Build It, Play It: The Paralyzed Toy Challenge

Maralee Allen
Mar 13
2 min read

Updated: Mar 16

Most of us won’t know what it’s like to have a paralyzed friend. But, after you read the Bible story about the four men who took their paralyzed friend to Jesus, it’s a fun opportunity to play pretend.

Although you won’t be ripping a hole in the ceiling, kids can have fun building a bed to lower their “paralyzed” toy friend safely down to the ground.

Dog with white floor, laying on the ground next to an empty shoe box, string and pipe cleaners | Bible Activities for Kids

All you need is a shoebox, some pipe cleaners and some string or yarn.

Step 1:

Cut off the lid and poke a hole in each corner of the box.

Scissors cutting off the top of the shoebox. Then poking hole into the top right corner of the shoe box.

Attach a pipe cleaner through each hole. Pipe cleaners are easier for kids to work with than string, and they are also less tangly!

A white dog holding a pipe cleaner in its mouth. Pipe cleaners threaded through each top corner of the shoebox. Bible activities for kids

Twist all four pipe cleaners together over the top of the box (kind of like a handle).

White dog holding a box in its mouth. Bible activities for kids.

Step 2:

Kids can decorate the outside of the “bed.” Use crayons, markers or stickers (if you have them).

Dog with white floor, laying on the ground next to an empty shoe box and crayons | Bible Activities for Kids

Tie a string to the middle of the pipe cleaner “handle” (4-6 feet long). The longer the string, the more challenging it will be to maneuver.

Step 3:

Now it’s time to choose a toy friend and make a comfy bed inside the box.

A shoebox with a small blanket and doll inside. Bible Activities for Kids

Most toddlers will enjoy lowering their “paralyzed” friend down over the back of the couch, but lowering them down a staircase can step up the challenge!

Talk about how they are using their muscles to keep their toy safe and how strong the paralyzed man’s friends must have been.

Talk about how careful they are being to keep their toy safe and how careful the paralyzed man’s friends must have been.

Ask if they think it would have been scary to be lowered down from the ceiling on a bed.

How do you think the paralyzed man felt?

Older kids can make the bed more challenging by using the lid of the box and a string on each side. Lowering two strings at the same time can make the bed tippy!

A stuffed toy lay on the inside of a cardboard box. Pipe cleaners are looped at each end.

Talk about how difficult it would have been to lower a man down through a roof, and how careful they would have needed to be.

Challenge Ideas:

Have two kids work together to lower two strings at the same time, keeping the bed flat and steady.
Put a string on each corner and have four people try to lower the bed at the same time!

Hey Kids!

After building and playing The Paralyzed Toy Challenge, you might have fun using this toy to deliver Lego blocks on a “construction” site, or snacks to some mountain climbers, or turning it into an elevator for Barbie’s house. Keep using your imagination!