I’ve seen and used quite a few very elaborate visual aids and presentations in the 35+ years I have been teaching Children’s Bible Classes.
I’ve used…
- black lights for glowing pictures of The Fiery Furnace
- live actors (including a baby) to teach about Abraham, Sara and little Isaac and
- helium balloons to depict the Ascension of Jesus.
Once I even convinced a wonderful man at church that he should construct an amazing “feat of engineering” whereby a young man was lowered, on a stretcher, down through an air vent in the ceiling, into the church auditorium to teach the story about the Man Lowered Through the Roof. That was just awesome (thanks, Steve!).
Even though these times were memorable for the children and great fun for me and others involved they could certainly not be done every time I teach. That would be both exhausting and expensive.
Jesus used amazing miracles but what did he do day in and day out as he taught people? It seems to me that he made use of situations and teaching tools on hand. Once it was lilies in a field. Another time a coin in the mouth of a fish. In John chapter 8:6 Jesus even wrote on the ground using his finger.
Very simple. Very effective.
Recently, Samer (Sam) Samlertaree, a student at the South Pacific Bible College offered to help add to this website. Sam had seen some simple line drawings and thought he could create some more to depict Bible stories in a way teachers might find useful. The drawings could be used for flip charts or included in Power Point presentations.
Knowing Sam was a great student of the Bible I challenged him to tackle some stories that teachers sometimes can’t find visual aids for. Drawing what the Bible says is much more difficult than it appears and I challenge you to give it a try. At first glance this picture here seems simple. But have a closer look. In a simple drawing Sam has captured the essence of 1 Samuel 8:4-9 by showing the people’s desperation for a king and Samuel’s confusion at their request. Sam has proved that a simple visual aid can say it all.
Kids love simple drawings! I’m no artist but that has never stopped me from using stick figures to teach a lesson. Once I have set aside my self-pride and make attempts I find that children encourage and even want to help me give it a go. And simple drawings inspire children to listen to the story and draw their own pictures.
Click the links to view the Bible story pages where you can view and/or download the pictures Sam has drawn. (The pictures appear in the lower sections of each Bible story page so be sure and scroll down once you are there.)
Achan’s Sin Joshua 7-8:1
