Moses and the 10 Commandments Booklet and Activity

A drawing of Moses with the title \"On the mountain, God gave Moses rules for the people to follow.\"

Whether you are a Christian or not, you undoubtedly know the story of Moses and the 10 Commandments. Right?

Everyone knows about the 10 Commandments.

There was even a big time movie starring Charlton Heston. Called, you know, the 10 Commandments.

Except our kids don't know about the movie or Moses or even the 10 Commandments unless we teach it to them.

So let's set out to do that today.

I am taking part in a 40-day blog series on the The Jesus Storybook Bible, each day highlighting one of the stories from the book along with a hands-on activity that relates. This is the activity that goes along with the "Ten ways to be perfect" chapter.

In The Jesus Storybook Bible, the story of Moses begins with the Israelites having escaped Egypt, but being lost in the desert and complaining. They get manna to eat and water to drink, and still they are not happy.

God leads them to a tall mountain and gives them 10 rules for living good lives, being close to Him, and being happy. He promises to always look out for them as long as they obey the rules.

They promise to obey the rules, but they can't do it no matter how hard they try.

God knew they couldn't do it, and He wanted them to know it too.

Only one person could keep all the rules, and He came many years later to be perfect for the people.

The story ends with "Because the rules couldn't save them. Only God could save them." It's a perfect allusion to the coming of Jesus Christ. I get goosebumps at the end of every story in this book.

So, after you read this chapter to your kids (or tell them your own version of the Moses story, but really you should read it from the book because it's so good), you can print out this little booklet I made and help them to draw a picture to go with each of the 10 Commandments.

The booklet is very simple, just words on pages. I wanted it to be that way so that the real crux of the activity is your kids internalizing the commandments, making them their own.

I used language similar to the language in The Jesus Storybook Bible for the commandments.

Because our kids aren't going to understand or internalize the Thou shalt nots, but they'll get "Be happy with who you are and what you have."

To put the booklet together, it helps to print them double-sided if you can. If you can't or don't want to (markers might soak through, so your kids might need single-sided pages), just print it normally, turn the cover over so it faces out, and staple the pages together. If your stapler won't reach the center of the book, punch some holes in the center and tie it with yarn or string. I tried to make it really easy for you.

About The Jesus Storybook Bible

The The Jesus Storybook Bible is my all-time favorite Bible for young kids. It's less a Bible per se and more a series of stories that paint a beautiful love story between God and His people. Each story is short, just 3-4 pages long with vibrant illustrations, and it is written in everyday language.

In short, it is a storybook in which every story points to the Good News of Jesus. I really can't gush enough about it. I bought it on someone's recommendation when Grace was 2, and we've read it with regularity ever since.

Visit My Mundane and Miraculous Life for activities for the other chapters in The Jesus Storybook Bible.