Very often there are stories in the Bible where people do things that completely exceed expectations.  Samuel hears the word of God, even when he is a young child; David kills Goliath when he is only a boy; Jesus teaches in the temple when he is a boy.  Children are often used by God in ways that adults would never expect and this should be a great encouragement to our own children!  However young they are and however small they seem, God knows who they are, sees their potential and can use them to build his kingdom.

This craft helps children to think about the fact that they are known by God and each one of them has individual talents and gifts that, perhaps, only He and they know about.  A reading of Psalm 139 might also help to put this idea into perspective.  God knows them on the inside- no matter what they seem to others on the outside!

You will need: a matchbox for every child, paper, scissors, pens, sequins, glue, small items to go inside the box (the children could search for these and bring them with them or add them to the box later).

What to do: Keeping the outside of the box plain (with perhaps the child’s name on it), ask the children to decorate and fill the inside of the box to reflect their personality- they might want to draw and cut out pictures of things they like or are good at, or fill the box with keepsakes that mean a lot to who they are.  When closed, the box will look small and insignificant but, when opened up, everyone will see details of what God knows about who that person has been created to be.

Talk about: gifts God has given us, things in our lives we would like to thank God for, things about our friends that we would like to thank God for.

Pray: ask children to close their boxes and to swap them around so that each person is holding someone else’s box.  Ask each child to thank God for the person to whom the box belongs and to ask him to bless and use that person to help and bless others.