Abraham, Sarah and Isaac (Preschool Bible Lesson about Patience)

This lesson plan is designed to teach preschool aged children about the story of Abraham and Sarah and the miracle of the birth of Isaac. It could be used in any setting with children age 2-5 at church, including a preschool Sunday School class or a preschool children’s church class. It highlights the need to trust God and wait for Him to keep his promises. As always, consider your own ministry context and modify it as needed. Please leave any feedback or suggestions for improvement in the comment box at the bottom of this page.

Bible Story: God gives Abrahan and Sarah a son
Scripture: Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7
Target Age Group: Age 2 – 5 (U.S. preschool ages)
Time: 15 Minutes
Learning Context: Church Preschool Class
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Learning Objectives: After this lesson, the children will demonstrate an understanding of the story by answering questions.

Items Needed:

• [print_link] this lesson plan
• Bible, Genesis 15:2-6 & 17:5,15-17,18 & 21:1-3
• Abraham, Sarah and Isaac Story Booklet (printable PDF download)
• Abraham, Sarah and Isaac Songs (printable PDF download)
• 1 cardstock (thin cardboard) star per child, watercolors, something to cover the table, bowls for water
• ½ construction paper triangle (for a tent) per child, drawing or picture of a man’s face – labeled “Abraham” (1 per child), drawing or picture of a woman’s face – labeled “Sarah” (1 per child), drawing or picture of a baby’s face – labeled “Isaac” (1 per child), Bible Verse written on a slip of paper (1 per child), sticker stars, yarn cut to the length of the top of the tent (optional), glue, marker to write each child’s name on their project

Worship: Use the “Abraham, Sarah and Isaac Songs” (extra print out) to lead the children to sing before the Bible lesson. You can also browse our other preschool worship resources.

Teaching Plan

Welcome Activity: Welcome activities are things to have out for the children to do as they are arriving for class. These activities will get them engaged as soon as they arrive and will help the transition from their parents.
Watercolor Stars – have the children use watercolor paints to paint a cardstock (or thin cardboard) star
Worship: Abraham, Sarah and Isaac Songs
Bible Lesson Introduction

• Use a timer and have the children wait for 30 seconds. Don’t tell them how long they will be waiting, but have them be quiet until they hear the bell of the timer. It will seem like forever to them!
• After the timer goes off, talk to them about waiting and what it’s like to wait for a special toy or a visit from someone.

Bible Lesson
Read Genesis 15:2-6 & 17:5,15-17,18 & 21:1-3 (NIRV) aloud to the children. There is also a book that you can print out that has the story along with simple pictures to help the children understand what is being read.
Read the verses (story) to the children. If you are using the print out story, point to the pictures as you read the story so that the children can better understand what you are saying.

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2 But Abram said, “Lord and King, what can you give me? I still don’t have any children. My servant Eliezer comes from Damascus. When I die, he will get everything I own.” 3 Abram continued, “You haven’t given me any children. So a servant in my house will get everything I own.”
4 Then a message came to Abram from the Lord. He said, “This man will not get what belongs to you. A son will come from your own body. He will get everything you own.”
5 The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky. Count the stars, if you can.” Then he said to him, “That is how many children you will have.”
6 Abram believed the Lord. The Lord accepted Abram because he believed. So his faith made him right with the Lord.
5 “You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will give you many children. Nations will come from you. And kings will come from you.

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai anymore. Her name will be Sarah. 16 I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man who is 100 years old? Will Sarah have a child at the age of 90?”
18 Abraham said to God, “I wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”
1 The Lord was gracious to Sarah, just as he had said he would be. He did for Sarah what he had promised to do. 2 Sarah became pregnant. She had a son by Abraham when he was old. He was born at the exact time God had promised him.
3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah had by him.

