The Walls of Jericho Painting

June 30, 2023Leave a comment

You will need: A large roll of paper e.g. brown packing paper or wallpaper backing paper, paint, Duplo blocks and paint palettes or Lego bricks and ink stamping pads

The story of the walls of Jericho is an amazing example of how incredibly powerful God is. And it’s also about how God’s people trust in what He tells them to do, even if it seems totally unlikely! To make sure everyone understands that they need to work together, just like the Israelites did, it’s easy to turn this into a group project. Grab some paint and spread it onto the paint palettes. Then, dip the bricks face down into the paint. After that, use the paint-dipped bricks to print the bricks of a ‘wall’ onto the paper. If you’re using Lego bricks, you can do the same thing but with ink pads instead of paint. This might work better if you’re working on a smaller scale. Happy creating!

As you are working, think and talk about:

What might it be like to trust God to do something you can’t do yourself?
Would you have joined in with the Israelites or not? Why?
How do you think the people felt when they saw the walls fall?

When you have finished creating and talking, rip the paper apart to illustrate the walls falling. Where in your life might you ask God to help you to do something amazing that you can’t do yourself?

Good Friday Story Crosses

March 31, 2023Leave a comment

This craft is easy for all ages to join in with and, because it is very self-directed, provides a great opportunity to chat while creating!

You will need: Cross shapes cut out of used cardboard boxes (the need to be quite sturdy), wool, scissors

Cut crosses, roughly 15cm high, out of sturdy cardboard boxes. Cut lengths of wool in various colours. Wrap the wool in various combinations around the cross and use the creating time to talk about the Good Friday story of Jesus’ crucifixion. Children might want to choose colours that reflect something of the story to their mind e.g. red to represent blood, black to represent the darkness, different colours to represent different people in the story.

Chat about your responses:

Which is your favourite bit of the story?
What do you think is the most important part of the story?
Why do Christians think that the cross is important?
Where would you imagine yourself in the story?
What colour would you use to represent yourself?

Allow time for the children to share their creation with others if they’d like to!

Love one another heart bookmarks

January 31, 2023Leave a comment

Our church has been exploring our new vision which is centred on sharing God’s love with each other and with the community. We have been looking specifically at the verse “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34 We’ve been thinking about how Jesus shows love and what we can learn from that about how to love each other.

Once a month we have a ‘fluid’ style church where there are different activities based on a theme and people can choose what to do. This was one of our activities this month for children and adults. It provided plenty of space for chatting about what love means and how we see Jesus showing love all the way through the New Testament. Using the bookmark makes sure that there is a reminder of Jesus’ love every time you are reading!

To download the instruction sheet, click here.

Acts 2: Sharing and Eating Together

September 2, 2022Leave a comment

We are exploring the topic of hospitality and Christian community at our church and the story of the early Christians sharing what they had, eating and praying together is a key part to this.

A fun way to help demonstrate the sharing and fellowship of this story is to make easy pizzas together. Maybe each person could bring one of the ingredients with them to the session so that it truly is a sharing of food!

You will need: 1 Pitta bread per child, passata, grated cheese, other toppings such as sliced mushrooms, sliced peppers, ham pieces, diced onion, pineapple pieces, greaseproof paper, marker pens (not felt tips!), baking trays, access to an oven, spoons and small bowls.

Put ingredients into small bowls. Cut greaseproof paper into strips a little bit bigger than a pitta bread. Put a pitta bread on top of each piece of paper and spread some passata on top of the bread. Then add toppings as desired, Write the child’s name on the greaseproof paper and put onto a baking tray. Bake the pizzas in the oven until the cheese is bubbling.

When the pizzas are ready, eat together and get to know each other a little bit better. Finish by singing songs and praying. Children might read prayers they have written or pray in whatever way your group is used to.

Think about:

What do you think were the ‘signs and wonders’ that the apostles were doing?

Why do you think the Christians in Acts come together to share their possessions and their lives?

Why do you think people kept joining them?

How does it feel to share things with people and to eat together?

How does it feel to learn about Jesus and pray together?

Muddy Church: Sensory Creation Walk

August 1, 2022Leave a comment

Over the last few months we have been exploring creation by trying out some ‘Muddy Church’ activities. If you haven’t come across Muddy Church yet, I highly recommend their excellent website, where there are loads of resources you can adapt to your circumstances. Muddy Church is a great way to get outside with people of all ages to explore God’s creation. Here’s a glimpse at what we got up to on our most recent walk through the local park with a mixture of ages from toddlers to people in their 70s. Click here for the resource sheet that we made up for this particular session.

Do Not Be Afraid Play Dough Mat (John 14:27)

April 30, 2022Leave a comment

In John 14, Jesus reassures his disciples that they do not be afraid because he is leaving his peace with them. Whatever they will face in the future, especially when he is gone, he is not leaving them alone. I love using play dough mats in group situations because they are a very non- threatening way to help children to creatively explore how Bible stories relate to their own lives. This play dough mat is a conversation starter about the worries that children are facing in their own lives and also a way of helping them to know that they, too are not alone. Some children might choose to use the mat as a way of giving their worries to Jesus. Print out the mat at this link!