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Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matthew 20) | Games

Within the parable of the vineyard owner, there are two distinct themes you can pull out for games: the idea of the grape gather’s task and that of the fairness of the wages. I’ve tried to give you a selection of games to represent both, and that can also suit various setups and spaces.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Grape toss

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Basically, a beanbag toss game. You can use grapes or other small items, and you need to toss them into various containers. For one child, have them try to reach every container, for groups, have each group assigned a different container to fill.

Back of the line

All Ages

Small group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

A simple dice game where you draw a line on the floor and challenge the child to get to the end. They can move forward the number of steps (fairy steps, heel to toe) that they roll on the dice, but if they roll a five or six they must restart. Reward all kids at the end if they made it or not. Talk about the frustration of being sent back and how the position on the line didn’t really matter.

Gather

Under 7’s

Small group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Mirroring the workers, have the kids gather things from around your space. These can be anything you have a large amount of similar items: e.g. ball pit balls, plastic fruit etc. If you have multiple kids, start them at different times but reward them with the same reward.

Grape bunch

All Ages

Any size group

Requires setup time

Noisy game

Space needed

Use packaging tape to a circle around one member of each team with sticky tape: sticky side out. Have the rest of the team stick balloons to them to make them into a grape bunch. The winning team is the one with the most balloons.

Order

Ages 7+

Any size group

Requires setup time

Quiet game

Can be seated

Print the game page by clicking on the picture. We order things to help us understand the world and how to act. In this game, you are given 5 random images and told to order them. How you order them is entirely up to you and no answer is wrong, but you must give a reason why. Are they in value order? Age order? Does the order tell a story? Etc.

Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matthew 20) | Story

Jesus was a storyteller, and this powerful small story goes against the grain of so much that is taught to kids. It doesn’t matter how many followers or likes you can score, Jesus will love you the same. Equally, it doesn’t matter how many bible verses you can recite or how much muck your sin has created, God’s going to take you in as his chosen child.

This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.

Main Passage : Matthew 20:1-16

Biblical retelling of the Parable of the Vineyard Owner, Matthew 20, for youngsters

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

Jesus was a storyteller, the crowd loved his stories and the Bible records many of them for us. One day, he was trying to explain the kingdom of heaven and told a story about a man who owned a vineyard, where they grow grapes.

It was picking season and the grapes were round and fat and juicy and needing to be collected, so the man went into the town to find some men to help pick them. It was morning, and soon he found the men waiting to be offered work. He agreed to pay them the standard daily wage and took them back to the vineyard.

The men started working, and soon the quiet vines were full of men chatting and singing and moving huge bunches of grapes into baskets to be collected. Their fingers were stained purple and their backs hot from the heat of the sun. There was too much work and not enough men.

In the middle of the day, the owner went back to the town to find more men. He found a crowd of men who had not been hired and brought them back to help. Then he went back to town at 3 in the afternoon and brought more men, and again at 5. When it reached 6, and evening started coming, the owner told the manager it was time for everyone to stop working.

The manager handed the men who had worked 1 hour the full daily wage, then he gave the exact same amount to those who had worked 3 hours, 6 hours and those who worked all day. The men who had worked all day were not pleased, why had they worked hard in the baking sun when those who came at the end got the same pay?

They confronted the owner, grumbling. The owner told them to take the wage they had agreed, it was his choice to pay the last men the same as the first. Were they really angry he was being generous?

Jesus’ story was telling the crowd an important message. Jesus put it this way: “The last will be first, and the first will be last.”

In God’s kingdom everyone is valued, there isn’t the best and the worst, everyone is loved. Not because of what they do, or how hard they work, but because God chose them and loves them. Those who think they should be first will end up at the back, and those who think they should be at the back will find themselves at the front.

Parable of the Forgiven Debt (Matthew 18) | Character Images

These are the Character resources provided for: Parable of the Forgiven Debt or Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18)

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

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.

Parable of the forgiven Debt (Matthew 18) | Craft 2

This craft is really just a bit of fun rather than something deep and theological, it depicts the three characters in the parable of the forgiven debt or unforgiving servant. Once made, it can be a storytelling prop, a way to ask more in-depth questions about forgiveness, or just a toy to play with.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.

To make this craft, you will need the 1-page template printout, scissors, a hole punch, glue, and a dowel (we used a chopstick).

Add some colour if you need to, then grab the scissors and cut these strange shapes out. If you are a perfectionist, you can score the fold lines too!

Use a hole punch to make a hole where the small circle indicates. You may need to slightly widen that hole with something like a sharp pencil.

Time to get folding, every fold goes the same way – mountain fold or ink on the outside.

We are going to make little boxes. It’s best to do this one side at a time and allow the glue to dry.

Slide the boxes onto your dowel so they can spin feely and make up the three characters.

Spin the boxes to complete the picture,
Which is the king, which servant do you think the king lent money to, which is the poorer servant, why?

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A4 size
(210 x 297 mm)

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Parable of the Forgiven Debt (Matthew 18) | Craft 1

There is nothing quite like acting out a simple story, and this story of the forgiven debt is perfect for that. These finger puppets are so simple, with the only mildly difficult bit is cutting the bars of the prison – and you could skip that at a push! They have finger holes, but you could stick them onto popsicle sticks instead if you prefer. If you have a 1.5 cm circle punch, then they really can be made in a matter of minutes.

This is part of a single lesson pack, all ready to print and go.