Craft

Manasseh Craft for Kids

A free Manasseh craft for kids in three levels. Slip off his paper fetters and bring him home from Babylon to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 33:13). Free template.

Preschool–Grade 5

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⬇ Craft template + instructions (PDF) · 5 pages

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: 2 Chronicles 33:1–20
Bible story: King Manasseh

What you need

The printed template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
Crayons or markers in light blue, orange, yellow, brown, green, light brown, red and gray, plus any colors for drawing Manasseh
Scissors and a glue stick
The printed altar page (page 3), one per child (harder level)

Steps

Color the card: the sky light blue, the city of Babylon on the left orange, the house of the LORD on the right yellow with a brown door, the ground green and the road light brown. Leave the dotted spots white.
Color the two pockets green, the edge of the Manasseh piece red and the fetters gray.
In the window of the Manasseh piece, draw Manasseh on his knees, praying with his hands folded (2 Chronicles 33:12–13).
Cut out the card, the Manasseh piece, the two pockets and both strips on the dashed lines.
Put glue on the back of each pocket along its left, right and bottom edges only. Press one pocket on the dotted spot under Babylon and the other on the dotted spot under the house of the LORD. Leave the tops open.
Wrap the gray fetters strip around the Manasseh piece, below the window. Glue the dotted end under the other end to make a ring. Don't glue the ring to the piece, so it slides off.
Glue the verse strip on the back of the card. Read it together.
Tell it: put Manasseh, in his fetters, in the Babylon pocket (2 Chronicles 33:11). He humbled himself and prayed (33:12–13): slide the fetters off and tuck them in the Babylon pocket. Then move him along the road into the Jerusalem pocket: God "brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (33:13).

This Manasseh craft turns one printed page into King Manasseh's road home. The captains of the king of Assyria "bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon" (2 Chronicles 33:11). Kids draw Manasseh praying and put him in the Babylon pocket in his paper fetters. When he humbles himself and prays, slide the fetters off and bring him home along the road to Jerusalem: God "brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (33:13). The memory verse, 2 Chronicles 33:13, goes on the back.

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, a glue stick, crayons and scissors.
Kids tell the whole story with their hands: Manasseh goes to Babylon in fetters (2 Chronicles 33:11), prays (33:12–13), loses his fetters and comes home to Jerusalem (33:13).
It shows real turning: the harder level repairs the altar of the LORD, the way Manasseh did after he came home (33:16).
It stays gentle: no idol is drawn, and Jesus is not drawn.
It carries the verse home: 2 Chronicles 33:13 (KJV), the memory verse for the whole set, is glued on the back of the card.

Three ways to make it

Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut out the pieces, glue the pockets on and make the fetters ring. Kids color, draw Manasseh praying and move him home. No scissors.
Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, draw, cut out the pieces, glue the pockets and make the fetters ring.
Harder (grades 3–5): the craft in the second photo. Kids also repair a paper altar from page 3 by gluing in its two missing stones, and glue it beside the house of the LORD (2 Chronicles 33:16).

Questions to ask

While kids work, ask how old Manasseh was when he began to reign (2 Chronicles 33:1), what he put in the house of God (33:7), whether he listened when God spoke (33:10), where the captains took him (33:11), what he did in his trouble (33:12–13) and what God did (33:13). Then read 2 Chronicles 33:13 together.

Tips for the classroom

For preschoolers, cut out the pieces, glue the pockets on and make the fetters rings ahead of time, so all they do is color, draw and move Manasseh home. Cardstock keeps the pockets and the Manasseh piece sturdy. Name his sins briefly, the way the lesson does, and spend the most time on his prayer and God's mercy.

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

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a simple Manasseh craft for preschoolers?

Cut out each child's pieces ahead of time, glue the two pockets on the card, and make the fetters ring for them. Preschoolers color the card, draw Manasseh praying, and move him from the Babylon pocket home to Jerusalem after they slide off his fetters. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.

How much does this Manasseh craft cost?

Under 50 cents a child: one printed page, a glue stick 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?

2 Chronicles 33:13 (KJV), "And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God." It is the memory verse for the whole Manasseh set, and it is printed on the verse strip that kids glue on the back of the card.

How can older kids make this craft harder?

Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids repair a paper altar from page 3 by gluing its two missing stones back in, then glue it beside the house of the LORD, because Manasseh "repaired the altar of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 33:16).