Jesus Feeds the 5,000

Jesus Feeds the 5,000

One of - Jesus' Miracles,
Feeding the 5000 also known as the miracle of the loaves and fishes

This is a 2 part activity.

The first part is a simple, but realistic coloring sheet with 2 small fish and 5 loaves to color. The loaves and fishes color page is easy enough for young children; interesting enough for older children.

The second part of the miracle activity utilizes a lot of wall space either in your classroom or in a common hall!

This bread and fish coloring page CAN BE USED ALONE to support the feeding of the 5000. To create an interesting LEARNING activity in understanding HOW BIG the miracle was, continue with the 5000 people!

Print enough copies of the loaves and fishes for your class.
Print or print and copy the people page so you have 20 pages regardless of the number of children in your class. (to see 5000)
Find a wall in your classroom or hall that will accommodate either 20 pages tacked up in a single row (most dramatic) or 2 rows of 10 or any other multiple.Leave room at the top for one picture of the 2 fish and 5 loaves.

If you prefer to print only 1 copy of the heads and then copy them on a copy machine, that will work just fine too.

1. Color the loaves and fishes page
2. Read any of the Bible verses noted above or any story about this miracle.
3. Complete the sentence with how many people Jesus fed with the 2 small fish and 5 loaves. Teacher, help younger children write 5,000 in the space on the page.

(the answer ay be 5,000 men; 5,000 men plus women and children, or generally accepted is just 5,000 people.)

1. Have the children look at the coloring page while you

Ask if anyone ever ate a small whole fish.
Ask how big it was. Where were they when they ate it?
(Camping, home, restaurant)
Ask who ever saw a real whole small fish on a dish. Ask how big it was.
If no one has see a whole small fish to eat, or they have somewhat the wrong idea, spread you hands about 8-10" apart and show them it was probably only this big.

Ask how many people they imagine these fish and this bread would feed - like if it was served at dinner at their house? (Remind them they are small fish)
(This helps establish a perspective)

2. Hold up ONE of the people pages (there are 250 people on a page)

Have the children guess how many faces are on one people page.
Have the children look at the loaves and fishes page. Ask if they think these 2 small fish and 5 loaves would feed all these people.

Tell the children there are 250 faces on the page - not nearly 5,000! (allow them to count if you have time and they are doubtful) and normally this is not enough fish and bread to feed just this many people.
Ask older children who know long division and multiplication, how many pages of people it would take to get to 5,000.

Younger children can guess.

3. Take out the other 19 pages of people.
Say, "Let's just see."

Let smaller children help you put them on the wall and tell them how many you have up.

Give the pages to older children as a team (under supervision) to put on the wall, and establish how many there are altogether as each new page goes up, (second page is 500, third is 750, and so on) and they can even put the total number so far at the bottom of the page. (One long row of 20 pages is best, but whatever works in your space if fine)

4. Put one picture of the loaves and fish above all of people.

5.When it is done, ask how could this be that Jesus fed all these people (and more) with this little food?

The answer of course is it was a MIRACLE. It shows Jesus enormous power. The story also shows how Jesus cared for the people who were getting hungry.

What is a miracle? A Miracle is something extraordinary that happens that cannot be explained by physical laws or nature. God and Jesus have the power to make miracles happen, and they can give some of that power to special people, like the Apostles.

This activity can be adapted for Jesus feeding the 4,000 found in Mark 8: 1-10