This feeding the 5,000 word search hides 16 words from John 6: five loaves, two fish, barley, twelve baskets and the boy's whole lunch. Kids can play it right here on a phone or tablet (drag across a word to circle it), or you can print it with a separate answer key for your Sunday or Sabbath School class or kids' church.
Read it first
John 6:1-14 takes about two minutes to read aloud. Andrew finds a boy with "five barley loaves and two fish" (John 6:9), Jesus has the crowd sit on the grass, gives thanks and hands out the food, and the disciples pick up twelve baskets of leftovers. Read it once, then let kids hunt for the words they just heard.
Talk about it while they search
- Philip said it would take more than half a year's wages to feed everyone (John 6:7). What did Jesus use instead?
- Barley was the cheaper grain, the bread ordinary families ate. Why do you think John tells us that?
- The next day Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). What do you think he meant?
Questions teachers ask
What ages is this feeding the 5,000 word search for?
Easy (10 by 10, words only go across and down) works for most kids from about age 6. Medium adds diagonal words and suits ages 8 to 10. Hard is a 15 by 15 grid with backwards words, good for preteens and anyone who finishes early.
Is there an answer key?
Yes. Press Print and the answer key prints on its own page after the puzzle, for whichever level you picked. You can untick it if you only want the puzzle.
Where in the Bible is the feeding of the 5,000?
It is the only miracle, apart from the resurrection, told in all four Gospels: Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6. This puzzle follows John's version, the only one that says the loaves were barley and that the lunch came from a boy.
