Joshua and the Walls of Jericho (Preschool Lesson)

This printable lesson plan is designed to teach preschool aged children about the story of the Walls of Jericho. 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. As always, consider your own ministry context and modify it as needed. Because this story is made for preschoolers it does not focus on the battle of Jericho, rather on the help God provided by knocking down the walls.

Bible Story: Joshua and the Walls of Jericho
Scripture: Joshua 6:1-5, 11-16, 20
Target Age Group: Age 2 – 5 (U.S. preschool ages)
Time: 20 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 reenacting the story while the teacher is reading it.
Items Needed:

• Bible, Joshua 6:1-5, 11-16, 20
• Joshua and the Walls of Jericho Booklet (PDF)
• Building blocks
• 1 piece of construction paper per child, 3 people cutouts for each child, construction paper cut into 1-2” squares, “The Walls of Jericho Fell Down Because Joshua Obeyed” written on slips of paper (1 per child), glue, crayons, marker

Worship: You can print off these  “Moses Songs” (PDF file) to use to lead the children to sing before the Bible lesson.

Teaching Plan “Joshua and the Battle of Jericho”

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.
Have blocks available for the children to build with as they arrive.
Worship: Moses Songs
Bible Lesson Introduction: Split the children into 2 groups and give each group a pile of blocks. Have each group try to build the largest tower.
Bible Lesson: Read Joshua 6:1-5, 11-16, 20 (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.
1 The gates of Jericho were shut tight and guarded closely because of the people of Israel. No one went out. No one came in.
2 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “I have handed Jericho over to you. I have also handed its king and its fighting men over to you.
3 “March around the city once with all of your fighting men. In fact, do it for six days. 4 Have seven priests get trumpets that are made out of rams’ horns. They must carry them in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. Have the priests blow the trumpets as you march.
5 “You will hear them blow a long blast on the trumpets. When you do, have all of the men give a loud shout. The wall of the city will fall down. Then the whole army will go up to the city. Every man will go straight in.”
11 So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city once. Then the men returned to camp. They spent the night there.
12 Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests went and got the ark of the Lord. 13 The seven priests who were carrying the seven trumpets started out. They marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They blew the trumpets. Some of the fighting men marched ahead of them. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all of them. The priests kept blowing the trumpets.
14 On the second day they marched around the city once. Then the men returned to camp. They did all of those things for six days.
15 On the seventh day, they got up at sunrise. They marched around the city, just as they had done before. But on that day they went around it seven times.
16 On the seventh time around, the priests blew a long blast on the trumpets.
Then Joshua gave a command to the men. He said, “Shout! The Lord has given you the city!

20 The priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the fighting men heard the sound, they gave a loud shout. Then the wall fell down.

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?” Joshua, the Israelites
“How many times did God want the people to walk around Jericho for the first 6 days?” 1 time each day
“What was their special direction for the first 6 days?” They were to be silent and not make a sound
“How many times did God want the people to walk around Jericho on the 7th day?” 7 times
“What was their special direction for the 7th day?” To make a lot of noise
“Did the people obey God?” Yes
“What happened because the people obeyed God?” The walls came down

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: Jericho Picture
“What happened during our Bible Story today? (allow for responses) Joshua followed God’s directions and did exactly what God wanted him to do. Since Joshua did that, God made the walls of Jericho fall down.
We are going to make a picture showing what happened.”

• Give each child a piece of construction paper
• Have the children glue the title onto their page
• Let each child glue their people cutouts onto their paper
• Lay out the construction paper squares onto the table and let the children glue them onto their paper – this represents that the walls fell down and that bricks were all over the place
• As the children are gluing their bricks – walk around and write each child’s name on their paper
• As children finish, they can use the crayons to color on their paper

Activity: Bible Verse Memorization
“We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him.” Joshua 24:24 (NIRV)
Have the children do the following hand motions along with repeating the words after you, to help them learn the Bible Verse:
We will serve: take a bow (as though bowing to a master)
The Lord our God: point to the ceiling
We will obey: nod your head
Him: point to the ceiling
Joshua 24: hold 2 fingers on one hand and 4 fingers on the other hand
24: hold 2 fingers on one hand and 4 fingers on the other hand
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: God Says (a.k.a. Simon Says)
“Our Bible Verse means that we need to obey. To obey means to listen and follow directions. Who should we listen to? (allow for responses) When our parents and others want us to obey, they know what is best for us. They wouldn’t have us do something that would hurt us. They want us to grow up to be big girls and boys.
We are going to play God Says. Whatever God says…you need to do. If God doesn’t say it…don’t do it. Does everyone understand? Great! Let’s play!”
Evaluation: Read the story again and have the children reenact it.

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Need More Ideas? Then check out all our preschool lessons for Sunday School or browse our links to free Bible crafts.