Over the last (almost) thirty years of teaching preschoolers, the most effective tool I’ve ever used is the Gospel Cube. The Gospel Cube tells the story of the whole Bible in six pictures, every story in the Bible falls into one of these six pictures. Walking through the Gospel Cube with preschoolers helps them to understand the entirety of the Bible and also points to God’s plan for salvation that began in Genesis and continues through Revelation.
At the beginning of each Bible story, I pull out our cube and walk through it with our kids. Because we repeat this every week, they’re often able to walk through it with me! It’s important to contextualize our Bible stories for our kiddos so they can understand it in a way that is developmentally appropriate. As we dive into our lesson each week, we take time to connect the specific story we are learning to the picture from the cube that it correlates with. (i.e. If we are learning about Abraham, we flip to “God chose a special people” side of the cube.) The goal is for preschoolers to understand that each story or lesson they are learning from the Bible each week is connected to a bigger story.
The 6 Sides of the Gospel Cube
1. In the beginning, God made everything and it was GOOD!
God created the world perfect, without sin or sadness.
2. But, OH NO! The people disobeyed God.
This is called sin. Sin separates us from God and that’s so sad, but- good news! God did not stop loving them… instead,
3. God chose a special people.
Those special people were called the Israelites. God wanted to be with them so he gave them a way for them to be together but it wasn’t a permanent solution! They needed something more – so God had a plan for that …
4. God sent Jesus to help us.
He died on the cross and took the punishment for our sins so that we would not have to be separated from Him anymore! That truth makes me sad! But I don’t have to stay sad because we know that 3 days later Jesus rose from the dead! (our kiddos love to celebrate this!)
5. Jesus began the Church.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he had one more special job to do. He told the people that their job was to go and tell other people about Jesus. Because they were obedient and did what Jesus told them to do – we get to know about Him – and we get to go to church! Isn’t that so cool? We get to go to a place that was started by JESUS!!!
6. He is preparing a place for us.
After Jesus started the church, Jesus went to heaven. That is where He is now – preparing a place for us. This is so that one day we can be with Him as well! We won’t have to be separated from Him anymore!
Our prayer is that by using this resource, our kiddos will be able to develop a solid foundation of the Gospel. We don’t expect preschoolers to make a decision, often I remind parents in our ministry that if you asked a preschooler if they wanted the crust on their peanut butter and jelly sandwich they could say “no,” and then have changed their mind by the time we give them their lunch. We get to help lay a foundation for them to be confident that the Bible is true, Jesus loves them and died for their sins, and that He is preparing a place for us even now- so that when they are ready to make a choice to follow Jesus, they’re ready and equipped to do so.
How to Implement It in Your Preschool Ministry
Have a cube available in each of your rooms
At Brentwood, every classroom (even infant and toddler rooms) has a Gospel Cube. You can create one by printing and taping photos to tissue boxes, making a cardstock cube, or using the Lifeway inflatable cube with 8.5 x 11 printed photos. These cubes are great for Bible story time and also give kids the opportunity to play and practice sharing the gospel with their friends.
Train your leaders and volunteers to teach the Cube
As with all resources, the cube isn’t as effective if our volunteers aren’t equipped to use it right. Take time at your next leader training to walk through the cube with your leaders and provide them with an opportunity to practice retelling the story themselves. The Cube can be used in every age range in your ministry: infants/crawlers, toddlers/young 2s, and older preschoolers. Send it home with your parents.
