John the Baptist Activities
Repentance and Salvation
Our John the Baptist activities have been used for students ranging from preschool age to 5th grade. These activities have been used with my own kids, but mostly in children’s Sunday School. The activities below will help you teach about John the Baptist, repentance, and baptism. Each one of these topics could stand on their own, but when teaching certain passages in the Bible, they tend to go together.
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How to use the John the Baptist Activities
There are lots of John the Baptist activities, printables, and crafts to be found. However, not all of them specifically work for the age group you are working with or the supply list doesn’t fit your time allotment and budget. Below you will find printables and activities that work for a variety of age groups. They also require minimal prep.
To create a dynamic and engaging class, plan to incorporate a number of activities. A good rule of thumb is to change your activity every 10-15 minutes. This will ensure your students’ attention doesn’t wain and that their interest stays peaked. This is especially true of younger kids where their attention span is minimal. Oftentimes students misbehave or don’t pay attention because the teacher’s expectations are over realistic and long-winded. Change it up a bit! It is always better to over-plan than to under-plan.
Wilderness Survival Challenge
At the beginning of every lesson, it is important to have a “grabber.” A grabber is an activity that grabs your student’s attention. It sets the stage for the rest of the lesson. The grabber helps the teacher lead into the main meat of the lesson. It is the appetizer to the real meat and potatoes… I must be hungry!
When teaching about John the Baptist, this Wilderness Survival Challenge is a perfect grabber. Read the prompt to the students making sure to tell them that today we are going to be reading about someone who was an expert at surviving in the wilderness. Let the students draw or write the items they would take with them to survive in the wilderness. Have them work in pairs, teams, or as individuals. Take time to discuss it afterwards. In the end, make sure to connect the activity to John the Baptist. I like to say something like, “Today we are going to talk about someone in the Bible that was an expert at living in the wilderness.” Download below.
Taste Challenge
An easy way to layer a lesson is to add any many senses as possible. In most cases, the sense of taste doesn’t readily fit into a Bible study, but for this one, it does! So, take advantage of it. With the honey and the plastic grasshopper, we hit taste and touch. Props are always encouraged. Before letting kids taste test the honey, be sure you check for allergies. We talked about what John the Baptist ate and explained to the kids what locusts are. We talked about how God created all plants, trees, and animals with a purpose. Just because we may not eat grasshoppers on a normal basis doesn’t mean that they are not packed with protein, fiber, and vitamins. Of course, the students wanted to share things they knew about food in the wild too. This was a great sharing time.
John the Baptist Coloring Sheet
Oftentimes my students and I will use a Bible coloring sheet like this one. It allows the students to see a visual while we read the scripture. A pro to using this type of lesson sheet is that all students have the same version of the Bible and students do not get confused. This is especially helpful when students are still apprehensive about reading out loud. The version featured is NIV. One of the cons of this type of Bible reading is that the students are not reading from the actual Bible. Be mindful of this as it is important for students to read from their physical Bibles and not merely from a sheet of paper which seems to hold less meaning and value. However, in this particular lesson, I knew the students were going to use their Bible in another activity, so it worked. Download Below.
Bible Felt Board
Now, I can attest to the fact that this resource is not for everyone. It can be pricey and needs to be stored. However, if you teach children’s Bible classes a lot or you are in charge of a children’s ministry, then this resource is one that keeps giving repeatedly. Using felt boards to teach the Bible is effective. When a teacher puts one piece of felt up slowly and deliberately while telling a Bible story, students watch mesmerized. In a world where kids view high-definition screens often, it is refreshing to see children intrigued by felt characters. The felt board brings the story to life with realistic images, not cartoon caricatures. This activity is one that can be used for John the Baptist as well as most Bible studies.
Repentance Walk
Sometimes your students just need to move. We may not have as much energy as we used to, but your kids do! This simple activity came about after seeing my students need to get the wiggles out! You can modify this to fit your individual needs. First, have your students stand up. Instruct them to walk around the table or room in a circle. I proceed to sing, “Walking, walking, walking, walking, walking, walking,… in sin. STOP. REPENT! Kids are to turn around and start walking in the opposite direction. We do this multiple times. In the end, I sing, “Walking, walking, walking, walking, walking, … with Jesus.” The students are asked to sit back in their seats. This is a simple and short activity.
Repentance & Baptism Scripture Activity
After going over the story of who John the Baptist was, what repentance is, and explaining the purpose of baptism, this scripture challenge poses a great hands-on activity! All you need is the printout, construction paper, and stick glue. Before handing out the materials, the students are asked to look up Matthew 3:11 (NIV). A student reads it out loud. We talk about the verse and then I explain to them that they are going to be unscrambling this very verse.
You will need to prepare a little prior to class. First, print one scripture page out for each student. Next, using a paper cutter (or scissors), cut the scripture out in strips. As you can see from the picture, after cutting the pages of the scripture into strips, I paper-clipped them together so that I could easily give each student one strip of each line of the verse. Besides giving each student one of all of the strips, they also get a piece of construction paper and a glue stick.
Using their Bibles, students unscramble the Bible verse and glue it in the right order. Voila!
Download Below.
Teach Repentance with Magnet Demonstration
For those of you who are into science, using magnets to show repentance is fun and hands-on. Look in the photo. Do you see the donut magnets? Those are my favorite.
I started by taking two of those donut magnets and putting them each flat on the table. Prior to sharing with the students, I checked to make sure that the magnets were experiencing the same poles… meaning that they were repelling each other when I pushed one to the other. After getting the kids’ attention, I showed them how when I slid one magnet towards the other one, it pushed away causes the magnet I was sliding to be chasing the other one. I explained that when we are walking in sin we can’t have a close relationship to Jesus.
See, Jesus is perfect and sinless. He wants the best for us. God sent John the Baptist to tell us to repent. If we repent and turn from our sin (I turn the donut magnet over) we can have a close relationship with Jesus. The donut magnet will now be attracted to the one it was chasing. Now that the two magnets are stuck together, I explain to the kids that when we follow Jesus, He will never leave us or forsake us. I slide the magnet around as the other one remains attached to it.
John the Baptist baptizes Jesus
We don’t usually use this coloring sheet when we teach this particular lesson, but I thought it might be helpful to some of you who are looking to teach the complete scene of John the Baptist then baptizing Jesus. Download Below.
Explaining Baptism to Kids
One of the most important things to cover with your kids about baptism is that they do not have to be baptized to be saved. So many kids think that baptism is a requirement to be saved by Jesus. On the other hand, some have preconceived notions that if you get baptized you are saved. This is not true either. I would encourage you to read some scripture about baptism before taking anyone’s word for it. Baptism is something that God asks us to do in obedience to our faith in Him. When Jesus went to be baptized by John the Baptist, he was showing us by example what we should do so others will know that we are Christ’s followers. When we are emersed in the baptismal water, we are showing that we have been washed clean of our sins and born again.
We explained to our class that when you accept that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross for your sin, and confess that you need Him to be your Savior, you are saved! After you become a Christian He calls you to publicly acknowledge that you are His. We do this in baptism. Getting baptized should be an exciting day! At our house, we have a special lunch or dinner with a cake. Watching your kids grow in the acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is their Savior is more precious than anything else. Be blessed and enjoy teaching your kids and others about Him… Marie
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