For each passage, there is a collectable card alongside high-quality character images and a colouring page. All other graphics are extra’s!
Click on the images below to see a larger version. Save the images by right click + ‘save image as’ (computers) OR long press + ‘save image’ (mobile).
These images are NOT copyright free.
These resources are provided for personal/classroom use only. Use can use them for teaching, games, publicity, decorations, big screen presentations, flannel graphs, stickers, or any other non-commercial activity in your church, school, home, or organised group. You may not use them in products you are going to sell (both printed and digital). Nor may you upload the original images online, on websites, social media or in YouTube videos. Any questions, please reach out to me using the contact page link at the end of the page.
This short conversation with Jesus’ tired followers is a pivotal moment. For Peter to speak out with such assurance is surely a divine revelation, but he probably wasn’t the only one thinking it. Peter’s boldness is richly rewarded, not only does he get a new name, he is also given the keys to the kingdom. This passage lends itself well to being acted out, and this retelling would work as a narrated script.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
It had been a long day. Jesus and his disciples had crossed the lake but forgotten to bring any food with them, and now they had to walk to the town to get something to eat. Jesus had used the time to teach them. Everyone was getting tired and hungry and struggling to understand the things Jesus was teaching them.
Jesus could see they needed a break, so he paused walking and turned round so he could see everyone. “I have a question for you” said Jesus and those chatting among themselves went quiet.
“What do people say about the Son of Man?” that’s what Jesus called himself.
“Some people say you are John the Baptist” – said one voice, Another voice came in “some say you are Elijah or Jeremiah” “or a new prophet” shouted someone further back
“Really. Interesting.” said Jesus, a small smile playing on his lips. “And what about you? Who do you say I am? ”
The disciples went quiet. They all knew who they wanted Jesus to be. They all knew his teaching, his wisdom, his miracles. They all wanted to dream that he was the long-awaited Messiah, but did they believe he really was and would anyone be brave enough to say it? The silence dragged as they looked at each other.
It was Simon who spoke. Simon always rushed into things. “You are the messiah,” he said into the stillness “You are the son of God”
Other men gasped in shock, but Jesus smiled the biggest smile of the day. Jesus grabbed Simon and hugged him.
“Simon, You didn’t discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven.” said Jesus loudly. “I’m going to give you a new name ‘Peter’, which means ‘rock.’”
Jesus put his hand on Simon-Peter’s shoulders and looked around at the followers. “On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it.” he said loudly “Peter, I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven”
Peter looked rather impressed with himself, but Jesus’ face had gone serious
“Tell no one” Jesus warned loudly.
Today’s heroes is Simon-Peter because he shows us the gift of Foundation
The Canaanite woman’s story is one of an outsider, someone who doesn’t fit into the narrative Jesus is telling. Jesus has a choice, does he stand by the categories and identifying labels or let the love of God overflow from the Jewish chosen people to meet a Canaanite need? Jesus chooses the way of love. This is reflected in this paper craft all about God’s love and other things we may use as qualifiers for our love.
To make this craft, you will need the 1-page template printout, scissors, and some paper glue.
Cut out all the pieces – the hearts have lines across the top, leave these attached so you are cutting a teardrop shape.
Mountain fold each small rectangular section on the biggest piece (ink on the outside).
Onto each of these small rectangles we are going to attach a heart. Add some glue onto the rectangle avoiding the folds and attach the first heart – the order doesn’t matter.
Continue adding hearts until you have placed them all.
The long section above the hearts is folded over and goes behind. Turn your creation over and attach the pull tab to the end.
All that remains is to attach the large rectangle. Add glue into the two outside boxes and glue to the back, effectively creating a loop.
Turn your creation over and gently pull on the tab, each heart should lift in turn until you reach the final message.
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This story of the Canaanite woman is an encounter of healing, of acceptance, of determination and of an unlikely party receiving the abundance of God’s love. These games play on the idea that the Canaanite woman didn’t appear to belong in this narrative, as well as the words Jesus used in the passage about dogs and tables. There are a variety of games, suitable for different sized groups and spaces.
You will need a big table for this one and some small balls, ball pit balls or table tennis balls would be ideal. Pour the balls over the table. Have the kids positioned under or around the table with baskets to catch them when they drop off the edges.
That doesn’t fit
Ages 7+
Big group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Can be seated
Split the group into teams of 5-7. Each team has to choose a theme and then pick items that will support that theme and one red herring. Teams take it in turns to present their items, one per person, to the whole group and the other teams have to work out the red herring and why. Examples. Group of 5 – red, yellow, pink, purple, orange – the odd one out is yellow because it doesn’t contain red. Group of 7 – James, Peter, Paul, Matthew, Bartholomew, Thomas, Judas – the odd one out is Paul as he wasn’t one of the 12.
Whose zoo
All Ages
Any size group
No Setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
Select a child to be the zookeeper and send them out of the room, each child selects an animal to be and shares their animal noise and movement with the group. Have the children move around the room. Invite the zookeeper back in and say the animals have escaped, they will come back (to their seats) if the zookeeper calls out their animal names.
This is for
All Ages
Any size group
No Setup time
Quiet game
Can be seated
The aim of this game is to collect attributes. The first child/team to have 5 wins. The attributes can be anything – wearing a colour, having a sibling, going to a certain school, a size of shoe, being taller than your neighbour etc. Very few of these you can control, just like the woman didn’t choose her religion or birthplace.
Find Jesus
Under 7’s
Small group
Requires setup time
Noisy game
Space needed
A classic game of hide the thimble but with a small picture of Jesus. The woman searched for Jesus too.
The Canaanite woman fell to her knees, begging Jesus to help her – this craft captures that moment. The way the craft folds makes the viewer the third party in the encounter, seeing both the face of Jesus and that of the woman. It’s a simple craft, the hardest part is cutting out the smaller pieces, so you may want to do that in advance for very young groups.
