Whether you are a teacher of the Christian faith or not, the beatitudes are a solid foundation as a place to reflect on all of the many blessings that are easily taken for granted. In the bible in Matthew 5:1-12, we see all of the good actions that reap positive rewards.
This is a wonderful idea to teach and add to lesson plans as a means to teach positivity reaps the positive rewards. The article below lists tons of practical ideas for your Beatitudes lessons for middle school.
1. Create a Crossword Puzzle (or Wordsearch!)
You can easily create a crossword puzzle out of all of the keywords in the beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-11. If you don’t want to create something yourself, there is a great book on Amazon that has all of this stuff in it, ready to go!
Learn More: Amazon
2. Make a Flower
This is such a fun activity to display the beatitudes. All you need is some white paper, glue, markers, and the printed beatitudes.
Learn More: Pinterest
3. Make a Class Code- The Beatitudes!
Middle schoolers always take more responsibility for their actions when they have a stake in creating the rules and codes that they abide by in the classroom. In private school classrooms, your class codes and rules can relate directly to scripture.
Learn More: Walterville Whittaker
4. Teach a Chapel Lesson
This website resource, Bible Studies by Christine, is one of the best lesson plans I have seen available (plus there are other awesome resources). This resource pack includes life lessons, interactive resources, and meaningful reflection and study worksheets. The entire series of lessons and activities is only $3.
Learn More: Christian Youth Bible Studies
5. Make Beatitudes Bulletin Board Decor
Bulletin boards bring so much life and color to a classroom. Let your students make Matthew 5:1-11 themed bulletin board decor to display the different kinds of attitudes the bible calls us to have.
Learn More: Pinterest
6. Create a Lesson with Memory Verse Game
Among the many different activity ideas here, pairing a learning game with a lesson is one of the best ways to ensure learning has occurred. You can either easily create a lesson on the Matthew 5:1-11 Beatitudes and assign the individual verses to student pairs (i.e., Matthew 5:6, Matthew 5:7, or Matthew 5:8). Whoever memorizes their verse the fastest wins a prize!
Learn More: Teddington Baptist Church
7. Create a Class Closing Prayer
Create an attitude of prayer within your class by allowing your students to work together to create a class prayer that you either open with or close with every day.
Learn More: Aleteia
8. Have Groups Create a Song about Matthew 5:3-10
There is just something enjoyable about making up a song. Among these many practical ideas for instituting the beatitudes in class, this is an excellent way for students to get into learning. Children learn best from music when they are little, so why stop when they are little?
Learn More: The Bible Song Word for Word Ministries
9. Have Students Teach Life Lessons on Matthew 5:3-11 KJV
The student becomes the teacher! You can either allow your students to work in groups to teach a few (or all of the beatitudes) or work individually on one. Here, students should be able to cover these things and how they should look in life. For example, if a student is teaching about the attitude of service, they should be able to give a real-life example.
10. Matthew 5:3-12 Matching Game!
Who says religious games are supposed to be boring? Simply type and print two of each beatitude onto index cards and give a set to each group in your class, and boom, you have a custom beatitude match game. You can also click on the picture here for a free printable!
Learn More: Cathecism Angel
11. Make Fun Beatitude Posters
Kids young and old love to show off their work. Making beatitude posters for classroom display is a great way for kids to display knowledge of the Matthew 5:1-12 Beatitudes in a colorful and crafty way.
Learn More: Cypress Christian
12. Find Names of People Who Lived the Beatitudes in Real Life
First, have your students choose a real and well-known person, either living or deceased. Allow students the space to find names of people whose actions in life made them living examples of the different kinds of attitudes Jesus calls us to have (i.e., Mother Teresa). These can be famous people or those around them that represents the Christian life.
13. Beatitudes Writing Activity
If you are struggling to find a way to incorporate some writing into classroom practice, then look no further. Having your students write out how they can instill these principles in their own lives is a great way to solidify understanding.
14. Create a List of Blessings and Share Out
Nothing better creates an attitude of joy and thankfulness than putting how the Lord has blessed you down on paper. This is often just something we do around the table at Thanksgiving. This practice allows students to see all of the different things to be thankful for in their own lives and the lives of others.
Learn More: Study Pray Serve
15. Do a Beatitude Jigsaw Puzzle Activity
I really like this beatitude jigsaw puzzle on Zazzle! It is well put together and will keep your kids busy for a while!
Learn More: Zazzle
16. Do a Puppet Show
A considerable part of the Christian Life is acts of service. Have your students create a puppet show to present to smaller children.
Learn More: Grace Haven Puppet Shows and Sermons
17. Create Story Posters
Story posters are a super way to teach the beatitudes to your young learners. Get them involved by letting them add some color to these posters, or let them draw their own, and create a display telling a story about the Matthew 5:3-11 beatitudes.
Learn More: Etsy
18. The Be-Attitudes of People
Living a Christian life does guarantee happy lives, but ones that rely on the Lord. Teaching Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” allows kids to learn this advantage over life in keeping a pure heart. Allow this lesson as an opportunity to show what this attitude looks like in person.
19. Do a Skit
Have kids get into groups and make a short skit on each beatitude Jesus preached about. This can display how Jesus would want us to live this Christian life according to the Matthew 5:3-11 beatitudes, or, they can act out a bad example vs. a good example. Either way, this allows our students to display creativity and understanding.
Learn More: Patch
20. Do a Quick Coloring Sheet
I don’t care how old you get, coloring is always fun. The Sunday School Zone has lots of great coloring sheets and additional resources for other lessons you may have.
Learn More: Sunday School Zone
Typing Activities For Middle School: Tools, Printables, And Online Games