Use a fork to blob some paint onto the paper and then swirl and pull or brush with the fork!
Encourage colour mixing as the flames flicker together…
Advent is a time of waiting and preparation. To fit with this, here is a play dough mat based around the idea of ‘journeying’ (reflecting the journey that Mary and Joseph went on to Bethlehem). Print out the mat, laminate it for repeated use and get creative!
Click here to print out the mat.
Visual ways of telling stories are great for all ages. Fuzzy Felt is especially good as the children can play with the pieces after you have told the story and recreate the events for themselves. The great thing is that the felt figures will stick to the felt background so you will be able to hold your felt board upright as you tell the story, making it easy for everyone to see.
You will need: A board or piece of cardboard, felt sheets, scissors, glue
Cover a board with a large felt sheet (use glue or staples) to make a ‘background’ board.
Cut simple figures out of felt to help you to tell the story. Here are some examples to give you an idea…
Nativity
Baptism of Jesus
Joseph
Jesus calms the storm
You can also make mini fuzzy felt boxes by sticking some felt to the inside of a sandwich box lid and then keeping small fuzzy felt pieces inside the box. See here for more on this.
Play dough mats are a great way to help children to connect with a story. Print off the sheets, laminate them so that they can be used multiple times and it is easy to clean off any stray play dough and let the children get creating!
Here are some play dough mats to use with the Easter story…
Click here to print the mat.
Click here For the ‘In the tomb’ play dough mat.
Click here for the ‘He is risen’ play dough mat.
If you have lots of bits of lego lying around then this prayer activity is for you!
This way of praying involves lots of colour and touch so it’s great for visal and kinesthetic learners…
You will need: A lego baseboard, lego bricks, lego people, lego accessories of any and every kind!
Make a cross shape on the baseboard using some bricks to symbolise bringing your prayers to Jesus.
Use bricks to pray! Here are some ideas:
| 5 mins | Reflective colouring while waiting for all children to arrive. Click here for ideas to print out |
| 5 mins | Game- Blindfold a child and get them to stand with their back to the rest of the children. Choose a child to roar like a lion. The blindfolded child has to guess who has roared. If the guesser guesses correctly, they change places with the roarer. |
| 2 mins | Song (click for a Pinterest board of Children’s Ministry songs) |
| 10 mins | Tell the story from a children’s Bible or use this story card activity.Talk about things we face that might be a bit frightening. Have you ever had to be brave? Have you ever had to stand up for what you believe in? How does it feel? What helped you? How might Daniel have felt at certain points in the story? How would you have felt? Speak about trusting in God and share any times God has helped you to be brave. |
| 10 mins | Make ‘Protection Pictures’ or these origami Lion chatterboxes |
| 3 mins | game- sleeping Lions. Children lie on the floor as if asleep. The ‘hunter’ goes around and silently tries to get them to laugh or move. If a child laughs or moves they are out. The last ‘lion’ left asleep is the winner. |
The Well Creative Children's ministry 