Psalm 25 talks about God leading us, revealing the paths he intended for us. This simple activity gets your youngsters to think about pathways, journeys and how one-step leads to the next. Use it as a springboard, in place of a game slot, or as a craft that the youngsters can decorate and take home.
To make this craft, you will need the 1-page template printout and scissors. If possible, print on thin card or back onto a thicker decorative material like scrapbooking paper.
These will print fine in black and white, so I’ve only included the colour template.
Cut out all the dominoes.
Mix the set or sets (they are small sets, so doubling up works well). Lay one tile at a time, matching a footprint and making a path across the table.
Help keep the free items on this site free by donating. This site supports my family as we live by God's great economy.
This week we look at the first 10 verses of Psalm 25. It’s a beautiful passage. Rather than tell a story about the passage, we will read the verses pausing to discuss their meaning, then repeat the verses without pauses at the end.
These psalm lessons follow the Lectionary passages for the six weeks of year B Lent.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
We are going to read a song, a song Jesus may have sung with his friends, a song from the book of songs to be sung – the book called Psalms.
1 To you, Lord, I lift up my soul
Pause. Do you know what your soul is? It’s not something you can hold. It’s the part of you that makes you (insert child’s name). When we give God our soul, we give him who we are.
2 My God, I trust in you. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me. 3 No one who waits for you will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced. 4 Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths.
Pause. Would you like to know God’s paths? How would you feel if the God of the whole universe were guiding your way? Listen carefully what types of path the author wants to be guided along.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your compassion and your faithful love, for they have existed from everlasting. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with your faithful love, remember me because of your goodness, Lord. 8 The Lord is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way.
Pause. This bit of the song tells us that even when we go wrong, God will still guide us.
9 He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees.
Pause. Read again without the notes.
You could end by asking which part of the psalm the listeners liked the most?
For each passage, there is a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page. All other graphics are extra’s!
Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).
These images are NOT copyright free.
These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only. Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decorations, big screen presentations, flannel graphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group. You may not use them in products you are going to sell (both printed and digital). Nor may you upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos. Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.
There is a moment in this week’s story where the unclean spirit responds to Jesus’ words. It comes in Verse 26 where it is written “The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” It’s one of those details that kids acting out the story will grab onto, a physical movement that puts life into the account. This craft captures this moment with a rolling papercraft mechanism.
PS. I know it looks like it won’t work, I had the same doubts, so there is a link to a short video clip at the end to show it in action!
Interruptions during worship are something we may be far too familiar with. In this passage from Mark 1, where a man with an impure spirit interrupts, Jesus is very much to the point commanding him to ‘be quiet’. These games play on the ideas of interruptions, sounds, identity, and authority.
Have your child(ren) identify various sounds. Keep it simple and make the sounds yourself, farm animals, vehicles, sirens etc. Alternatively, search online for “guess the sound” videos. Link to : Jesus saying “Be quiet!”
That looks like a…
All Ages
Small group
Requires setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Take a large envelope and cut a small hole in the face (a hole punch will do this neatly, don’t worry about having holes on both sides). Slip a picture into the envelope and give it to the children to identify. The children can move the picture about but not open the envelope Link to : The impure spirit recognised Jesus
Authority says
Under 7’s
Any size group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
Play the traditional game of ‘Simon says’ where the child copies the direction as long as ‘Simon’ gave it. Use the term ‘authority’ in place of the name Simon. Link to : other teachers told people about God, but Jesus had authority to his teaching.
Interrupted
Ages 7+
Small group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
A simple storytelling activity where you start a story and stop in the middle of a sentence, the next person then needs to complete your sentence and let their next sentence be interrupted. With younger children, you can give each child 7 words each. Link to : the man interrupting the gathering with his message instead of Jesus’ teachings.
