One of my favourite Sunday School art projects has been creating illustrated Bible Story Books. The idea actually grew out of one of my own childhood memories.
When I was in grade two, our teacher gave us tiny books filled with blank paper and told us we were going to be authors. Each of us wrote and illustrated our own little stories. At the end, our books became a classroom library. We even got to write encouraging comments at the back of one another’s books, sharing what we loved about each story. One of my first books was my own addition to the Mr. Men series, and I can still hear the giggles of my friends when they read it. The best part? We were treated like real authors. What a feeling of pride at such a young age. That experience stuck with me, and years later I wanted to recreate that same thrill for my Sunday school kids, only this time, the story they’d be telling would be God’s story.
With only a short window on Sunday mornings, I knew each child couldn’t create an entire book. So instead, we work together as a class to create one Bible storybook. This activity has quickly become one of my favourites because it transforms kids from passive listeners into active participants in God’s story and it’s a ton of fun, too.
How the Book Process Starts
We begin by telling the Bible story, using either a classic storytelling method or my “modern-day flannelgraph” technique. After hearing the story, we pause to wonder together. I ask open-ended questions to spark curiosity:
- “What was your favourite part?”
- “What do you think Moses felt when he saw the burning bush?”
- “Was there anything surprising or confusing?”
This wondering time helps kids slow down, notice details, and connect personally with the story. Then I introduce the big reveal: we’re going to publish a book together.
Framing the Project
This isn’t just a craft project, it’s serious business. I explain that each child is an illustrator for our class book, and I set high expectations for their work. Framing it this way inspires kids to give their best effort and makes the project feel exciting and important. Even children who don’t usually love drawing get swept up in the group effort.
The rest of the process is just as fun and meaningful with assigning scenes, creating illustrations, compiling the book, and finally sharing the finished product with the class and their families. It’s a technique that brings the Bible story to life, encourages creativity, and helps kids connect with God’s Word in a deeply personal way. I am always amazed by the unique perspectives children bring to their illustrations and how their imaginations help me to think about God’s story in new ways.
Book Launch
After all the illustrations are finished, I compile the pages, add text to tell the story, and print copies for every child. I also make a few extras to share with the wider church family on what we call Book Launch Sunday.
The excitement is contagious. I will never forget the morning when one little one dashed around the sanctuary, proudly showing anyone who would look the page with their drawing. Another parent told me their kids keep a special shelf at home just for these storybooks, a growing collection they return to again and again.
These are not the kind of crafts that get left behind on the church floor. Each child can’t wait to take their book home. During the “big unveiling” in class when we read the book together, kids sit wide-eyed, waiting for their illustration to appear, and eager to celebrate each other’s contributions.
Book Launch Sundays are highlights of our year, a joyful mix of creativity, storytelling, and community celebration.
Repetition as a Teaching Tool
This art project also reinforces one of my core teaching beliefs: repetition is essential for helping God’s story sink in. With this activity, kids hear the story from scripture, revisit it in discussion, embody it through illustrations, and then hear it once more when we read their completed book aloud. Then they take the book home and read it again and again! Repetition makes the story come alive in powerful ways. And the kids’ quirky, memorable illustrations often stick with me for years.
If you’re interested in trying this project in your setting, here is a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Start with Storytelling
Begin your lesson by telling the Bible story in focus. Keep it simple and engaging, reading directly from scripture, from a paraphrased children’s bible or even using a modern style of flannelgraph from this list of techniques. Afterward, ask wondering questions to help the kids reflect and engage with the story.
Examples:
- “I wonder how Moses felt when he saw the burning bush?”
- “I wonder what your favourite part of the story was?”
- “I wonder if anything surprised you?”
- “I wonder if anything confused you?”
- …you can add additional questions that are specific to the story in focus
You can also take some time to fill in details like cultural practices, biblical context or word definitions as needed to help children more deeply understand the story.
Step 2: Announce the Project
Tell the kids they’ll be creating a real book together, a Bible storybook they’ll illustrate themselves. Make it exciting and emphasize the importance of their role as illustrators. This framing sparks enthusiasm and inspires even reluctant artists to join in.
Set the tone with high but supportive expectations. Let them know you’ll celebrate every effort.
Step 3: Assign Illustrations
Walk through the story scene by scene. For example:
- Creation: Assign scenes like “Day 1: Light” or “Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars.”
- Moses and the Burning Bush: Scenes might include “Moses tending sheep,” “the burning bush,” and “Moses removing his sandals.”
Ask for volunteers for each scene, or assign scenes to kids who prefer guidance. I don’t worry about doubling up on pictures if multiple kids choose the same scene and I don’t worry about missing pictures, words can easily fill in the story. If needed, I’ll also help a child brainstorm ideas on how to get started.
Step 4: Illustrate
Provide pre-cut square paper (I love a square book – there is just something about this orientation that feels less like I stapled paper together and more like a real book. Kids seem to agree. Because of this I take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and cut of the ends to create an 8.5 x 8.5 square.). If you can afford it, cardstock is lovely to draw on and scans with a more crisp white background. Fine tip markers work best for vibrant images. Encourage older kids to outline their drawings in black for a professional touch. Make sure to tell children to fill the entire page for their picture!
