Welly Church Kids Lessons

Kids · 4-8 · Lesson 14

The Lord Is Our Shepherd

Psalm 23; John 10:11-15

God guides, provides for, and remains with His people.

Teach the lesson

Goal: Children explain how the shepherd picture shows God's guidance, provision, and presence.

Pick how long you want to teach. The plan updates to fit.

Short · 25 minutes
  1. 3 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt from the Teach Now card.

  2. 8 min
    Read

    Read Psalm 23 slowly, naming each picture and allowing children to point to the matching path card.

    Ask: Which images show provision and rest?

  3. 5 min
    Understand

    Match Rest, Guidance, Valley, Table, and Home with what each image communicates about God's care.

    Ask: What changes when the poem reaches the valley? · Why is shepherd a metaphor?

  4. 6 min
    Do

    Complete the Shepherd Path activity.

    Activity: Shepherd Path

    Printable: K1-L14-P01-shepherd-path

  5. 3 min
    Respond

    Repeat the take-home line and close in prayer.

    Ask: How can we respond when someone is in a hard place?

Standard · 35 minutes

  1. 4 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt and invite two or three brief responses.

  2. 4 min
    Context

    Introduce the passage setting, speaker or main characters, and genre in age-appropriate language.

  3. 8 min
    Read and observe

    Read Psalm 23 slowly, naming each picture and allowing children to point to the matching path card.

    Ask: Which images show provision and rest? · What changes when the poem reaches the valley?

  4. 7 min
    Discuss

    Match Rest, Guidance, Valley, Table, and Home with what each image communicates about God's care.

    Ask: Why is shepherd a metaphor? · How can we respond when someone is in a hard place?

  5. 8 min
    Activity

    Complete the Shepherd Path activity and review what it demonstrates.

    Activity: Shepherd Path

    Printable: K1-L14-P01-shepherd-path

  6. 4 min
    Respond

    Review the objective, repeat the take-home line, and pray.

Extended · 45 minutes
  1. 4 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt and identify the question the lesson will answer.

  2. 6 min
    Context

    Locate the passage in the whole-Bible story and explain its literary setting.

  3. 9 min
    Read closely

    Read Psalm 23 slowly, naming each picture and allowing children to point to the matching path card.

    Ask: Which images show provision and rest? · What changes when the poem reaches the valley?

  4. 8 min
    Interpret

    Match Rest, Guidance, Valley, Table, and Home with what each image communicates about God's care.

    Ask: Why is shepherd a metaphor? · How can we respond when someone is in a hard place?

  5. 7 min
    Activity one

    Complete the Shepherd Path activity.

    Activity: Shepherd Path

    Printable: K1-L14-P01-shepherd-path

  6. 7 min
    Activity two

    Complete the Image to Meaning Match activity and compare the results.

    Activity: Image to Meaning Match

  7. 4 min
    Respond and assess

    Use one quiz item orally, repeat the take-home line, and pray.

Close the class

Memory verse: Psalm 23:4

Prayer: Use one image from Psalm 23 as a prayer for guidance, provision, presence, or welcome.

Take-home line: The Lord guides, provides, and stays with His people.

More help: full script, questions, and printables

A word-for-word way to run the lesson, plus every question, activity, and printable.

Teach now

Children explain how the shepherd picture shows God's guidance, provision, and presence.

Read
Psalm 23
Opening
Show a simple shepherd picture and ask: What work does a good shepherd do?
Say
  • Psalm 23 is a poem and prayer.
  • It pictures the Lord as a shepherd who guides and provides.
  • The poem includes a dark valley, but the speaker says God is with him there.
  • The poem ends with goodness, mercy, and welcome in God's house.
Ask
  • What does the shepherd provide?
  • What happens in the valley?
  • Why is shepherd a picture rather than a literal description?
  • Which line could become a prayer?
Do
Use the Shepherd Path to move through Rest, Guidance, Valley, Table, and Home.
Close
Pray: Lord, guide us, remain with us in hard places, and teach us to trust Your care.
Materials
  • Bible
  • Shepherd Path cards or a drawn path

Discussion questions

  • Which images show provision and rest?
    Simple answer: Green pastures and quiet waters.
    Going deeper: Explain how concrete images communicate care.
  • What changes when the poem reaches the valley?
    Simple answer: The speaker says You are with me.
    Going deeper: Notice the shift to direct address and its emotional effect.
  • Why is shepherd a metaphor?
    Simple answer: God cares like a shepherd; people are not literal sheep.
    Going deeper: Distinguish truthful imagery from literal description.
  • How can we respond when someone is in a hard place?
    Simple answer: Stay near, listen, pray, and get adult help when needed.
    Going deeper: Distinguish companionship from simplistic promises.

Activities

Shepherd Path · 9 min

Materials: Five image cards; String or drawn path

  1. Place Rest and Water.
  2. Add Right Path.
  3. Add Dark Valley and say God is present there.
  4. Add Table and Home.
  5. Retell the psalm as a journey of trust.

Low-resource option: Draw five symbols on a board.

Image to Meaning Match · 8 min

Materials: Image cards; Meaning cards

  1. Match pasture with provision.
  2. Match path with guidance.
  3. Match valley with danger and presence.
  4. Match table with welcome and home with enduring belonging.

Low-resource option: Call out an image and let children answer with one care word.

Printables

Prepare before class (optional, about 25 minutes)

Passage context

Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust traditionally associated with David. It moves from third-person language about the shepherd to direct address in the valley, then to host and household imagery. The lesson should preserve the poem rather than turn it into a flat list of promises.

  • The shepherd imagery includes pasture, water, restoration, and right paths.
  • The pronoun shifts toward direct speech in the darkest part: You are with me.
  • The rod and staff are signs of the shepherds protective and guiding role.
  • The final images move from shepherding to a generous host and enduring dwelling.
  • Define metaphor through a concrete comparison: God is like a good shepherd in the ways named by the poem.
  • Do not explain the valley only as physical death; it can describe deep danger or darkness more broadly.
  • Keep the emotional honesty of the valley and the confidence of God's presence together.

Keep it faithful

  • Do not promise that Christians will never be frightened, harmed, bereaved, hungry, or confused.
  • Do not tell a distressed child simply to stop being afraid because God is present.
  • Do not claim the poem gives a detailed map of heaven or the afterlife.
  • Do not overstate: Do not literalise the metaphor or promise a life without danger, grief, or unmet need.

Questions children may ask

Why is there a dark valley if God is a good shepherd?
Are we really sheep?

Every child can join in

  • Show the sequence visually.
  • Allow pointing, drawing, or one-word responses.
  • Give one direction at a time.
  • Participation must not require loud noise, touch, or public performance.
  • Read all Scripture aloud.
  • Use pictures, objects, or gesture-supported retelling.
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