Joseph and His Brothers - Bible Lessons for Kids
Teaching the Bible story of Joseph and his brothers to children offers a fantastic opportunity to explore themes of forgiveness, faith, and resilience in an engaging and relatable way. This blog has creative ideas to bring this beloved story to life, including YouTube video suggestions, crafts and activities, and printable lesson plans that make preparation easy for parents, teachers, and Sunday school leaders. Whether crafting Joseph's colorful coat, doing relay races, or diving into meaningful discussions, you'll find plenty of inspiration to make this lesson memorable for kids of all ages.
what is the bible story of joseph and his brothers?
The story of Joseph is told from Genesis 37 to 50—that’s a quarter of the book of Genesis! Jacob had twelve sons, and Joseph was his favorite. Jacob gave Joseph a special coat, which made Joseph’s brothers jealous. Joseph could also interpret dreams, and when he dreamed that his brothers would one day bow to him, this enraged his brothers.
They decided to sell him as a slave to Egypt, and he was later imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. While in prison, Joseph interpreted dreams.
One day, Pharaoh had a dream, which Joseph interpreted. Joseph told Pharod there would be seven years of good harvest followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh then put Joseph in charge of food collection for the famine years.
Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to get grain during the famine. They didn’t recognize Joseph, but he recognized them. Eventually, he talked to his brothers and forgave them. Joseph’s whole family then came to Engtpy to live with him.
Joseph and His Brothers Bible Lessons for Kids
Are you looking for an easy way to teach the story of Joseph and His Brothers? Grab the scripted lesson, discussion questions, and simple craft.
Background Information About Joseph and His Brothers
Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery. He was in Egypt for 13 years before he was set free and put in charge of the grain in Egypt. Joseph didn’t see his brothers again until he was in his late 30s. Despite all the terrible things that happened to Joseph over the years, God made good things come from impossible situations.
Create a Colorful Coat
We love to make crafts in Sunday School. After exploring the story and talking through discussion questions, we always wrap up our learning with a craft. It’s a great way to get hands-on with the learning and give kids something tangible to take home to their families.
A fun craft and simple craft for this story is decorating Jesus’ colorful coat.
Younger kids in preschool may want to simply color the coat, while older kids can enjoy using craft materials and glue to decorate it more thoroughly.
Then, cut out a Bible verse from the story and add it to the coat. Check out Joseph and His Brother for Preschoolers or Joseph and His Brothers for Older Kids for template pieces.
Other Crafts and Activities to Accompany the Story of Joseph:
Colorful Coat Snack: Check out Kerry's cute Joseph snack idea at How to Homeschool My Child.
Play Charades: Joseph had a God-given gift of interpreting dreams. He didn’t have to guess what his dreams meant; God helped him. To practice their “interpretation skills,” play a game of charades with the kids.
Family Tree Activity: Joseph had a large family! Have kids create a family tree to see what their family looks like.
Relay Races: Joseph gathered supplies for the seven years of famine. Create a relay where students gather “supplies” in a basket. Have them line up and, one at a time, run a ball or a beanbag to a basket a short distance away. The winner is the team that gets all its balls or beanbags into the basket first.
YouTube Videos
Teaching the story of Joseph can also be done with a video! So many great videos of this story exist. Here are my favorite shorter videos:
The Story of Joseph and the Colorful Coat by Minno Bible Stories for Kids
Joseph and His Coat by Saddleback Kids focuses on the story's beginning with Joseph’s coat and his brothers selling him to Egypt.
Saddleback Kids also has Joseph in Egypt and Joseph Forgives.
For longer videos, you might like:
VeggieTales also has a rendition of the story called Joseph and his Coat of Veggie Colors.
Looking for more Genesis lessons?
Continue the learning with more Old Testament stories from Genesis. This lesson is part of a six-week lesson series called In the Beginning. These lessons about Joseph are also included in the 52-week Bible curriculum for little kids in preschool/kindergarten and bigger kids in first, second, and third grades.
Teaching the story of Joseph and His Brothers offers great opportunities to teach students about resilience, forgiveness, and faith. Whether at home, Sunday School, or in a faith-based school, there are many ways to bring this timeless narrative to life.