Fishing for Good News: Preschool Teaching Activity

Introducing "Fishing for Good News- a Preschool Teaching Activity." This resource is the perfect addition to any preschool classroom, providing you with a game kids will enjoy playing and an easy way for you to connect kids to the gospel over and over, reinforcing Biblical truth in a way kids will remember.

Teaching preschoolers can be a fun challenge.
You always feel like you’re repeating yourself….

Teaching preschoolers can be a fun challenge.
You always feel like you’re repeating yourself…

See what I did there? The truth of the matter is that repetition is key for teaching preschooler. Well, repetition, patience and prayer.

Young children love repetition because it helps them master new skills and concepts and helps them to feel confident in what they’ve learned.In a preschool classroom, you should regularly see and hear repetition. If you have a poster on the wall that says ‘Jesus died on the cross’ and has a picture of a cross, you can use that same cross picture whenever you talk about Jesus and before long, you’ll notice toddlers hearing the word Jesus and rushing to the poster to point at the cross. Or, in two and three year old rooms if you start out saying, ‘Jesus died on…’ you’ll see children point to the picture and say ‘the cross.’

Sometimes as teachers though, we’re looking for new ways to keep repeating the same truth. This activity does just that. It allows you to emphasize big Bible truths while kids play a simple game and it can be adapted to fit various lessons and classroom settings.

What you get:

• a printable game activity
• instructions for preparing and using in class

Before class, prepare for the activity:

• Print the attached ‘fishing for good news file’ on a color printer
• Laminate the pages and cut out the fish
• Tape large paper clips to the back of each fish.
• Make 2 ‘fishing poles’ – you’ll need a plastic ruler or wooden dowel rod, about 18 inches (1/2 meter) of thin rope or yarn (wool) and large magnet (make sure it’s large enough that it couldn’t be swallowed). Tape one end of the rope or yarn to the ruler and the other end securely onto the magnet.

When you’re ready to play, place the fish face down on a blue towel or piece of blue paper. Hand the fishing pole to two kids and tell them to catch a fish. As they catch the fish, take them off the magnet for them and read the truth on the fish. Have the kids repeat after you and do motions for the truth. As they catch the fish, talk about the good news that you see on that fish. While they play, remind them that these are truths about God and that we learn all of these truths in the Bible. After play, challenge older preschoolers to put the story of the Bible in order.

The truths on the fish & motions for each truth are:

1. God = forever – – point up then roll your arms in front of you
2. God made the world – – point up then make a big circle with your arms
3. Everybody has sinned – – make an X with your arms in front of your face
4. Jesus came to earth – – rock a pretend baby
5. Jesus died on the cross – – arms out like a cross
6. Jesus came back to life – – start with hands on the ground then throw them into the air
7. Jesus is the Forever King – – roll arms in front of body then salute