This lesson teaches children that people who try to make a great name for themselves without God end up scattered, while God cares about His people and keeps His promises. It works well for children ages 5 to 11 and takes about 20 to 30 minutes to teach.
Big Idea
People can try to be great on their own, but God is the one who keeps us safe and carries out His good plans for us.
Memory Verse
Genesis 11:4
They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
(WEB)
Ask children to stand up tall, then slowly stretch both arms up over their heads like a tower reaching for the sky. Then have them bring their arms down and wiggle their fingers like they are being scattered across the ground, and say the verse together.
The Story: Genesis 11 for Kids
Long ago, all the people on the earth spoke the same language. They traveled from the east and found a flat plain in a land called Shinar, and they decided to stay there. The people said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them hard.” They used bricks instead of stone and tar instead of mortar to hold them together.
Then the people said, “Let’s build a city with a tower so tall its top reaches the sky. We will make a name for ourselves so we are not scattered all over the earth.” They wanted to be famous and stay together, and they forgot that God was the one who made them and cared for them.
God came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. He said that because they all spoke one language, they could do anything they planned. So God mixed up their language, and they could no longer understand one another. They stopped building the city, and God scattered them across all the earth.
The place was called Babel, because there God mixed up the language of the whole earth. Then the story moves to a family line from Shem down to a man named Terah. Terah had three sons named Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran’s son was Lot. Terah took Abram, Lot, and Sarai, and they left the city of Ur to go toward the land of Canaan. They stopped in Haran and lived there, and Terah died in Haran.
Read It Together
Genesis 11:1
The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
(WEB)
Point out that at the start of the story everyone spoke the same language and could understand each other easily. Ask children to notice how much better it is when people can talk and work together.
Genesis 11:6-7
6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
(WEB)
Show children that God looked at what the people were doing and decided what would happen next. Help them see that God is always watching and always in control of what His people do.
Genesis 11:31
Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
(WEB)
Explain that even after the scattering, God’s story continued through ordinary families like Terah’s. Point out that the family moved together toward a new land, showing that God is still working in people’s lives.
Talk About It
- What did the people want to build, and why did they want to build it?
- How do you think the people felt when they could no longer understand each other?
- What is something you have built or made that you were proud of?
- Why is it important to remember that God is the one who helps us do good things?
- How can we show God that we trust Him instead of trying to be great on our own?
Activity Ideas
Build a Paper Tower
You will need paper, tape, and a few cups or small boxes. Have children build their own tower as tall as they can using only the materials you give them. When the towers are done, talk about how the people in the story wanted their tower to reach the sky, and ask what could make a tower fall down.
Scatter and Gather Game
Ask children to walk around the room while you call out a word in a made-up language, such as “blip” or “zorn.” Children must find a partner who understands the same word and hold hands with them. This shows how the people were scattered when they could not understand each other, and how God brings people back together.
Family Map Talk
Give each child a sheet of paper and a crayon. Ask them to draw a simple map showing the path Abram and his family took from Ur to Haran. Encourage them to take the map home and tell a family member one thing they learned about how God leads His people from place to place.
Teacher Notes
For adults, this chapter shows that human pride and the desire to make a name for ourselves apart from God lead to confusion and division. The story also shows that God keeps His promise to bring about a family through whom blessing would come, even in a world that has been scattered.
Be careful not to suggest that learning many languages is a punishment from God, since the text does not say that. Keep the focus on God’s character and on the people’s pride instead of speculating about the reasons behind the different languages.
A Prayer to Close
Father, thank You that You are the one who builds and keeps us safe. Help us not to try to make a name for ourselves, but to trust You every day. Help us to listen well to one another and to follow where You lead us. Amen.
