The story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish to feed the 5,000 is such a fun Bible story to teach children! I always find that when I reach kids on their own level with fun, hands-on activities, it helps them learn the story better and retain it longer. You can find all of my Bible crafts for kids here. The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and can be found in the Bible in the book of Matthew 14: 13-21. So let’s take a look at some loaves and fish crafts and activities for kids including printables, crafts, songs, and even recipes to help you teach your kids this week!
For this time while many of us can’t attend Mass, be sure to check out all of my weekly Mass resources for kids. There are so many great resources in that post including ideas for spiritual communion, sending your angel to Mass for you, and resources that update weekly!
Loaves And Fish Cheat Sheet
You can be a better teacher if you make sure you understand the feast day yourself first, so let’s take a look at the loaves and fish story in a nutshell.
- Find the reading here
- Jesus retreats to a deserted place and crowds of people follow him
- The people were hungry and had no food
- They were able to gather 2 fish and 5 loaves
- Jesus was able to feed the crowd of 5,000 men, not counting women and children
- There were 12 baskets of leftover fragments after everyone ate
Read The Loaves And Fish Story To Kids (Matthew 14: 13-21)
First off, read the story of the loaves and fish to your kids from your bible or children’s bible. It’s always good to start with a version of the story that the kids can understand. You can see my post with my favorite Catholic children’s bibles here, but my family absolutely loves The Jesus Storybook Bible. If you have the Jesus Storybook Bible, you can find the story of the loaves and fish on page 244.
Loaves And Fish Video For Kids
Sometimes I find it easiest to show my kids a video before starting our activities. These little Saddleback Kids videos are my farorites! You can watch the story about Jesus feeding the 5,000 in English here, and you can watch it in Spanish here.
Free Loaves And Fish Printables For Kids
Free printables are my favorites because they are fun, easy, and don’t require any prep or special supplies! Here are some printables listed by type.
- Sermons 4 Kids has a lot of free printables for kids on Jesus Feeds The 5,000 including a word search, maze, crossword puzzle, coloring page, and more. Click here and scroll down to the bottom.
- Printable loaves and fish game for kids. This comes from The Catholic Toolbox and looks like a lot of fun for kids! Totally free to print!
Joy In The Journey also has a free downlaodable pack for kids with a loaves and fish lesson.
Hands On Learning Activity For Loaves And Fish
Faith Sprouts has a really cool object lesson on how to show kids exactly how big the number “5,000” is by measuring out some dry rice. Check it out here!
Loaves And Fish Crafts For Kids
Crafting The Word Of God has a really cute (and totally free!) printable loaves and fish craft for kids! I have seen a lot of variations of using this printable including making the “basket” out of a paper lunch sac. Love it!
Crafting The Word Of God also has a free printable loaves and fish craft where you actually fold a 3 dimensional basket. So cute!
Faith Sprouts has a great post all about teaching this story to kids, and I love this bracelet loaves and fish craft idea! I also think this is the perfect craft for preschoolers as they always love wearable crafts.
Jesus Without Language also has a super adorable 3D craft that is also free to print!
Preschoolers will also love this super easy pony bead Jesus fish craft! It’s a great activity for building small motor skills.
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You can find even more fun fish crafts for kids here– these are great if you’re wanting to do something a little more hands on, and there are all different crafts, so you’re likely to find something you already have the supplies for at home.
Loaves And Fish Food And Snack Ideas
This fun snacktivity from Baby Devotions looks fun and easy!
Faith Sprouts has this cute snack idea for kids as well!
Faith Sprouts also shares this snacktivity and has a link to the printable to use with the kids.
Meaningful Mama has some great step by step directions for having kids make their own little basket of “loaves and fish” for a fun Sunday School snack!
Also, check out this idea from Creative Kid Snacks to a healthy loaves and fish lunch for your kids!
You can also try baking your own “loaves” as a fun recipe activity with kids! Try my unleavened bread recipe, which is fun and simple for kids AND it doesn’t require yeast.
Snack Without Shopping:
Ideas of what to use for fish
- goldfish crackers
- Swedish fish candy
- actual fish- fish sticks, tuna, etc
Ideas of what to use for loaves
- croutons
- Ritz crackers
- Saltine crackers
- oyster crackers
- wheat thins
- Triscuits
- rolls
- bread
- Melba toast
Loaves And Fish Song
Songs are so great because our brain has a way of remembering things that are put to music! Check out this the way the truth and the life song.
More Mass Resources For Kids!!!
Definitely check out my Mass resources for kids that are good year round! I have links to websites that update each week for the Gospel and weekly readings that include:
- Mass prep videos
- Free printable mass bulletins for each week
- Lesson plans
- Printables
- Powerpoint children’s sermon
- And more!
