Use this great Father’s Day Sunday school lesson with elementary-age kids to help kids appreciate and honor their fathers. Find more great Sunday school lessons to help kids grow in their faith.
Elementary Sunday School Lesson: Celebrating Father’s Day
1. Mud Pit
Set out a dishpan full of mud. Make sure the mud is wet enough for children to plunge their hands deep into it. Mix in several coins with the mud. When children arrive, tell them there’s money in the mud. All they have to do is dig for it and it’s theirs. Have each child to dig for the money.
RELATED: 20 Mother’s Day Sermons to Encourage and Challenge Moms
Afterward, ask:
- How did it feel to dig in the mud for hidden treasure?
- How does it feel to have mud on your hands now that our search is over?
Don’t allow children to wash up. Say: Today, we’re going to learn about a young boy who left his father to hunt for a better life. Let’s see what happened to him.
2. True Treasure
Have the children listen to the story and stand up when good actions and attitudes happen and sit down when bad actions and attitudes happen. Read aloud Luke 15:11-32 from a modern translation. Review the story by letting the children describe times they stood or sat.
Ask:
- What was so special about the way the father in this story loved his son?
- What happened to the son when he wouldn’t receive his father’s love?
- How is what happened to him similar to the way you feel with mud on your hands?
- Who in your life loves you the way the father in this story loved his son?
Say: Jesus told this story so we’d understand that God loves us the same way the father loved his son. What’s one way you know that God loves you? Allow children to wash their hands.
3. Father’s Day Acrostic
Write “Father’s Day” vertically on a large poster. Have children work together to write reasons to celebrate Father’s Day on the poster that start with the letters in the acrostic. For example, F could be for “faithfully meets my needs.”
