Exploring the value of wisdom through the story of The Wise and Foolish Builder.
The video
KRISSI: Hi, I'm Krissi and this is the fantastic story of The Wise and The Foolish Builder.
There were once two builders, each building a house. How exciting; building a nice new house! There were lots of choices to make: what should it look like; what should it be built out of; and, most importantly, where should they build it? Hmm…
Now, one of the builders was foolish. They didn't take time to plan or think about what they'd done wrong when they'd built houses in the past.
In fact, they didn't do much thinking at all. They just wanted to build their house as quickly as possible.
FOOLISH BUILDER: Ooh! That looks like a fun place. I'm going to build my house down there on the sand. It's nice and soft and there's a great sea view.
KRISSI: But the other builder was wise.
STORY NARRATOR: They stopped and thought long and hard about the best place to build their house.
WISE BUILDER: I'm going to build a good strong house out of good strong things, right here in this good strong place.
KRISSI: So, whilst the foolish builder built their house as quickly as possible, the wise builder took plenty of time to build their house so that everything was spot-on.
WISE BUILDER: This is taking a long time, and it's very hard work. But, it will be worth it in the end.
KRISSI: The foolish builder finished their house in the sand very quickly. But, that wasn't a good thing. They hadn't taken the time to build it properly, so it wasn't very strong.
STORY NARRATOR: And then, the tide came in and the wind blew and the rain came down.
KRISSI: Can you guess what happened next?
STORY NARRATOR: The foolish builder hadn't thought about where to build his house and so down it fell.
Meanwhile, the wise builder had finished and was happy, because, even though they'd had to work very hard, they had a lovely house that was safe and strong.
KRISSI: This story is from the Bible and was told by Jesus. We'll see you again soon, Treasure Champs!
The story is called The Wise and Foolish Builder and is a story from the New Testament of the Bible. It can be found in the Gospel of Matthew and is a parable that Jesus told. Christians believe that parables are stories with hidden meanings that teach a moral.
There is a famous part of the Bible called 'The Sermon on the Mount', where Jesus teaches people. He tells a story comparing people who hear his words and put them into practice, and those who do not. The wise builder builds his house on the ‘rock’ in a place where the house will be on strong foundations, not on sand. When bad weather comes, the house on the rock does not fall.
This can help us to reflect on the value of wisdom and what can happen if we take time to listen to wise advice and consider the options before we make a decision.
Duration: 3' 20"
Final words: 'We'll see you again soon, Treasure Champs!'
Video questions
- What were the builders going to do? (Build houses)
- What decisions did they have to make? (For example, where to build)
- Why was the first builder foolish? (The first builder didn’t think through where to build the house)
- What did the first builder want to do? (Build his house quickly - so he chooses an unsuitable spot)
- Why was the other builder wise? (This builder chose a good place to build a house that was safe and strong)
Teacher Notes
Recap the story of 'The Wise and Foolish Builder' asking:
- What were the builders going to do?
- Why was the first builder foolish?
- Why was the other builder wise?
- What was the value of the wise builder taking their time?
Explain that the children are going to have their chance to be the builders. Give them some construction materials - eg toy bricks, wooden blocks, play-dough. Ask them to decide if they would like to be the wise or the foolish builder, but not to tell anyone else. Ask each child to construct a building. When they have finished they can take it in turns saying whether the person next to them is being the wise or the foolish builder. The child who made the building then explains which one they are and why.
To apply the learning from the story, give children a stone or pebble to write their ‘words of wisdom’ on. Ask the children to write what they learnt from the story on their stone or a word to summarise it. Call the children out one at a time to share their words and stack their stones to make a 'wall of wisdom'!
Curriculum Notes
This short film will be relevant for teaching KS1 Religious Education in England and Northern Ireland, the Curriculum for Wales (particularly RVE as part of Humanities), and Early and 1st Level Religious and Moral Education in Scotland.
Further resources
