Bible Fun For Kids: 9. Paul and Silas in Prison

This is a fun lesson for the kids! This continues our lessons for preschool from the book of Acts.

Last week we learned about Lydia. She lived in Philippi. She made and sold purple cloth. It was very expensive. She went to the river to pray and worship God. She met Paul at the river, and he told her about Jesus. Lydia and the people in her house believed in God and thy were baptized.

Paul and Silas were still in Philippi with Luke and Timothy. Some of the men from the city didn’t like them preaching about God, so they took Paul and Silas to the judge.

They told the judges that Paul and Silas had brought a lot of trouble to the city. They claimed that Paul and Silas were teaching customs that were against their laws. The crowd was very angry and beat Paul and Silas.

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They put Paul and Silas in prison and told the jailor to make sure they were locked up secure! The jailor wanted to make sure they couldn't escape, so he put them in an inner prison and put their feet in stocks.

At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. Can you imagine being beaten, thrown in prison and then singing? Even though Paul and Silas were hurting and in prison, they praised God!

Suddenly, there was a great earthquake! The prison shook and all the doors opened! Everyone was free from their chains! The prison guard woke up and saw that the doors of the prison were open and he was really upset. Paul told the jailor that everyone was still there.

The guard called for a light and ran to Paul and Silas and asked them “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas told the guard that he had to believe in Jesus first.

Paul and Silas told the guard and his household about Jesus and within an hour that night, Paul and Silas were cleaned up. Immediately the guard and ALL his family were baptized! They went back to the guard’s house and ate while the guard rejoiced because his whole family believed in God.

You can find this lesson in Acts 16:16-40.

Special thanks to Jeanne Dickson for sharing her Bible class songs! This has the standard flipchart and one-page black & white song printables. Click here to download.

Extra fun for this lesson is to 'create' a prison. For this age, I just threw a piece of fabric or blanket over a table and let them sit under it. I have different chains (look for them on eBay or during October) and that is a lot of fun for them. I make paper chains (cut paper/cardstock about 1/2"x11" with 5-6 links stapled together) and they can take them home.

Lift-the-Flaps are fun for kids and this one shows them that we can be just like them (without being put in prison). They sand, prayed and taught others about Jesus. This is a cut and glue. For this age, I had everything cut out and we handed them the pieces to glue. This includes the color and black & white. Click here to print.