There’s a lot of things that can go wrong in this world, and we have to deal with them. Sometimes life is scary– but the good news is that we have God on our side. This Jesus Calms the Storm Object Lesson is a simple and effective way to teach a Bible story AND show our students how important– and easy!– it is to trust God.
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What you Need for Jesus Calms the Storm Object Lesson
- Candle
- Fan (or paper folded)
- Paper cut like a shield
- Bible (I like to use this one with kids!)
- Optional: Storm music on Youtube
- Optional: Jesus Calms the Storm Activity Sheets
How to do the Jesus Calms the Storm Object Lesson
First off, start with this object lesson. You’ll need a candle, a fan (or paper folded like a fan!), and a piece of paper (bonus points if you cut this like a shield)
Light the candles, then use the fan blow on the candle. Show the kids how the flame moves around. Tell them that is what happens to us when we are scared or stressed– we start wavering and feeling unsure.
Then put the paper in between the fan and the candle. Now when you wave the fan, nothing happens to the flame– it stays steady.
After showing this, explain to the students that the paper represents God– when we keep him between us and what is scaring or stressing us, then we will not waver. We do this by reading our Bibles, remembering who God is, and most of all by praying.
Turn on some storm music on Youtube like this one. Read the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41). When you get to the part when Jesus tells it to stop, turn the storm sounds off for dramatic effect.
Then ask the following questions:
- Was Jesus concerned about the storm?
- Why wasn’t Jesus scared of the storm?
- Why were the disciples scared?
- Were the disciples remembering who Jesus was?
- What should the disciple have done instead?
Give students a piece of paper, or the printable out of this Jesus Calms the Storm printable activity pack. Have students write down things that make them feel like they are in a storm (scared or stressed) on the storm side. You can do this together or separate. Then have students write what makes them feel like they are in calm waters on the other page from the printables. If you don’t want to use the printables, you can have them write one on one side of the paper and one on the other.
Then ask students to recall other times in the Bible that God helped people when they were scared or stressed. Possible connections could be Paul when the earthquake opened the jail, Daniel in the lion’s den, David when he was on the run from Saul, etc. Having them recall that this is a recurring theme throughout the Bible shows that God helped many people back then– and can do the same thing now!
Need more activities to go with this lesson? Check out the Print and Go Jesus Calms the Storm Activity Sheets. They include the pages above, a comic strip of the story for students to finish, related Bible verses, and even coloring sheets!
What do you use to teach this story? Let me know by shooting me a message on Instagram @beccasbibleclass
Happy teaching!
Becca
