gideon. There are so many elements of it that ring true in my life. I especially love the part when God decreases Gideon’s army from several thousand down to only 300 men. God wanted Gideon to trust in Him and not in his own resources. You see, God enjoys giving His children the victory over their enemies. And when we gain a victory, we should always give thanks to God. A perfect Bible verse for this is First Corinthians 15:57 which says, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Another way God gave Gideon victory was replacing his conventional weapons of the time with torches, pottery and trumpets. Here is a fun presentation of the Bible story game of Gideon for preschoolers to become familiar with this great story and First Corinthians 15:57. I call it “Gideon’s Torches, Pottery and Trumpets.”
Here’s what you do:
For this activity you will need to prepare a homemade spinner divided into 3 sections made from a durable paper plate. In the first section, show a picture of a torch. In the second section show a picture of a piece of pottery such as a pitcher. And in the third section, show a picture of a trumpet from Bible times. Poke a brad through the center of the spinner and then attach a large paper clip to the brad, which will be the spinner. Next, I created stickers of each of these three things – the torch, the pottery and the trumpet – to give to my kids to help them successful play the game. I placed the torch sticker on their left hands, the trumpet sticker on their right hands and I placed the pottery sticker on the floor in front of where they were sitting. Finally, you will need some kind of chips or playing pieces, 3 each for each child.
Here’s how to play:
After telling the Bible story of Gideon, have the children sit in a circle. Remind the children how God let Gideon only have torches, pottery and trumpets to defeat their enemies. God wanted Gideon and his army to trust in God and not in other things. Now give a child in the circle the spinner to spin. If the spinner lands on the torch, the child will give one of his chips to the person on their left. If the trumpet was chosen, the child will give one of his chips to the person on the right. If the pottery was chosen, the child will place one of his chips into the center of the circle. (The stickers will help the children know where their chips go. Preschoolers are usually not ready to know their left hand from their right.) Have the spinner go around the circle at least 2 or 3 times, more if the interest is still there. Before a child spins the spinner say the following, “God gives us the victory, so spin that spinner!” The winner of the game is the person who has the least chips left. Having the least chips will remind the children of how God worked a miracle in the life of Gideon with just a little rather than a lot.
Before playing this activity, you might want to introduce the lesson in the following way:
Raise your hand if you like to win a game or a prize. (Wait for responses.) I like winning games too. When we win a game it means we have the victory. A victory is a kind of a win. God loves to give His children victories in life. He gave Gideon a really big victory. Gideon’s story is found the Bible in the book of Judges. We’re going to learn this story and we’re going to learn a great Bible verse that says we need to be thankful for the victories God gives us. It’s First Corinthians 15:57 which says, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, let’s listen to the story of Gideon and play a fun game to help us learn more about it.
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Awesome, Bevy! So glad your kids enjoyed it. I actually tweaked this a little one time to play with some adults with special needs and they had fun too! Thank you so much for sharing! Blessings to you and your ministry to children!
We played the Gideon Torches, Trumpet and Pottery spinner game in Children’s worship yesterday. It was such fun. With a mix of elementary and preschool kids, it’s hard to keep them all interested at the same time. The acolytes rushed back to play one last round. The parents came to pickup the kids but had to wait on us to finish!
I didn’t have a brad to use for the spinner post, so I improvised using a cork board and a paper plate with drawings on top of it. Used a push pin and large paper clip as the spinner.
Thanks so much for sharing.