When teaching younger children about prayer, I have found it easiest to concentrate on ‘Sorry,’ ‘Please,’ and ‘Thank you’ prayers. This cube helps to make prayers fun! Throw the cube and pray whatever prayer lands face up. If it is a ‘sorry’ prayer we always tell the children that it’s Ok to say the prayer in your head because sorries are between you and God. Enjoy!
Click here for a printable version.
This talk uses the story of the Baptism of Jesus as a starting off point.
You will need: Jigsaw pieces (at least enough for one each for members of the congregation), pictures on the screen or printed out and enlarged with only part visible so people have to guess what the picture shows.
When we think about baptism, our first thought might be of water and the new start it brings, washing off the old and bringing something new. For me, though, it’s always been about the words that God says to Jesus when he gets baptised himself in the River Jordan: ‘You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” For me an important part of baptism is about becoming part of God’s family, about becoming part of the big picture and the amazing plans He has in store.
So that’s where the jigsaw comes in! You might have been thinking that this is a strange image to bring to a baptism, but bear with me! I don’t know if anyone here is any good at jigsaws? In my family there’s a rule that you have to hide the box when you start a puzzle because it’s even more fun to do if you don’t even know what the picture is until it starts to come together. I’m not sure what you think of that!
Look at the partially obscured pictures. Can you guess what they show from only seeing part of the picture?
God has a big picture- his Kingdom, where there is love and joy and peace and hope. We only see part of it now, but we pray in the Lord’s prayer that His Kingdom will come on Earth and we will eventually see the whole picture. When we are baptised and we become part of God’s family, we become part of God’s plan to bring the big picture of his Kingdom to earth. Only God knows what the full picture looks like but when we are baptised, it’s as if we take up a piece and say to God, ‘I want to be in your family and I want to be part of your big picture!’ As part of God’s family, like the pieces in a jigsaw, we are also never alone. We are doing this together. Like the jigsaw pieces we are joined to many other people, many of whom are very different to us. If you look at the pieces of our jigsaw, hardly any of them are the same, yet they are all an important part of the picture and none of the pieces can make the picture by themselves. By joining in our new family, we get many new brothers and sisters who will support us, love us and help us to find where we fit.
I’d like to ask you to take one of the jigsaw pieces and to think of what it might mean to be part of God’s family and to be part of His big picture for the world. Maybe you would like God to show you how you can share His love and bring hope to others. Perhaps you would like to learn more about God’s love for you. Perhaps you would like to say thank you for those who have been baptised today and have become part of God’s family. taking up their own piece of thepicture. Let’s take a moment know to speak to God about his big picture and our part in it.
Play some music and let people reflect and then use the jigsaw intercessions.
Story bags are brilliant at helping children to become involved in the story you are telling. They involve a collection of toys that will both help you to tell the story and also help the children to play out parts of the story afterwards. They need not be very expensive to make up (most stuff comes from the pound shop!) and can be borrowed by parents to use at home during the week. Click on the links to take you to some examples.
This talk can be used with the story of creation in Genesis or with the parable of the talents.
You will need: A big box covered in wrapping paper containing a torch (Light), water and oil in a bottle (day 2- shake and they separate), sand or soil in a bottle, toy food or plants (day 3), a card sun, moon and stars (day 4), a toy bird or fish (day 5), a toy animal and a human doll or play person(day 6) a pillow (day 6); a gift label of sticker for everyone in the congregation, pens.
Invite someone to come up to the front and unwrap the big box. Take out all of the things inside (it doesn’t really matter what order they are in- they are all God’s gifts!) and speak about the gifts that God gives us in creation, things that we especially remember at harvest time.
I love getting gifts and when I do, I always want to say thank you to the person who has given it to me because it really shows they care and I want to show them that I care back. Sometimes I make a little thank you card to give them and sometimes I think about what gift I can give them. God has given us all of these amazing gifts. If you could give him something back what would it be?
The truth is that God has given us all sorts of gifts- not just gifts in nature, but gifts of things that we are good at doing. How could you use the things that you are good at doing to help God or to help others and, in your own way, give something back?
Get people to discuss in groups what they might individually do and then ask them to write or draw their gift on a gift label or sticker. As a symbolic prayer of thanks, play some music and ask people to come and put their label on the big gift box. Pray that over the coming days and weeks, they will be able to use their gifts as a gift to God.
Psalm 139 is full of wonderful images to explore. Here are some ideas for reflecting on what it has to say…
Reflect on the words of the psalm and write/ draw your responses in a wordcloud:
For a copy of the word cloud, click here.
Use clay to make symbols of what is special about you and thank God for truly knowing who you are.
Try this ‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’ craft and prayer activity:
Use finger labyrinths to reflect on how we might follow God’s ‘everlasting way’. Click here to find some labyrinths to print out or make and try.
This is a good way to tell the Easter story in groups.
You will need: 5 pictures telling the Easter story: Palm Sunday, Last Supper, Gethsemane, Crucifixion, Resurrection
The following layers should be…
Gethsemane, last supper and the top layer: Palm Sunday.
Each layer should also contain a sweet- this is important for later!
The Well Creative Children's ministry 