This lesson plan is designed to teach preschool aged children about the fifth day of creation when God made the birds and the sea creatures. It could be used in any setting with children age 2-5 at church, including a preschool Sunday School class or a preschool children’s church class. This lesson is part of a series of Bible lessons about creation. As always, consider your own ministry context and modify it as needed. Please leave any feedback or suggestions for improvement in the comment box at the bottom of this page.
Bible Story: The fifth day of Creation from Genesis 1:20-23
Learning Objectives: After this lesson, the children will demonstrate an understanding of what God created on the first-fifth days of creation by showing hand motions.
Target Age: 2 year olds – 5 year olds
- PRINT this lesson plan
- Bible, Genesis 1:20-23
- Creation Day 5 Storybook for Preschoolers. You can print it here Creation Day 5 Booklet
- Fish and Bird puzzles (pictures of fish and birds cut like puzzles)
- Feathers, 1 toilet paper roll per child, 1 orange construction paper diamond per child (for the beak), 2 wiggly eyes per child, Bible Verse written on a slip of paper, glue, crayons, marker to write the children’s name on their project
- 2 lunch bags, 10 small circles made from construction paper (any color is fine), feathers, 20 popcycle sticks, 10 pictures of fish, 10 pictures of birds, large picture of a fish (showing fins), large picture of a bird (showing feathers), glue, scissors
- Check out our free day of creation coloring pictures.
- You can print off these “Creation Songs” and use to lead the children to sing before the Bible lesson.
- You can also try the “My God is so BIG” preschool song.
Preschool Lesson: The Fifth Day of Creation
Bible Lesson Introduction
* Have the children put together fish and bird puzzles. When making the puzzles before class, cut the puzzles into large pieces to make it easier for the children to put together.
Read Genesis 1:20-23 aloud to the children. There is also a book that you can print out that has the story along with simple pictures to help the children understand what is being read.
“God said, “Let the waters be filled with living things. Let birds fly above the earth across the huge space of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the ocean. He created every living and moving thing that fills the waters. He created all kinds of them. He created every kind of bird that flies. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them. He said, “Have little ones and increase your numbers. Fill the water in the oceans. Let there be more and more birds on the earth.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day five.”
NIrV (New International Reader’s Version)
Read the verses (story) to the children. If you are using the print out story, point to the pictures as you read the story so that the children can better understand what you are saying.
Read the verses (story) again, but this time have the children make fish faces and flap like a bird when you come to those parts.
Discuss the Bible Reading
When you are finished reading the story the second time, ask the children the following questions so that you can know they understood it.
“Who was in the story?” God
“What did God create in the story today?” all the things in the water and the birds in the sky
“Did God think that it was good?” Yes
“What number day was it in the story today?” Five
Bible Lesson Craft / Activity
Use the following activities to reinforce the learning goals. If time is short, move on to the evaluation portion of the lesson plan.
Activity: Birds with Feathers
“What did God make in our Bible story today? (allow for responses) In the Bible Story today, God made the fish and the birds. For our project today, we are going to make a bird. What do birds have on their wings? (allow for responses) Birds have feathers on their wings and we are going to put feathers on our bird too. Let’s get started.”
- Give each child a toilet paper roll and have them glue on their bird’s beak.
- Give each child 2 wiggly eyes and help them glue them on to their bird.
- Lay out the feathers so that the children can choose which ones they want for their bird.
- Demonstrate for the children how to put glue on the back of their toilet paper roll and place the feathers on top of the glue.
- Allow the children to color their bird as you go around and write their names on their projects.
Activity: Bible Verse Memorization
“He created every living and moving thing that fills the waters. He created every kind of bird that flies.” Genesis 1:21 (New International Reader’s Version)
Have the children do the following hand motions along with repeating the words after you, to help them learn the Bible Verse:
“He”—hold hand up with fingers towards the sky…the hand is raised to the heavens and then downward in a sign of respect
“created”—the fists twist on top of one another, as if they were putting something together
“every living and moving thing”—move the hand mimics the movement of a fish tail
“that fills the waters”—hold three fingers up and tap the chin
“He”— hold hand up with fingers towards the sky…the hand is raised to the heavens and then downward in a sign of respect
“created”— the fists twist on top of one another, as if they were putting something together
“every kind of bird”—the thumb and forefinger mimic the action of a bird’s beak
“that flies”—move arms like the flapping wings of a bird
“Genesis 1”—hold 1 finger up
“21”—hold index finger out and push thumb into it
Do this a few times with the children. Make it fun for them to do the motions and say the words. Involving them in active learning is essential for memorization at this age.
Bible Verse Activity: Fins and Feathers
- Before class, glue the pictures of the fish and the birds onto the popcycle sticks.
- Before class, glue the feathers onto one of the lunch bags. This is the “Feathers” bag.
- Before class, cut the small circles in half and then glue them onto the other lunch bag in a layered shape that looks like a fin. This is the “Fins” bag.
“What did God create in our Bible Verse for today? (allow for responses) Right. He made the fish and the birds. Where do the fish live? (allow for responses) Yes, fish live in the water. Do you know what fish have that help them in the water? (hold up the large fish picture and point to the fins) Fish have fins to help them swim in the water. Fins are their “arms” and “legs”. Fins help them to move around.
Where do birds live? (allow for responses) Right, birds live in trees. Where do they fly? (allow for responses) Yes, birds fly in the sky. (hold up the large bird picture and point to the feathers on the birds’ wings) Do you know what helps birds to fly? (allow for responses) Birds need wings to fly. What are on birds’ wings? (allow for responses) Right. Birds have feathers on their wings to help them fly.
(hold up the fish and birds on popcycle sticks) I have pictures of fish and birds here. Fish have fins and birds have feather. You are each going to get a turn. You will choose a stick, say if it is a fish or bird, say if it has fins or feathers, and then put the stick in the correct bag. (hold up the fins bag) Here is the fins bag where the fish pictures go. (hold up the feathers bag) Here is the feathers bag where the bird pictures go.
Go over the hand motions with the children to help them remember what was created on each day. After you go over them, ask them what was created on each day and have them do the hand motions.
“First there was darkness and light” (cover eyes with hands and then release)
“Then there was water and sky” (make waves with hands & arms & then wave up in the air)
“Then there were dirt and trees” (wiggle fingers in front of you for dirt & grow up like a tree)
“Then there were was the sun and the moon” (put arms above head and then like you are sleeping)
“Then God made fish & the birds” (put hands together and wiggle like a fish then flap arms like a bird)
* Repeat the saying along with the hand motions. Have fun!