Escape to Egypt - Matthew 2:13-23

Video Ideas

Teaching Ideas

Idea 1

Read Escape to Egypt on page 224 in the Spark Bible.

Idea 2

Play three different rounds of dodge ball with the kids. Get soft balls. Name the two teams King Herod and King Jesus.  Play elimination for all three rounds (when someone gets hit by a ball they are out).  

Round 1 - let everything be fair, anyone can touch the ball, and if you are hit, you are out. 

Round 2 - tell Team Jesus that they are not allowed to touch the ball, they can only dodge the balls that are coming at them.  (When the round is over explain to the kids that this is what was like for the people of Bethlehem when Herod ordered all the babies to be killed)

Round 3 - Before the game begins, take all of team Jesus out of the game.  (explain to the kids that God told Joseph in a dream to go to Egypt, he took Jesus out of the game) 

Idea 3

Tell the story, assign parts for all the kids to act out (King Herod, army, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angel).  Have the room sectioned off so one section is Israel and another section is Egypt.  Tell the story, and have the kids act it out as you go.

Idea 4

Read “The Escape to Egypt” on page 578 of the The Action Bible by Sergio Cariello

Questions:

  1. What danger did King Herod pose to Jesus, and how did God protect Him?

  2. How did Joseph show his faith by obeying the angel’s instructions?

  3. What do you think it was like for Mary and Joseph to travel to Egypt?

  4. How can we trust that God has a plan for us, even when we face challenges?

Idea 5

Compare King Herod and King Jesus.

  • Divide the room so one wall is king Herod and the other wall is King Jesus. Then call out some facts about one of them and let the kids guess which wall they need to go to.

  • Born in a palace.

  • Born in a stable.

  • Murderer

  • Died for others

  • Has 5 letters in his name.

  • Had an army

  • Served others

  • Served himself

Idea 6

Get some mural paper and ask the kids to draw or write down things that scare them.  Flip the paper over, and talk about all the ways that God helps us when we are scared.  (He sometimes takes us out of situations, He is always with us and will hold our hands when things are scary, He gives us words to speak etc.

Idea 7

Talk about refugees. 

  • Have someone who has fled their country come and talk to the kids. 

  • Focus on the Family has a good resource on how to talk to kids about the persecuted church. You can find it here.

Idea 8

Talk about all the ways God took care of Jesus in the story.  Talk about all the ways God takes care of us.

  • Make a list of each of these things side by side.

  • Talk about all the similarities in the lists and all the differences.

Idea 9

Tell a story about when you were scared, how did God help you?