God Takes Care of Ruth & Naomi (Preschool Bible Lesson)

This printable lesson plan is designed to teach preschool aged children about the story of Ruth. 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.
We have included enough activities to offer some choice in your lesson planning. Below you will find craft, game, song, and memory verse suggestions. As always, consider your own ministry context and modify it as needed. Be sure to print off the Ruth storybook linked in the supplies below.

Bible Story: God takes care of Ruth & Naomi
Scripture: Selected verses from the Book of Ruth
Target Age Group: 2 year olds – 5 year olds
Learning Context: Children’s Church or Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 40 minutes
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Learning Objectives: After this lesson, the children will demonstrate an understanding of the story by being able to tell what they learned during class.

Items Needed:

• Bible, Ruth 1:3-5, 8,16 & 2:2-3, 19-20
• “Ruth” Story Booklet, click here to print that resource.
• Yarn (cut long enough for a necklace for each child), beads or noodles to thread for a necklace, black marker
• Red, blue and yellow paper sacks (1 of each), red, blue & yellow construction paper squares, red, blue and yellow markers
• Optional: Download our free Ruth coloring page.
• Print off these Ruth Bible words for the memory activity.

Worship: You can use “Family Songs” (click here to print) to lead the children to sing before the Bible lesson.
Teaching Plan: Ruth

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 the children play Follow the Leader. (Ruth followed Naomi)

Worship: Family Songs
Bible Lesson Introduction: Talk with the children about their families. Who is in their family? What makes up a family? What do their families do to help each other?
Bible Lesson
Read Ruth 1:3-5, 8,16 & 2:2-3, 19-20 (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.
3 Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. So she was left with her two sons. 4 They got married to women from Moab. One was named Orpah. The other was named Ruth. Naomi’s family lived in Moab for about ten years. 5 Then Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
8 Naomi spoke to her two daughters-in-law. “Both of you go back,” she said.
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay I’ll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.
2 Ruth, who was from Moab, spoke to Naomi. She said, “Let me go out to the fields. I’ll pick up the grain that has been left. I’ll do it behind anyone who is pleased with me.”
Naomi said to her, “My daughter, go ahead.”
3 So Ruth went out and began to pick up grain. She worked in the fields behind those who were cutting and gathering the grain. As it turned out, she was working in a field that belonged to Boaz. He was from the family of Elimelech.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you pick up grain today? Where did you work? May the man who noticed you be blessed!”
Then Ruth told her about the man whose field she had worked in. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “The Lord is still being kind to those who are living and those who are dead.”
She continued, “That man is a close relative of ours. He’s one of our family protectors.”
Read the story again, but this time have the children do the following motions:
Naomi: act like they are old
Ruth: smile
Boaz: put arms up as though you were showing your muscles.
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?” Ruth, Naomi, Boaz
“Did Ruth stay with Naomi?” Yes
“How did Ruth get food for her and Naomi?” She picked wheat
“Who owned the field where Ruth picked wheat?” Boaz
Bible Lesson Craft / Activity
Activity: Family Necklace

• Give each of the children a piece of string for their necklace.
• Lay out the beading materials on the table.
• Have the children choose a bead or noodle for each person in their family.
• Have them thread the object onto their necklace.
• When they are finished threading, have them bring their necklace to you or a helper to tie.
• When the necklace is tied, have the child tell you who each of the bead are for and then you write that family member’s name on the bead.

Activity: Bible Verse Memorization
“Where you go I’ll go. Your God will be my God.” Ruth 1:16
Where you go: point to someone else
I’ll go: point to yourself
Your God will be: point to the ceiling
My God: point to yourself
Ruth 1: hold up 1 finger
16: hold up 10 fingers and then 6 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: The Gleaning Game
Scatter the paper squares all over the floor, mixing the colors well.
Form 3 groups, and assign each group a color (red, blue or yellow).
You may want to use a marker to mark the hands of each of the children to remind them what color they are.
“In this game, pretend you’re like Ruth, gathering pieces of wheat for your supper. You can only gather the paper pieces of wheat that match your group’s color. So if you’re in the red group, only gather the red wheat. After you’ve gathered a handful, take them over to your team’s colored bag and put them in. Are you ready? Let’s go!”
Evaluation: Have the children tell you what they learned today in class.