Jesus Calms the Storm is a short but action-packed story that can be found in three of the four gospels. It’s an easy story to teach kids because it’s so memorable for them as well as being an extremely visual story. Jesus calming the storm is a very relatable story as many children have seen or been in a physical storm and can relate to the fear that the disciples may have been feeling. It’s a great way to teach kids that Jesus can not only work miracles but he can calm literal and figurative storms as well!
We’ve created a lesson plan for your Sunday School to help you teach about Jesus and his disciples in the storm. Our plan includes games, snacks, dress up ideas, a memory verse, and motions for memorizing, a take-home activity, main points to focus on, and object lessons.
If you’re looking for additional lesson resources, we recommend this FREE Sunday School lesson on Jesus Calming the Storm as well!
MAIN POINT
God is there through every storm in our lives
Even though we may never be in an actual storm in a boat like the disciples were, we all will encounter some type of storm, whether that be an injury to our body, a loss of a family member or friend, or a hard time at school or work. We can always know that even though we don’t feel God there with us, just like the disciples thought Jesus wasn’t “with” them, we can know that God is there with us through every storm that we will go through.
With God anything is possible
God is more powerful than any storm or troubles that we will face and if we have faith in Him and His power then we can know that He can do so much more than we can! We may think that everything is up to us, but we can depend on God’s strength because ultimately it is not up to us. We can choose to put our trust in Jesus with our lives and the storms we go through. Everything is always in His hands and we have to trust that He always knows more than we do in all things.
GAME
Jesus Calms the Storm Parachute Game
You will need a parachute or a large sheet and a toy boat. Set the boat in the middle of the parachute/sheet and let the kids hold on to the edges. Let them take turns saying “storm” and having everyone shake the parachute/sheet and then “peace” and everyone is calm and sets it down.
There’s a Storm Coming Game
Have all the kids lie down in different spots in the room and pretend to be “sleeping”. One person is chosen to go around the room and try to wake up the others one by one, without touching them. They can tell jokes or move close to them, but they cannot touch them. Once the “sleeping” person has moved or opened their eyes they have to get up and join the person waking others up, until everyone has been “woken up”.
SNACK
Apple Boats
A fun and healthy snack! Slice apples up into quarters, place a straight pretzel stick in the apple (skin side down), and a triangle chunk of cheese on top of the pretzel stick! It ends up resembling a boat!
Jello Boats
This snack may take a little more time but can turn out super cute! Make blue jello in little clear cups. Cut oranges into quarters and place them on top of the completed and cooled Jello cups. Then place a toothpick with a little paper triangle glued to it on top of the orange and voila! You know have your own orange slice boat in the water!
DRESS UP
Boat
In this story, the dress up and clothing may not be as important as the prop! The boat is the main character in this story and will help bring the story to life! You could go big and bring in a blow-up raft to sit in while you tell the story, or you could even go as small and last minute as a box or tote! Either way, having a boat will take your story to the next level!
Jesus/Disciple Clothes
To dress up like Jesus or a disciple, a simple knee-length bathrobe will do the trick which can easily be put on over top of the clothes you are wearing that day!
MEMORY VERSE
Mark 4:39 – Start the verse out by sitting down
He got up – Go from sitting to standing
rebuked the wind – put one hand in front of you as if to say stop
and said to the waves – hands up by mouth to imitate talking
“Quiet! Be still!” – Put finger by mouth making the “shhh” motion
Then the wind died down and it was completely calm – bring both hands up above the head and down
TAKE-HOME ACTIVITY
Jesus is in the boat with me
Give them a coloring sheet of a plain boat, and have them take it home and tell them to draw themselves in the boat with Jesus and anyone else that they are praying for that needs to know that Jesus is with them too. You can also download this coloring page for free.
OBJECT LESSON
Storm in a Bottle
Supplies Needed: Empty Water bottle, water to fill the bottle about half full, 2 drops of blue food coloring, canola/vegetable oil to fill the rest of the bottle with, and an empty bowl or tub.
Does anyone know why Jesus was able to calm the storm? Well, if you don’t know I will tell you! Jesus was able to calm the storm because God gave Him the power to. Do you know who made the Earth and the water and the rain? That’s right, God did! Now it’s kind of like if I were to make my own storm, right? So, I have this bottle here and I am going to make a storm and then stop it. I can stop it, because, well I made it! Watch this!
- Fill half the empty bottle with water.
- Put 2 drops of food coloring in the bottle.
- Fill the bottle the rest of the way up with oil.
- Put the lid on the bottle, shake it up, and show them the storm you made.
- Then unscrew the top and pour it into the bowl and show them the empty bottle and tell them, “Now just like God gave Jesus the power to stop the storm because God has control of what He made. Because I made the storm, I can stop it too, or I can give one of you the power to stop the storm!” (Possibly invite one of the kids up to help you stop the storm and pour contents of bottle out into bowl/tub)
Drowning without God
Supplies Needed: Clear cup filled with warm water, a container of salt (with a new label that says “Faith and Trust in God), tablespoon, egg, and long spoon to get the egg out of water.
The disciples were so scared of drowning, weren’t they? Jesus asked them why they were so afraid. Kind of crazy right, BUT you know what Jesus knew? He knew that they had everything they needed to survive the storm! You see I have this egg here and I’m going to drop it in the water and without the things that it needs (like faith and trust in God), it’s just going to drown. Now I’m going to take it out with this spoon and show you what faith and trust in God will do for our little egg friend here, I have some “Faith and Trust in God” right here with me (show them the container of salt), now I’m going to take some faith in God (pour in 1 tablespoon of salt), and some trust in God (pour in 2nd tablespoon of salt), and I’m going to mix it in so it’s good and in there. Now I’m going to put the egg in with the faith and trust in God and…. would you look at that! Our little egg friend isn’t drowning anymore! You see boys and girls it is so important that we read our Bibles and spend time with God so that we know that we have our faith and trust in God for when times get hard and we face storms in our own life!
