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Persistent Widow Craft for Kids

An easy persistent widow craft for kids in three levels, a fold-out day and night prayer path for Luke 18:1–8. Free printable template, supplies and steps.

Preschool–Grade 5

Persistent Widow 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
Luke 18:1–8
Bible story
The Persistent Widow

What you need

  • The printed template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
  • Crayons or markers in brown, tan, yellow, dark blue and red
  • Scissors and a glue stick
  • The printed prayer sandals page (page 3), one per child, plus a pencil (harder level)

Steps

  1. Color the road brown on both strips. Color the house tan and its door brown, the suns and the moon and stars yellow, the sky around the moon dark blue, and the heart red.Color the road brown on both strips. Color the house tan and its door brown, the suns and the moon and stars yellow, the sky around the moon dark blue, and the heart red.
  2. Draw the widow in the oval window of the house: a woman with long hair and a long dress.
  3. Cut out strip 1, strip 2 (with its glue tab) and the verse card on the dashed lines.
  4. Put glue on the tab of strip 2 and press it behind the moon picture at the end of strip 1, so the road keeps going.
  5. Glue the verse card on the back of the house picture. Read it together.
  6. Fold the path back and forth on the dotted lines, like a fan.
  7. Tell it: the widow came to the judge (Luke 18:3). Walk your fingers along the road, day, night, day: she kept coming (18:5). At the heart, say: God hears His own day and night (18:7), so always pray and don't give up (18:1).Tell it: the widow came to the judge (Luke 18:3). Walk your fingers along the road, day, night, day: she kept coming (18:5). At the heart, say: God hears His own day and night (18:7), so always pray and don't give up (18:1).

This persistent widow craft turns one printed page into a fold-out prayer path. Jesus told a parable "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). A widow kept coming to a judge who "feared not God, neither regarded man," until, because of "her continual coming," he said he would help her (18:2–5). Kids walk their fingers along the road from her house, through day, night and day, to a heart, because God hears His own "day and night" (18:7). The memory verse, Luke 18:1, is glued on the back. It costs under 50 cents a child.

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, five crayon colors, scissors and a glue stick.
  • Kids act out the story: they walk their fingers along the road, day and night, because the widow kept coming (Luke 18:5).
  • It turns into prayer: older kids make seven prayer sandals, one prayer for each day this week, so they keep coming to God too.
  • No people printed, and never Jesus: kids draw the widow themselves in the oval window.
  • It carries the verse home: Luke 18:1 (KJV), the memory verse for the whole set, is glued on the back of the path.

Three ways to make it

  • Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut out and glue the path. Kids color it, draw the widow and walk their fingers along the road. No scissors.
  • Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, draw, cut, glue the two strips into one path and fold it like a fan.
  • Harder (grades 3–5): the craft in the second photo. Kids also make seven prayer sandals from page 3 and write a prayer on the back of each.

Questions to ask

While kids work, ask why Jesus told this parable (Luke 18:1), what the judge was like (18:2), what the widow asked (18:3), why he finally said he would help her (18:5) and when God's own people cry to Him (18:7). Then read Luke 18:1 together.

Tips for the classroom

For preschoolers, cut out and glue the path ahead of time, so all they do is color, draw and tell the story. Make it clear that God is not like the unjust judge (18:6): the path ends at a heart because God loves His own and hears them. Cardstock makes the path last longest.

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

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a simple persistent widow craft for preschoolers?

Cut out each child's two strips and verse card ahead of time, glue the strips together into one path and glue the verse on the back. Preschoolers color the road, the sun, the moon and the heart, draw the widow in the window, and walk their fingers along the road saying, "She kept coming!" About 15 minutes, no cutting by the kids.

How much does this persistent widow 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?

Luke 18:1 (KJV), "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;" It is the memory verse for the whole set, and it is printed on the verse card that kids glue on the back of the house picture.

How can older kids make this craft harder?

Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids also make seven prayer sandals from page 3, one for each day of the week, and write a prayer on the back of each. Each day they pray it and lay the sandal down next to yesterday's, so their path of prayers grows, like the widow's continual coming (Luke 18:5).

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