Jonah and the whale is a fantastic bible story that teaches children how important it is to listen to God and reminds everyone that he is always there to take care of us. To support this learning I have put together some fun Jonah and the whale themed activities for children aged from 0 to 5.
To immediately engage the children and introduce them to the theme of Jonah and the whale I made a whale tent using:
- Chairs
- Purple blanket
- Toilet roll tube
- Blue carrier bag
- Eyes cut out of paper
I used the whale tent as part of the story encouraging all of the children to sit in the tent with me pretending we were inside a whale, like Jonah was. Igniting conversations about what it would be like inside a whale, some of the children thought it would be dark so everyone had a torch to see. I read the story of Jonah and the whale from the children's bible inside the tent which really captivated the children's imagination because they were absorbed in the story, feeling like they were in the whale with Jonah. In the story when the whale spat Jonah out, all of the children jumped out of the tent which they found very fun and enjoyed repeating. This reinforced the story and helped the children to remember that God always cares for them.
Inside the whale tent we had cushions, torches and the bible. After the story, the children had fun playing in the tent and acting out the Jonah and the whale story from memory.
As a fun activity we also played pin the tail on the whale which the children loved. One at a time a child put a blind fold on and we spun them around before they tried to pin the tail on the whale. This promoted spatial awareness, physical development and memory. The children enjoyed playing this game again and again as well as laughing with each other when they pinned the tail in the wrong place.
I hope you are inspired by these Jonah and the whale activities!
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