Tower of Babel Sunday School Lesson for a Small, Mixed-Age Class

Here is a whole Tower of Babel Sunday school lesson for a church where preschoolers and 6th graders share one room. In about 40 minutes you tell Genesis 11:1-9 in four scenes, ask questions for each age, make a “name bricks” wall and pray. Supplies are a Bible, paper, markers, tape and two index cards. Read it once on Saturday night and teach it as written.

Show kids what the Tower of Babel looked like first

Young kids picture a tower like a castle or a skyscraper. The Bible gives a few real clues. The people baked bricks hard and used tar to hold them together (Genesis 11:3). They built in the land of Shinar. Genesis 10:10 puts Babel in Shinar, the land later called Babylon, in what is now Iraq.

Tony Kummer first shared a Tower of Babel coloring page on Ministry-to-Children with this tip:

“This was just one activity in our larger lesson plan about the Tower of Babel. I would recommend using the visuals from that lesson to show kids what the Tower may have looked like before they draw their own.”

Tony Kummer, founder of Ministry-to-Children, writing in 2011

So before kids draw on their paper bricks in step 5, show them one picture. Many Bible teachers think the tower was a stepped tower, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, like other towers built in that land. A picture from a children’s Bible works well.

Tower of Babel lesson at a glance

• Bible passage: Genesis 11:1-9
• Big idea: The people wanted to make a great name for themselves. God wants us to trust Him and make His name great.
• Memory verse: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18, BSB)
• Ages: mixed ages, about 4 to 12, in one room
• Class size: 1 to 15 kids
• Time: about 40 minutes (a 5-minute children’s sermon version is below)
• Supplies: a Bible, paper rectangles for bricks (two per child), crayons or markers, tape, two index cards, and five or six blocks for the short version

40-minute Tower of Babel lesson plan for one room

Teach the six steps in order. The minutes add up to about 40. If you only have 30 minutes, shorten the questions and the activity and keep the story whole.

1. Opening question: hello in other languages (3 minutes)

Ask, “Who knows how to say hello in another language?” Let kids try. Spanish, Chinese, sign language and a grandparent’s language all count. Then say, “There are thousands of languages in the world. Today the Bible tells us how so many languages began.”

2. Tell the Tower of Babel story in four scenes (12 minutes)

Teach the motion for each scene first, so the little ones have a job. Then tell the scene in your own words and let an older child read the key verse.

1. One people, one language (Genesis 11:1-2). After the flood, Noah’s family grew into many people. God had told them to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). But they all stayed together on a wide plain in Shinar, and they all spoke one language. Motion: link arms with the person next to you. Key verse: Genesis 11:1.
2. “Let’s build a tower” (Genesis 11:3-4). The people baked bricks and used tar to stick them together. They said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves.” They wanted people to look at them, and they did not want to spread out. Motion: stack your fists one on top of the other, higher and higher. Key verse: Genesis 11:4.
3. God comes down (Genesis 11:5-7). “Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.” The tower the people were so proud of was tiny to God. God said He would mix up their language so they could not understand each other. Motion: lower one hand slowly from high over your head. Key verse: Genesis 11:5.
4. Mixed-up words (Genesis 11:8-9). All at once, nobody could understand anyone else. The building stopped. God scattered the people over the whole earth, and the city was called Babel. Motion: say “ba-ba-ba” and walk your fingers away from each other. Key verse: Genesis 11:8.

Pick verses short enough for your readers. A 2nd grader can read Genesis 11:1: “Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.” A 5th grader can read Genesis 11:4 or 11:8.

3. Tower of Babel questions for kids, by age (7 minutes)

Start with the youngest, so they answer before the big kids jump in.

• Ages 4 to 5: What did the people build? What happened to their words?
• Ages 6 to 8: Why did the people want a tower so tall? God told Noah’s family to fill the earth. Did the people obey?
• Ages 9 to 12: Genesis 11:5 says God “came down to see” the tower. What does that tell you about how big God is? When do you want people to look at you instead of at God?

4. Tower of Babel memory verse: Proverbs 16:18 (5 minutes)

Say the verse together: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Explain that “haughty” means thinking you are better than everyone else. Older kids say the whole verse. Little ones say a short version, “God is great!” while they point up high. Say it three times, then let one child lead it.

5. Activity: name bricks, from a brag tower to a praise wall (10 minutes)

Before class, cut paper into brick shapes, two per child. Write “OUR NAME” on one index card and “GOD” on the other. Pair a big kid with a little kid where you can.

