moses & the manna from heaven game preschool kids will love
In our church Sunday School class, our preschoolers have been learning about God’s miracles through our God Did WHAATT?!?! unit and they are absolutely LOVING it.
This week, we learned about the miracle of God sending manna from Heaven for the Israelites to eat while they were wondering in the desert–and very hungry! It was a HUGE hit for my kiddos and helped them really understand this miracle.
Sometimes, as an adult who grew up in church all of her life, I become immune to the awesomeness of God’s miraculous powers. But spending time with 3 and 4 year olds and watching their eyes light up at these amazing miracles has given me a fresh appreciation for God.
Let’s take a closer look at this Manna from Heaven game!
manna from heaven game prep
Before class, I filled a bag full of Rice Krispies as our flakes of manna. You could use small oyster crackers or cornflake cereals, too. (Be sure and check on your kids’ allergies. Our twins have to be gluten free, and usually the great value brand of rice krispies are gluten free–but always check!)
We usually do some kind of whole group game after our Bible story. This week, after Bible story time, I set up our room for the manna from Heaven game while the kids were doing their coloring page and listening to our Miracles song. (My preschool kids love listening to a song that goes with our unit during coloring time and it gives them a short time frame to stay focused on a task!)
I used brown craft paper and put it down on the floor as our “desert.” That’s all we needed to set up this kid-favorite game!
manna from heaven game directions
At the beginning of the game, I gave each kid a “tent house” area around the desert to stay in. They also each got a bag to use as a basket to collect the “Manna from Heaven.” Next, I turned off our lights for night time and they each went to sleep in their “tents.”
While they slept, I added Manna from Heaven to the desert…just like what happened in our Manna Bible story!
When I turned the lights back on it was morning time. The kids got up and collected the manna from heaven off the desert ground just like the Israelites and put it in their bags. I reminded them that God told the Israelites to only collect enough for their day and not too much.
Once they thought they had enough manna for the day, they returned to their “tent” and ate their manna.
After the first round, some kids had more manna than they could eat so they had to empty their baskets so they wouldn’t have any leftovers for the next day that rotted! 🙂
We played 3 rounds just like this…I can always tell when we need to stop because the kids start getting a little crazy and the boys get more physical! Ha!
After the game, I added some more manna to their bags at the end for an extra snack. I love how this manna from Heaven game is just a reenactment of the Bible story because the kids are basically reviewing the Bible story each time they play… and repetition is exactly what our preschool kids need!
My preschoolers (and I!) had so much fun playing this game and I know it really made this manna from Heaven bible story much more memorable for my preschoolers!
Read this blog post for more Moses games and activities for preschoolers.
Find this lesson, plus the entire unit of other Miracles of the bible here.
