Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Craft for Kids
An easy Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego craft for kids in three levels, a paper furnace with a sliding fire strip so the friends walk in the fire. Free template.
Preschool–Grade 5
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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
- Daniel 3
- Bible story
- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
What you need
- The printed furnace, verse card and fire strip template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
- Crayons or markers in brown, red, orange and yellow
- Scissors and a glue stick
- The printed flame frame and springs page (page 3), one per child (harder level)
Steps
- Color the furnace bricks brown. On the fire strip, color the big flames red and orange and the small flames inside them yellow.
- In the three ovals on the fire strip, draw Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego walking in the fire (Daniel 3:25).
- Cut out the furnace, the verse card and the fire strip on the dashed lines. Help younger children with the cutting.
- Cut out the window in the furnace. A grown-up pinches the middle of the window and snips a small slit to start the cut.
- Turn the furnace face down. Turn the verse card face down too, put glue on its top band and bottom band only, and press it across the back of the furnace so it covers the window. The verse faces out.
- Slide the fire strip into the gap between the furnace and the verse card, drawing side toward the window. Turn the furnace over, and the three friends show through the window.
- Pull the strip back and forth, so the three friends walk in the fire. Turn the furnace over and read the verse on the back together.
This Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego craft turns one printed page into the fiery furnace from Daniel 3: a brick furnace with a window and a fire strip that slides behind it, so the three friends kids draw walk back and forth in the flames, "loose, walking in the midst of the fire" (Daniel 3:25). The memory verse card on the back holds the strip in place. It costs under 50 cents a child, takes about 20 minutes and comes in three levels, from preschool to 5th grade.
What it looks like finished: easy and medium (first photo) and harder (second photo).
Why this craft works
- Cheap and simple: one printed page, a glue stick and crayons.
- It tells the story the way the Bible does: the friends were cast in bound, but the king saw them "loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt" (Daniel 3:25). Kids slide the strip and watch their own drawings walk through the flames.
- It carries the verse home: Isaiah 43:2 (KJV) is printed on the card glued on the back, so the verse holds the craft together.
Three ways to make it
- Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut out the pieces and the window and glue the verse card on. Kids color, draw the three friends and slide the strip in. No scissors.
- Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, draw, cut out the pieces, glue the verse card on the back and slide the fire strip in.
- Harder (grades 3–5): kids add a flame frame from page 3 around the window, set on four folded paper springs so the flames stand out from the furnace. Then they say the verse from memory.
Questions to ask
While kids work, ask how many men the king threw into the fire and how many he saw walking in it (Daniel 3:24–25), whether the friends were tied up or loose (3:25), and what the fire did to them (nothing at all, 3:27). The friends trusted God before they knew how it would end: "But if not... we will not serve thy gods" (3:18).
Tips for the classroom
Print page 2 on cardstock if you can, so the strip slides smoothly. For preschoolers, cut out the pieces and windows ahead of time and glue the verse cards on, so all they do is color, draw and slide. Keep glue off the middle of the verse card. The king saw four men in the fire (Daniel 3:25), but the craft gives ovals for the three friends only and draws no fourth figure; tell that part from the Bible.
Teaching the story first? Use the free Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Sunday school lesson and the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego word search.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a simple Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego craft for preschoolers?
Cut out each child's furnace, window, verse card and fire strip ahead of time, and glue the verse card on the back of each furnace. Preschoolers color the bricks and flames, draw the three friends in the ovals (or you draw simple faces), and slide the strip in. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.
How much does this fiery furnace craft cost?
Under 50 cents a child: one printed page (cardstock is best), a little glue and crayons you already have. The template is free to print.
What Bible verse goes with a Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego craft?
Isaiah 43:2 (KJV), "when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." The whole verse is printed on the verse card that kids glue on the back.
How can older kids make this craft harder?
Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids add a flame frame from page 3 around the furnace window, set on four folded paper springs so the flames stand out from the furnace, the furnace the king said to "heat ... one seven times more" (Daniel 3:19). Then they say Isaiah 43:2 from memory.
