Manna and Quail

Manna and Quail

Exodus 16

Numbers 11

I made these fun quail to help tell the story of the manna and quail God provided the Israelites while they were in the wilderness.  In Exodus the Bible says, "That evening quail came and covered the camp.."  In Numbers, the Bible says, "Now a wind went from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea.  It brought them down all around the camp to three feet above the ground, as far as a day's walk in any direction.  All that day and night and all the next day people went out and gathered quail."  Now that's a lot of quail!

When telling these stories, I give each child several quail.  They lay on the floor or crouch down low in a line at the edge of our carpet.  When I get to the part where the quail come running in, all the kids blow on their straws and lots of quail come flying in!  It is very exciting!  I give all the kids some more quail and they do it again.  When it comes to the part in the story where the people gather the quail, the children go and gather a few quail for their "family". 

Materials:

Paper for quail

A pattern or diecut for cutting out quail

Small piece of white paper

Scotch tape

Straw

Directions for Making the Quail:

• Cut out several quail for each person (I used an Ellison die cut but you can use a Cricut.) 
• Wrap the small piece of white paper loosely around the straw and tape the cylinder you just made.  (This is the most crucial part.  You want it to be loose enough that the straw will slide easily out of the paper but tight enough to keep some air in it.)  Fold over one end of the white paper and tape it shut.
• Tape the white piece of paper to the back of the straw with the closed end of the white piece of paper at the front of the quail (otherwise your quail will fly backward!).
• Insert the straw about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way into the white paper holder.  (If you push it too far, the quail will not fly.)
• Blow!  Watch the quail fly across the room!

Manna and Quail Instructions

I use the Ellison die cut for the quail.  However, the following website with clipart would also work as a pattern.

http://www.clker.com/clipart-quail-outline.html