Attributes of God Lesson for Young Children

Are you wondering how to teach your preschooler or young child about God and His character? Use
this fun, hands-on lesson or "play date" activity to explore who God is and what He is like! I created
this "lesson" to do as a two hour "play date" with my young children and some of their friends (ages
4-6). Use this fun lesson with your class, family, Sunday School class, or homeschool co-op group!

Attributes of God
1. Pray. Read and discuss Psalm 95:3-5. Read a children's story version of Jesus calming the
storms.
YOU WILL NEED: a children's story version of Jesus calming the storms
2. Read about The Apostle's Creed by by Jim Gimbel. Ask each child "Who is God?" and "What is
He like?" Tell the children that we are going to learn about Him today.

3. God is Eternal:

a. Have the children walk to the beginning of our rug and then to the end of our rug. Our rug is not
eternal. It has a beginning and an end.
b. Have the children form a circle and march around in the circle. Ask where the beginning and end
is. Talk about God being eternal and having no beginning or end. God, however, does not have a
beginning or end.
c. Show the children a hula hoop. Ask them to point to the beginning and end of the hula hoop.
(Since it's a circle, it doesn't have one.) Let the children briefly play with the hula hoop by rolling it
along the floor and seeing who can get closest to a target. (We used a clothes basket as our target.)
d. Show the Greek letters, Alpha & Omega. Compare them to the first and last letters of our
alphabet, A & Z. Tell the children that God says he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end.
e. Pass out a paper booklet. On the front write, "God Is". On the first page write, "Eternal." Have the
children draw a picture with circles. Also have them try to draw the Greek letters, Alpha and Omega.
YOU WILL NEED: a hula hoop for each child and a target (such as a clothes basket), markers &
crayons, and a paper booklet (pieces of paper that have been folded & stapled together) for each
child

Sovereign
4. God is Sovereign:
a. Ask if the children if they are in charge of what goes on in the house. Who is? Are parents in
control of everything?
b. Tell the children that we will become semi-sovereign over some pieces of aluminum foil. Give
each child a sheet of aluminum foil. Allow them to shape it into something, crush it, and then make
something else.
c. In the "God Is" booklet, write "Sovereign." Have the children trace their hand on that page. Their
hand just created, controlled, and destroyed the aluminum foil.
YOU WILL NEED: aluminum foil

Holy

5. God is Holy:
a. Show a clean and a dirty towel. Ask the children to compare them. Talk about how God is like the
clean towel. He is clean and doesn't have any sin.
b. Sing the first verse of "Holy, Holy, Holy" and use sign language as well if desired.
c. In the "God Is" booklet, write "Holy." Have the children draw the clean towel and the dirty towel
and then put an X over the dirty towel.
YOU WILL NEED: a clean towel and a dirty towel

Omnipotent
6. God is Omnipotent:
a. Explain "Omni" is all and "potent" is powerful. Omnipotent means all-powerful.
b. Read about the power of hurricanes and tornadoes and the damage they cause. Remind the
children of the story we read about Jesus calming the storm.
c. Are we all powerful? See how much weight we can lift. Can the children pick up a small book, a
heavy book, the sofa, etc.? We are not all powerful.
d. Have the children crumble a piece of paper with their hands. Now have them try to crumble a
rock. Our power is limited.
e. In the "God Is" booklet write "Omnipotent." Ask the children what they think we should draw. (We
drew a tornado destroying trees and houses).
YOU WILL NEED: a book on hurricanes and tornadoes, objects of various weights (a small book, a
heavy book, the sofa, etc.), & a piece of paper per child

Omnipresent
7. God is Omnipresent:
a. Explain that "Omni" means all and "present" means places. Omnipresent means being in all
places. Ask the children to name all the places where God is. Can we see Him? What else is
invisible?
b. Play Hide-and-Seek. Give each child 1 turn to seek. Afterward remind the children that we can't
see where everyone is, but God can because He is omnipresent.
c. If it's windy outside, watch the wind blow the trees. We can't see the wind but the wind does affect
things. If it's not windy outside, have the children blow a crayon across a table. Can they see their
breath? Even though they can't see it, does it still have the power to move something?
d. Let the children each have a turn using a magnet under a sheet of paper to move a paper clip.
Even though we can't see the magnet, it still has the power to move the paper clip. Even though we
can't see God, He is still there.
e. In the "God Is" booklet write "Omnipresent." Ask the children what we should draw. (We drew wind
blowing tree branches).
YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD: a crayon, a magnet (even a refrigerator magnet will work), a sheet of
paper, & a paper clip

Omniscient
8. God is Omniscient:
a. Explain that "Omni" means all and "scient" means knowing. Omniscient means all-knowing.
b. Have the children pair up with each other and then start to count the hairs on their partner's head.
After a minute or so of counting, ask them if they think they'd be able to count each hair.
c. Place a bucket of sand or dirt in front of them. Ask them to count how many grains of sand/dirt are
in the bucket. They won't be able to do that, of course.
d. We can't do those things, but God can. God knows all things. Read Luke 12:6-7.
e. In the "God Is" booklet write "Omniscient." Ask the children what we should draw. (We drew
counting hair on our heads.)
YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD: a bucket of sand or dirt

3-in-1
9. God is 3-in-1:
a. Read 3 in 1: A Picture of God by Joanne Marxhausen. Show an apple and a hard-boiled egg. Talk
about how the apple peel, flesh, & core are separate parts but are all the apple. Talk about how the
egg shell, white, & yolk are all parts of the egg but all make up the 1 egg. Compare this to the
Father, Son, & Holy Spirit being 3 persons in 1 God.
b. In the "God Is" booklet write "3 in 1." Ask the children what we should draw. (We drew the egg and
apple and its parts).
c. While the children draw their pictures, pass out apple slices and an egg half to each child for a
snack.
YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD: apple slices, hard-boiled eggs, napkins, & cups for water

Immutable
10. God is Immutable:
a. Tell the children that God is immutable, which means He never changes.
b. Let each child place a piece of ice in a sauce pan or skillet. Place the saucepan over the stove
and turn the stove onto high heat. Melt the ice cubes to water and eventually to water vapor. Did the
ice cubes change? Yes and no. We used heat to change solid ice into liquid water and into water
vapor, a gas. However, it's all still water.
c. Now have the children take turns trying to bend a screw. Did they bend it? No! Did it change? No!
d. God is like that screw. He never changes. He's always sovereign, holy, omnipotent, omnipresent,
& omniscient.
e. In the "God Is" booklet write "Immutable." Ask the children what we should draw. (We drew the
screw.)
YOU WILL NEED: ice cubes, a saucepan, a stove, & a screw or other solid metal object

Loving
11. God is Loving:
a. Tell the children that all the other attributes of God we mentioned are aspects that we do not share
with God. We have a beginning and an end, we cannot be everywhere, we are not all powerful, we
do sin, etc. However, there are attributes of God that we share. God is loving. Can we be loving?
Yes!
b. Read about the story of the Prodigal Son.
c. Ask the children to each name one loving thing they can do for their sibling and one for their
parent. Tell them to do that today.
d. In the "God Is" booklet write "Loving." Ask them to each name one what they know that God loves
them. Have them draw that. (We drew flowers growing.)
YOU WILL NEED: a children's version of the Prodigal Son
12. Use the booklets to review what we learned about God today. Remind the children to do their
loving acts today.