Fishing for People
Group Activities

Sermon Title: "Fishing for People"

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:18-22

LET'S GO FISHING Game:

Tie a string so that it stretches across the room and hang a sheet over the string to make a curtain. Use an old fishing pole, purchase a toy fishing pole, or make your own from a stick and tie a string or long piece of yarn to act as a fishing line. Tie a clothespin or a large paper clip to the end of the string to make the "hook." Children will take turns letting down the fishing line behind the curtain. The teacher will put a treat (candy, pencil, anything inexpensive) on the hook and give a little tug on the line to let the child know they have had a "bite." The teacher will explain that we'll learn about FISHING today in our Bible Story so "listen for WHO will go fishing for WHAT" in our lesson!

FISH AND FOLLOW:

Children can have fish on the floor that they will have to follow to catch the BIG ONE at the end of the "fishy trail". The BIG FISH at the end could be some candy taped onto a BIG FISH or a little container of "fish crackers". There will need to be enough BIG FISH prizes for each child that will play the game.

FISH SEWING:

Children can decorate 2 fish and put them together with a little paper towel in the middle (for stuffing) and have the fish hole punched so that the children can then take yarn and SEW the fish together and then hang from their door knob or on the wall in their bedrooms or in their SS classroom.

"FISH WITH NAMES" ART:

Give children several fish to color and decorate (even sequins are neat to glue where the gills would be). Children can glue their fish to a BLUE poster board and write names of people they could tell about Jesus so they can be "fishers of men". Have children take turns praying for their names!

FISH MOBILE:

Have pictures of fish (from internet or books) and children can glue them onto another "fish" shape and hang the fish from a decorated hanger. Encourage children to write on their fish such as FISHERS OF MEN; FISH FOR SOULS; COME FOLLOW JESUS; FISH WITH JESUS, etc. Each child could make one to take home or children can work together to make one for the SS class to remind them each week to be Fishers of people!

BIGGEST FISH DRAWING:

The teacher can place TWO pieces of blue poster board together and draw a VERY LARGE simple FISH drawing and have on the focal wall when the children arrive in class. As children arrive, they can be encouraged to draw little fish on the BIG fish and write a name of someone they would like to remember to pray for. The children will enjoy having such a BIG FISH on the wall in their classroom! A picture of the children standing by the BIG FISH would be an added delight for each child!!!

EQUIPMENT RELAY:

Tell children that we need equipment to share God's Word with people. Children can run around the room as individuals or as teams to find the first one - a BIBLE and run it back to the table. Next the children can run around the room or designated area and collect cut outs or fold outs of people to share the Bible with, as in our lesson today. The children will bring all the people they find around the room that have been taped to the walls or chairs, etc. The last items the children can collect are hearts that will say PATIENCE on each heart and as they bring back the "loving hearts of patience", the teacher can continue with the lesson today.

FISH PAINTING:

Let children paint 2 fish looking at each other, on a piece of construction paper. Sponges can be used in the paint to splotch the fish to look like "scales". The older children can then write a small conversation that each fish could be saying to each other .... using some ideas from today's lesson, such as FOLLOW JESUS AND HE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO FISH FOR MEN, or TELL OTHERS ABOUT JESUS, or READ YOUR BIBLE AND THEN GO TELL OTHERS WITH PATIENCE, etc.

TELLING BANNER:

The class can work on this together or individually, as teacher chooses. Write "WHAT HAS JESUS DONE FOR ME".... write each idea from the children in a different color marker to make the banner colorful and very noticeable for others to read.

GOLD FISH SNACKS:

Let children share some gold fish crackers together and some BLUE juice!

Song: "I Will Make You Fishers of Men" by Elaine Kirkpatrick

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track (right click to save to your computer)

Song: "Fishers of Men" by Harry D. Clarke

Words and Music (pdf)

MP3 Accompaniment Track

Hope Publishing Company is the copyright owner of this song. It is used here with their permission. You may be able to find it in some children's song books. If you wish to print the music from Sermons4Kids, you must obtain permission from Hope Publishing.