Dagon and the Ark Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Dagon and the ark Sunday school lesson teaches kids that the LORD is greater than any idol. The Philistines took the ark of God and set it by their idol Dagon, and the next morning "Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD" (1 Samuel 5:3). The people had to set him in his place again, and the next morning he fell again. It comes in four age levels, each a separate printable teacher lesson, plus one take-home sheet for families. Everything is in the order you teach it.

Choose your age level

• Preschool (ages 3–5), 20–30 minutes, 2 pages: a falling-tower game, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD") with motions, and a drawing activity.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 3 pages: the Can It Stand? game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Fall Down Verse memory game, and a Stand or Fall game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: a what-can-it-do game with Psalm 115, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story ("set him in his place again," "only the stump of Dagon was left," "shall not abide with us"), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: students read 1 Samuel 5 out loud themselves, then look closer at Israel treating the ark like a lucky charm (1 Samuel 4:3), a "god" that needed help, and why seeing God's power isn't the same as turning to Him. Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (1 Samuel 5:3 and Deuteronomy 6:4).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: 1 Samuel 5:1–12
• Main point: The LORD is greater than any idol. There is one true God.
• Memory verse: 1 Samuel 5:3 (KJV), with Deuteronomy 6:4 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about things that can't stand up or help by themselves.
2. Bible story: the ark set "by Dagon" (1 Samuel 5:2), Dagon "fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD" (5:3), set "in his place again" (5:3), fallen again with "only the stump of Dagon" left (5:4), "the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them" (5:6), and the ark sent to Gath and Ekron and back to "his own place" (5:8–11). Every fact has its verse reference so you can check it.
3. Questions to ask: with answers, at the right level for each age.
4. Memory verse: a game or motion to help kids learn 1 Samuel 5:3.
5. What this means for us: the one true God, putting Him first, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Dagon and the ark craft, a stand-or-fall game, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching Dagon and the ark

• Read 1 Samuel 5:3 straight from your Bible. The people of Ashdod had to pick their "god" up off the floor.
• Say clearly that Dagon was an idol, a statue people made, not a real god. There is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
• The chapter also tells of sickness and deaths in the Philistine cities (1 Samuel 5:6–12). The younger lessons say only that "the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them," with a teacher note for you.
• 1 Samuel 5 doesn't say what Dagon looked like, so the lessons don't describe him.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.