Joshua and the Walls of Jericho: Sunday School Lesson for Ages 6-10
Ages 6-10 · 45 minutes · free lesson plan · Joshua 6:1-20
An interactive lesson for ages 6-10 on Joshua 6:1-20. Children march around a cup-wall Jericho, make paper-tube trumpets and learn to trust God's promises and obey his plan.
Memory verse
And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. (Joshua 6:16, KJV)
Lesson objectives
- Retell in order how God told Israel to take Jericho and what happened when they obeyed.
- Explain that God's promise came first and Israel trusted him by following his instructions.
- Choose one way to trust and obey God this week, even when it is hard.
The full lesson plan
Welcome: Quiet and Loud (5 min)
Setup: Clear a space for the children to stand in a circle.
Game (3 min): Tell the children to follow your hand. Hand low means whisper, hand high means a big cheer. Mix it up quickly, then hold your hand still and make them wait silently for a count of five.
Say: "Good listening! Waiting quietly is hard, and shouting at the right time is fun."
Say: "Today we hear about a time when God's people had to be silent, and then shout at exactly the right moment."
Say: "Imagine a huge city with walls so big that no one can get in. What would you do?" (Take two or three answers.)
Transition: "Now let's open our Bibles and hear what God told Joshua to do."
Hear the Story: Joshua 6:1-20 (7 min)
Tell the story in order, using actions. Children copy each action.
Say: "Jericho was shut up tight. Nobody went out and nobody came in." (v. 1) (Cross arms like a locked gate.)
Say: "The LORD told Joshua, 'See, I have given into thine hand Jericho.'" (v. 2) (Open both hands.)
Say: "God's plan: the armed men and seven priests with seven trumpets of rams' horns, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD, march around the city." (vv. 3-4, 6-9) (March in place.)
Say: "They marched once a day for six days." (v. 3) (Hold up six fingers.)
Say: "Joshua told the people not to shout or make any noise until he told them to." (v. 10) (Finger on lips.)
Say: "On the seventh day they marched around seven times." (v. 15) (Hold up seven fingers.)
Say: "The priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said, 'Shout!' The people shouted, and the wall fell down flat." (vv. 16, 20) (Shout, then drop arms.)
Say: "Every person went straight into the city." (v. 20)
Background: Verse 17 says Rahab and her household would be spared. Her story is in Joshua 2.
Transition: "Now let's look at what this story teaches us."
Trust God's Plan (7 min)
Say: "God spoke first. He said, 'I have given you Jericho,' before anyone marched a step."
Say: "The plan was strange. There was no battering ram and no ladders. Israel marched, listened and waited."
Say: "God's people did not understand it all, but they followed his plan."
Ask (hands up): "Which part would be hardest for you? Marching for seven days, or staying silent?" (Take a few answers.)
Say: "The wall did not fall because of the marching or the trumpets. It fell because God kept his promise."
Say: "We can trust God too. He is strong, and his promises are true."
Point to Jesus gently: "God's greatest promise was to send Jesus to rescue us. Jesus did everything needed, and we trust him."
Say: "When God asks us to obey and it feels hard, we can remember Jericho. God is faithful."
Transition: "Now let's march around our own Jericho!"
Game: March Around Jericho (8 min)
Setup before class: Build a cup pyramid in the middle of the room (the wall). Use tape to mark a circle around it, with room to walk. Place the box (ark) at the front of the line. Allow plenty of space.
Steps:
1. Choose a few children to carry the ark box at the front. Others join the line behind them. Rotate leaders each day.
2. Everyone walks, never runs, in a silent line around the circle. You call "Day 1." After one lap, call "Day 2," and so on up to Day 6.
3. Say: "Day 7!" The line walks seven laps. Count them aloud together, quietly.
4. After lap seven, hold up your hand. Everyone waits, then shouts the memory verse together: "Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city!"
5. Pretend to blow trumpets as you tip the cups over. The cups fall down, but you must make sure children stay back until the cups are down.
