Any volunteer can teach this, with very little prep. Everything comes in one download. Open the week, read the script out loud, and you're ready in minutes, not hours. Stage directions and supply lists are built in, so even a first-time volunteer can lead with confidence.
A five-week series for kids on spotting a trick and trusting the truth. Sunday school lessons on the Bible's most famous tricks, and the God who always tells the truth. Kids hear lies every day, about God and about who they are, from screens, from crowds, from friends. Over five weeks they learn to ask "What did God say?" before they believe a story: the serpent's sweet lie in the garden (Genesis 3); the Gibeonites' moldy-bread trick and the leaders who forgot to ask God first (Joshua 9); Absalom stealing hearts at the city gate while God's true king walked out barefoot (2 Samuel 15); Simon trying to buy the Holy Spirit with a bag of money (Acts 8); and Paul's picture of the armor of God, truth first (Ephesians 6). Two editions, written separately: Kids (ages 6 to 12) and Preschool (ages 3 to 5). Both rooms learn the same Bible story each week, each told for its age. Each edition is its own download. Teaching both rooms? The All-Access Pass includes both.
Halloween and this curriculum: This series borrows the trick-or-treat world (candy, costumes, a knock at the door) to teach one thing: God's truth helps us spot a trick. It never asks your church to celebrate Halloween, and nothing in it is spooky. If candy-and-costume talk is welcome in your rooms, it works the week of a harvest festival, a trunk-or-treat, or nothing at all.
Which edition fits your room?
Kids edition · ages 6 to 12
A 15-minute Bible story in short spoken lines, discussion and prayer, a coloring page and a puzzle page in two levels, and a 10 to 15 minute craft every week.
Free Kids sample lesson (PDF) →Preschool edition · ages 3 to 5
A 10 to 12 minute Bible story in simple, repeatable lines, arrival play and a whole-body game, a coloring page and activity sheet, and an 8 to 10 minute craft for little hands.
Free Preschool sample lesson (PDF) →One room with a wide age range? Start with the Kids edition. It's written for mixed rooms and gives you ways to include younger children. The Preschool edition is written for 3 to 5 year olds, so it will likely feel too young for kids 8 and up.
How long is a lesson? About 40 to 50 minutes in the Kids edition and about 30 to 40 in the Preschool edition, if you use every part. Short on time? The overview says: use the Bible story plus one activity.
Each edition is its own purchase. Want both? The All-Access Pass includes both ↓
Compare the two editions side by side ↓
Written by Tony Kummer and our small team. Tony has been writing curriculum for churches for 20 years. Meet the team ↓
Look inside
Week 1 from each edition. These pages are in the free sample lessons above.
A full-color picture for every Bible story, drawn for each edition. Both rooms learn the same story each week.
A coloring page for every Bible story, in both editions.
Puzzle pages for Kids, with answer keys, and hands-on activity sheets for Preschool.
A craft every week from simple household supplies, with a photo of the finished craft. Tap any picture to see it full size.
The 5 weeks
💡 Big Idea: God's truth helps us spot a lie.
📖 Memory Verse: "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" (John 14:6) BSB
🎵 Memory Verse Song: Sing John 14:6 with your kids every week. Watch the Trick or Truth lyric video, free on YouTube →
✝️ Gospel Connection: Every trick in the Bible is a copy of the first one: a lie about God. Jesus is different. He didn't just tell the truth; He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life." He died for the lies we've believed and the ones we've told, He rose again, and everyone who trusts Him belongs to God forever. Trick or truth? Jesus is the truth.
📜 Bible translation: Scripture in the lessons is from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), a readable modern English translation. Teaching from the King James? The King James edition has the same lessons at the same price, with its own free King James sample lessons.
Both editions teach these five stories. The Preschool edition tells each one more simply.
Week 1: God's Word Is True, Even When a Lie Sounds Sweet (Adam and Eve, Genesis 3)
- Bible Story: The First Lie (Genesis 3:1–24)
- Key Discovery: God's word is always true. Adam and Eve believed a lie instead, and God still came looking for them and promised a Rescuer.
- Takeaway: When a lie sounds sweet, I can trust what God said.
