Feeding the 5000



  1. Children should identify this as a miracle of Jesus.
  2. Children should know the little boy shared 5 loaves and 2 fishes.
  3. Children should know that Jesus fed 5000 people after blessing the food.


Possible Lesson Plan:

  1. Open with prayer.


  1. Read the story in the Children’s Bible Reader, pages 210-211, or the Read with Me Bible, pages 312-317. Supplement, if desired, with the Children’s Bible, pages 402-403, Children’s Stories of the Bible pages 163-164, or the Arch Book, “The Boy Who Gave His Lunch Away”. What was Jesus doing? Why were so many people there? They must have been hungry. What did Jesus feed them? Where did He get the food? What did Jesus do with it? What was left over? Was this a miracle? How did the disciples feel?


  1. Feed the Elephant True/False Questions:

True                                                     False

            Jesus was teaching in the wilderness.             Jesus was in a restaurant.

            The little boy had 5 loaves and 2 fish.            The little boy had a steak and peas.

            Jesus fed 5000 men from the blessed food.   Jesus sent the people to town to buy food.


  1. Try a sharing demonstration. Bring to class a batch of brownies, enough for half the class. Hand out the brownies to half the students; let the others see that there are no more. Are there comments about not being enough? Ask the children what they can do about this situation. When they come up with the answer, cut each brownie in half. Now there are enough for everyone. Eat the brownies while you talk about sharing: Did the little boy have to share his food? Why did he share? No one forced him to share his food – he wanted to. Jesus teaches us to share food with others. Do you bring lunch or snack to school? What if someone asks for something especially delicious from you? Will you share? Are there other ways we can share? Think about some and write them down.


  1. Make a basket of bread and fish. Make the basket by cutting a paper plate in half and stapling the halves together along the rim. Color brown. Add a construction paper handle. Now give each child 2 fish and 5 loaves from the patterns. Color the fish and loaves and put them in the basket. Pretend they are the little boy, bringing his lunch. What will they do?


  1. Close with prayer, asking Jesus to help us to be sharing people, as was the little boy.