Noah builds the ark

Teacher background

The story of Noah’s ark fills four chapters of Genesis (Genesis 6:9–9:17). This lesson focuses on the first part, Genesis 6:9–22, where God asks Noah to build the ark, and then tells the rest of the story briefly so that the lesson stands on its own. The next lessons in the series look more closely at the animals, the dove, and the rainbow.

Genesis begins with God’s heart. The earth was “filled with violence,” and God was grieved (Genesis 6:6, 11). Luther Seminary’s Enter the Bible describes God here as “a grieving and pained parent.” Noah was different: “Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). God told him to build an ark of wood, 300 cubits long (about 450 feet), with rooms, three decks, and a door in the side, and to bring his family and two of every kind of animal. “Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). The World English Bible calls the ark a “ship.”

The main idea for children is that Noah walked with God and trusted God, and God cared for Noah’s family and every creature and kept a promise. Tell the flood gently. If a child asks what happened to the people and animals outside the ark, answer truthfully and briefly: the Bible says they died in the flood, God was very sad, and God promised never to do it again. Some children may have lived through a flood, a hurricane, or another disaster. Never suggest that a storm is a punishment, and remind them that God is with us in every storm. Christians read this ancient story in different ways, as history or as a sacred story that teaches true things about God.

For more background, read Noah’s ark.

Welcome activity

What’s your cubit? (5 minutes). Long ago, people measured with a cubit, the length from your elbow to the tip of your middle finger. As children arrive, help each one measure a cubit with a piece of yarn and cut it to that length. Compare the pieces: whose is longest? Then measure a grown-up’s cubit.

Then gather in a circle and ask:

• What is the biggest boat you have ever seen?
• How many of your cubits long do you think it was?
• What is the biggest thing you have ever built?

Say: “Today’s story is about a man named Noah. God asked him to build a boat three hundred cubits long! Let’s find out what happened.”

Telling the story

10 minutes. Open your Bible to Genesis 6 and show the children where the story is. Then read this version aloud, or tell it in your own words. Pause where the notes in italics suggest.

Long, long ago, God looked at the world God had made. It was a beautiful world, full of trees and flowers and animals. (Spread your arms wide.) But the people in the world were hurting each other. They were fighting and being unkind. And God was very sad. (Make a sad face.) The Bible says it grieved God’s heart.

There was one man named Noah. The Bible says, “Noah walked with God.” Noah was God’s friend. He talked with God and listened to God. He tried to do what was right.

Noah had a wife and three sons. Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Hold up three fingers.) The sons had wives too. It was a big family.

One day God spoke to Noah. “Noah, I want you to build an ark.”

What is an ark? An ark is a big boat. A really, really big boat! God told Noah just how to make it. “Make it out of wood. Make rooms inside. Cover it with sticky tar so no water gets in. Make three floors, with a roof on top and a door in the side.” (Point up, up, up.)

The ark had to be longer than a football field! (Stretch your arms out as wide as you can.)

“A big flood of water is coming,” God said. “But I will keep you safe. Bring your family into the ark. Bring two of every kind of animal, a male and a female. Bring birds and cows and creeping, crawly things. And bring food for everyone.”

That was a big job! But Noah trusted God. So Noah got to work. He cut down trees. (Pretend to saw.) He hammered the boards together. (Pretend to hammer: bang, bang, bang!) He painted on the sticky tar. (Pretend to paint.) He built the rooms and the roof and the door. It took a long, long time.

The Bible says, “Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.” Noah did everything God asked.

When the ark was ready, the animals came, two by two. (Walk two fingers on each hand.) Lions and lambs. Elephants and eagles. Bears and bees and butterflies! Noah’s family went in too. And God shut the door. (Clap once.)

Then the rain began. Drip, drop. (Tap your fingers.) Pitter, patter. (Pat your knees.) Then a great big storm! (Stomp your feet.) It rained for forty days and forty nights. Water covered the whole earth. But the ark floated on the water. (Rock side to side.) Noah’s family and the animals were safe inside.

God did not forget them. God remembered Noah and every animal in the ark. Slowly the water went down. At last the ark came to rest on a mountain. Noah sent out a dove. She came back with a fresh green leaf in her beak. (Flap your arms.) Dry land was coming back!

When the ground was dry, everyone came out of the ark. Noah said thank you to God. Then God made a promise. Never again would a flood cover the whole earth. God put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of that promise. (Draw a big rainbow in the air.)

God loves the world God made. God cares for every creature, big and small. And God always keeps promises.

Wondering questions

5 minutes. Wondering questions have no wrong answers. Ask one at a time, wait in silence, and welcome every answer without correcting it. Repeat back what a child says so they know you heard them.