Week 2: God Knows the Truth. Ask Him First (the Gibeonites, Joshua 9)
- Bible Story: The Gibeonites' Trick (Joshua 9:3–27)
- Key Discovery: God knows the truth about every story, and He wants His people to ask Him before they decide.
- Takeaway: Before I believe a story, I can ask God first.
Week 3: Popular Isn't Always Right. God's True King Is (Absalom and David, 2 Samuel 15)
- Bible Story: Absalom Steals the Kingdom (2 Samuel 15:1–14, 30)
- Key Discovery: God chooses the true King, even when the crowd picks someone else, and Jesus is the King God chose.
- Takeaway: I can follow God's true King, even when the crowd picks someone else.
Week 4: God's Gift Can't Be Bought. He Gives It Free (Simon, Acts 8)
- Bible Story: Simon Tries to Buy God's Gift (Acts 8:9–25)
- Key Discovery: God's gift (His Spirit, His forgiveness) can't be bought or earned. He gives it free to anyone who asks Him.
- Takeaway: I can ask God for His free gift instead of trying to earn it.
Week 5: God's Truth Protects Me Every Day (the Armor of God, Ephesians 6)
- Bible Story: The Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–18)
- Key Discovery: God gives His people His own armor, truth named first, because the devil's tricks are real and God is stronger.
- Takeaway: I can trust God's truth to protect me every day.
What's included in your download (everything, ready to print)
Each edition is its own download with everything below, written for its age.
See all 12 things in each download
- 📄 5 complete weekly lessons + Series Overview, each as a print-ready PDF, plus an editable Word file of every weekly Teacher Edition
- 🖨️ Print All Teacher Edition, the whole series in one file (108 pages Kids / 82 pages Preschool)
- 📎 Print All Student Handouts, every page you need one-per-child (coloring pages, puzzle pages, craft tracing pages, preschool activity sheets, parent pages), pre-collated so you send ONE file to the printer (25 pages Kids / 15 pages Preschool)
- 🖼️ Teaching pictures every week, full-page Bible story pictures to hold up while you teach
- 📖 Memory verse poster, John 14:6 (BSB)
- 🗣️ "Quick Ways to Practice" memory verse page, no-prep verse activities that work in any room
- 🧩 A different puzzle every week (Kids): connect the dots, a crossword, a maze and color by code, each in two levels, with a teacher answer key
- ✂️ A craft every week from simple supplies; Kids get tracing pages for younger writers, Preschool also gets a printable activity sheet every week
- 🍬 Bonus: a Trick or Truth station page for your fall festival or trunk-or-treat, a one-page game where kids shout TRICK or TRUTH and everybody gets a treat
- 🏠 Parent Take-Home page every week, so the lesson goes home
- 📋 Week-by-week supply lists and a one-page Start Here guide
- ⬇️ Instant download. Files never expire. Print as many copies as your ministry needs.
Kids and Preschool, side by side
Compare the two editions part by part
| Kids edition (ages 6 to 12) |
Preschool edition (ages 3 to 5) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Bible story | 15 minutes, told in short spoken lines kids can follow | 10 to 12 minutes, in simple, repeatable lines with prayer built in |
| After the story | Discussion and prayer | Arrival play and a whole-body group game |
| Printables | A coloring page and a puzzle page in two levels every week | A coloring page and an activity sheet every week |
| Crafts | 10 to 15 minutes, simple household supplies | 8 to 10 minutes, made for little hands |
| Mixed-age help | Bigger game jobs for older kids every week, and tips for helping non-writers and younger children with the crafts | A job for a five-year-old in every group game, and every activity written with the youngest child in mind |
| Teacher edition | 108 pages | 82 pages |
See for yourself. Try a free sample lesson from each edition:
Who makes this
“I've been writing curriculum for churches for 20 years. Our team works every day to make your job easier, so you can do what matters most: love the kids and help them find the love of Jesus.”
Tony Kummer, founder and lead editor
What we believe. We believe the Bible is the inspired, trustworthy Word of God, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection for sinners, is the center of everything we teach. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. On questions that faithful churches answer differently, our curriculum stays focused on the Bible text itself. Read who we are and what we believe →
Get both editions, and every unit, with the All-Access Pass
Teaching both rooms? Don't buy Trick or Truth twice. The All-Access Pass gives you both editions of this unit, every unit on the store today, and every new one we publish.
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