We are a Christian family, and one of our aims is to craft through the Bible with our little ones. This year we have decided that we will not be following any particular order but going based on the interest of our girls. We want their journey through the Bible to be fun and a journey to remember.
My girls have developed a love for books from an early age, and so one of their absolute favourite daily activities is to browse through the pages of the books on our shelves. When they are busy going through their Bible books, I observe to see what is of interest to them.
I have a few stories they are showing interest in written down and will be randomly selecting them as we craft through the Bible.
On our bookshelf, we have two of our absolute favourite Bibles for young children.
• A Child’s First Bible By Kenneth N Taylor
This first Bible is a collection of one hundred and twenty-five of the most familiar bible passages from the old and New Testaments. The Bible begins with the story of creation and ends in revelation.
•My Bible Stories Treasury: This Bible is a charming retelling of stories from both old and new Testaments and is the perfect introduction to the Bible’s main characters. This Bible has such beautiful illustrations and simple text, making it ideal for little ones to enjoy.
We love these two Bible story books because the stories are condensed in a way that our girls, even though very young, can understand. The illustrations are inviting and keep them engaged.
Over the last few weeks, when browsing through the pages of their Bible story books, their interest has been directed to the Story of Jonah and the Whale.
I started looking for a craft for them to do after reading the story of Jonah and The Whale, and I found a craft that I loved with Jonah in the belly of a fish made out of construction paper. I decided to try it with some changes. I wanted to create a durable craft that could be added to our learning shelves to spark discussions and recap the story of Jonah and the Whale, so I decided to make our whales out of cardboard.
Summary of Jonah and the and the Whale
Jonah and the Whale (Jonah and the big fish) is a very popular Bible story that can be used to teach little ones about obedience. The story is found in Jonah 1-2.
God spoke to Jonah and said to him, “Go to Nineveh, warn the people, tell them their wickedness has come up before me.”
Jonah was afraid and did not want to go to Nineveh. He tried to run away from God’s plan for him. He found a ship going in the opposite direction of Nineveh and paid the sailors to take him with them.
As the ship travelled in the opposite direction, God sent a great and mighty storm upon the sea. The sailors were very afraid for their lives. They prayed for help. Jonah went inside the ship and tried to go to sleep.
The sailors suspected that the storm was Jonah’s fault and confronted him about it. Jonah told them who he was and that he was fleeing from the Lord.
“What shall we do? How can we stop this storm now?” they said to Jonah.
Jonah told the sailors. “Pick me up and throw me into the sea.” “Then the storm will die down.
The sailors prayed for forgiveness and followed through with Jonah’s suggestion. They picked up Jonah and threw him overboard.
Immediately, the storm stopped, and the sea was calm. Jonah was in the water, and God sent a whale to swallow him.
Jonah remained alive in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. He realized his mistake, and he was grateful to be alive. Instead of getting angry with God, he thought about all that he could be thankful for.
“I called the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me,” he said. “The waters closed in over me, and my life is floating away. But I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to him. Those who worship anything other than God forsake their loyalty.”
Then he prayed, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will worship you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”
The Lord heard Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving. He spoke to the whale, and it spat Jonah out onto the dry land.
The Lord told Jonah again to go forth to Nineveh. This time Jonah listened. He got up and set out for the great city to preach God’s message of repentance.
Review Questions for the story Of Jonah and the Whale
- Where did God send Jonah to warn the people? (Nineveh)
- Why did Jonah run away from God instead of going to Nineveh? (Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because they were Israel’s enemies, and he was afraid.)
- What city was Jonah sailing to? (Tarshish)
- How did others suffer because of Jonah’s disobedience? (The storm was causing the ship to break apart, and the sailors were afraid)
- What was Jonah doing while all the sailors were praying to their gods? (Sleeping)
- How did the sea become calm? (Sailors threw Jonah overboard)
- What happened to Jonah overboard? ( 1 Where did God tell Jonah to go? (Nineveh)
- Why did Jonah run away from God? (He didn’t want to go to Nineveh because they were Israel’s enemies)
- What city was Jonah sailing to? (Tarshish)
- How did others suffer because of Jonah’s disobedience? (The storm was causing the ship to break apart and the sailors were afraid)
- What was Jonah doing while all the sailors were praying to their gods? (Sleeping)
- How did the sea become calm? (Sailors threw Jonah overboard)
- What happened to Jonah after he was thrown overboard? (God sent a whale to swallow him.)
- How many days did Jonah spend in the belly of the whale?
- How did Jonah get out of the belly of the whale? (He prayed, and God answered him.)
Jonah in the Belly of the Whale Story
Jonah in the Belly of the Whale Song
The materials you will need to recreate this simple Jonah in the Belly of a Whale craft.
- Cardboard
- Blue acrylic paint
- Paint brushes
- Stencil knife
- Glue
- Contact paper
- Stickers
- Paper to draw Jonah on or a printed picture of Jonah. The picture I used I got from searching google.
- Pencil
- Googly eyes
- White acrylic marker
How to recreate Jonah in the Belly of a Whale craft.
Step 1: Draw the shape of a whale onto cardboard. Draw the midsection of the whale big enough so that there is space to cut out to place Jonah in the belly of the whale.
Step 2: Use your stencil knife to cut out the whale and present your child with paint and paint brushes for them to paint their whale.
Step 3: Paint one side of the whale and leave it to dry, then paint the next side. and do the same.
Step 4: When the whale is dry, draw a circle in the belly of the whale and cut it out with your stencil knife.
Step 5: Draw two circles that are about half an inch bigger than the circle on the whale on your contact paper and cut them out.
Step 6: Place one of your contact paper circles on one side of the whale. If your little ones can draw and cut, allow them to draw their picture of Jonah and cut it out, placing it on the sticky side of your contact paper. ( I found the pictures we used on Google.)
Step 7: Present your child with stickers of sea creatures and let them add what they believe would be in the belly of the whale with Jonah. They can also draw and cut for this step.
Step 8: When your child is finished putting Jonah and the sea creatures in the belly of the whale, place your second contact paper circle onto the other side of your whale to seal Jonah into the belly of the whale.
Step 9: Use some Glue to attach the googly eyes and your white acrylic marker to draw a mouth.
There you have it! A simple yet durable craft that you can refer to time and time again with your little ones.
We do hope you find this activity useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by sending us a message or visiting us @learning.stepbystep on Instagram, Learning Step By Step on Facebook and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for educational resources that will help you and your littles on their learning journey as they continue to Learn Step By Step!
Thank you for being here!
Kimberlee and the Learning Step By Step Team.
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