This free lesson plan will help children understand the value of God’s Kingdom. The study is based on Jesus’ parable of the hidden treasure. Everything else in life is worth giving up to know God more.
Gospel Connection: There are many wonderful things that we treasure here on Earth that we can treasure, but the greatest treasure that we could ever obtain is Heaven. As Christians we should be content to give up our Earthly treasures so that we can store up our treasure in Heaven.
Learning Aim: Children will learn that there is a wonderful place called Heaven, which is a greater treasure than anything else in the world.
Lesson Title: The Greatest Treasure
Bible Reference: Matthew 13:44-46
Target Age Group: K4-1st Grade
Learning Context: Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 45 minutes
Memory Verse: Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Basic Supply List:
- Bible
- Construction Paper
- Crayons
- Candy Bar
- Sensory Table or large tote
- Rice
- Costume jewelry
- Pipe cleaners
- Pony beads
- Glue
- Sequins
Note: In the teaching plan below the words in italics are meant to be read aloud. The regular text is simply directions for the teacher.
More Ideas for Teaching on the Parable of the Treasure
- See all our teaching resources related to Matthew 13:44-45
- See this craft video demonstration on our YouTube playlist
- Compare our Sunday School lesson on this parable
- See our Pearl of Great Price children’s sermon
The Greatest Treasure (Matthew 13:44-46) Sunday School Lesson for Kids
Introduction: Begin the lesson with an art project to get the children interested and thinking about today’s topic. Give each child a large piece of construction paper and crayons. Ask them to draw a picture of their favorite things. If they need help thinking of ideas of things to draw, ask them what their favorite toy or food is. If they have a pet, that could be their favorite thing, etc. Allow the children to work on their pictures for about 5 minutes, then put the crayons away and ask them to share what they drew. After everyone has shared their picture say, The things that you drew today are like treasure. Treasure is something that is of great value to you. There are many things in life that we treasure, but the Bible teaches us that Heaven is the greatest treasure that there is. As Christians, we should be willing to give up all of our treasures so that we can have Heaven instead. Heaven is the very best thing in the world.
Biblical Evidence: Ask the children to sit down and get ready for story time. Show the class a large candy bar and ask, What is the best thing in the world? When you see something like this large piece of candy you might think that it is the best thing in the world, but the Bible teaches us that there is greater treasure in Heaven. Heaven is better than the best thing that you can imagine.
Read Matthew 13:44-46. Say, The Bible teaches us that Heaven is like buried treasure hidden in a field. Heaven is hard to find. Only Christians will get to go to Heaven someday. To be a Christian you must believe that God is real and ask forgiveness for your sins so that God can forgive you, and you must be willing to give up everything in your life to follow God. When I showed you the candy bar a minute ago you all wanted it. What would you do if I told you had to choose between vegetables and the candy? You would probably want to eat the candy bar, but you should eat the vegetables because they are good for you. They will make you grow big and strong and brilliant, but right now they candy bar seems like it would be better. Being a Christian in this world is kind of like that sometimes. We have to give up things of the Earth, like the candy, so that we can have the vegetables. It is very hard to give up things that we want, but that might not be good for us. However, Heaven is the greatest treasure that there is for Christians.
Say, What do you think Heaven is like? Explain that no one knows exactly what Heaven will be like. It might be like a big party or family gathering. God will be there in all of His glory and we will be able to praise Him all day long. There will be so sadness or pain in Heaven. It is better than anything that we can imagine.
Read Matthew 13:45-46. Say, what is a pearl? A pearl is a very precious stone that is used to make jewelry. Pearls are very beautiful and are worth a lot of money. In our story, the man was willing to give up everything that he had so that he could have the pearl. That is what it is like for Christians in the world. If might be hard to give up everything for Heaven, but it is worth it because Heaven is so wonderful.
Digging for Treasure: To remind children that they must constantly be searching for God and trying to please Him, have children search for their own buried treasure. Fill a sensory table with rice and hide costume jewelry in the rice. All the children to take turns digging for buried treasure in the sensory table. If you do not have a sensory table a couple of large buckets or totes would suffice. Remind the students that the man in the parable was so happy when he found the buried treasure that he sold everything that he had to buy the treasure and the field where it was buried.
Pearl Bracelets: To remind students that Heaven is like a precious pearl, make beaded bracelets. To make the bracelets, give each child a pipe cleaner and a bowl of pony beads. Supervise the children closely when they are using the beads to make sure that they don’t try to put them in their mouths. Have the children string the beads onto the pipe cleaner and twist the ends together when they are done.
The Greatest Treasure Craft: To make this craft, have an adult write “Heaven is the Greatest Treasure” in glue on a piece of construction paper. Then give the paper to the child and have them cover the glue in sequins. After they dry, have the children take home their posters as a reminder of the greatest treasure in the world.
Review Questions: Use the following questions to review the main ideas of the stories.
- What is the greatest treasure? Heaven
- In the story, what did the man do when he found a great treasure hidden in the field? He sold everything that he had to buy the treasure.
- What is a pearl? It is a very valuable stone.
- What did the man in the story do when he found the precious pearl? He sold everything that he had so that he could have the pearl.
- What do we have to do if we want to go to Heaven someday? We have to be Christians, which means that we believe that God is real and ask him to forgive our sins and live in our hearts.
- Should we be happy or sad when we have to give up Earthly things so that we can have Heaven? We should be happy because even though it is hard to understand because we can’t see it yet, Heaven is the greatest thing in the world.
Closing: Close by reminding the children that Heaven is the greatest thing in the world and that they would be willing to give up everything so that they can please God and go to Heaven someday. End with this prayer, Dear Lord, we thank you for promising that we will get to go to Heaven someday. Amen.
Thank you and may God bless you richly for expanding His kingdom to little ones! ♥️♥️