Say: "Did you notice how hard it was to stay silent? Israel did it because they trusted God."
Safety: Walking only. Keep a clear path and an adult at the cup wall. Offer a quieter job (counting laps) to children who prefer it.
Transition: "Now let's make something to remember today."
Craft: Trumpet of Trust (8 min)
Setup before class: Pre-cut a colored paper strip for each child to wrap around a tube. Write the verse reference on a board.
Steps:
1. Give each child a cardboard tube and a paper strip.
2. Children decorate the strip with markers, drawing walls, trumpets or zigzag patterns.
3. Write "Joshua 6:16" and "Shout!" on the strip.
4. Wrap the strip around the tube and tape it down.
5. Let children practice blowing a "trumpet" call and saying the verse together when you hold up your hand.
Say: "Take this trumpet home and tell someone how God kept his promise at Jericho."
Safety: Use child-safe scissors with supervision. Cut paper in advance for younger children. Check that tubes are clean and not sharp at the edges. Keep tape away from faces.
Transition: "Let's talk about what we learned."
Talk It Over (5 min)
Sit in a circle. Ask each question and take one or two answers.
1. What did God tell Joshua in verse 2? (He had given Jericho to Joshua.)
2. What was God's plan for taking the city? (March around it for six days and seven times on the seventh, with trumpets and a shout.)
3. Why do you think it was hard to march quietly? (It was strange, or boring, or they wanted to talk.)
4. What happened when the people obeyed God? (The wall fell flat.)
5. When is it hard to trust God? What helps? (When things are scary or confusing. Remembering God's promises and praying.)
Say: "Great thinking. God's plans may seem strange, but he is always good and faithful."
Transition: "Let's close by saying our verse and praying."
Closing: Verse and Prayer (5 min)
Memory verse (2 min): Hold up three cards, one part at a time. Say each part and let the children echo:
- "And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets,"
- "Joshua said unto the people, Shout;"
- "for the LORD hath given you the city."
Then say the whole verse together and shout "Shout!"
Prayer (3 min): Say: "Let's pray. Repeat after me."
Say: "Thank you, God, for keeping your promises."
Say: "Help us trust you when your plans are hard to understand."
Say: "Help us obey you this week, at home and at school."
Say: "Thank you for sending Jesus. In his name, amen."
Invite each child to name one thing they want to trust God with this week, silently or aloud.
Say: "Take your trumpet home. See you next time!"
Materials
- Bible (KJV)
- Paper cups (about 15) for the Jericho wall
- Masking tape to mark the marching circle
- Small box covered in paper to be the ark
- Cardboard tubes (1 per child)
- Markers or crayons
- Tape and child-safe scissors
- Index cards with the memory verse split into 3 parts
Teacher notes
- Safety: The craft uses scissors, tape and cardboard tubes, and the game uses cups. Supervise closely, check tubes for sharp edges, and check for any allergies or sensitivities to craft materials. Walking only in the march.
- Adaptation: Use pictures of each step for visual learners, offer buddy pairs for the march, and give a quieter role (lap counter or ark carrier) to children who find noise or crowds hard. Pair younger and older children for the craft.
- Stay with the text: Do not add details the Bible does not give about how the walls fell. If children ask about the city's fate, say simply that God was keeping his promise and that Rahab's household was spared (v. 17).
- Keep each section lively. If the march runs long, shorten it to three 'days' and seven laps on the last day.
Send it home with parents
Today we studied Joshua 6:1-20. God promised Joshua that he would give Jericho to Israel. The people trusted his strange plan: they marched around the city, and when they obeyed, the wall fell. Children learned that God keeps his promises and that we can trust and obey him.
- What was the strangest part of God's plan for Jericho?
- What is something that is hard to trust God about right now?
- How can we obey God this week even when we do not understand why?
Make a family 'wall': stack cups or blocks, each with a worry or hard thing written on it. March around it together, pray for God's help, then knock the wall down and thank him that he keeps his promises.
Each day, say Joshua 6:16 with your child and share one way you trusted or obeyed God that day.
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