Look at the Birds & Flowers :: Children's Lesson on Trusting God

Spend a morning learning about nature, enjoying good literature, and being encouraged by God’s love with this children’s lesson on trusting God.

The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.

Quite by chance, or better put, by providence, we ended up doing an impromptu study on birds, flowers, and John 6 this week. What first started simply as our regular reading from one of our morning time books, developed into a couple of days on nature study and a few really timely discussions about trusting God.

I shared a handful of quotes from the book the next day on Instagram and Facebook, but I’ve been so encouraged by them all week that I wanted to do something more to make it easier for others to be encouraged during this crazy time in history.

So many of us are facing uncertainty, not simply anxiety about health, but also jobs and schooling and family crises. It all can get overwhelming in a hurry.

This simple children’s lesson on trusting God can remind us all that none of this is a surprise to God and that we really can trust our presents and our futures to His sovereign goodness.

Look at the Birds & Flowers :: Children’s Lesson on Trusting God

John 6:25-34 says that we can look at the birds in the air and the flowers in the field and observe God’s care over creation. Neither the bird nor the flowers work or have any need to be anxious because God is faithful to them. And then Jesus tells us to note how much more are people worth than birds and flowers! Likewise, we have no need to be anxious about our lives.

Step 1: TAKE A WALK.

Go outside with your kids and take a walk. This can be around your yard, your neighborhood, or a nearby park. Simply notice things around you together and enjoy the time out of doors. Look for flowers and listen for birds.

(Not only is time outside good for our physical health, it is also incredibly restorative to our minds and spirits, not to mention all the ways God teaches us through the natural world).

Step 2: READ.

Parables of Nature: Daily Bread

I highly suggest the book, Parables of Nature, by Margaret Gatty. This was the book that inspired this lesson and is a constant source of wisdom and edification to our family. If you have the book, or want to get the $5 Kindle version (there are no pictures in this book, so an e-book would be an easy option), read chapter 7, Daily Bread.

The brief synopsis of this chapter is a robin who is chided by other animals about his persistent cheerfulness, despite the “impending doom of winter”. The food would be scarce, the season would be brutal and unforgiving, and it was unreasonable to continue to be content and happy. However, the robin insisted that he could be content with having just enough, and that he would be happy with today without fearing the unknown future. Moreover, later in the chapter, we are reminded to be encouraged when we hear the robin’s song because it tells us of God’s care for His children.

Depending on your kids ages, you may want to break the reading up into two segments. It is also helpful to stop after every page or two and ask for a short narration.

If you don’t have the book, these are the quotes that I shared online. You can get a basic idea from the quotes.

Jesus Storybook Bible: The Singer

If you’re not familiar with the Jesus Storybook Bible, it is a beautiful telling of the Bible, with every passage showing how the Bible is all one big story centered on Jesus.

The chapter called, The Singer, is based on the passage from John 6:25-34. It makes the ideas super accessible for small children, but it is also simply a refreshing and lovely way for big people to hear God’s truth as well.

If you do not have a copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible, you can watch and listen to the story in this YouTube video (below).

John 6:25-34

Finish the reading portion by reading from the Bible, because there is no sufficient substitute for the actual words of the Bible. Once your kids have experienced the ideas via the Parables of Nature and the Jesus Storybook Bible, they will make lots of connections with this short passage in John.

Step 3: NATURE STUDY & COPYWORK

Now is a great time to have a little fun looking at nature guides, picture books, whatever you have on hand, about flowers and birds! This can be as little or as in depth as you want. There’s no pressure, just have fun learning together.

We read a few picture books about flowers, copied a diagram on the parts of a flower, and then drew pictures of robins (since that is the bird in the parable) and copied part of the Bible verse.

The books we read:

I also created a few printables for you to make this even easier and fun! There is a page to copy part of the Bible passage and then draw a bird on the branch, another option where kids can just trace the Bible verse, and also a flowers and birds coloring page with the whole passage in the center (this one would be great for displaying!).

PRINT :: BLANK COPYWORK & BIRD DRAWING
PRINT :: TRACE COPYWORK & BIRD DRAWING
PRINT :: BIRDS & FLOWERS COLORING PAGE

Step 4: LISTEN

This song, called Do Not Worry, is written about this exact Bible passage! It’s perfect and I love Ellie Holcomb’s music (not just her kids’ music!).

You can also find this song in my Kids Mix playlist (check out all my playlists here).

Step 5: OPTIONAL VIDEO

I wrapped up our lesson with a Magic School Bus video on plants (The Magic School Bus Gets Planted, season 3: episode 10). The kids sat at the table and watched the video while I made lunch. Then while we had lunch, they told me what was in the video.

It was major win/win.

You can watch the episode on Netflix. And if you’re interested in a little extra, you can find a hands-on activity to do together as a follow-up here.

More Like This ::

Here are some additional posts to help you through this period of quarantines, impromptu homeschooling, and grocery shortages:

Look at the Birds & Flowers :: Children’s Lesson on Trusting God