Story of David for Kids: Life Lessons & A Printable!

I’ve always enjoyed studying what the Bible says about David, the shepherd boy that became king and was called the “man after God’s own heart.” It’s especially great to be able to explore the Bible story of David for kids, especially if you use a fun Bible printable pack to help!

They can find out all sorts of things about who David was, reading about how to become a godly man through the example of David’s life, including the lessons we learn through his strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, they can learn about God and His character through the story of David!

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David had a fascinating life. In my mind, he is one of the most “real and raw” characters of the Bible. There is no pretense in David, and there are plenty of sins and mistakes to wrestle with as we learn his story.

But I love how many great lessons we DO learn as we journey with him in the Scripture and discover what it means to truly be a man/woman after God’s own heart.

Here are a few of the lessons I see in the Bible story of David for kids in particular:

We should delight in the law of the Lord. (Psalm 1:2)
Be a man/woman after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22)
Value courage, loyalty, faith, and leadership.
Be faithful in the work God has given us, no matter how small or how difficult (David as a shepherd, or playing music for Saul)
What’s inside (what God can see) is more important than external appearances (1 Samuel 16:7)
True friendship is rare and valuable, and is worth loyalty (1 Samuel 18)
Overlook the offenses of others. Give people second chances. Love your enemies. (1 Samuel 24)
Show proper respect for authority, even if we don’t always agree with it. (As he did with Saul)
Be gracious toward those who wrong us. (1 Samuel 19:16)
Encourage ourselves in the Lord when we’re struggling or discouraged (1 Samuel 30)
Have faith in God’s sovereignty and power to defeat anything that comes against Him. (1 Samuel 17:36-37)
Discipline and instruct our children diligently – it is a father’s disgrace and a child’s ruin when children go undisciplined as David’s children often did. (1 Kings and 2 Samuel)
Show kindness to the forgotten or less fortunate. (2 Samuel 9)
Accept it when God’s answer to a request is “no” and continue doing the work we ARE called to do. (1 Chronicles 17 and 22)

David did some not-so-wonderful things, too. (Such as in 2 Samuel.) There are times in his life where he showed he was NOT delighting in the law of the Lord. What can we learn from those lessons?

Jealousy and covetousness are serious sins (as in Saul’s jealousy of David, or David with Uriah and Bathsheba)
Covering up sin makes it worse.
We need to be willing to honestly evaluate ourselves and our sins, heeding righteous rebukes when they come.
We should confess and repent of our sins.
Sin can not only separate us from God but can bring terrible consequences, even after forgiveness is granted, upon ourselves and others.
God does not ignore sin. Rather, He disciplines those He loves.
God values obedience and our faith in Him.
God can use anyone and any circumstance for His good purposes.

Dig deeper into the big ideas of Scripture with Sound Words for Kids: Lessons in Theology! Get your free sample here.

Life of David Printable Pack

To help us all teach our children more about God in a fun and engaging way, we have put together a David printable pack that goes through the Bible story of David for kids. Your kids will love these activities and Bible lessons about David!

With 121 pages of printable resources, this David Printable Pack contains a variety of math and literacy activities for young children.

In this printable pack, children will learn about David’s life as he grew starting as a shepherd boy, a musician, a solider, a friend before going on to become a King.

A good way to introduce this printable pack would be to read 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel as this would help children answer many of the questions.

Stories from David’s Life, Including the Story of David and Goliath for Kids

The David printable contains an overview of the major events in the life of David, including a David and Goliath Bible lesson, focusing on these stories:

David as a Shepherd
Psalm 23
David Anointed as King
David and Goliath
David and Jonathan
David as King
David Confronted by Nathan

This David printable pack contains math activities such as size sequencing cards, count and clip cards and number puzzles. It also contains many literacy activities such as alphabet matching cards, spot and dot, word tracing, story writing pages and 3-part cards. Other activities include color matching cards, what comes next?, shadow matching pages and coloring pages.

Also included are many themed activities. These include:

Posters – David and Psalm 23 – These would be great laminated for reference
Psalm 23 – Fill in the Blanks – In both King James and English Standard Versions
Shepherd – Cut and paste
David – Reading Comprehension – one to two pages for each of the events listed above including the David and Goliath Bible lesson
Bible Memory Cards – In both King James and English Standard Versions
Copywork Pages – The same verses as the Bible Memory Cards in both King James and English Standard Versions

Ready to get started? Your kids are going to love this! 🙂