The prodigal son

Teacher background

Jesus told this story in Luke 15 after some religious leaders complained that he welcomed sinners and ate with them. He answered with three stories about lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Each story ends with a party, because God is full of joy when someone who was lost comes home.

In the third story, a younger son takes his share of the family money, wastes it far away, and ends up feeding pigs. Pigs were unclean animals to Jesus’s Jewish listeners, so this is the lowest point of the story. The son decides to go home and ask to be a hired worker. His father sees him coming, runs to him, and welcomes him as a son with a robe, a ring, sandals, and a feast. The older brother is angry, and the father goes out to him too.

The main idea for children is simple: God is like the father who runs to welcome us home. Keep the focus there. Some children in your group may have a hard family situation, so speak of the father in the story as a picture of God’s love and avoid suggesting that every family works this way.

For more background, read The parable of the prodigal son.

Welcome activity

Lost and found (5 minutes). Before class, hide a small stuffed animal or toy somewhere in the room. When the children arrive, tell them something special is lost and ask them to help you look. When someone finds it, cheer together and thank the finder.

Then gather in a circle and ask:

• Have you ever lost something special?
• How did you feel while it was lost?
• How did you feel when you found it?

Say: “Jesus told stories about things that were lost and found. Today’s story is about a son who was lost. Let’s find out what happened.”

Telling the story

10 minutes. Open your Bible to Luke 15 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.

Jesus told this story. Once there was a father who had two sons. The father loved them both very much.

One day the younger son said, “Father, I want my share of your money. I want it now.” That was a hard thing to hear. But the father gave him the money.

A few days later, the younger son packed his bags. He went far, far away. (Point far away.) He spent his money on parties and fancy things. He did not save any of it. Soon all the money was gone.

Then something bad happened. The food ran out in that land. Everyone was hungry. The son needed a job, so he took care of pigs. (Make a pig snort.) He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pigs’ food! Nobody gave him anything.

The son sat down in the mud and thought about home. “At my father’s house, even the helpers have plenty of bread. And here I am, starving! I will go home. I will say, ‘Father, I am sorry. I did wrong. I am not good enough to be your son. Please let me be one of your helpers.’”

So he got up and started walking home. It was a long, long road. (Walk in place.)

Now here is the best part. While the son was still far away, his father saw him. Maybe the father had been watching the road every day. The father’s heart filled with love. And the father ran! (Run in place.) He ran down the road. He threw his arms around his son and kissed him.

The son started his speech. “Father, I am sorry. I am not good enough to be your son …”

But the father called to his helpers. “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Let’s have a big party! My son was lost, and now he is found!” So they had a party with music and dancing. (Clap your hands.)

The older brother was working out in the field. When he came home, he heard the music. “What is going on?” he asked. A helper said, “Your brother came home! Your father is having a party!”

The older brother was angry. He would not go in. So the father came outside to him, too. The older brother said, “I have worked for you for years. I always obeyed you. You never gave me a party!”

The father said, “My son, you are always with me. Everything I have is yours. But we had to have a party. Your brother was lost, and now he is found!”

Jesus told this story so we would know what God is like. God loves us like that father. When we go the wrong way, God is watching for us. And God is so glad when we come home.

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 the younger son felt when he was far away and hungry.
• I wonder what the father did every day while his son was gone.
• I wonder how the son felt when his father ran to him.
• I wonder how the older brother felt. I wonder if he went in to the party.
• I wonder where you are in this story.

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

Craft: a welcome-home hug

10 minutes. Each child makes a paper hug to remember that God’s arms are open wide.

You will need construction paper, a paper strip about 4 by 24 inches for each child, pencils, crayons or markers, safety scissors, and glue sticks.

1. Help each child trace both hands on construction paper.
2. Cut out the two hands. Help with cutting where needed.
3. Fold the long strip back and forth like a fan, so it stretches out and folds back up.
4. Glue one hand to each end of the strip.
5. Write “God welcomes me home!” on the strip, and let the children decorate it.

When everyone is done, show how to stretch the arms out and wrap them around a friend for a hug.

Game: welcome-home relay

7 minutes. Put two chairs at one end of the room. Lay the old shirt or bathrobe, the pipe-cleaner ring, and the flip-flops on one chair. The children line up at the other end.

1. The first child walks fast to the chair, puts on the robe, the ring, and the sandals, and turns around once.
2. The child takes them off, lays them back on the chair, and walks fast back to the line.
3. Everyone shouts, “Welcome home!” and the next child goes.

With eight or more children, make two teams and use two sets of clothes. Ask the children to walk fast instead of running if your room is small. The game has no winners; everyone cheers for every child.

Memory verse

3 minutes. Teach the memory verse with motions.

He was lost and is found.

Luke 15:24

• “He was lost”: cover your eyes with your hands and look around.
• “and is found”: open your arms wide and smile.

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. Have a small welcome-home party, like the father in the story. Crackers, cheese, and fruit work well. 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 loving us
like the father in Jesus’s story.
When we go the wrong way,
help us come home.
When someone else comes home,
help us be glad.
Thank you for always welcoming us.
Amen.

Take-home note for families

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

Today in Sunday school

Today your child heard a story Jesus told about a father and two sons (Luke 15:11–32). The younger son wasted his money far away, and he came home hungry and sorry. His father ran to meet him and threw a party. The older brother was angry, and the father went out to him too. Jesus told this story to show that God is like that father: full of love and glad when we come home.

Talk about it

• What was your favorite part of the story?
• How do you think the son felt when his father ran to him?
• When is it hard to say “I’m sorry”? When is it hard to forgive?

Try this at home

Read the story together in Luke 15:11–32. When someone in your family comes home this week, give them a big welcome-home hug, just like the father did.

Pray together

Dear God, thank you for loving us like the father in Jesus’s story. Help us forgive each other and welcome each other home. Amen.

Adapting for younger or older children

Younger children (ages 4 to 6). Tell the story with a few props, such as a bag, a toy pig, and a robe, and keep it short. Skip the crossword and the word search, and use the maze, the coloring pages, and the welcome-home hug. Teach only the memory verse motions.

Older children (ages 10 to 11). Read Luke 15:11–32 together from a Bible, taking turns. Compare it with the lost sheep and the lost coin earlier in Luke 15, and talk more about the older brother: why was he angry, and was the father fair? Use the crossword without the word bank, and invite the children to write their own ending to the story.