• I wonder which part of this story you like best.
• I wonder how Noah felt when God asked him to build such a big boat.
• I wonder what Noah’s neighbors thought when they saw the ark.
• I wonder what it sounded like inside the ark with all those animals.
• I wonder how Noah’s family felt when they saw the rainbow.
• I wonder what it means to walk with God.

After the wondering questions, play the quiz on the slides, or ask the questions aloud and let the children call out the answers.

Craft: an ark with a door that opens

10 minutes. Each child makes a paper ark with a door that swings open, like the door God told Noah to put in the side of the ark.

You will need a sheet of brown and a sheet of blue construction paper for each child, pencils, safety scissors, glue sticks, and crayons or markers.

1. On the brown paper, draw a big ark: a long boat shape on the bottom and a little house on top. You can draw a sample for children to copy.
2. Cut out the ark. Help with cutting where needed.
3. Draw a door on the side of the little house. Cut along the top, the bottom, and one side of the door, so it swings open. A grown-up can poke a small starting hole with a pencil.
4. Spread glue on the back of the ark, keeping the door free of glue, and press the ark onto the blue paper.
5. Open the door and draw Noah’s family and the animals inside, on the blue paper. Add waves under the ark and a rainbow in the sky.

When everyone is done, open the doors together and say, “God kept them safe!”

Game: make a rainstorm

7 minutes. Mark a big ark shape on the floor with masking tape and gather everyone inside it, or form a circle on the floor and pretend the circle is the ark. The teacher leads, and the children copy each motion.

1. Rub your hands together: the wind begins to blow.
2. Tap two fingers on your palm: the first raindrops.
3. Pat your knees: the rain gets harder.
4. Stomp your feet: a great big storm!
5. Now go backward: pat your knees, tap your fingers, rub your hands, and then sit still. The rain has stopped.
6. Everyone draws a big rainbow in the air and says together, “God keeps promises!”

Play two or three times. For a challenge, start each motion with one child and let it pass around the circle, one child at a time, like a wave. Let a child lead the last round. Everyone plays together, so there are no winners or losers.

Memory verse

3 minutes. Teach the memory verse with motions.

Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9

• “Noah”: pretend to hammer.
• “walked”: walk in place.
• “with God”: point up, then hold hands with the people next to you.

Explain that walking with God means being God’s friend: talking with God, listening to God, and staying close every day. Say the verse together softly, then loudly, then in a whisper. The memory verse coloring page lets children color the words in bubble letters.

Snack idea

Optional. Serve animal crackers, two by two. Give each child a small handful on a napkin and ask them to find matching pairs before they eat. Check for food allergies before class, and serve water or juice.

Closing prayer

Ask the children to fold their hands or open them on their laps. Read each line and let them repeat it after you.

Dear God,
thank you for Noah,
who walked with you.
Thank you for caring
for every creature, big and small.
Help us walk with you every day.
Thank you for keeping your promises.
Amen.

Take-home note for families

Send this note home with the activity sheets and the paper ark. It also prints by itself on the printables page.

Today in Sunday school

Today your child heard the story of Noah’s ark (Genesis 6–9). Noah walked with God, and when God asked him to build a huge boat, Noah did everything God asked. God kept Noah’s family and two of every kind of animal safe in the ark. Afterward God put a rainbow in the sky as a sign of a promise never to flood the whole earth again. The children talked about how God cares for every creature and keeps promises.

Talk about it

• What animals would you have liked to see on the ark?
• What do you think it means to walk with God?
• How can our family take care of the animals and the earth God made?

Try this at home

Read the story together in Genesis 6–9 or in a children’s Bible. The next time you see a rainbow, stop and say together, “God keeps promises!” You could also take a walk outside and thank God for every creature you see.

Pray together

Dear God, thank you for caring for every creature, big and small. Help us walk with you and take care of the world you made. Amen.

Adapting for younger or older children

Younger children (ages 4 to 6). Tell the story with toy animals and a box or laundry basket for the ark, and let the children march the animals in two by two. Skip the crossword and the word search, and use the maze, the coloring pages, and the ark craft with the ark already cut out. Teach the memory verse with the walking motions.

Older children (ages 10 to 12). Read Genesis 6:9–22 together from a Bible, taking turns. Use the cubits from the welcome activity to measure out 30 cubits, the height of the ark, in a hallway or outside. Compare Genesis 6:19 (two of every kind) with Genesis 7:2 (seven pairs of some animals), and talk about why the story might tell some things twice. Use the crossword without the word bank.