Craft

Unforgiving Servant Craft for Kids

An easy unforgiving servant craft for kids in three levels. Lift the big debt and the little debt to see what each servant did (Matthew 18). 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: Matthew 18:21–35
Bible story: The Unforgiving Servant

What you need

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

Steps

Color the card: on the left, the wall light purple, the floor brown and the heart red. On the right, the sky light blue, the ground light brown and the prison gray. Leave the two drawing windows and the barred window white.
In the left window, draw the servant fallen down before his lord, the king (Matthew 18:26). In the right window, draw the fellowservant fallen down at the servant's feet (18:29).
Color the big flap and the small flap yellow.
Cut out the card, the big flap, the small flap and the verse strip on the dashed lines. Don't cut out the windows.
Fold the tab on each flap back on the dotted line.
Put glue on the back of each tab. Press the big flap's tab on the dotted spot above the heart, so the flap hangs down over the heart. Press the small flap's tab on the dotted spot above the barred window, so it hangs down over the window.
Glue the verse strip on the back of the card. Read it together.
Tell it: the servant owed ten thousand talents, a huge debt (show the big flap, Matthew 18:24). He fell down and said, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all" (18:26). Lift the big flap: his lord was moved with compassion and forgave him the debt (18:27). Then the same servant found a fellowservant who owed him an hundred pence, a little debt (show the small flap, 18:28). He said the same words (18:29). Lift the small flap: the servant would not, but cast him into prison (18:30).

This unforgiving servant craft turns one printed page into the two debts in Jesus' story. A servant owed his lord "ten thousand talents," fell down and said, "Lord, have patience with me," and his lord "was moved with compassion" and forgave him the debt (Matthew 18:24–27). Kids lift the big flap to find the heart, then lift the little flap for the hundred pence and find the prison (18:28–30). The memory verse, Matthew 18:22, 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 see the difference: a big flap for the huge debt and a little flap for the small one. The same words, "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all," got two very different answers (Matthew 18:26–30).
It teaches Jesus' point: we forgive because we have been forgiven so much (18:33). The harder level adds seven hearts to count for Peter's question.
Jesus is not drawn: kids draw the two servants in the windows.
It carries the verse home: Matthew 18:22 (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 and glue the flaps on. Kids color, draw and lift the flaps. No scissors.
Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, draw, cut out the pieces, fold the tabs and glue the flaps.
Harder (grades 3–5): the craft in the second photo. Kids add a folding strip of seven red hearts that pulls out from behind the card, for Peter's "till seven times?" (Matthew 18:21).

Questions to ask

While kids work, ask what Peter asked (Matthew 18:21), what Jesus answered (18:22), how much the servant owed (18:24), what his lord did (18:27), how much the fellowservant owed (18:28) and what the servant did to him (18:30). Then read Matthew 18:22 together.

Tips for the classroom

For preschoolers, cut out the pieces and glue the flaps on ahead of time, so all they do is color, draw and lift the flaps. Cardstock makes the flaps lie flat best. Read Jesus' last words in Matthew 18:35 plainly, the way the lesson does.

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

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a simple unforgiving servant craft for preschoolers?

Cut out each child's card, two flaps and verse strip ahead of time, and glue the flaps on for them. Preschoolers color the card, draw the two servants in the windows, and lift the big flap and the little flap. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.

How much does this unforgiving servant 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?

Matthew 18:22 (KJV), "Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." It is the memory verse for the whole unforgiving servant 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 add a folding strip of seven red hearts from page 3 that pulls out from behind the card, for Peter's question, "till seven times?" (Matthew 18:21). Then they read Jesus' answer, "Until seventy times seven" (18:22).