Joseph's Coat of Many Colors Bible Crafts
by Karen & Grace Morris
Lots of colorful Joseph's coat Bible crafts for your kids to make. Use pipe cleaners, tissue paper, or markers to make these special coats.
The pictures will take you to the individual Joseph's coat Bible crafts.
We don't know much about the coat the Jacob gave Joseph, except it made his brothers jealous.
Joseph was a teenager who lived in a large household. He had a father named Jacob, step-mother Leah, and his mothers' two female servants. He also had ten half-brothers and one brother. His mother was not living, as she had died giving birth to Benjamin, his brother.
But Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. One day Jacob made a special coat for Joseph. It was very beautiful with many colors.
The Bible doesn't say, but it might have been orange, purple, red, and blue. The dyes come from plants and animals found in the Middle East. Orange dye was made from the saffron flower, purple from the mollusk shell, red from an insect, and blue from the rind of the pomegranate.
Anyway, the coat showed everyone that Joseph was a special son. This made his half-brothers jealous of him.
You can find the story of Joseph and his coat in Genesis 37:1-4
The information about dye in the ancient Middle East can be found in The Children's Illustrated Bible stories retold by Selina Hastings, illustrated by Eric Thomas on page 56.
A Paper Bag Craft
The Veggie Tales episode “The Ballad Of Little Joe” is based on Joseph's life. But is a western with vegetables. In the movie, Pa gives Little Joe a vest with many colors for his birthday. Little Joe's brothers are jealous of this because all they get are mittens.
You will need;
- Lunch size paper bag
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Markers
Cut the bottom off the bag.
Cut the bottom in half, so you have two long sleeves.
Most paper bags have a rounded cut-out on one side. Use this as the front.
Fold the bag in half from top to bottom. On the top side, cut on the fold line.
Glue the sleeves under the flap on each side.
Use the markers to color your coat. Be sure to use different colors.
Joseph's Coat of Many Colors
Joseph's coat was a token of Jacob's love. It was so pretty and colorful that it made Joseph's half-brothers jealous of him.
You will need;
- Card stock
- Scissors
- Yarn scraps in different colors
- White glue
Fold a piece of paper in half. Draw half of a coat that is 1 1/2 by 5 inches. The sleeve is 1 inch wide by 3 1/4 inches long.
Cut the pattern out. Place on card stock. Draw around the pattern and cut out.
Cut pieces of yarn approximately 5 inches for the body.
Start at the center, glue to the front of the coat.
Continue adding yarn to the front.
Cut yarn 2 inches and glue to the sleeves. Let the glue dry.
When the glue is dry, trim off the excess yarn.
A Coat Made with Pipe Cleaners
In the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” there is a fun song called “Joseph's Coat”. One of the lines of the song goes like this:
“Joseph's coat was elegant,
The cut was fine
The tasteful style was the
Ultimate in good design
And this is why it caught the eye
A king would stop and stare"
Supplies;
- Card stock
- Scissors
- Pipe cleaners in assorted colors
- Tape
Cut a 5 by 4 inch “T” shape from a paper plate or card stock. Each of the arms of the “T” is 1 by 2 inches.
Cut your pipe cleaners so that they are 6 inches. Place one of the pipe cleaners on the coat.
Bend the ends of the pipe cleaner over the top and bottom edge of the coat.
Add more pipe cleaners until the coat is covered.
It is easier to do if you keep the coat on your table. Press down once in a while so that the card stock stays flat.
When you are done, turn the coat over and add a strip of tape to the top and bottom.
Wrap a pipe cleaner around the sleeve. Add more pipe cleaners until the sleeve is covered.
Joseph's Tied-dyed Coat
In the movie “Joseph: King of Dreams” Joseph is given a coat that is black, gray, red, blue, purple, and gold.
On the front of the coat you can see stocks of gold wheat and red fish and on the back, you can also see a gold bird and the sun.
The coat is given to him while singing the song “Miracle Child”.
Supplies;
- Coffee filter
- Washable markers
- A sheet of white paper
- Access to water
- Scissors
Place the coffee filter on a piece of white paper so that the markers don't stain the table.
With markers, make dots, squiggly lines, or other designs.
Get your coffee filter wet enough that the markers run.
Let the filter dry.
Fold the filter in half. Draw half of a coat shape.
Cut the shape out.
3 Joseph's Coat Bible Crafts that Are Similar
The next crafts use the same pattern to make the coat.
A Woven Coat
A coat for Jacob's special son.
You will need;
- Construction paper in several colors
- Black construction paper
- Ruler
- White pencil
- Scissors
- White glue
First, weave your “fabric”. You will need a background color and several strips of different colored construction paper.
Fold the background piece in half. Draw a line from the fold to about 1-inch from the cut end. Space the lines about 1/2 inch apart.
Start at the fold and cut on a line to the 1-inch line at the cut edge.
Cut several strips of paper approximately 1/2 inch wide. Use different colors such as yellow, green, brown, and red.
Weave the strips through the slits on the background piece.
When you are finished, glue a piece of construction paper to the back of the background piece.
To make the coat, fold a piece of black paper in half.
Draw an angled line from the top to the cut side, 4 inches long. From the bottom of the line at the cut end, measure 2 inches and make a line. From there, draw a 3-inch line up towards the top.
The body of the coat is 2 1/2 inches from the fold.
You will only need an outline of the coat, so measure 1/2 inch from the lines you just drew, stopping at the folded edge.
Cut the coat out.
Then cut on the inside line. You will have an outline of a coat.
Add glue to the coat. Place the coat on the woven piece. Press down so the glue sticks. Let it dry.
When the glue is dry, cut around the outside of the coat.
Joseph's Sun Catcher Coat
There was a statue found in a tomb in the ancient Egyptian city of Avaris. The statue is of an Asiatic (Semite) man with red hair and wearing a multicolored coat. It is believed that this statue could be of Joseph.
Supplies;
- Wax paper
- Scraps of tissue paper in different colors
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Construction paper
Cut small squares of different colored tissue paper.
Place glue on the wax paper, then add the tissue paper.
With this craft, you will also need an outline of a coat. So, fold a piece of construction paper in half.
Approximately 3 1/2 inches from the fold, draw an angled line 4 inches long. At the bottom of this line, draw a 2-inch line towards the fold. Then draw a line 3-inches up. This will be the sleeve.
The body is 2 1/2 inches from the fold. Now from the lines you just drew, measure 1/2 inch for the outline. (Pictures of how to make the outline are above in the "woven coat ".)
Place the shape on the wax paper to see if there is enough tissue paper.
When the coat is covered with tissue, glue the outline to the wax paper.
The outline is a little difficult to work with because it wiggles out of shape. This could frustrate young children, so it might be beneficial for the adult to do this part.
Cut off the excess wax paper.
Joseph Coat Bible Craft for Preschoolers
Glue colored squares on black paper, so it looks like the ancient craft of mosaic.
You will need;
- Black construction paper
- Scraps of orange, red, blue, and purple construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue stick
Fold your construction paper in half to make your coat. The sleeve is 4 by 2 by 3 inches. The body is 2 1/2 inches from the fold.
Cut 1-inch squares from orange, red, blue, and purple paper.
Glue the squares to the paper, leaving some black showing. You might have to cut some squares so that they fit on the coat shape.
In Genesis 37:3 it says that Jacob made Joseph's coat. It was a gift of love and was very special. Jacob put a lot of work and preparation into making it.
Let's make some Joseph's coat Bible crafts. Then give them to family members we love.
