Noah's Ark
Noah builds a great boat, fills it with animals two by two, and finds a rainbow waiting at the end.
Read aloud in about five minutes.
“I have set my rainbow in the clouds.”
Genesis 9:13
- Noah builds the ark on dry land
- Animals come two by two
A very big boat
Noah was a good man in a time when many people had stopped being kind. God told Noah that a great flood was coming, and gave him careful instructions for building an enormous boat called an ark.
Noah's neighbours thought it was very strange. He was building a boat on dry land, far from any water, and it took him a long time. He kept going anyway.
- It rains for forty days and nights
- A dove returns with an olive leaf
Two by two
When the ark was ready, animals came — two of every kind, walking and flying and crawling up the ramp. Noah brought his family aboard and stored away enough food for everyone.
Then the rain began. It rained for forty days and forty nights, until water covered everything, and the ark floated safely on top of it.
- Everyone steps out onto dry ground
- A rainbow becomes God's promise
The rainbow
After a long time the rain stopped. Noah sent out a dove to see if there was dry land. The first time it came back with nothing. The second time it came back with a fresh olive leaf. The third time it did not come back at all — it had found somewhere to live.
When everyone finally stepped out onto dry ground, God put a rainbow in the sky as a promise: never again a flood like that one. Every rainbow since is a reminder of that promise.
Something to print
A colouring page, a cut-and-stick craft and six talking questions come with this story.