Read the verses (story) again, but this time have the children join you in doing the following hand motions:
Abram or Abraham: stand up tall
Sarai or Sarah: smile sweetly
children, child, son: acting like you are rocking a baby
star: make blinking motions with fingers
father: stand up tall
mother: smile sweetly

Discuss the Bible Reading: When you are finished reading the story the second time, ask the children the following questions so that you can know they understood it.
“Who was in the story?” God, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac
“What did God tell Abraham that He was going to do for him?” Give him a son
“Were Abraham and Sarah old or young when they had Isaac?” Old…Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old
“Did God tell Abraham that he would have a lot of children or just a few children?” A lot of children…as many as there are stars in the sky
Bible Lesson Craft / Activity
Use the following activities to reinforce the learning goals. If time is short, move on to the evaluation portion of the lesson plan.
Activity: Wait and Go (a.k.a. Red Light Green Light)
“During our Bible Story today, we learned that Abraham and Sarah had to wait a long time to have a baby. Does anyone remember how old Abraham was when Isaac was born? (allow for responses) What about Sarah, how old was she? (allow for responses) Abraham had to wait until he was 100 years old and Sarah had to wait until she was 90 years old to have a baby. Do any of you know someone who is 100 years old? (allow for responses)
Abraham and Sarah had to wait. Have you ever had to wait for something? (allow for responses) Sometimes it’s tough to wait when we really want something. Today we are going to practice waiting. We are going to play a game called, “Wait and Go”. Has anyone ever played “Red Light Green Light”? (allow for responses) This is the same game.
Ok. I would like everyone to go line up at the starting line (show them where to start). You have to put your listening ears on so that you can know when to go. When I say, “Go”, you walk towards me. When I say, “Wait”, you have to stop and wait. Now an important part to waiting is to wait nicely. To wait nicely means that you don’t cry, whine or ask when you can go again. You just simply stand there and wait. (demonstrate how you want them to wait)
Is everyone ready? Ok let’s get started waiting.”

• Play the game with the children
• Start them game by not making them wait long…as the game continues or if you have time to play it again…make them wait longer each time.

Activity: Bible Verse Memorization
“But God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac.” Genesis 17:19 (Amplified Bible)
Have the children do the following hand motions along with repeating the words after you, to help them learn the Bible Verse:
But God: point to the celing
said: make a motion with your hand as though words were coming out of your mouth
Sarah, your wife: smile sweetly
shall bear you a son indeed: act like you are rocking a baby
and you shall call his name Isaac: act like you are talking on the phone
Genesis 17: hole up ten fingers and then seven fingers
19: hold up ten fingers and then nine fingers
Do this a few times with the children. Make it fun for them to do the motions and say the words. Involving them in active learning is essential for memorization at this age.
Bible Verse Activity: Abraham’s Family Photo
“What was our Bible Verse about today? (allow for responses) God was telling Abraham that he and his wife, Sarah was going to have a baby. We are going to learn more about this story later and how special this was for them. God also told Abraham that he would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. Descendants are people in the same family, like grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, moms, dads, you, your children, your children’s children, and so on. How many stars are in the sky? (allow for responses) There are millions of stars in the sky. That’s a lot of descendants to have. What God was telling Abraham was that he was going to be the father of many nations.
We are going to make a project today that shows Abraham, Sarah and their son Isaac. What do you live in? (allow for responses) We all have a home to live in with bathrooms, kitchen and bedrooms. Abraham, and the people of his time, lived in tents. Have any of you ever gone camping? (allow for responses) What do you stay in when you camp? (allow for responses) Some people have a tent that they stay in. That’s what Abraham and his family lived in. They lived in tents.”

• Let each child glue the Bible Verse onto their tent.
• Have the children flip their tent over and glue Abraham, Sarah and Isaac onto their tent
• Let each child put their star stickers onto their tent
• Show children how to glue the yarn onto the top of their tent (talk with the children about how the tents had cloth tops)
• While the children are putting their tent together, the teacher can walk around and write each child’s name on their tent

Evaluation:
Have the children answer the following questions:
Did Abraham and Sarah have any children at the beginning of the story? No
Did Abraham and Sarah have a baby? Yes
What did they name him? Isaac

Need More Ideas? Then learn the preschool song “My God is So Big” or check out all our preschool Bible lessons.