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Abigail Craft for Kids

An easy Abigail craft for kids in three levels, a donkey card with a basket pocket to load with loaves, raisins and figs (1 Samuel 25:18). Free printable.

Preschool–Grade 5

Abigail Craft for Kids
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Free to print and copy for your church, classroom, VBS and home. Please don't resell or re-post our files; link to the page instead.

Ages
Preschool (3–5), Early Elementary (K–2), Upper Elementary (3–5)
Time
15 to 30 minutes
Scripture
1 Samuel 25:2–42
Bible story
Abigail, David and Nabal

What you need

  • The printed template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
  • Crayons or markers in light blue, yellow, green, brown, gray, purple and red
  • Scissors and a glue stick
  • The printed window and corn sack page (page 3), one per child (harder level)

Steps

  1. Color the card: the sky light blue, the sun yellow, the hill and the bushes green, the ground brown and the donkey gray.Color the card: the sky light blue, the sun yellow, the hill and the bushes green, the ground brown and the donkey gray.
  2. Color the basket brown. Color the food cards: the loaf brown, the raisins purple and the fig cake red.
  3. Cut out the card, the basket, the three food cards and the verse strip on the dashed lines. Help younger children with the cutting.Cut out the card, the basket, the three food cards and the verse strip on the dashed lines. Help younger children with the cutting.
  4. Put glue only along the two sides and the bottom of the basket's back. Press it on the dotted shape on the donkey's side. Leave the top open, so the basket is a pocket.
  5. Load Abigail's present: slide the loaf, raisin and fig cake cards into the basket pocket so the food peeks out of the top.
  6. Turn the card over. Glue the verse strip on the back and read it together.
  7. Tell it: Abigail "made haste, and took two hundred loaves… and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses" (1 Samuel 25:18). Walk the card down the hill to meet David. Her soft answer turned away his anger, and David said, "Go up in peace to thine house" (25:35).Tell it: Abigail "made haste, and took two hundred loaves… and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses" (1 Samuel 25:18). Walk the card down the hill to meet David. Her soft answer turned away his anger, and David said, "Go up in peace to thine house" (25:35).

This Abigail craft turns one printed page into a donkey card with a basket pocket to load. When churlish Nabal would not share and David's men girded on their swords, wise Abigail "made haste, and took two hundred loaves… and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses" (1 Samuel 25:18). Kids color the donkey, glue on the basket pocket and load it with bread, raisins and a fig cake, then walk it down the hill to meet David. Her soft answer turned away his anger, and David said, "Go up in peace to thine house" (25:35). It comes in three levels, with the template and teacher notes in one free PDF.

The finished craft, easy and medium level

The finished craft, harder level

What it looks like finished: easy and medium (first photo) and harder (second photo).

Why this craft works

  • Cheap and simple: one printed page, glue, crayons and scissors.
  • Kids can tell the story with it: load the basket the way Abigail loaded her present (1 Samuel 25:18) and walk the donkey down the hill to meet David (25:20).
  • It follows the Bible closely: the loaves, raisins, cakes of figs and parched corn all come from 25:18, and nothing is added to the story.
  • It points to God: David said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me" (25:32).
  • It carries the verse home: Proverbs 15:1 (KJV) is glued on the back of the card.

Three ways to make it

  • Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut out the pieces and glue on the pocket. Kids color and load the food. No scissors.
  • Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, cut out and glue the pieces themselves.
  • Harder (grades 3–5): the craft in the second photo. Kids also draw Abigail bowing before David in a window from page 3 (1 Samuel 25:23) and load a sack of parched corn (25:18).

Questions to ask

While kids work, ask what Nabal said to David's young men (1 Samuel 25:10), what David told his men to do (25:13), what Abigail brought (25:18), what she did when she saw David (25:23), and who David said had sent her (25:32). Then read Proverbs 15:1 together.

Tips for the classroom

Cardstock keeps the pocket strong enough to load and unload many times. For preschoolers, cut out the pieces and glue the pockets on ahead of time. Talk about how Abigail's kind, wise words and her present made peace.

Teaching the story first? Use the free Abigail lesson and the word search.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a simple Abigail craft for preschoolers?

Cut out each child's card, basket, food cards and verse strip ahead of time, and glue the basket pocket on the donkey for them. Preschoolers color the pieces and slide the bread, raisins and figs into the basket. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.

How much does this Abigail craft cost?

Under 50 cents a child: one printed page, a little glue, and crayons you already have. The template is free to print. The harder level adds a second page.

What Bible verse goes with this craft?

Proverbs 15:1 (KJV), "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." It is the memory verse for the Abigail lesson, and it is printed on the verse strip that goes on the back of the card.

How can older kids make this craft harder?

Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids add a window from page 3 where they draw Abigail bowing before David "by the covert of the hill" (1 Samuel 25:20, 25:23), and a sack of parched corn to load in the basket with the rest of her present (25:18).

More for this Bible story