1. Brag bricks (3 minutes). On one brick, each child draws or writes something people brag about, like being fast, a new toy or a good grade. Tape the bricks up the wall in a tall stack. Put the “OUR NAME” card on top. Say, “Every brick in this tower says, look at us. That is how the people at Babel built.”
2. Read Genesis 11:5 (1 minute). Read it slowly. Then take the brag tower down, one brick at a time.
3. Praise bricks (4 minutes). On the second brick, each child draws or writes one thing God made or did, like the stars, a family or Jesus. Tape these up as a wide, low wall. Put the “GOD” card on top.
4. Talk about it (2 minutes). Ask, “Which wall gives the praise to God? Whose name belongs on top?” Read Proverbs 16:18 one more time.

Kids who would rather sit can color a Tower of Babel coloring page while the others build. For a craft that goes home, try these Tower of Babel and Pentecost crafts.

6. Pray and send the story home (3 minutes)

Close in prayer. Praise God for being bigger than any tower. Ask Him to help each child put His name first this week, at school and at home. Older kids can take turns praying one line each. Ask kids to tell the four scenes to someone at lunch, using the motions.

What the Tower of Babel teaches kids about God

The Tower of Babel is a story about pride and about God’s plan. Keep the class on these three points:

1. Pride wants its own name on top. The people built “that we may make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4).
2. God is far greater than anything people build. He had to “come down” to see their tall tower (Genesis 11:5).
3. God’s plan wins. He told people to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), and in the end they did (Genesis 11:8).

For older kids, jump ahead to Pentecost. At Babel, God mixed up proud people’s words and scattered them. On the day the Holy Spirit came, God brought people from every nation together to hear about Jesus. “Each one heard them speaking his own language” (Acts 2:6).

Teaching the Tower of Babel to one, two or three kids

• One child: you each make three praise bricks, so the wall still grows. Let the child put the “GOD” card on top.
• Two or three kids: make the oldest child the reader for all four scenes. Make the youngest the motion leader.
• No readers at all: read the key verses yourself, slowly, and let the kids say the last word of each one with you.
• Extra time: as each praise brick goes up, say “God is great” in one of the hello languages from step 1.

Short on time? A 5-minute Tower of Babel children’s sermon

Use this short version for a children’s moment in the worship service, or to open children’s church. Bring five or six blocks and the two cards, “OUR NAME” and “GOD.”

1. Ask, “Who would like to be famous? What would you want to be famous for?”
2. Tell the story in four lines: Long ago, everyone spoke one language. They built a tall tower to make a name for themselves. God came down and mixed up their words. They stopped building and spread out over the earth.
3. Stack the blocks with “OUR NAME” on top. Then swap it for “GOD.” Read Proverbs 16:18.
4. Say, “Pride wants its own name on top. God wants His name on top.” Close by praising God’s name together.

For a longer children’s sermon with a toppling cup tower, see this Tower of Babel and Pentecost children’s sermon.

Tower of Babel questions teachers ask

What lesson does the Tower of Babel teach?

Pride wants to make a name for itself, but God is greater, and His plan stands. Kids can learn to put God’s name first instead of their own.

How do you explain the Tower of Babel to a child?

Keep it to three lines. People built a tall tower so everyone would think they were great. God mixed up their words so they could not understand each other. Then they had to stop building and spread out, just as God had told them to do.

Where is the Tower of Babel in the Bible?

Genesis 11:1-9. It comes right after the list of Noah’s family in Genesis 10 and before God calls Abram in Genesis 12.

What are good Tower of Babel activities for Sunday school?

Hands-on pieces work best, because kids remember what they made. The name bricks wall above takes 10 minutes and only paper, markers and tape. For a building game where kids lose their shared language, see the Kids Bible Lessons link below. Coloring pages and crafts fit kids who would rather sit.

More Tower of Babel help for your class

• Teaching an older group? Ministry-to-Children has a Tower of Babel Sunday school lesson for 3rd to 5th grade with a Tower of Praise relay.
• Need a second game for the same Sunday? Find more Tower of Babel activities for kids on Ministry-to-Children, or the Tower of Babel activities for kids on Kids Bible Lessons.
• For backup games any Sunday, download the free 25 Bible Games for Kids PDF from The Sunday School Store.
• Want more weeks on this theme? Week 1 of God’s World Tour, a 4-week children’s ministry curriculum for ages 6 to 12, teaches the Tower of Babel. See the full God’s World Tour series.