Water Wonders VBS – The Story of Noah
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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- Are You Willing to Be Humiliated? - December 9, 2019
We are so excited to team up with Minivan Ministries to host this Virtual Vacation Bible School. Vacation Bible School is something our kids love and how fun would it be to do a mini version at home. You could even invite some neighbor kids over today to learn about Noah and have fun too!
Following God is a Skill
The story of Noah is filled with so many wonderful lessons, but what I’d love us to focus on with our kids today is how Noah followed God. If your kids are anything like mine, sometimes they need a little more encouragement in this area. It is important for them to learn that following God and taking directions from God takes practice and is a skill we all need to learn.
Noah and his family actually followed God when no one else would! It was because of Noah’s faithfulness to God that God chose Noah. God asked Noah to trust Him and to follow his instructions by building the ark and preparing for a new beginning.
Story & a Snack
When telling a story, it’s always nice to have a little snack. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Maybe just some animal crackers and water. Or, if you want to spend a little time preparing snacks for your kiddos, freeze fruit and water in an ice tray, put a Popsicle stick in it and let them enjoy their created treat later in the day.
Then, let’s share the awesome story with our kiddos. There are many great Children’s Bibles. But honestly, when it comes to making my kids feel in awe of God and showing them how to follow Him, I prefer to read Bible stories to my kids directly from the Bible. There are so many awesome details that simply get left out of the children’s story Bibles.
For example, did you know that God actually sent more than 2 of every kind of animal? It’s true. I never knew that until I read the story myself. I thought the animals all entered 2×2 and that was it.
Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a males and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and it’s mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.
Genesis 7:2-3
Read Genesis 6 – 8 to get the full details of how Noah followed God.
This Beginner’s Bible Cartoon does a pretty good job of being accurate to the Biblical text. If you watch this, I would still encourage you to talk through the details below.
The Details
Talk over these details with your kids and then you can use them later to play games.
Before the Flood
- Noah was a righteous man in a world full of wicked people. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
- Noah’s son’s were Shem, Ham Japheth. (Genesis 6:10)
- God specifically told Noah how to build the ark. (Genesis 6:15-16)
- Use cypress/gopher wood
- Make rooms
- Coat the ark with pitch (tar) on the inside and out
- The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall
- Make a roof and finish the ark within 18 inches from the top
- Put a door in the side of the ark
- Make lower, middle and upper decks
- God said He would bring floodwater to destroy all life under the heavens. (Genesis 6:17)
- God will establish a covenant with Noah and his family. (Genesis 6:18)
- He sent 7 pairs of clean animals & 1 pair of unclean animals to the ark. (Genesis 7:2)
- God said in 7 days I will send rain for 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:4)
- “Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.” (Genesis 7:5)
- Noah and his wife and his sons (Shem, Ham & Japheth) along with their wives entered the ark. 8 people along with the animals God had sent went into the ark. (Genesis 7:7-9)
- The Lord shut Noah and his family along with all the animals in the ark. (Genesis 7:16)
During the Flood
- When Noah was 600 years old, on the sixth day of the seventh month, the springs of the deep burst forth and the food gates of the heavens opened. Rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights. (Genesis 7:11-12)
- The flood waters covered all the mountains and was 20 feet higher than the tallest mountain. (Genesis 7:20)
- Everything that was still on the earth and not in the ark died. (Genesis 7:22-24)
- The springs and the flood gates of the heavens were closed and the rain stopped falling. (Genesis 8:2)
- The waters flooded the earth for 150 days. (Genesis 7:24 & 8:3)
- On the 17th day of the 7th month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:4)
- God sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded. The waters continued to recede until the 10th month and on the 1st day of the 10th month the tops of the mountains became visible. (Genesis 8:1 – 5)
- After 40 days, Noah opened the window he made in the ark and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the water dried up from the earth. (Genesis 8:6-7)
