Jesus Calms the Storm: A Sunday School Lesson

With our Sunday School, we did a whole unit on miracles. Miracles are fun to teach because they show children the amazing things that God can do, and open up the imagination. We did one lesson on Jesus Calming the storm. Here is a brief overview of the lesson we used.

• Talk about storms. Different kinds of storm, snow storms, thunder storms, rain storms etc. Do we like storms? Talk about how storms can be scary.
• Read Luke 8:22-25, since this is a shorter story it is a good one to have an older kid read to the class.
• Talk about the story. Why were the disciples scared? Would you have been scared if you were one of the disciples? Why or why not? How do you think Jesus stopped the storm? (This is a great one to get the imagination going since there isn't really a right answer)
• Storm in a bottle craft.

The storm in a bottle craft is fun for kids of any age. All you need is empty water bottles, water, cooking oil, and food colouring. Mix the water and the food colouring in the bottle, then fill the rest up with oil. Water and oil should be a 1:1 ratio. You can also add glitter for a little extra something. Then put the cover back on and use a hot glue gun around the seal so it doesn't leak. Kids of all ages will love to shake this and watch it separate, their own storm in a bottle!




This is an easy lesson, and can also be combined with the Jesus Walks on Water lesson, grouping them as ''miracles that happened on a boat/on water''.

Jesus Walks on Water; a Sunday school lesson

Lesson Outline:

• Read Matthew 14:22-33 (5 minutes)
• Talk about the story, as questions, discuss trust (10 minutes)
• Try to walk on water (5 minutes)
• Experiment with floating and sinking (15 minutes)

Some of the coolest  Bible stories to teach to kids are stories that contain miracles. It is fun for the kids to imagine all the things that Jesus can do. One of my favorites to do with kids is the story of Jesus walking on water. Matt 14:22. I like to read the story first, really playing up the trust aspect. We then talk about things that we trust God with, this might be hard for some kids, but with some prompting the group can usually come up with a few ideas. You can also talk about things you trust other people with, and who we trust.

 I then ask the kids if they think they could walk on water. If possible, have a large shallow bin ready and allow the kids to try walk across without touching the bottom. They will soon find that this is impossible.

If time permits, it is fun to give the kids objects that they can try to float or sink in the bin. For young children this can double as a great science lesson. You can also talk about how in different states things that would normally sink can float. People for example can't float standing up, that's why we can't walk on water. People can however float on their backs. Just like Peter in the story. When he was in a trusting state he could walk on water, but when he wasn't, he couldn't. A couple other things that work this way are oranges, the float unpeeled, but after they are peeled, they sink. Clay also can float or sink, as a ball it will sink, but form it into a boat shape and it will float. Let the kids experiment and see what else sinks and floats. Supply tinfoil and challenge older kids to make a boat. See if it can support the weight of other objects that used to sink.


* picture from http://handsonaswegrow.com/water-play-experiment-float-sink/