Syrophoenician Woman Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Syrophoenician woman Sunday school lesson teaches kids to come to Jesus humbly and keep asking Him for help. Jesus went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and a woman who was not from Israel fell at His feet and begged Him to help her young daughter (Mark 7:24–26). When Jesus spoke of the children's bread, she answered, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs" (7:28), and Jesus said, "For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter" (7:29). 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 Please, May I? game, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter") with motions, and a house to draw and color.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 3 pages: a Just a Crumb game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Go Thy Way Walk memory verse game, and Someone I Pray For.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: a Don't Give Up game, kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story that adds Matthew 15 (not a word, the lost sheep of Israel, "great is thy faith"), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: students read Mark 7:24–30 and Matthew 15:21–28 out loud themselves, then discuss asking humbly instead of demanding, the power of Jesus' word, and the gospel for everyone (Acts 2:39). Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Mark 7:29 and Matthew 15:28).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Mark 7:24–30
• Main point: Come to Jesus humbly, and keep asking Him for help.
• Memory verse: Mark 7:29 (KJV), with Matthew 15:28 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about asking humbly and not giving up.
2. Bible story: Jesus goes into the borders of Tyre and Sidon and cannot be hid (Mark 7:24), a Greek woman falls at His feet and begs Him to help her young daughter (7:25–26), Jesus speaks of the children's bread (7:27), she answers, "Yes, Lord," and asks for the crumbs (7:28), and Jesus sends her home, where she finds her daughter laid upon the bed (7:29–30). 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 Mark 7:29.
5. What this means for us: humble faith that keeps asking, the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the word search, crossword, maze, worksheet, the Syrophoenician woman craft, Someone I Pray For, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching the Syrophoenician woman

• Read the dogs saying just as the KJV gives it (Mark 7:27–28) and explain it from the text: Jesus was sent first to Israel (Matthew 15:24), and she humbly agreed and still asked.
• Explain the old words: besought means begged, meet means right, and go thy way means go home. The KJV spells her nation "Syrophenician" (Mark 7:26).
• Keep it gentle: the Bible says only that an unclean spirit troubled her young daughter and that it was gone when her mother came home (7:25, 7:30). Nothing more is described.
• Matthew 15:21–28 tells the same event and adds "O woman, great is thy faith" (15:28); the older levels read both.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.