Jacob and Esau Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Jacob and Esau Sunday school lesson teaches kids that lying and tricking hurt people, so God wants us to tell the truth, and to be kind and forgiving. Jacob told his father, "I am Esau thy firstborn" (Genesis 27:19), and the lie split his family apart. Years later, "Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him" (Genesis 33:4). It comes in four age levels, each a separate printable teacher lesson, plus one take-home sheet for families. Pick the one that fits your class. Everything is in the order you teach it.

Choose your age level

• Preschool (ages 3–5), 20–30 minutes, 3 pages: a hairy-or-smooth touch game, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("Be ye kind one to another") with motions, a drawing and a true-or-not-true game.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 4 pages: the Whose Voice? guessing game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Kind Words Toss memory verse game, and the Present Parade action game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 5 pages: a good-trade-or-bad-trade game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (the red pottage, the goats' skins, the bitter cry, the name Israel and the meeting), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: students read Genesis 25:27–34, 27:1–4, 27:18–36 and 33:1–11 out loud themselves, then discuss trading the lasting for the right-now, lying, the cost of deceit and forgiving. Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Ephesians 4:32 and Ephesians 4:25).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Genesis 25:19–34, Genesis 27 and Genesis 32–33
• Main point: Lying and tricking hurt people. God wants us to tell the truth, and to be kind and forgiving.
• Memory verse: Ephesians 4:32 (KJV), with Ephesians 4:25 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: guessing a friend by their voice, feeling hairy and smooth things, or a game about good and bad trades.
2. Bible story: the twins are born, Esau sells his birthright for red pottage, Jacob wears the goats' skins and lies to his blind father for the blessing, Esau's bitter cry, Jacob runs away, and years later Esau runs to meet him and they weep. 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 motions to help kids learn Ephesians 4:32.
5. What this means for us: tell the truth and forgive, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the Jacob and Esau word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Jacob and Esau craft, an action game, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching Jacob and Esau

• Tell the trick plainly, without making it funny or clever. Jacob said, "I am Esau thy firstborn" (Genesis 27:19), and that was a lie. Let kids hear what it cost: Esau's bitter cry and years apart.
• Read Genesis 33:4 straight from your Bible. It is the happy end of the story: "Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept."
• The lessons keep the Bible's own details: red pottage of lentils, the goats' skins on Jacob's hands and neck, 400 men, the present of droves, and the new name Israel. Esau's anger is told gently, with a short note for the questions kids ask.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.