Joshua and Caleb Sunday School Lesson for Kids

This free Joshua and Caleb Sunday school lesson teaches kids to be strong and brave, because the LORD is with us. Moses sent twelve men to search the land of Canaan. Two of them carried one cluster of grapes "between two upon a staff" (Numbers 13:23), and ten said, "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (13:33). But Joshua and Caleb said, "the LORD is with us: fear them not" (Numbers 14:9). 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 Carry the Grapes game with a yardstick, a short story with hand motions and repeat-after-me lines, three simple questions, a shortened memory verse ("Be strong and of a good courage") with a motion, and a grapes-on-a-staff drawing activity.
• Kindergarten to 2nd grade, 45 minutes, 3 pages: a Giant or Grasshopper? game, the story in simple words, five recall questions with answers, the Grape Verse game with six paper grapes, and a Search the Land hunt for twelve hidden grapes.
• 3rd to 5th grade, 45–60 minutes, 4 pages: a Two Reports game, then kids look up verses in their own Bibles during a fuller story (the twelve men, the cluster of grapes, the evil report and the good report, Moses' prayer, forty days and forty years), five thinking questions and three recall questions, and a Bible look-up race.
• Preteens (ages 11–12), 45–60 minutes, 3 pages: a Same Facts opening, students read Numbers 13:17–33 and 14:1–10 out loud themselves, then discuss faith and fear, unbelief (Hebrews 3:19) and following God fully, with Caleb at eighty-five (Joshua 14:10–11). Six discussion questions, a journal page, and two memory verses (Joshua 1:9 and Numbers 14:24).

Lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Numbers 13–14
• Main point: Be strong and of a good courage, because the LORD is with us.
• Memory verse: Joshua 1:9 (KJV), with Numbers 14:24 added for preteens
• Ages: preschool to preteen, in four versions

Lesson outline (the same in every version)

1. Opening game: a short game about giants and grasshoppers, carrying the grapes, or two reports from the same facts.
2. Bible story: Moses sends a man from every tribe to search the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:2), "be ye of good courage" (13:20), one cluster of grapes borne "between two upon a staff" (13:23), forty days (13:25), "it floweth with milk and honey" (13:27), Caleb's "we are well able to overcome it" (13:30), the evil report and the grasshoppers (13:32–33), the people murmur (14:1–4), "the LORD is with us: fear them not" (14:9), Moses prays and God pardons (14:19–20), Caleb "followed me fully" (14:24), forty years (14:34) and Joshua and Caleb live (14:38). 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 Joshua 1:9.
5. What this means for us: the LORD is with us, the God who was with Israel came in the flesh in Jesus (1 Timothy 3:16), the gospel (Acts 2:38), and a challenge for the week.
6. Activity: the Joshua and Caleb word search, the Joshua and Caleb crossword, the Joshua and Caleb maze, the Joshua and Caleb worksheet, the Joshua and Caleb craft, a Search the Land hunt, a Bible look-up race or a journal page, depending on the age.
7. Prayer.

Tips for teaching Joshua and Caleb

• Read Numbers 13:30 and 14:9 straight from your Bible. They are the heart of the story: Caleb's "we are well able" and "the LORD is with us."
• Use the King James words: "between two upon a staff" (13:23), "floweth with milk and honey" (13:27) and "as grasshoppers" (13:33).
• The Bible does not name the two men who carried the grapes, so don't say it was Joshua and Caleb.
• For young kids, leave out what happened to the ten men (Numbers 14:37); older kids get one plain sentence.
• Short on time? Do the story, three questions and the memory verse. That is a solid 25-minute lesson.