Tag: 3-5s

The Walls of Jericho Painting

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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

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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!

New Year Hopes Prayer Card

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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

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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.

3 I 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] 4 He 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.”

5 And 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

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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.

‘God so loved the world’ suncatcher

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You will need: PVA glue, a clear plastic lid (e.g. a large yoghurt pot lid), green and blue food colouring, cocktail sticks

Pour PVA glue into the lid and spread it out with a spoon until the whole lid is covered in a thin layer.

Drop some little blobs of food colouring into the glue and use a cocktail stick to swirl and spread them around. Try to make a distinction between land (green) and sea (blue).

Leave to dry.

When the glue is fully dry, attach the suncatcher to your window with a little bit of blue tack and let the sun shine through.

As the sun shines through, think about God’s love for us and for our world. What makes you feel loved? Who do you know who needs help to feel loved by God right now? How can we help to show God’s love to the world?

Dear God, thank you for loving us and wanting good things for us. We pray for people all over the world who are feeling unloved, guilty, sad and afraid. Help them to know your love and to know the love and hope Jesus brings. Amen