David and Goliath Craft: 5 Stones and 1 Mighty God
Guest Post by Jen of When You Rise
David and Goliath For Kids
First published May 2012. Updated 2018.
One of my daughter’s favorite Bible stories is about David and Goliath. We’ve read it countless times over the years and even though she’s heard it, I wanted her to experience it and know it. I also really wanted her to hear the gospel message that is so beautifully expressed in this story. I wanted her to know that the hero David fought a giant and won, but one day the greatest Hero of all, Jesus, would fight the biggest giant of all and win!
Our activities for this lesson aren’t complex. In fact, many of them you have probably seen before or already thought of yourself! But, one thing I am passionate about (because I struggle with it too) is encouraging parents to throw off all expectations and the perfectionism that can hinder teaching so that you can experience the Bible with your kiddos too. You don’t have to have a million things planned, and things don’t have to go perfectly (or even smoothly!) for God to plant the wondrous seeds of the gospel in your child’s heart!
David and Goliath Craft
Since this story is one that Lauren is very familiar with I started off by asking her what she could remember about the David and Goliath story. It helped me understand what areas were a little fuzzy for her and what areas she had a good grasp on.
Craft 1 – Painting Rocks
Then we decided it would be a good idea to go outside and find 5 smooth stones like David did. We don’t have a river, but we have several areas with landscape rocks so we started there!
After we found our 5 smooth rocks we came back inside to paint them. While Lauren painted I read the story from our Jesus Storybook Bible,NIV Read with Me Bible, and David and the Giant (I Can Read!) book. Sometimes I find it is hard for her to sit still and listen to a story all the way through, but allowing her to paint while I read was great! She stayed focused for all three stories!
Craft 2 – Make A Simple Pouch
Lauren pointed out that we needed a pouch like David’s to carry our 5 stones in, so I got creative really quick. The result was simple but effective and only required a couple of supplies. I found a piece of brown felt and cut it into a circle. Then I used a hole punch and spaced the holes about two inches apart around the circle.
I gave Lauren a piece of yarn and helped her sew up her pouch. (I would recommend putting tape on the end of the yarn or using a shoelace or one of the strings that comes with lacing beads as the end on those are harder and easier to get through the holes…I had to help Lauren several times since it didn’t occur to me at the time to tape it! :)
David and Goliath Activity – David vs Goliath
Our favorite thing by far was acting out the story! For those of you already nervous…no, we didn’t use the stones! Ha!!! We used giant marshmallows!!!! They were perfect and it was way too much fun!
I turned on the Goliath song by The Donut Man then we stomped our feet and took turns being David and Goliath. Lauren LOVED being David and I made quite the scene each time she struck me with the “stone” on my head (or actually anywhere she managed to hit me, haha!) I tried to get better pictures, but you’ll just have to use your imagination here.
David and Goliath In The Bible
Of course I wanted to impress God’s actual Word on her heart so we turned to 1 Samuel 17. We always talk about how the Bible is God’s True Word when we read through it. I want her to know that every single word was inspired by the Lord!
I decided that we would camp on 1 Samuel 17:47, “The battle is the Lord’s.”
I always make it a point to show her where the verse is in her big girl Bible. I think it is so important that she sees that the Bible stories we often read and learn about in her preschool Bibles are from God’s Word!
I let her choose what color highlighter she wanted to use and then I made a mark at the beginning and end of the verse so she knew where to highlight!
Memory Verse – 1 Samuel 17:47
Then, I quickly drew some stones on card stock and wrote the verse in. This verse was a great opportunity for us to talk about how David was only able to defeat Goliath because God was with him. What a reminder to me as a mama also! I always love how these simple Bible stories teach me so much about the love and protection of my God!
David In The Bible
While we colored the stones, I talked to Lauren about how David was a hero to his people so long ago. We talked about how David saved his people by trusting in God and beating the giant. I asked her if she knew of any other heroes. She didn’t, so I gently told her that Jesus is our greatest Hero. We talked about how his death overcame sin and how his death on the cross is what saves us. (So much of this we just learned around Easter so it was a great review!) I always try to make these deeper lessons into conversations with Lauren. They are precious times for the two of us, and I pray that God uses them to draw her closer to him.
By this time our little man was up and it was time for more marshmallow stone throwing! He LOVED the Goliath song too! I was cracking up as he tried to stomp his own feet!
If you are wondering what we do with our verse cards, I have a special pot on our kitchen table where we have started keeping them. Having them here is ideal for us since I am often in the kitchen and Lauren can sit at the table and try to put them in order!
Helpful Hint: I’ve learned that making each of the verse cards a little different, color, shape, etc. helps my non-reader still be able to get the cards in order! But, if you have a pre-reader or reader you could make each card the same for a bit more of a challenge!
What fun and super easy Bible activities have you done with your kids lately?
Jen is a former fourth grader teacher turned stay at home mama to two of the cutest kids she has ever met. When she’s not changing diapers, playing with baby dolls, or building block towers she loves to read, craft, and decorate.
Wow Jen! This is awesome and very inspiring. :)
Really great ideas and definitely inspiring. Thanks for sharing!
This is great! I am always looking for Bible activities for my little one. Thank you!
Great! I was about to do something similar…but this will definitely augment my study. Thank you for your inspiration.
I have two little ones at home as well, and found your website truly helpful for those times where you want to make sure your children are understanding and enjoying time each day in God’s Word. I was truly blessed by the way you kept Jesus as the focal point through it all. The Gospel is woven throughout all of scripture and it was awesome to see you present that to your children in your Bible story time. I will definitlely make this site a favorite! Thank you for taking time to post and share.
Dear Jean
Praise the Lord for your life.
I´m missionarie from Child Evangelism Fellowship Brazil but sent to Portugal & Europe, we are delight for so many gifts you have. Very profitable your material and websit. Very powerfull and helpfull stuff.
Congrats, praying for you. Every blessing
Andre & Daniela Mendes
Loteamento dos Alagoachos, 119A
7645-012 – Vila Nova de Milfontes
Portugal.
Thank you so much! We teach the 4-5 year olds in SS and they have heard the story many times so I wanted some ideas to really help them understand that God is the hero here, that David prayed and listened to God on a daily basis just as we should and I wanted to have them act the story out……safely. Your ideas are perfect! Thank you!
Thanks; looking for a summary for my special-needs David & Goliath lesson that included a lot of throwing things. :-) Really like the idea of showing the parallel with Jesus who slew the “giant” of sin and death for us!
I read this last night while I was trying to plan my morning with my little girl. She loves David and Goliath so this was perfect. We have been stomping, singing, and talking about the verse all day. Thank you so much for the great inspriation. She even showed her little brother how to throw like David. Thanks again!
I love the idea of having my girl highlight the verses we study in her Bible. Thank you for that idea. Hopefully, in years to come, she will remember how we focused on those verses and applied them to our lives and God’s world around us. I like your ideas on this page. It’ll be fun to try this out with my daughter this fall.