Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand

John 6:1-14

The Bible tells us that one day Jesus and His helpers crossed a big lake called the Sea of Galilee.


A lot of people followed them around the lake. They followed because they had seen all the wonderful things Jesus could do. And they wanted to be close to Jesus.


Jesus and His helpers walked up the side of a mountain and sat down. When Jesus looked up, He saw many people there. There were about 5,000 men, plus the women and children. That’s a lot of people.
Soon it was time to eat. All the people were hungry. Jesus said to Philip, one of His helpers, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”


Philip said, “We don’t have enough money to buy food for all of these people!”


Then Andrew, another one of Jesus’ helpers, said, “Here is a boy with five small loaves of bread.” He has two small fish, too. But this little lunch is not enough to feed so many people!”


Jesus said, “Have all the people sit down.”


Jesus took the five loaves of bread and said a “thank-You” prayer to God. Then Jesus started using a little food to feed a lot of people. There was more and more bread—enough to feed over 5,000 people.


Then Jesus took the two fish, thanked God for them, and the same kind of thing happened. Jesus did a lot with a little, again! There was more and more fish—enough to feed every single person!


The people had plenty of food to eat. Jesus told His helpers to gather the leftover pieces of bread and fish after everyone finished eating. Soon there were 12 baskets filled with the pieces of food.


Jesus took a boy’s little lunch and made it a lot to feed many people. He made that lunch big enough to feed over 5,000 people! Jesus can do a lot with a little.


Bible Paraphrase: Nothing is impossible with God. (For no word from God will ever fail. – Luke 1:37 NIV)

Text Truth: Jesus can do a lot with a little.
Activities You Can Do at Home

 Stories of A Lot with A Little

You’ll Need: Bible storybooks, contemporary storybooks

  • Look through the Bible storybooks to find stories about times that God did a lot with a little (for example, Elisha and the widow’s oil in 2 Kings 4). 
  • Look through the contemporary storybooks to see how God did a lot with a little. 
  • Share these stories with your preschooler
  • Remind your child that Jesus can do a lot with a little 


Gather Leftovers

You’ll Need: bag of cotton balls, washable markers, paper lunch sack or basket

  • With your child, color 5 to 10 cotton balls. Leave the rest of the bag uncolored. The colored cotton balls are the “fish.” The uncolored cotton balls are the “bread.”
  • As you work, remind your child of the Bible story of Jesus feeding so many people with a child’s little lunch of fish and bread.
  • Scatter the “fish” and “bread” on the floor.
  • Give your child the bag or basket and have them pick up the “leftovers.”
  • For more fun, play with variations such as seeing how many “leftovers” your child can pick up in a given time. 
  • Remind your child that Jesus can do a lot with a little.


A Game of Twos and Fives

  • Give your child counting practice while playing this game. 
  • Pick something fairly easy for your preschooler to find two (for the fishes) or five (for the loaves) of as you travel (e.g. five red cars, two stop signs, five cows, etc.). 
  • For an easier version of this game, give your child counting blocks and have him or her find two red blocks, five yellow blocks, etc.
  • Remind your child that Jesus can do a lot with a little.


Draw and Act Out the Bible Story

You’ll Need: Bible, paper, crayons or washable markers, basket (optional)

  • Help your child draw pictures of the Bible story of Jesus feeding so many people with so little.
  • As you work, tell a story about when Jesus did a lot with a little in your family's life.
  • Open the Bible to John 6. Ask your child to tell the Bible story and use their drawings to illustrate the events. As they tell the story, fill in the parts of the story that they forget.
  • If the rest of the family is present, act out the Bible story. Have one family member use the basket to gather the fish and bread.
  • Thank Jesus for doing a lot with a little. Ask Jesus to do a lot with the little things you do for Him. 
  • Say with your child the Bible paraphrase, “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)


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Story illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages (http://freebibleimages.org) for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported licence. 
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