- Then, Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the earth. The dove could not find a place to set it’s feet because water still covered the earth, so it came back to Noah. Noah reached out his hand, and brought the dove back into the ark. (Genesis 8:8-9)
- 7 days later, Noah sent the dove out again. This time the dove returned in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew the water was no longer covering the earth. (Genesis 8:10-11)
- 7 days later, Noah sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back (Genesis 8:12)
- By the 1st day of the 1st month of Noah’s 601st year, the water had dried up from the earth. (Genesis 8:13)
- By the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was completely dry. (Genesis 8:14)
After the Flood
- Then God told Noah to come out of the ark with his wife, his sons and their wives and to bring out all the animals so they can multiply. (Genesis 8:15-17)
- Noah followed God’s order and came out of the ark with his family and all the animals. (Genesis 8:18-19)
- Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, took some of the clean animals and offered a sacrifice to God. (Genesis 8:20)
- The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:20-21)
- God blessed Noah and his son and told them to multiply and fill the earth. (Genesis 9:1)
- God made the animals fear the people and gave every creature that moves along the ground and all the fish in the sea to them to eat. “Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” (Genesis 9:2-3)
- God reminded them that no one is to murder anyone else and He would demand an accounting from every animal and every person for the life of his fellow man because man was made in the image of God. (Genesis 9:4-6)
- God established a covenant with Noah and his descendants and all the living creatures – Never again will a flood destroy the entire earth. (Genesis 9:11)
- The sign of the covenant was a rainbow in the clouds. (Genesis 9:12-17)
- Noah’s salvation through the flood waters symbolized baptism, which through faith also saves us. It is not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:20-22)
Download the Noah Card Game to play some fun games!
The Connection to Jesus
Noah followed God’s plan exactly and because of that He and his family were saved. In the same way, God sent Jesus with a plan to save us. Jesus followed itexactly the way God wanted Him to. He glorified God, healed the sick, and died on the cross to save us from our sins. Christ’s obedience brought salvation to us, just like Noah’s obedience brought salvation to his family.
Just as Noah followed the Lord, we are to follow Jesus Christ our Lord and trust His words and follow His instructions!
3 Fun Application Activities
Now, it’s time to practice our following skills. And yes it is such a skill that we must practice. If we teach our kids to practice following us as their parents, then they will find it easier to follow God too. And they will be a great follower of our Lord, just like Noah!
Activity #1 – Water Balloon Game
There are so many ways you can use the details above. Use these Bible game card questions to play a water balloon winning game. Take turns asking each child a question, when they get the answer right, they win a water balloon. At the end of the game, they get to have a water balloon fight with the balloons they have collected.
Activity #2 – Have the kids play “Noah Says.”
Noah followed God, but Noah is the one that gave the directions to his family and to those around him. His family chose to follow him, while the others did not.
All you need for this game is a water hose!
“Noah says” is similar to “Simon says” with one exception. Each child will take a turn being Noah. They will say “Noah says” or just give a command without saying “Noah says.” When any of the of the other children do not follow Noah’s commands or does something when Noah didn’t say “Noah says,” they get squirted with the waterhose.
Activity #3 – Let’s build a boat…out of paper!
1st – Choose your favorite color of paper.
2nd – Choose which boat you would like to make.
3rd – Watch the video and follow the instructions. Think about how Noah had to follow God’s direction exactly so that the ark would float.
4th – Go outside and float your boat in a pool or bucket. Or if you would rather stay inside fill up the sink or bathtub and let your kids play.
Easy version
A little more complex. This would be good for older kids or little ones that are patient.
Song
Now, VBS would not be complete without singing. So here is our family’s favorite song about Noah & the Ark. What is yours?
Prayer
Lord, help us to obey you as Noah obeyed you. He trusted you even when He had never seen a storm before. Help us to trust you in the same when when it feels like we are in a storm. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
Did you see yesterday’s Water Work VBS post – The Story of Creation? If not, check it out now!
