King Josiah Bible Lesson for Kids

This free King Josiah Bible lesson teaches kids that they are not too young to follow God. Josiah "was eight years old when he began to reign" (2 Kings 22:1) and did what was right. When Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of the LORD (22:8), Josiah heard it with a tender heart (22:19), read it to all the people and led them in a covenant to obey it (23:2–3). 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.

Choose your age level

• Preschool (ages 3–5), 20–30 minutes, 3 pages: a fix-God's-house building game where kids find the hidden book, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, an act-it-out, and a shortened memory verse ("be thou an example of the believers") with a motion.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 4 pages: the Fix the House, Find the Book game, the story in simple words from the eight-year-old king to the book read to all the people, five recall questions with answers, and the Walk the Straight Line memory verse game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: a hear-it-and-do-it game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (the repairs, Huldah the prophetess, the tender heart, the covenant by the pillar, the passover), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: students read parts of 2 Kings 22 and 23 out loud themselves and see that Josiah began to seek God "while he was yet young" (2 Chronicles 34:3). Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (1 Timothy 4:12 and James 1:22).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: 2 Kings 22–23
• Main point: Josiah followed God when he was young, and he obeyed God's Word. You can follow God too.
• Memory verse: 1 Timothy 4:12 (KJV), with James 1:22 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about finding a lost book, hearing and doing, or how young is too young.
2. Bible story: Josiah becomes king at eight and does what is right. Workers repair the house of the LORD, and Hilkiah the high priest finds the book of the law. Josiah hears it, rends his clothes and weeps, and God says his heart is tender. Josiah reads the book to all the people, small and great, and they make a covenant to obey it. 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 Timothy 4:12.
5. What this means for us: hearing and obeying God's Word, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the Josiah word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Josiah craft, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching King Josiah

• Read 2 Kings 22:1 straight from your Bible and have kids hold up eight fingers. Then make it clear that the book was found later, in the eighteenth year of his reign (22:3), when Josiah was a grown young man.
• Explain "rent his clothes" plainly: Josiah tore his clothes to show how sorry he was that the people had not obeyed God's Word (22:11, 22:13).
• The younger levels end with the covenant (23:3) and leave out the idols and the priests of 23:4–20; every level has a teacher note on what is left out and what to say.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.