Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Lesson Overview
In Genesis 8:15–22 and 9:8–17, Noah’s family comes out of the ark. God gives the rainbow as the sign of His promise never again to destroy all life with a flood.
Passage
Genesis 8:15–22; 9:8–17
Central truth
God rescued Noah’s family and promised never again to destroy all life with a flood.
The children’s response
Point to the rainbow and hear or explain God’s promise about never again destroying all life with a flood.
Focus to remember
God keeps His promises.
Read Overview and preparation before leading. Printable Resources supplies the whole teaching pictures, colouring backup, making page and optional take-home page.
Before the children arrive
- For the group: a Bible, one set of the 2 whole teaching pictures (Printable Resources, pages 1–2), and familiar large play materials.
- For your chosen activity: prepare the quantities given below. Keep one colouring page (page 3) and one large crayon per child as a backup, with extra colours to share.
- For finishing: a tray for work and adult cleaning cloths. Offer one whole take-home page (page 5) per household if wanted, or its separate PDF.
Place the pictures where everyone can see them. Keep a comfortable quiet space within the supervised group. Choose an activity you can support with the adults present, without compulsory waiting turns.
How the lesson unfolds
45-minute session
- 10 min
- Welcome and play
- 10 min
- Hear the Bible accountincluding gathering and responses
- 20 min
- Activity and conversationincluding familiar play and cleanup
- 5 min
- Remember and praythen supervised collection
Use these times as a gentle guide. Leave room for settling, looking, questions and practical care.
Welcome and play
Greet each child and help them settle with familiar play materials. If a child mentions rain or a rainbow, listen to what they want to share. You do not need a weather story from everyone. Give a short warning before gathering and help children return the materials to their usual place.
Hear about rescue and God’s promise
Open the Bible at Genesis 8. Say, “Today we will hear about Noah and a promise God made.”
Keep your Bible open. Begin with the ark picture and speak calmly. It shows the ark after the flood waters have gone down, not a storm.
Picture 1 · God brought them through
People had become very wicked and hurt one another. God sent a great flood to judge the evil in the world. But God gave Noah a way to be rescued. He told Noah to build an ark, a very large wooden boat. Noah listened to God.
God kept Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives alive in the ark. There were living creatures with them too. At last the flood waters went down and the ground was dry. God told Noah to come out and bring his family and the creatures with him.
Ask “Who had kept Noah’s family alive through the flood?”
Look and listen for “God”.
If needed Point to the ark and say, “God provided the ark and brought them through.”
Picture 2 · Outside, with a promise
Show the family-and-rainbow picture. Point to the people and creatures as you name them.
Noah and his family came out, and the living creatures came out too. Noah worshipped God. Then God made a promise to Noah, his family and all the living creatures. He promised never again to destroy all life on the earth with a flood.
God gave the rainbow as a sign of His promise. Listen to these words He spoke.
I have placed my bow in the clouds
The bow in the clouds is the rainbow. When we see a rainbow, we can remember God’s promise. Floods can still happen in some places. God’s promise is that a flood will never again destroy all life on the earth. He keeps that promise.
Ask “Can you point to the sign of God’s promise?”
Look and listen for A point to the rainbow.
If needed Trace its arch with your finger and name it together.
God’s word is trustworthy. Later in the Bible we hear how Jesus, God’s Son, came to rescue us from sin. Jesus died for sins and rose again. We need Him, and we can trust Him. God keeps His promises.
Choose an activity and remember
Choose one option for your group; the children do not need to complete all three. Join their making or play and keep the teaching pictures nearby. Children may return to familiar play when they finish, with colouring available as a backup.
Notice and help: A child may find the rainbow or recall the family leaving the ark. Ask what the rainbow helps us remember, and supply the particular promise. If a child says there can never be another flood anywhere, clarify that local floods can still happen. Use children’s responses to guide your help without requiring everyone to answer.
