Preschool: Animals of the Bible
LESSON INTRODUCTION
Unit Essential Questions:
What can animals in the Bible teach us about God?
What animals are mentioned in the Bible? Why are they mentioned?
What are the context characters and who are they?
Lesson Essential Questions:
What is a gazelle?
What can the gazelle teach us about God?
In what ways does God provide for us?
Bible Text:
Psalm 18:32-33, Philippians 4:13
Contextual Lenses:
Learning Goals:
Learners will be able to identify a gazelle, and name its qualities.
Learners will be able to describe how God provides for us.
Teaching Points:
God provides for us.
LESSON INFORMATION
What you should prepare . . .
Either cut out the context character and glue it to a popsicle stick or use the context character plush toy.
Bring four different pairs of shoes with you to class.
Print off the included coloring page for each learner in your class. Set out crayons and markers that learners can use to decorate their paper.
To keep track of the different characteristics of God embodied by the six animals, create an anchor chart that includes their names. As you’re introduced to each character, add what you’ve learned about the animal, and what the animal teaches us about God to your chart.
What you should know . . .
The Bible uses “pictures” to help us better understand who God is and what God is like. In order to better understand the meaning of God’s words we have to know and understand these “pictures.” As responsible readers of the Bible, noticing the metaphors helps us to read the Bible in its proper context.
LESSON INTRODUCTION
Ask learners to think about these two questions before you play the video. Spend some time letting them share their answers.
Wonder Questions: (slides 1,2,3)
Do you know what kind of animal this is? (There are three powerpoint slides that each pull back and show more of the animal. See how quickly learners can guess the animal.)
Do you think this animal would rather run or walk?
ENGAGING WITH CONTEXT
Play the Video. (Slide 4) You can also show pictures and teach the content of the video if you would rather do that.
Video Script:
Have you ever heard of a gazelle? They’re super cool animals, and the Bible uses them to teach us how God cares for us and provides what we need.
Gazelles might look gentle, but they are tough and strong. They live in hot, dry deserts, but they’ve figured out how to survive. They find shade under trees, snack on leaves and fruit, and don’t even need to drink much water. Isn’t that amazing?
But here’s something even cooler—gazelles are super fast! They can run up to 50 miles per hour. That’s as fast as a car! God gave gazelles special feet that help them leap and glide over the rocky mountains and valleys with grace and strength. Imagine being able to jump like that.
Gazelles are also really good at staying safe. They have incredible hearing and sharp eyes to spot danger from far away. And they like to stick together in herds, traveling in groups early in the morning or late in the evening, when it’s cooler. Plus, both boy and girl gazelles have horns to protect themselves. Gazelles are truly amazing animals.
So, what can we learn from the gazelle? Just like God gives the gazelle strength to run, leap, and be brave, He gives us strength too. Whenever we feel scared or unsure, we can remember that God is with us, and God will provide what we need to face any challenge—just like He does for the gazelle.
Introduce Grace the Gazelle. (Slide 5)
Use either the context character cut out on a stick or a plush toy.
Tell learners that Grace will be helping us learn more about God and the Bible.
EXPLORE THE STORY
Read Scripture (Slide 6):
Psalm 18:32-33: “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.”
Now, let’s have some fun. I’ve got three or four pairs of shoes—tennis shoes, fancy shoes, flippers, and boots. What do you think each pair is for?
Each pair of shoes helps us get ready for a different activity, right? Just like the right shoes help us feel strong and ready, God gives gazelles strong feet to run along mountains and rocks. And He promises to provide for us what we need to be brave, just like the gazelles.
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”
God will always provide what we need to do what God wants us to do.
RESPOND TO THE STORY
Response Questions:
What kinds of things do you think God wants us to do? (Maybe being kind to others, sharing, or listening to our parents.)
How has God provided for you?
When we don’t feel brave, how can we ask God to help us?
Prayer:
God, thank You for being both strong and gentle. Thank You for giving us the strength to be brave and do the things You want us to do. Help us to be kind to our friends and family, and to love those around us. Amen.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES
Color Grace the Gazelle. Bring Grace the Gazelle to life with this fun and engaging coloring page!
Make a mask. Get creative by designing your own gazelle mask or using the ready-made template provided!
Gazelle Obstacle Course: Gazelles are fast and agile animals! Let’s pretend to be gazelles by navigating an exciting obstacle course. Here’s how to set it up and play:
Set Up the Obstacle Course:
Use items like pillows, cones, chairs, or hula hoops to create obstacles for jumping, weaving, or crawling under.
Designate an "open space" as the desert for running freely like a gazelle.
Add variety with different levels (e.g., low hurdles to leap over and higher obstacles to avoid).
Explain the Activity:
Tell the learners: "You’re gazelles living in the wild! Use your powerful legs to leap over obstacles, weave around trees (cones), and sprint through the desert."
Demonstrate how to jump, run, and weave like a gazelle.
Play the Game:
Have learners take turns running the course while you cheer them on!
Encourage them to move fast, jump high, and use big gazelle-like leaps.
Time them or have them race side-by-side to add excitement.
Make It Fun:
Add storytelling elements: Pretend there’s a lion chasing them or they’re racing to find water in the desert.
Reward their gazelle skills with high-fives or pretend "gazelle crowns" for completing the course.
Gazelle Survival Game: Gazelles are known for their incredible ability to stay safe from predators. In this game, the learners will pretend to be gazelles munching on leaves in the desert while staying alert to danger!
Setup
Designate safe zones: Mark areas in the room as “high cliffs” or “mountains” where gazelles can escape predators. Use cones, tape, or signs to clearly identify these zones.
Scatter leaves: Place small green pieces of paper or objects (representing branches from the acacia tree) around the room. These are the leaves the gazelles will “munch” on.
Choose a predator: Assign one or more learners to be predators, or take on the role yourself to start.
How to Play
Munch and move: Gazelles (the learners) roam the desert (the room), picking up leaves while pretending to graze.
Stay alert: Gazelles should keep an eye out for predators while they munch.
Predator alert: When you (or the predator) shout, “Predator!” the gazelles must leap into action and run to a safe zone as fast as they can.
If a predator tags a gazelle before they reach safety, that gazelle becomes a predator for the next round.
Reset: Once everyone is safe, return to munching and continue the game. Rotate predators to give everyone a chance.
Optional Variations
Add a time limit for each round to keep the game moving.
Introduce more predators as the game progresses to make it more challenging.
Create a point system: each leaf a gazelle collects is worth one point, but they lose points if tagged.
Lesson Files Include:
Lesson PDF
Presentations Files (Keynote, Power Point, Google Slides)
Videos
Coloring Pages
Mask Cut Outs
Character Cut Out
Sample Anchor Chart
Context character plush toys and sticker sheets coming soon!
Contact info@lovegodloveothers.com if you are interested in trying out this unit with your students
