Use these fisher of men Bible crafts and activities to teach your toddler and preschoolers about hearing the call of God on their lives.

For mom: As Christians our first disciples are our children. As we live our lives alongside them and learn to be more like Jesus to them and parent them like Father God parent’s us, we win them for Christ. Often we look at the world with the ripe harvest fields for people who need Jesus' love and redemption and we forget about the little ones who need Him just as much – and they are right within our home.

Fish mobile

(Guidelines 2-1-1+)

You will need: Aluminium foil, cardstock, glue, felt tip pens, string, two-hole punch, scissors. Cut out a fish shape from your card. Mark the eyes, lips and lines on fins and tail. Show your toddler how to tear little bits of foil off the roll. When you have a pile of bits, stick them on the body of the fish leaving one end sticking up to make the scales. You can make lots of small ones and then punch a hole in the top fin, thread with string and tie on a clothes hanger. Hang it up where it can catch a gentle breeze.

Fishing magnet game

(Guidelines 2-1-1+)

You will need a plastic basin, string, cardstock, paper clips, stick, magnet. Print out this fish template in 4 different colours of card. Cut the fish out. Print of these people templates and cut out. Place a paper clip over the mouth of each fish and head of each person. Print out this people template once on card.

Tie your magnet to one end of the string and the other end to the stick. Place your fish and people in a basin or large bowl. Let your toddler fish out the fish a person. Each time they get a person instead of a fish sing the following song with them.

Song - fishers of men

(Guidelines 1-1-1+)

I will make you fishers of men

I will make you fishers of men
Fishers of men,
Fishers of men,
If you follow me.
If you follow me.
If you follow me.
I will make you fishers of men
If you follow me.

First disciples names finger puppets

(Guidelines 2-1-2+)

Use this template to make the 12 disciples as finger puppets. You can colour each one differently by adding different color hair and clothes. Write the name of each of them on the back where you can see the name.

Sometime in your day put on the puppets, starting with 2 or 3 and help your toddler to memorise their names. When they have remembered the first few they get to wear them while you introduce the next 2 or 3. Let them say their puppets names first and then you follow with yours.

Your older toddler may enjoy a little bit of background to each which is included below.

Disciple’s names listed in Matthew 10:2-4:

Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew;
James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
Philip and Bartholomew;
Thomas who doubted the resurrection
Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot and
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

There are so many lovely stories in the Bible about Jesus and fish…take a look at my parable crafts and miracles of Jesus for other ideas.

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