Today I wanted to share an easy and fun Noah’s Ark activity for preschoolers. It’s a Noah’s Ark sensory bin that’s super easy. While you tell your child the story of Noah’s Ark and the animals, they can play a little game that goes along with it.
Noah’s Ark Activity Supplies Needed:
- A wide and shallow bin for your Noah’s Ark sensory bin
- Beans, rice, or some other filler (we used black because we have them, but white beans or rice died blue or another blue filler would be cool)
- Blue tissue paper (to give more of a water look, not needed if you have blue beans/rice/filler)
- A boat to be Noah’s Ark (we have a Little People Noah’s Ark, but any boat can be used)
- Toy animals (like Little People, or these)
- Toy people for Noah and his wife (like Little People, or these)
Noah’s Ark Sensory Bin Instructions:
Gather your supplies listed above. Please keep in mind that you can use any kind of filler. Ideally you will use something blue or dyed blue. But, if you only have something like black beans on hand (like me) then that works fine too.
Spread out all the animals and people into the beans/rice/filler. Try to cover them as best as you can. The filler is acting as a representation of the water.
We are going to show them how the story of Noah’s Ark teaches us about God’s grace and mercy while they play.
[As you are working on getting the animals and people covered,] tell your child that in the days of Noah there was going to be BIG FLOOD that would cover all the earth and everything in it. This was going to happen because all the people in the world only did bad things all the time, they never did anything good and they weren’t sorry for what they did. This made God very sad. So all the people and the animals in the world were going to drown in the flood.
Except that God has mercy upon us!
God found a man named Noah, and his family, who did still love and obey God [pull out Noah and his wife from the beans/rice as you’re saying this]. Because of this, God saved Noah and his family from having to die in the flood. [As you are saying this place Noah and his wife into the boat] So, God had Noah build a big boat called an ark which would keep them safe from the flood.
God wanted to save the animals from the flood too!
[Start picking up and finding the animals from the beans/rice as you say this] God told Noah to bring two of each unclean animal and seven of each clean animal onto the ark [start placing the animals in the ark]. (Note: you don’t need to have two/seven of each of the animals, it’s just a representation; although it would be a good counting activity too)
At this point tell your child that we are going to help save the animals too, so have them go hunting through the beans/rice to find all the animals and put them in the ark.
Optional: Share more about the Noah’s Ark Story
After the animals are on the ark you can continue to tell more of the story about how it rained and how Noah sent the dove, etc. Or you can just leave it as it is and just tell this part of the story (for now) to emphasize the grace and mercy that God showed His creation. It’s up to you. 🙂
And of course, once the story’s all done, you gotta let them just have free play. 😉
I hope you enjoy this fun and easy Noah’s Ark activity for preschoolers. And that you and your little on have fun with it! Also be sure to check out this easy boat on water Noah’s Ark craft that you can do with your preschooler for a Noah’s Ark unit as well.
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