Tot School Tuesday: Jesus Knows Your Name

Looking for a fun craft preschoolers that incorporates a Bible story, leaves (fall theme), and learning names? That’s what I was searching for late last night. Just when I was about to give up and only teach a Bible story, I opened a Bible Story book to discover that Zacchaeus, the wee little man, could tie all those themes together. 

We started our lesson by reading the story of Zaccheus from Read Aloud Bible Stories Vol. 1 by Ella Lindvall. Our bigger kids won this series when they were little from Doorposts’ Bible Drama Contest  and the series has been read and cherished many times since then. The stories are short, easy for little readers, repetitive, and engaging. Each story ends with a little recap of what was learned. From the story of Zacchaeus we learn that Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name, and he knows our name too. If you don’t have this Bible Stories book, you can read any from any children’s Bible or the Bible itself about Zacchaeus.

After reading the delightful story, we made a craft with their name in the tree. This simple but fun craft gives the preschooolers practice in spelling their name. 

Step 1: Trace arm and hand to look like a tree.

Step 2: Cut out leaves (I used these Maple leaves because they were the closest to a Sycamore leaf I could find for free on the Internet). If you wanted to add some sorting practice to this activity, you could print out multiple different types of leaves and have them pick out sycamore shaped leaves.

Step 3: On each leaf write one letter from their name. Depending on age and ability, you can write the letters and have them trace them. 

Step 4: Glue the leaves on in order to spell their name in the tree.

Step 5: Color. 

Happy learning friends! For more of our homeschool adventures check out the Homeschooling Tab and give us a follow on Instagram @Pocketful_of_Treasures.