“He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” John 9:11 (Read the whole story here)
Jesus heals the Blind Man. There are several accounts in the Bible where Jesus heals the blind. This story is extra fun just because it includes Jesus spitting and making mud. Also I love the “after story”, that John tells about what happened after Jesus healed the man. It turned into this whole “thing” with the Pharisees getting involved, and pulling the man’s family into the mess. Something that started out so exciting and celebratory, left the man confused and sad. Why couldn’t he just be healed and everyone be happy for him? Why did they have to question him and his parents, bring up all his and his parent’s past sins, and become another reason to hate the man who healed him? I love that Jesus comes to find the man after all was said and done. He clearly tells the man Who He is and forgives his sin. The man believes and worships right there on the spot.
All Things Blind Man Pinterest Board
Click the title link above. I’ll continue to add things here as I find or come across more ideas and resources.
Blind Man Snack
We had a fun Blind Man breakfast one morning. After I had read the story out of one of our Bibles, we used a gingerbread man cookie cutter to make man shapes from our breakfast bread. Blueberries were the eyes, and I had chocolate pudding cups for mud. They were thrilled to have a theme breakfast that morning and it made Bible story that much more fun.
Glasses
We talked about how Jesus healed the blind man’s eyes completely so there was no need for glasses, but for fun as a project talking about our eyes and vision, this craft was a big hit. I found the templates for the glasses on pinterest and will link them on my board. I traced the glasses shape on a sturdy paper plate and let them color it. Once they finished, I cut them out and covered them with clear packing tape to give them “lenses”. Then I punched holes and secured pipe cleaners for the “ear pieces”.
Mud Painting
Have you ever painted with mud??! SO FUN! I went out and got some dirt that was not too rocky or weedy and mixed it with water til it was a good consisitency for painting. Then I just gave the kids a brush and cardstock paper (I think plain printing paper would be too thin for the heaviness of the mud) and let them paint away. To me, the mud was mezmerizing to spread on paper with a thick brush. They each filled several pages with pictures.
As we painted, I continued to ask questions about the man. “What was wrong with the man’s eyes?” (he couldn’t see) “Why couldn’t he see?” (his eyes didn’t work properly) “How did Jesus heal him?” (He put mud on his eyes!) “Should we put mud on our eyes?” (no! It would hurt!) Only Jesus can do this – Jesus can do miracles even with mud!
Blind Man- Game
This was a fun game for the kids to experience what it is like to not be able to see anything! They discovered that they had to use their other senses when one was not working properly.
I blindfolded one person and spun them around in the middle of the room while everyone else ran around. When I stopped spinning, everyone had to freeze and the “blind man” tried to find them by holding out his/her hands and feeling for them. We made it a little easier by calling to the blind man and giving hints where we were standing.
BABIES IN THE WORD 