A Note to Grown-ups
The story of Moses has a lot of joy, sorrow, and trauma. There are also challenging topics for younger children like Pharaoh killing infants, slavery, Moses murdering a guard, Pharaoh’s army getting drowned in the Red Sea, etc. This is an important story in the Judeo-Christian tradition about God’s faithfulness to God’s people and the story of Israel. If you want to learn more, visit the Bible Project: Exodus 1-18 and Exodus 19-40.
Need something else?
Need another resource? Looking for advice? Please contact Kathy Pittenger.
Want to go deeper in the story of Moses? The Celebrate Wonder All Ages curriculum includes Bible Stories and activities that you can use with your family to go deeper. This also works very well with the Celebrate Wonder Bible Storybook or the Deep Blue Kids Bible: Celebrate Wonder Edition (CEB).
The Life of Moses
How to use this digital faith playlist…
- Read/watch the story of Moses from the Book of Exodus. You may want to watch the video for an overview or break it up and do one at a time
- Wonder about one or more of the questions
- Pray together
- Do one of the activities and/or use the spiritual practice
Bible Story
- Read the story about Moses in your favorite Story Bible, or in Exodus. Recommended sections to read are: Exodus 2:1-10; 3:1-22; 5-13 (Pharaoh and the Plagues); 13:17-14:31 (crossing the Red Sea); 15:22-17:7 (In the Wilderness); 19:1-20:21 (Ten Commandments). Or watch the video.
- Wonder about the story together:
- I wonder which part or parts of Moses’ story is your favorite
- I wonder where you see God working in the story
- I wonder what you can learn from Moses
- I wonder which of the Ten Commandments is the easiest to follow? Which is the most challenging?
- Prayer:
- Dear God, thank you for the life of Moses that teaches us about faithfulness, trust, obedience, and community. Help us learn from the story of Moses so that we might follow you more closely, be willing to stand up when something is wrong or unjust, and live not only by the Ten Commandments, but also the greatest commandments that Jesus taught us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Activities
- Basket Weaving
- Give children thin strips of colored construction paper and let them weave the strips of paper over and under the other strips of paper to form a woven mat. Tape the edges to keep the strips in place and then curve the outside of the woven basket and tape or staple a small handle to the sides to keep the form of a basket. Children can cut out a round circle to be a baby’s head, and tape a small piece of material to the bottom of the circle as a blanket to be placed in their woven basket, to represent Moses. (https://sermons4kids.com/baby_by_the_river_group_activities.htm)
- How God Helps
- Fold a piece of paper in half. On one said write: “Fears” and on the other side write “How God Helps.” Invite people to write down their fears on one side of the paper and how God helps on the other side. (i.e. Fear – dark; God helps us – light switches, prayer, parent, etc.) – adapted from ministry-to-children.com
- Sand Art
- You can either purchase a sand art kit or glue sand onto a piece of paper. Use the sand to tell the story about the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years and how God was with them. If you use the sand art – talk about how challenging it was to get the sand into the bottle (like how challenging it might have been to live in the wilderness – no fast food, no water fountains, no wi-fi, etc. and yet how when you were done, it created something beautiful – when the people left the wilderness they were able to live freely)
- Ten Commandments
- Re-write the 10 Commandments in language that your family can understand and support. For example:
- Worship only God
- Pray only to God
- Respect God and God’s name
- Work 6, Rest 1
- Love your parents (and those who care for you)
- Respect life
- Be faithful to your partner
- Respect others property
- Tell the truth
- Be content with what you have
- Re-write the 10 Commandments in language that your family can understand and support. For example:
- Hang your list somewhere so everyone can see it and remember ways that we can love, respect, and live well together.
Additional Activities:
(these are suggested resources, please read or look through each before using to make sure it is appropriate for your family)
Family Spiritual Practice
- Practicing Gratitude
- There are lots of places in Moses’ life where he was grateful (or could be grateful) like being rescued from the Nile River, being taken in by the Midianites, being fed by God each day in the wilderness, etc. Write down 3 things that you are grateful for today. Ask each person in your family what they are grateful for and write it down too!
MEDIA
Talk About It Questions:
- What connections can you find between the book and the story of Moses?
- What is one thing you learned from the book?
- Where do you see God in the book?
- (A Bucket of Blessings) How can you be a blessing?