Woman at the Well Craft for Kids
An easy woman at the well craft for kids in three levels, a paper well with a waterpot that pulls up on yarn and John 4:14 on the back. Free printable 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
- John 4:1–42
- Bible story
- The Woman at the Well
What you need
- The printed well, waterpot and verse strip template (page 2), one per child (cardstock is sturdiest)
- Crayons or markers in gray, brown and orange (and yellow, green, blue and light brown for the harder level)
- Scissors and a glue stick
- Clear tape
- One 12-inch piece of blue yarn per child
- The printed scene card (page 3), one per child (harder level)
Steps
- Color the stones of the well front gray and the rim (the curved band at the top) brown. Color the waterpot orange, with its band and handle brown.
- Cut out the well front, the well back, the waterpot and the verse strip on the dashed lines. Help younger children with the cutting.
- Lay the well back printed side up. Put glue on the three edges marked with dotted lines (the two sides and the bottom), not the top.
- Press the well front on top of it, colored side up, so the edges match. Now the well is a pocket, open at the top.
- Tape one end of the blue yarn to the back of the waterpot, at the top.
- Slide the waterpot down into the well, so the yarn hangs out of the top.
- Glue the verse strip on the back of the well.
- Pull the yarn to draw the waterpot up out of the well, and let it slide back down. Read the verse on the back together.
This woman at the well craft turns one printed page into Jacob's well, where Jesus "sat thus on the well" and a woman of Samaria came "to draw water" (John 4:6–7). Kids color a stone well and a waterpot, glue the well into a pocket and pull the waterpot up out of it on a piece of yarn, with John 4:14 on the back: "the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 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 piece of yarn, a little tape and crayons.
- Kids act out the story: they draw the waterpot up out of the well, like the woman who came to draw water (John 4:7), and talk about the living water Jesus offered her (4:10, 4:14).
- It carries the verse home: the template includes John 4:14 (KJV) on a strip to glue on the back.
Three ways to make it
- Easy (preschool, ages 3–5): you cut out the pieces, glue the well into a pocket and tape on the yarn. Kids color the well and the waterpot and pull it up and down. No scissors.
- Medium (grades K–2): the craft in the first photo. Kids color, cut out the pieces, glue the well into a pocket, tape the yarn to the waterpot and slide it in.
- Harder (grades 3–5): kids also color a scene card from page 3, with the sun at the sixth hour (4:6) and the city of Sychar (4:5), draw the woman of Samaria in the window and glue the well on the card. Then they say the verse from memory.
Questions to ask
While kids work, ask whose well it was (John 4:6), what the woman came to do (4:7) and what Jesus offered her (4:10). Then read what Jesus said about His water: it "shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (4:14). Talk about the woman leaving her waterpot to tell her city, "Come, see a man" (4:28–29), and who they could tell about Jesus this week.
Tips for the classroom
Print page 2 on cardstock if you can. For preschoolers, cut out the pieces, glue the pockets and tape the yarn ahead of time, so all they do is color and play. Cut the yarn before class. For the harder level, print page 3 too and remind kids to glue only the back of the well to the card.
Teaching the story first? Use the free woman at the well Sunday school lesson and the woman at the well word search.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make a simple woman at the well craft for preschoolers?
Cut out each child's well, waterpot and verse strip ahead of time, glue the two well pieces into a pocket and tape the yarn to the waterpot. Preschoolers color the stones and the waterpot, then pull the waterpot up and down. It takes about 15 minutes with no cutting by the kids.
How much does this woman at the well craft cost?
Under 50 cents a child: one printed page (cardstock is best), a piece of yarn, a little tape and crayons you already have. The template is free to print.
What Bible verse goes with a woman at the well craft?
John 4:14 (KJV), "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It is printed on the verse strip that kids glue on the back.
How can older kids make this woman at the well craft harder?
Use the harder level for grades 3–5. Kids also color the scene card from page 3, with the sun high in the sky at the sixth hour and the city of Sychar on the hill, draw the woman of Samaria in the oval window and glue the well on the card.