Option 1 · Colour the ark and rainbow
Prepare: One colouring page (Printable Resources, page 3) and one large crayon per child, with extra colours to share. Keep the matching whole teaching picture visible.
Choose colours and make marks
Let children colour a small part or the whole picture in their own way. They may point or choose a colour while you steady the sheet.
Remember together
God kept Noah’s family alive. The rainbow is a sign of His promise never again to destroy all life on earth with a flood.
With help: Offer two colours, hold the page or look at the picture together. Finishing is optional. For more: Invite the child to finish, “God promised that a flood would never again…” Help with “destroy all life on earth.”
Give a short warning, help return crayons and put the pages in the work tray.
Option 2 · Remember God's promise
Prepare: For each child: one rainbow-making page or plain A4 sheet, one broad strip of green or brown paper and a large crayon. Share several crayon colours and one glue stick per table. Adults prepare the land strips; no small decorations are needed.
Make sweeping colours
Trace an arch in the air, then show one broad curved mark on spare paper. Children choose colours and make their own sweeping bands. No exact rainbow shape or colour order is required.
Add dry ground
Offer the large land strip to arrange beneath the colours and attach with adult help. A child may add marks for the ark or people, or leave the page simple.
Name the promise
Point to the rainbow in the teaching picture and say what God promised. Invite the child to tell or point as you help. Our picture reminds us; it does not make God keep His word.
With help: Offer two colours and steady the page, or help place the land strip where the child chooses. For more: Invite a child to connect the ark, the family’s rescue and the rainbow’s promise in their own words.
Return crayons and spare strips. An adult collects glue and sets work aside; help clean hands if needed.
Option 3 · Coming out of the ark
Prepare: For each small group: one low open cardboard box, three or four large animal toys suitable for the youngest children, one flat cloth for dry ground, and the rainbow teaching picture. The box stays open and holds toys only.
Begin with the ark
Place animals in the box and recall that God kept Noah’s family and creatures alive in the ark. Show the teaching picture of the family as well; the toy animals do not stand for all its passengers.
Come out onto dry ground
Invite children to choose an animal and move it onto the cloth. Let several take part beside you without a queue. Narrate, “God told Noah to bring his family and the creatures out.” Children may repeat a movement or point where an animal should go.
Remember God’s word
Pause at the rainbow picture. Say the promise clearly, then let children arrange the animals on dry ground while you talk. Do not enact the flood, drowning or an enclosed dark ark.
With help: Move an animal to the place a child points, or let them hold it beside the cloth. For more: Ask why the rainbow matters in this account; supply the promise rather than testing colour names.
Put the animals into their tray and fold the cloth. An adult stores the box away from walking routes.
A quiet or no-print option
Trace a rainbow arch with one finger beside an adult, using the picture or plain paper. Tell the particular promise gently. If rain or flooding worries a child, listen and offer familiar quiet play without promising that nothing frightening will happen.
Keep the last few minutes of the activity period for tidying and helping children clean their hands. Watching, pointing, choosing and speaking in a familiar language are welcome ways to participate.
Remember and pray
Read the short Bible verse from Genesis 9:13 once more. The focus words below summarise the lesson; they are not a Bible quotation.
Ask the children to find the rainbow in the picture. Say, “It is the sign of God’s promise.” Invite a willing child to tell the promise, or say it yourself while they point: “A flood will never again destroy all life on earth.” Then remember the focus together: “God keeps His promises.”
Say, “We can thank God for His faithful word. You may listen while I pray or join me.”
A simple prayer
God, thank You for rescuing Noah’s family and for the promise You made. You are faithful. Thank You for Jesus, who rescues sinners. Help us to trust Your word. Amen.
Offer the work and take-home page if wanted. Tell a collecting adult, “We heard about Noah coming out of the ark and the promise connected with the rainbow.” The separate take-home PDF is in Printable Resources. Keep a familiar quiet activity available and continue supervising until each child is safely collected through your church’s usual arrangements.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.