Noah and his family were happy to have a home on land again. They settled down in a nice little spot and it wasn't long before there were little grandchildren born, and then greatgrandchildren and then great-great-grandchildren. The place where they had chosen to live became full of people.
The people would have been like you or me. There were little children who liked to run , around and play games together. They didn't have toys like we do today made out of plastic and rubber, but they may have had dolls made out of cloth, or little wagons made out of wood. They probably would have dressed differently as well wearing very simple handmade clothes and shoes. But their games would have been similar and they would have helped their mommies and daddies around the home just like you do.
They made bricks out of mud to build their houses with. Perhaps little boys and girls helped their daddy mix the mud and watched him shape it into a big brick. Maybe they watched the bricks dry in the sun and ran to tell their daddy when they were hard enough to build with. They then could have helped to get the slime that their daddy put between the bricks to hold them together.
Eventually some people decided to travel around and see if they could find somewhere else less crowded to live. There was of course lots of land around them and one day they came upon the plains of Shinar. This was a big flat area where the grass grew well. They decided to settle down here.
These people were very proud. They decided to build a tower bigger than anyone had ever seen before. They were going to build the tower until it reached up to Heaven. Then they would build a city around it. They thought this would make them famous. Everyone in years to come would look at the tower and think how clever the men were who had built it.
They made their bricks and began to build the tower. Day after day it became higher and higher. But God wasn't pleased about this. Their pride in themselves was not a good thing. They would begin to believe that they could do anything they wanted with their own power. So God decided to stop it. Before they had all understood each other but suddenly one person said, "Pick up that brick there!" and another person said "Alla gola hun." No one could figure out what the other was saying.
It was very frustrating. Some of the people began to give up building and go home. How could they work together if they couldn't understand one another. And soon they didn't even feel they could live together. People started to leave to find new places to live.
The big tower, only partly built was left to bake in the sun. Gradually it fell down and became just a little lump on the land.
Things to remember
Discussion
God wants to fill the whole earth with His glory, not man's glory. The tower of Babel was not meant to bring glory to God, but instead to bring glory to man. You may have seen pictures of various tall towers around the world. In Canada there is the CN Tower in Toronto. You can see it from a long ways away. However, we are never to forget that WE are creations of a Great and Wonderful God. As intelligent as man is, and as many wonderful things that man can do, God is greater.
How high was the Tower of Babel going to be?
Why did the people want to build it?
How did God stop them from building it?
Activity Suggestions
Draw a picture of a tower reaching to the clouds.
Build a tower using wood blocks, or maybe using sugar cubes with icing for mortar.
Pick a word and see if you can find out how people say it in different languages.