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!

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!

New Year Hopes Prayer Card

December 31, 2021Leave a comment

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15.13

You will need: seed paper, coloured paper, pens, glue dots, glue, card, scissors,

Think about the new year and what our hopes for the next 12 months are. How would you like to see things getting better for yourself? Your friends and family? The world?

Talk about Jesus being the Light of the World and that, with him, however dark and bad things seem, there is always hope that light and better days will come. Jesus gives us hope of new life, even when everything seems hopeless.

Make a card signifying ‘hope.’ You might use colours or symbols (such as the rainbow) to show hope for better things. Attach a strip of seed paper to the front of the card with a glue dot, so that it can easily be removed.

Keep the card for yourself or give to to someone else. Write hopes for the coming year onto the seed paper and plant it in the garden. As the seeds grow, pray that your hope in what God can do will also grow.

Remembrance Sunday Torn Paper Collage

November 3, 2021Leave a comment

Remembrance Sunday can sometimes be a tricky day with lots of questions and emotions. This collage craft helps to pick up on some of the themes of the day, gives children time and space to chat and ask questions and provides an opportunity to discuss what it will be like when God makes everything new and there is no more war or pain.

³I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.^[a] ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

⁵And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” Revelation 21: 3-5, NLT

You will need: Red paper of varying patterns and textures, black paper, backing paper, glue

Ask children children to choose some paper as their collage backing paper and then tear up red paper to make petals for their poppies. They might like to draw a poppy shape on the page first and then fill it in, or just go with a freestyle collage. Finish with black paper in the centre of each poppy.

As you tear and stick the paper down, use the time to chat. Discussion could include lots of things:

relate the tearing of the paper to the destruction of war and what it must have felt like for the soldiers and their families

Talk about how the churning up of the soil and the distribution of the seeds during the fighting led to the poppies growing there the following year. Life emerged where there had been death.
Think about God’s kingdom as talked about in Revelation 21: 1-7, where there will be no more death or crying or pain
What questions do children have? what do they wonder about war or peace or what God’s kingdom will be like?

Pray

use the words of the Revelation verses to help you think about people who died or who were injured in the wars and also about their families.
Light a candle and put the poppy pictures around it and ask God to wipe away the tears of all of those who are grieving or in pain today because of war.

Manna in the Wilderness

July 31, 2021Leave a comment

In Exodus 16, God first gives the Israelites manna as food in the wilderness. It’s describes as being like ‘flakes.’ These crackers aren’t like flakes exactly, but making them will help children to imagine themselves into the story.

You will need: 100g plain flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil, 3 tablespoons of water, a rolling pin, a mixing bowl, a fork, a baking tray, greaseproof paper, a knife or pizza cutter, an oven, honey

Preheat the oven to 180˚C and grease a baking tray or line it with greaseproof paper. Mix the dry ingredients together in the bowl and then add the oil and water. Mix together with a fork or your hands until a dough is formed. Roll the dough out thinly and place it on the baking tray. Prick the dough all over with a fork and then cut it into squares with a knife or pizza cutter. Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for 15-20 mins until the crackers are starting to turn light brown.

When the crackers have cooled, share them out and try them. Children might want to spread a little bit of honey on them, as we are told that the manna tasted like ‘wafers made with honey’ (Exodus 16:31). As you eat, talk about the story of God giving manna in the wilderness.

Talk about:

How would you have felt to see the manna on the ground for the first time?
Why do you think God gave the rule about only gathering what was needed?
What would you think of having this every day for many years?
What foods do you eat every day?

Pray:

Thank God for the foods you enjoy. Ask him to show us how to help those who don’t have enough to eat.

Creation Celebration Suncatchers

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021Leave a comment

As summer really starts warming up and the school holidays approach, it’s a great time to get outside and celebrate the beauty of God’s creation. At a recent community holiday club, the children loved making these suncatchers to hang in their windows- each one of them was unique and colourful.

You will need: paper plates, scissors, sticky back plastic, leaves and flowers (we were lucky enough to get some from a volunteer’s garden!)

Cut a hole in the centre of each plate and cut two sheets of sticky back plastic per plate, each one big enough to completely cover the hole you have cut.

Lay one of the plastic sheets, sticky side up, on the table and put the plate over the top of it so that the sticky part is showing through the hole.

Arrange leaves and petals on the sticky part until you are happy withe your design. Then put the second sheet of sticky back plastic over the top of the design, trapping the leaves and petals in between.

Hang the suncatchers in the window and let the sun shine through!

Read the creation story in Genesis 1. Talk about: