Tabernacle Activities Kids Will Love
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Teaching kids about Moses and the Exodus? Be sure to check out these fun tabernacle activities your kids will love!
Have you ever noticed that your kids learn better through activities like hands-on crafts, notebooking or lapbooks, and stories? Does it seem like their hands and imaginations need to be activated in order for them to remember facts?
You’re not alone. One way to help kids better understand abstract ideas is to help them visualize what they’re learning. The Old Testament tabernacle and its priests were real, physical objects and people. For our 21st century kids, though, they can certainly seem abstract and far away.
As Christians, we want our kids to know and understand the Bible. There are themes that run through Scripture that teach us important truths about God, about his plan for salvation, and about how we worship him. The tabernacle, a portable temple designed by God and built by Moses and the Israelites, is a type or shadow. It’s an earthly reality that points to heavenly truths.
Through story, lapbooking, and crafts, you can help your kids truly understand God’s teachings about the tabernacle, and how they apply to your child today.
Tabernacle Activities Kids Will Love
The tabernacle in the Old Testament points toward the coming of Jesus and his work on the cross. The teachings about the tabernacle in the New Testament help us better understand New Covenant worship.
The Bible’s teachings about the tabernacle are covered in the latter part of the book of Exodus, Leviticus, and parts of John and Hebrews. That’s a lot of Scripture for kids to synthesize and understand.
These tabernacle activities will help your kids understand more about who God is, how Jesus atoned for our sin, and how we worship our great God.
As your family works through these fun (and easy!) tabernacle activities, your kids will learn about the function, organization, and purpose of each part of the tabernacle.
- What Was the Tabernacle? by Danika Cooley | What Was the Tabernacle? (Christian Focus Publications, 2024) (Christian Focus Publications, 2024) is a fun way for kids to learn about God’s portable temple and its furniture, and how each part of the tabernacle pointed toward Jesus. They’ll also learn how we worship God today, following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
- Old Testament Tabernacle Model | As your children create a model of the tabernacle with the fencing, courtyard, High Place and Most High Place, they will remember important details about how the tabernacle was structured.
- Ark of the Covenant with Tabernacle Furniture Craft | As your kids build the Ark of the Covenant and each piece of tabernacle furniture, they will remember what they learned about how each of the tabernacle furnishings points forward to Jesus and teaches us to worship God.
- High Priest of the Tabernacle Craft | Your kids will remember the priestly garments and roles as they build the High Priest and two additional Levite priests, along with a lamb and goat.
- What Was the Tabernacle? Lapbook | The lapbook completes your unit study of the tabernacle, allowing your kids to record what they’ve learned about:
- The impact of the tabernacle on the Old Testament world, on the Church, and on your child’s world.
- The Old Testament world. Your child will learn about what it was like to live during the time of the Exodus.
- The people involved in the biblical, historical story of the tabernacle.
- Bible history vocabulary.
- The timeline of the tabernacle story.
- The geography of the tabernacle story.
- Theology: John 1:14, Exodus, Leviticus, Hebrews 8-10, and passages from John.
The tabernacle is a fascinating and important part of the Old Testament that teaches us about how God dwells with us in the New Testament. With fun story and activities, your 7-12 year olds will remember what they’ve learned!
Danika Cooley’s Who What Why Christian history series is perfect for your 7-12 year olds. Your children will better understand the history of the Christian faith, the people who loved Jesus, and what the Bible says about really important issues! Danika is an award-winning children’s author and Bible curriculum developer. Her popular Bible Road Trip™ is used by tens of thousands of families.
Learn more about the Who What Why series and grab your free history lapbooks here.
