Jesus Feeds the 5000 - Bible Lessons for Kids
Teaching the story of Jesus Feeds the 5,000 is a wonderful way to introduce kids to the themes of compassion, faith, and miracles. This miraculous event, where Jesus used five loaves and two fish to feed a crowd, is full of lessons that young minds can easily connect with and understand. In this blog, we'll explore creative ways to bring this Bible story to life for kids through crafts, activities, videos, and printable lesson plans. Whether you're a parent, teacher, or children's ministry leader, these resources will help make the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 a memorable and impactful experience for every child.
The Story - Jesus feeds the 5,000
This is the only miracle of Jesus told in all four gospels. It can be found in Matthew 14:13–21, Mark 6:31–44, Luke 9:12–17, and John 6:1–14.
After Jesus found out his cousin, John the Baptist, had been beheaded, he withdrew to a quiet place to be alone. A crowd followed him, so Jesus started to teach and heal people. After some time, Jesus asked his disciples to feed the people. They didn’t have enough food to feed everyone, but a boy offered to share his five loaves and two fish. Jesus did a great miracle and fed the multitudes by dividing the five loaves and two fish! Everyone ate enough and there were 12 baskets of food left over!
Background Information for Jesus feeds 5000
This story is often called the Feeding of the 5000, but this number only counts the men! If you counted the women and children, the number of people would have been much larger!
The Gospel of John is the only one that gives credit to the boy for sharing his loaves and fish with Jesus. The other gospels don’t mention the boy, but John saw this detail as important, so he included it.
Grab the lessons on Jesus Feeds the 5000
Are you looking for an easy way to teach the Bible story Jesus Feeds the 5000? Check out the scripted lesson and printable craft perfect for kids aged 3-8.
loaves and fish craft for preschool
Explore the story further with a simple printable craft. In this craft, little Sunday School students can create a basket of bread and fish. This activity can help to remind them that Jesus cares for all of their needs, even their hungry tummies! The printable craft pieces are available in the preschool Bible lesson, Jesus Feeds the 5000.
While your kids are coloring and gluing their crafts, it’s a great time to discuss the story. Ask your kids: have you ever had to wait a long time while you were hungry? What do you think it would have felt like to be listening to Jesus with a growling tummy? How would you feel when the food finally arrived?
Take time to pray and thank God for providing for our needs.
basket weaving activity for older kids
Take it a step further with a class of older kids and weave the basket yourself! There are many different basket-weaving techniques with strips of paper. Google and YouTube have some great options. But for an easy, print-and-go version, check out the lesson Jesus Feeds the 5000 for kids in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades. The complete lesson plan includes printable discussion questions that would be great to use as kids weave their paper baskets.
more bible Activities and Crafts
The following activities would work well for both preschool-age and older kids:
Share Bread: Share a loaf of bread with your class. Ask kids to rip the bread so that it is enough for everyone to have for lunch. The activity will show that five loaves can’t feed thousands of people. This will help kids to marvel at the miracle Jesus did.
Paper Plate Basket: Get interactive and have kids try making a basket from paper plates. Check out the Meaningful Mama blog for step-by-step instructions.
Bread in a Bag: If you have access to an oven, try baking bread with kids by following the instructions in the Busy Toddler: Bread in a Bag blog post. You could make bread as a whole class and have kids each participate in the various steps, or you could have kids make individual loaves of bread.
Art Mural: Put down a long piece of butcher paper. Designate one student to draw Jesus in the center of the paper. Have the rest of the kids work together to draw as many people as they can. Can they draw 5000? This will help kids to visualize how many people Jesus fed.
YouTube videos for Jesus feeds 5000
Here are a few videos that share the story of Jesus Feeding the 5,000 in an animate and kid-friendly form.
Storytellers: Jesus Feeds 5000 by Crossroad Kids Club This video does a good job of giving background information about the miracle and its importance, as well as describing the story.
Minno Bible Stories for Kids - Jesus Feeds 5,000 is a short video to depict the story
WANT MORE MIRACLES OF JESUS LESSONS?
Continue the learning with other miracles of Jesus. This lesson is part of a six-lesson set, all focused on the incredible miracles Jesus did while on Earth.
Engaging kids with hands-on activities and crafts is a meaningful way to bring the story of Jesus Feeds the 5000 to life.
