Manna From Heaven

Scripture: Exodus 15:22 – 17:7 or pages 124 – 129 in the Golden Children’s Bible

Target Age Group:  1st through 6th grade




Bible Lesson:



  • What was the first thing that the Israelites grumbled to Moses about?  There was no water.  The water they found was bitter and they couldn’t drink it.
  • What did God have Moses do?  He threw a piece of wood into the water and it became fit to drink.
  • What did they find at Elim? 12 springs and 70 palm trees.
  • What was the next things that the people complained about?  There was no food.
  • What did the Lord say that He would do? “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.”
  • Moses and Aaron said that the people were upset with who? God – not them.
  • What happened that evening? quail came and covered the camp.
  • What happened in the morning? There was manna on the ground. (Manna sounds like the Hebrew for What is it?)
  • How much manna were they to gather?  An omer for each person (About 3 pounds)
  • What happened to the manna if they saved some for the morning? it was full of maggots and began to smell
  • What day could they save twice as much as they needed?  The day before the Sabbath
  • Why? So that they wouldn’t work on the Sabbath
  • What happened if they didn’t collect twice as much on the 6th day?  They had nothing to eat on the Sabbath.
  • Describe the manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.
  • What did God tell Moses to do with one omer of manna?  ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’
  • Why do you think that it was important for them to save the manna? So that they would always remember how God provided for them.
  • How might it help them to remember what God had done for them in the past? When something bad happens to them, they could trust that God was in control and that He would take care of them again.
  • How long did the people eat manna? 40 years, until they reached Canaan
  • What was the next thing they complained about?  Again there was no water.
  • What did the Lord have Moses do?  “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
  • What name did Moses give to this place? Massah and Meribah which means “testing” and “quarreling”.
  • What kinds of things do you complain about?  broccoli, homework, chores, not getting your way, etc.
  • How do you think God would rather you do than complain? be thankful, pray and ask God for help, etc.
  • Deut 8:3 says, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” What do you think this verse means? We need more than physical food every day; we need spiritual food every day, too.
  • Let’s pray and thank the Lord for giving us our daily bread and for daily spiritual bread...




Memorize the verse.



Share the children’s sermon “Dinner on the Ground”   or  “What Is It?”  from Sermons4kids.


Have the children use colors or pastels to draw their own vision of the story on a sketch pad page. Or have them color a color page related to the story.  Color page #1   Color page #2   Color page #3   Here is a color book from Bible for Children   An excellent color page book is “Through-the-Bible Coloring Pages For Ages 4-8” by Janet Skiles.  The pages are reproducible.


Share one of these videos: Video #1  Video #2   Video #3   Video #4


Have the children play this great game by Ellen Patterson at the Sunday School Network


Have the children fill in these worksheets from Calvary Chapel  or a crossword puzzle from Sermons4kids.


Sing: “Grumble” by Mary Rice Hopkins from the Dancing in the Desert album.


Share this lesson from Ministry to Children using the book, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” as an object lesson.


For a craft, click on the picture above to enlarge it.  Print it out and make a copy for each child in the class.  Give them each some couscous to paste to the picture as manna on the ground and in the bowls. Have the Bible verse on a slip of paper for each child to paste to the top of their picture.  Older kids can write the verse themselves.


Here are some craft ideas at e-how.


Try one of these activities from Sermons4kids.


For older kids share this lesson from Calvary Kids.




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