Let the kids work at their own pace, and when they finish, collect their illustrations for the next step.
Step 5: Publish the Book
This process of turning the pictures into books does take a little bit of time but my creativity feeds on it and kids love the final product.
- Scan the Illustrations – Use a free app like Genius Scan to digitize the images. This app makes backgrounds crisp and white, perfect for a polished look. If you’re detail-oriented, you can edit images in a photo editing app, but this step is optional.
- Layout the Book – Use Canva (I’ve made a free template you can use) to create a square page layout. Arrange the illustrations in story order, leaving space for text. I
- Add Text – Once my illustrations are all lined I start adding text. I like to paraphrase the story, helping to retell it in a kid friendly and sometimes adding text to match the images. Sometimes I even go the extra mile to make the story rhyme. (You can take a look at one of our completed examples of the Good Samartan here or our Creation Book here.) If I have less time available, I’ll just stick to the biblical text.
- Print and Assemble – The last step of publishing is the printing. I print double-sided, cut the pages into squares with a papercutter and and staple them together (three staples on the side to create a binding). Voila! You’ve created a real book.
Step 6: Share the Story
Once printed the book becomes a key part of our next Sunday school lesson, offering yet another way to tell the story (here’s that repetition strategy showing up again). Kids love when we flip through the pages, spotting their illustrations, and discovering the words added to bring it all together. This technique combines so many ways of entering the story: they hear it, discuss it, illustrate it and then hear it all over again!
I send a book home with every kid and these books are shared all over again with their families, keeping the story alive once again. Even adults in our church, without kids in the program, have shown interest in reading them! To include everyone, we place copies on our round tables each time a new book is published, so the whole community can enjoy them.
Tips for Success
- Adapt for Any Group Size: With small groups, assign multiple illustrations to each child. For larger groups, consider creating two books and compare the final products.
- Budget-Friendly Printing: I always print on plain printer paper (cardstock is only used for the initial illustrating). I use an Epson EcoTank refillable printer for vibrant and economical color prints. For tighter budgets, mini-books with smaller pages can be just as engaging. Mini books can be printed with four pages to a sheet but the process is a little more complicate laying it out so that it all folds together in order. Sorry, no template provided for this style because it needs to be customized for every book!
- Digital Books – If your budget is simply too small to print the books, you can create a digital book to share. Format a presentation on Canva and share a link with every family.
- Celebrate Beyond the Classroom: Send copies home with kids and display the books during church events. Adults in our congregation love flipping through them and seeing the kids’ creativity!
- Including “Hard to Identify” Artwork: Sometimes, artwork can be tricky to interpret, especially when it’s drawn by younger children or those who find illustrating challenging. No problem! I simply ask every child to describe their picture for me and jot down a short note on the back. This helps ensure every image is placed correctly and lets me add captions or integrate the description into the story text.
Asking every child ensures no one feels singled out and that I’ve understood everyone’s work. (I once received a “scribble” of plants from a toddler for the creation story. After the book was published, she proudly showed it to everyone, announcing it was her plant picture. Every drawing matters!)
Embrace Humour
One final element of this project deserves it own focus. Embrace humour. Children’s creativity truly shines in their illustrations, and often, their unique sense of humour makes its way into the artwork. Whether it’s a subtle nod to pop culture, an inside joke, or even a cameo by their favorite stuffed animal, I embrace it all. The goal is to see the story through their eyes, connecting God’s word to their world.
Of course, sometimes their humour or artistic choices need a bit of redirection. If something goes too far or feels out of place, I gently guide the child, acknowledging their creativity and offering suggestions. That said, my threshold for excluding anything from a book is pretty high, I’ve rarely had this become an issue.
In fact, the variety kids bring to these projects is part of what makes them so special. Some children pour sensitivity and emotion into their drawings, while others weave humour into the scenes. I treasure both approaches.
For instance, one time a child drew stacks of toilet paper being used as bandages for a leper. It was so hilarious and fitting that it even made its way into the text of the book! Another time, a child added a nametag to the priest in the story of the Good Samaritan. The nametag read, “I help people.” The irony? Perfection.
These moments of humour, alongside the heartfelt illustrations, make these books unforgettable. They’re not just stories, they’re their stories, full of personality, perspective, and connection.
This storytelling technique goes beyond hearing the story as it allows kids to experience it, create it, and retell it. The stories become a treasured part of their faith journey, sparking conversations at home and in church.
You’ll see this technique featured in the Incredible Story curriculum from time to time, but feel free to use it on your own too! I typically publish 3-4 books with our kids each year. I like tell stories through a variety of experiences, so they stay excited and engaged every time we do it. By the end of their elementary years, they’ll have built quite the collection!
If you give this a try, I’d love to hear how it works for your group! Happy storytelling and stay tuned for even more techniques for bringing God’s incredible story to life.
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