The King separated the sheep and the goats, not because they were sheep and goats, but because some had truly served their fellow man (for the least of these) when the others hadn’t. This craft illustrates that separation. It is deliberately blank so that the older children can write their own messages on the wall and floor.
This passage about separating the sheep and the goats, about putting your faith into action, about treating ‘the least of these’ like the king of all Heaven and Earth. It’s a beautiful if challenging passage and while I’ve written out a child-friendly version, it’s one of the passages that you could easily have your older kids read straight from scripture.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
Jesus was teaching his followers about what would happen in the future. He had asked them to be prepared, he had asked them to use their talents wisely, and he had one more big instruction.
“One day everyone will be separated.” said Jesus, looking around his followers. “Have you seen the shepherd in the fields, they sort the animals putting the sheep to the right and the goats to the left, people will be separated just like that.
“The king will turn to those on his right and say, “Come, join me in my kingdom.
“Come good servants for when I was hungry, you fed me, when I was thirsty, you gave me a drink, when I was a stranger you welcomed me. You clothed me when I was naked, cared for me when I was sick and visited me when I was in prison.”
The people on the king’s right will look confused, when did they feed the king? When did they welcome him as a stranger or care for him when sick?
The king will smile at the confusion and with great joy tell those on his right, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Then the king will turn to those on his left.
Leave here bad servants for when I was hungry, you didn’t feed me, when I was thirsty, you didn’t give me a drink, when I was a stranger you didn’t welcome me. You gave me no clothes when I was naked, no care when I was sick, and no visits when I was in prison.”
The crowd will protest. They had never seen the king hungry or thirsty, naked or sick, a stranger or in prison.
The king will turn in anger at them. “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did not do for me.”
Jesus looked at his friends, did they understand? They were not supposed to just serve Jesus but serve each other as if every person they met was Jesus. They could believe in Jesus’ words, but they needed to act on them too.
This passage is a wonderful chance to get counting, hiding and talking about your gifts. Here is a selection of games that tie into various elements of the story, choose the one that would best suit your group, age range and setup.
Buried talent
Under 7’s
Small group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Oh dear the servant forgot where he buried his talent and the master is on the way! Burry a ‘talent’ – in cushions, in a sandpit, in play dough, and have the child ‘dig’ to find it.
I have talents…
Ages 7+
Any size group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
Each child/group has one minute to write down how many ways they can make someone smile. Dependent on time, have the kids demonstrate some of their suggestions, and /or challenge them to do at least 5 before they go to bed tonight.
Double it!
Ages 7+
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
This is a copy and multiply game where each round something must be doubled. The starting factor can be anything – a number, a gesture, an effect. Examples: The number 4 – answer find 8 objects, 8 fingers. A smile – 2 people smiling or a mirror. A sound – an echo or an increase in volume.
Spinning coins
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
The idea of this game is to double up, just as the servants doubled their masters’ money. The challenge is to spin pairs of coins, how many pairs can you spin at once? Talk about how much hard work the servants who doubled the money must have done and compared to the one who buried his talent.
Different Abilities Obstacle course
All Ages
Any size group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Set up an obstacle course that feeds to your individual kid’s strengths. The aim is that some parts of the course will be crazily easy and other parts really tough. Examples: If one of your kids is tall, you could have a really high item or a really low limbo bar. If a kid is musical, you could have a challenge to play a tune. If the kid is really into dinosaurs, they must identify a certain dinosaur. A sporty kid may add a physical challenge. Don’t worry about trying to represent all the kids, just a handful. The idea is to celebrate how we are all gifted with different talents.
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.
The parable of the talents has so few moving pieces, it is perfect to make a retelling of the story craft. This one uses lift flaps that you open as the story progresses to see how each servant used his talents.
