The Lost Coin Preschool Sunday School Lesson (Free, Ages 3–6)
Preschool lesson (ages 3–6, 20 minutes)
1. Welcome (3 min)
Sit in a circle, greet every child by name and show one thing from the story to touch.
2. The little story (5 min)
Teach the refrain first: “She looks and looks until she finds it.”
Many people came to hear Jesus. Tax collectors came. People who had done wrong things came. They all came close to listen to him. Jesus welcomed them all.
But some leaders grumbled. To grumble means to complain in a low, cross voice. “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them,” they said. A sinner is someone who does wrong things.
So Jesus told them stories. First he told about a lost sheep. A shepherd had one hundred sheep, and one was lost. He looked until he found it, and he carried it home with joy. Then Jesus told about a lost coin.
A woman had ten silver coins. Ten shiny coins, all her own. Each coin was worth a lot. It was as much as a worker earned in a whole day. Let’s count them on our fingers: one, two, three … all the way to ten!
One day she lost one coin. She had ten. Now she had only nine. One was missing! Oh no! Where was her coin? Maybe it rolled away. Maybe it fell on the floor. Maybe it was hiding in the dust.
In those days, houses were small and dark. They had only little windows. The floor was made of hard earth or stones. A tiny coin on the floor was hard to see.
What did she do? She lit a lamp. A lamp then was a little clay bowl with oil and a flame. Flicker, flicker went the little flame. Now she could see in her dark house. She looks and looks until she finds it.
She swept the house. Swish, swish, swish, swish! Can you sweep with a pretend broom? She looked here. She looked there. She looked in every corner.
Was it in the corner? No. Was it by the door? No. Can you peek under your blanket?
She did not stop. She searched and searched, very carefully. She looks and looks until she finds it.
And then – there it was! She found her coin! Her lost coin was found! She had looked and looked, and now she had it again.
She called her friends and neighbors together. “Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost!” A drachma is a silver coin. Rejoice means be glad. Can you clap and cheer with her? Hooray!
All ten coins were together again. Not one was missing. Ten silver coins! She looks and looks until she finds it.
Then Jesus said, “Even so, I tell you. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
To repent means to be sorry and turn back to God. When one person turns back to God, there is joy in heaven with the angels of God. Even for one! Just one person who turns back to God makes heaven glad.
God is like that woman. He looks for the lost ones. He does not stop looking, and there is joy when they come home. She looks and looks until she finds it.
3. Talk together (3 min)
- How do you think the woman felt when she found her coin?
- Where would you look if you lost something special?
4. Move (3 min)
Refrain Freeze: move around the room; when you say the refrain, everyone freezes and says it together.
5. Make (4 min)
Color the 10 silver coins, the 1 lamp, and the 1 broom.
6. Verse and prayer (2 min)
“Rejoice with me, for I have found” — Luke 15:9 (Rejoice with me → clap your hands; for I have found → hold up a pretend coin and smile)
Dear God, thank you that you look for the lost. Thank you that you are glad when someone comes home to you. Amen.
Lesson for older kids (ages 6–10)
Big idea: You are treasured
Memory verse: “Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost!” — Luke 15:9 · WEB
The Bible story
A kind woman lights her lamp and sweeps her whole house to find one little lost coin, and Jesus shows us just how much God treasures each of us.
Talk about it
- Who grumbled that Jesus welcomed sinners? — The Pharisees
- How many silver coins did the woman have at first? — Ten
- What happened to one of her coins? — It was lost
- How did the woman feel about her lost coin? — She wanted to find it
- What did the woman light to help her see? — A little oil lamp
- What did the woman use to sweep her house? — A broom
Where is Jesus in this story?
Jesus told this little story to show that he came to seek and to find people who feel lost, just like the woman searched for her coin. Jesus is like the loving woman who lights the lamp and never stops looking until every lost one is safely found. He shines his light into every dark corner so that no one is ever left behind, and there is great joy in heaven each time someone is welcomed home into God's love.
What God wants to tell us
Just like the woman searched high and low for her one little coin, God searches for each of us with love. You are never too small, too lost, or too forgotten for God to care about you. He treasures you so much that heaven throws a party when someone who was far away comes close to him again. That is how precious you are to God.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you that you love me so much and never forget me. Thank you that I am precious to you, just like the little lost coin. Help me remember that you are always near, and help me bring your joy to others too. Amen.
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