Jesus Calms the Storm Lesson Activities
There are two beautiful stories in the Bible in which Jesus calms a storm and reveals His power and authority. We’ve created some faith-based activities ideal for your children’s ministry or homeschool teaching on these two stories. These lessons will challenge kids to ask themselves the same questions that Jesus asked His disciples and will teach the biblical truth about why we can put our trust in Jesus and know we are secure!
Story: Jesus Calms the Storm(s)
First, let's look at the story recorded in Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41. When the storm hit, Jesus was sleeping peacefully. The disciples woke Him in desperation on a boat in the middle of a lake as the storm became dangerous.
Jesus spoke and stopped the storm with his words telling the wind and the waves to calm. Then Jesus turned to his disciples and asked why they were afraid. He asked them why they didn’t have faith.
In Matthew 14:22-32 and John 6:16-21, Jesus calms another storm. This time, Jesus also walks on water and invites Peter to join Him. Peter does all right at first but then begins to sink when he gets afraid. Jesus rescues Peter from the waves
Jesus Calms the Storm Bible Lesson
Read the account from Matthew 8:23-27 to the kids. Ask them what the disciples were afraid of. Compare the story to today's world and some examples of common fears kids may have. Examples could be
- feeling alone
- worrying about their performance
- worrying about a challenge or difficulty
Talk about God’s track record and how we can trust Him because He is a promise keeper. Ask the kids to identify what Jesus did to help the disciples. Ask how the disciple’s problem was similar to Abraham, Moses, and us. What does history tell us about God helping us with our troubles? Encourage them to think of ways they can ask Jesus for help with their problems.
Stormy Game
Tools
- Tissue paper (2 different colors)
- Fans
- Masking Tape
How to Play
- Using two colors of tissue paper, crinkle the tissue into balls. Turn on a few fans in the room to create wind.
- Ask kids to get into two teams on opposite sides of the room. Give each team a different color tissue paper to use.
- Using masking tape, create a boat shape in the middle of the room. Next, create a line on each side of the boat about 3 feet away from the boat. Kids must stay behind the line and not cross it. The object of the game is for the teams to try to get the most tissue papers into the boat.
- Using a stopwatch, give the teams 1 minute to see which team can fill the boat with the most balls. When the stopwatch goes off yell out, “Quiet, be still!”
- Count to see which team wins, then ask them to gather their color balls for a second round. Have a few rounds to give each team a chance to win.
The fans will create an extra challenge and may blow tissue paper back out again or even make it hard to toss the balls into the boat, to begin with. For a large group of kids, create a larger size boat and have even more colored tissue balls and teams surrounding the boat in a large auditorium. For a homeschool activity, the same can be done with just two kids!
Craft: Floating Feet
Tools
- Foam craft sheets
- Washable markers
- Permanent markers
- Scissors
- Tubs of water
- Flip-flop keychain
Read Matthew 14:22-33 and discuss with the children how this passage gives another occurrence where Jesus calmed the storm and even invited Peter to step out in faith and join Him! It was only when Peter began to doubt that he started to sink. But Jesus was right there to catch him, just like He is for us when we have doubts!
Have kids partner up. Give each pair two foam sheets. Have one stand one foot on the sheet - tell them to keep their shoes on! Next, ask their partner to trace around the shoe with a washable marker onto the foam sheet.
Have kids switch roles so that each has a tracing of their shoe. Afterward, have the kids cut out their traced shoes. Using a permanent marker, ask kids to write “I can trust Jesus” on their foam shoe print. They can then decorate it however they would like.
Finally, using tubs of water, give each kid a chance to float their foam foot on top of the water. Compare the floating foot to faith in Jesus and Peter’s experience walking on water. Gift each kid with a flip-flop key chain to help remind them that wherever they walk, they can go confidently because Jesus is with them!
Build a Faith Foundation
From reading about the past in the Bible to learning to have faith in the present, to looking to God’s promises to us in the future, we can place our trust in God. We hope that these “Jesus Calms the Storm” lesson activities will be a great starting point for your children to build their faith and know they can always go to Jesus for help!
