From the Cradle to the Cross: Jesus Calls the Disciples

Jesus begins his ministry after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness by calling his disciples.  We focused mostly on his calling of Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John from Matthew 5:18-22.  This is a fun lesson to act out and can be understood pretty well by young kids.

We read the story from a few children's Bibles to get the basic idea down.  Then it was time to act it out.  I typically tell my boys to get down off the coffee table, but I decided it might be fun to pretend that the table was a boat for a fun surprise.  I flipped it upside down and got a blue sheet we had in the closet to make some water.  I totally debated doing the sheet because I didn't want to add to the laundry pile, but it ended up providing an entire morning's worth of entertainment, so I'm glad I did!

I cut out some paper fish that I found a template for here and stuck a paper clip on their mouths.  I used a magnetic fishing pole from a puzzle we already had and made a really quick homemade one too (out of a dowel rod, yarn, tape and a magnet) so that they could both go fishing in their boat.  I know the disciples used nets, but I couldn't think of a good way to do this.  I'd love suggestions!

As I retold the story, we acted it out.  I let them go fishing for a while...

Then, pretending to be Jesus, I said, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  The Bible said that they immediately left their nets and followed him.  Isaac (my oldest) obliged, but Silas wanted to look at a picture Bible.  So at that point it became a one on one lesson and I was just thankful that the other child wasn't screaming.  :)

We played follow the leader around the house and talked about what it meant to be a "fisher of men."  I knew that my very literal 3 year old would take it to mean that Jesus was telling them he wanted them to bait and hook males.  It's a pretty abstract word picture for his age and I wanted to make sure he got the point rather than get caught up in the funny saying.  I explained that Jesus was telling them to leave their jobs and go everywhere with him and tell others about him and God's kingdom.  We sang a song from Seeds of Purpose (Fishers of Men) which is Matthew 4:18-20 put to music.  As we followed each other around the house dancing, we sang "Come follow me," Jesus said, "And I will make you fishers of men."  (You can still get 20% off any purchase from Seeds Family Worship using the code WHENYOURISE, by the way.  These continue to be my absolute favorite cds.)

They LOVED the fishing and as soon as we got done acting it all out, Isaac wanted to do the story again and he wanted to be Jesus this time.  So Silas and I scattered the fish again, climbed in the boat and fished until Isaac said, "Come, follow me."  He and I played another round of follow the leader where he got to lead and then we played it again... and again.

Isaac's turn to be the leader... I just love it when I get to crawl around the house!  ;)

As the morning went on, we turned back into our "normal selves" and had a windy storm come up (I can't wait to do this again for the story of Jesus calming the storm!) and then, when the coffee table got flipped right side up, the sheet turned into a bathtub full of water.  In the end, the sheet became a tent and we had successfully filled our entire morning's activities around a large piece of blue cloth and a coffee table.  :)

I like to try to find things around the house that we do on a regular basis that can help us review down the road, so I got out some fish puzzles that we have.  As we did one, we talked about the story of Jesus calling the disciples and hopefully  it will provide opportunities for conversations and review in the future now too!

Here's a couple more ideas, if you're interested:

I found this fun song here to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me" that names the 12 Disciples.

Jesus called them one by one,
Peter, Andrew, James and John
Next came Phillip, Thomas too
Matthew and Bartholomew

Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
He called them one by one

James, the one they called the less
Simon, also Thadaeus
Twelve apostles Judas made
Jesus was by him betrayed

Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
Yes, Jesus called them
He called them one by one

I also found this fun idea for "Follow Me Flip-Flops."  I've mentioned more than once that my boys don't really get into crafts, but I thought it might be fun for kids that are a little older or do enjoy crafty stuff.

This was one of those awesome mornings where 10 minutes of prep turned into a few hours of fun.  And I was EXTREMELY grateful after the morning we'd had the day before.  :)