Nehemiah Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Nehemiah Sunday school lesson teaches kids to pray first and keep working: when Nehemiah heard that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, he "prayed before the God of heaven" (Nehemiah 1:4). God's good hand was on him (2:8), the people said, "Let us rise up and build" (2:18), and they kept building when Sanballat and Tobiah mocked them. The wall was finished in fifty and two days (6:15). 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, 2 pages: a fix-the-wall block game, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("I am doing a great work") with a motion, and a pass-the-stones game.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 4 pages: a build-it-together cup game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Stone Wall Verse game with seven paper stones, and an I Cannot Come Down building game.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: a don't-come-down cup game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (the cupbearer's prayer, the king's letters, the builders side by side, the fox, one hand working and one holding a weapon, helping the poor, and fifty and two days), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: students read Nehemiah 1, 4 and 6 out loud themselves, then discuss confession, praying and doing your part, and answering mocking, fear and distraction. Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Nehemiah 6:3 and Galatians 6:9).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Nehemiah 1–6
• Main point: Nehemiah prayed first, and then he worked hard with God's people. God helped them finish the wall, even when enemies made fun of them.
• Memory verse: Nehemiah 6:3 (KJV), with Galatians 6:9 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a wall-building or don't-come-down game, or a mocking-fear-distraction game for preteens.
2. Bible story: the broken wall, Nehemiah's prayer, the king's cupbearer before King Artaxerxes, "Let us rise up and build," the builders side by side, Sanballat and Tobiah's mocking, one hand working and the other holding a weapon, and the wall finished in fifty and two days. 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 Nehemiah 6:3.
5. What this means for us: pray first and keep working, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the Nehemiah word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Nehemiah craft, a pass-the-stones game, an I Cannot Come Down game, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching Nehemiah

• Read Nehemiah 2:4 straight from your Bible: "So I prayed to the God of heaven." Point out that Nehemiah prayed in the middle of talking to the king.
• The enemies' plans and the weapons (Nehemiah 4) are told gently in every level and left out for preschool. God brought their plan to nothing (4:15), and there was no battle.
• Kids love Tobiah's fox (4:3). Ask: "Did the fox knock the wall down?" The wall was finished (6:15).
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.