Alphabet Ups and Downs

An Interactive Retelling of the Story of Noah | By Dana Gagnon

Dana writes, "I just thought I'd share something I wrote to use with the active youth game, Alphabet Ups and Downs. (That's the game where you read a group a story with a lot of alliteration, and the kids have to stand up or sit down every time they hear a word that starts with a certain letter.) We were studying Noah, so I wanted our Alphabet Ups and Downs game to match the story. Here's a loose telling of the Noah story that features words with the letter N."

Noah was a nice guy, but his neighbors thought he was a nut. He had spent nearly his whole life building a nifty boat next to his house, in a neighborhood that never had rain! I mean, if Noah had a nickel for every nasty neighbor that came over to nag and needle him, he’d be a millionaire by now. Noah explained to the nasty neighbors that God noticed that the world had become naughty, and told Noah to build this boat to save his family and the animals from a flood, but nobody believed Noah. But Noah took notes when God gave him the numbers for the size of the nifty boat, and he nailed day and night to complete it. When the nifty boat was nearly finished, the necessary animals started to arrive. Naturally, the nocturnal animals came at night, so they could nap later. The nightingales flew in to their new nest. At noon, the elephants nearly got stuck in the narrow door. The next night, which was a bit nippy, such numbers came that I could not name each one—no nook of the nifty boat was neglected. Now, nothing could stop the nearing rain. Noah nailed the door tight, and eyed the nimbus clouds nearby. Next, Noah and the animals spent numerous nights nervously feeling nausea as they floated on the waves the flood brought. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and then Noah noticed the rain no more. Now they had to wait in the nifty boat until they could find the dry land they needed to live on. Next they noticed something new—a rainbow. 

The rainbow was God’s signature on a promise that He would never flood the whole earth again. Noah and his family had a new chance to not neglect God’s laws and to walk God’s narrow path to heaven.

Copyright 2003 Dana Gagnon
jdgagnon@juno.com 

Learn more about Noah in The Great Promises of the Bible

 or discover more about Noah in Super Heroes of the Bible.

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