GOD is the our Father. Use this simple Bible lesson to teach kids on Father’s Day. Download the teaching notes below. We’ve included crafts, game ideas, and other printable coloring pages to help you prepare and teach this important truth from God’s Word.
“Abba! A Father Who Provides”
Father’s Day Bible Lesson for Kids
Father’s Day tends to attract much less attention and publicity than Mother’s Day. Perhaps it is eclipsed by other summer celebrations. Maybe masculine images don’t lend themselves to Hallmark cards as readily. Maybe fatherhood in general is just less emphasized than maternal focuses. Yet dads so important. Not only are they tasked with raising children who can be strong members of society, as Christians, fathers are meant to exemplify the love that God the Father has for us. The father-child bond is a beautiful relationship that illustrates how God sees us as His beloved children.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a great father figure in life, or even a father at all. This makes it even more wonderful that God has adopted us as His children. He cares for us much more than our earthly fathers, and this can be a comfort whether or not we have a quality relationship with our paternal figures. This lesson can be taken in a few directions, but the main idea stresses the importance of recognizing and loving God as our Heavenly and eternal father.
Lesson focus: God cares for us enough to send His son to die for us, and He promises to stay with us. God provides all that we need, and has the wisdom to give us what is best for our lives. We can trust in His love and care, and live in His presence and protection.
| Proverbs 23:24-25 | Matthew 10:26-33 | Matthew 7:11 |
| Luke 15:11-32 | Romans 8:14-17 | Exodus 20:12 |
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade
Materials Needed: Construction paper, decorative materials, rocks, scissors, glue or tape, coloring supplies, string or pipe cleaner, Bible (all optional, depending which activities you choose to use—except for the Bible, you need that for sure).
More Teaching Ideas for Father’s Day at Church:
Print our Father’s Day Sunday School Lesson browse Popular Bible Verses for Father’s Day. Download our Father’s Day Coloring Pages see the craft demonstration and more Father’s Day ideas on YouTube
Games and Lesson Introduction
Lesson Opening: Here are a few potential activities to try in conjunction with a Father’s Day lesson. Choose one or two to open your session, or sprinkle them in with the lesson itself, or after it. (note: most of these elements could be used at home or in a larger group setting).
Here are some activities to get kids thinking…(select the best ones for your audience and age group):
- Whose dad is that? Display pictures of several celebrities and their fathers. See if kids can guess which dad belongs with which well-known individual. Additionally, match pictures of students with their fathers (obviously, this is a bit easy if the lesson is taking place at home…)
- Patriarch parade…list several famous fathers in the Bible, and test student knowledge to see if they recall which went with individual sons. Make this a matching test, or for extra challenge provide only the father or son names. Consider fathers like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Zechariah (John the Baptist’s dad), and Joseph (Foster father to Jesus).
- Have kids describe their fathers. Start with physical attributes, such as appearance or body type; but then focus on inner characteristics and qualities that make dads special. Encourage kids to name any male role model in their lives, in case biological fathers are not as involved.
- Mom versus dad…besides the obvious (male and female), how are dads and moms different? Invite students to brainstorm things that each parent does uniquely.
- Reflecting the Father…a lot of times, people comment on how our appearances or behaviors might be similar to our parents. Look at pictures or talk about traits that illustrate this. Discuss how our lives as Christians should reflect Godly characteristics, as He is our Heavenly Father.
- Enjoy some “Dad’s” brand root beer, and have students take one for their fathers!
Discuss with students how God loves us as a Father. He invites us to call Him Father, and wants us to have a special relationship with Him as such. We are in His family, and that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ask: In what ways does God show Himself as father? How is he like our earthly fathers? How is he different?
Abba Provides! Bible Study for Father’s Day
Bible Lesson: As always, how you choose to experience the story will vary according to the ages and abilities of your children (and how many are participating). For this lesson, consider highlighting several verses that talk about fathers in the Bible, obeying our fathers, or honoring our fathers. Be sure to emphasize how God is our Heavenly Father.
Feel free to review the stories with video clips, puppet show reenactments, children’s Bibles, or whatever method works best for you to communicate the verses and stories. Here are a few potential passage options (of course, there are many more):
Proverbs 23:24-25 (Demonstrating wisdom makes parents proud)
Matthew 10:26-33 (God provides for insignificant birds; how much more for people?!)
Matthew 7:11 (God knows what we need and will make sure we have the essentials)
Luke 15:11-32 (The story of the Prodigal Son; God values each and every one of us; nothing that we do will ever take that away or separate us from His unfailing love)
Romans 8:14-17 (God adopts us as heirs of His kingdom; He invites us to call Him “Abba”)
Exodus 20:12 (Honor fathers and mothers, and so receive blessing for all of life)
Whichever passage or story you choose to focus on, emphasize how great God’s love is for us.
We can be assured that, just as our earthly fathers want what is best for us, God does too, and loves us even more than our earthly dads. If we don’t know our own dads well, we can take heart in the assurance that God perfectly loves us and desires our love. He makes no mistakes, and He will never abandon us or forsake us.
He counts us as His most precious and beloved creation, and will grant us what we need. He’s already fulfilled that promise by giving salvation through Jesus. And He will continue to be with us always.
Suggested Bible Crafts:
“Dad Rocks Rock People”, “Dad’s Toolbox”, “Tied up Card”; Also consider a ribbon or “trophy” card, or “hole in one” golf card (if dad is a golfer).
Follow up/Additional Lesson Activities
- Make an acrostic poem for fathers, or uncles, or godfathers, or….
- Play a “man-themed” game like mock fishing or golfing
- Create “Dad coupons” for things like chores and time with dads
- Learn a new skill from dad
- Find other significant Scripture passages about fathers
- “Kind of bad dads”….look at the book of Judges (and other Old Testament areas) for some lesser-celebrated stories of dads who were not great examplesWrite a card or letter to someone you haven’t talked to in awhile.