Lunchtime Club Prayer Box

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015Leave a comment

Here is a selection of tried and tested ideas that can be taken into school and used as a prayer session, perhaps as part of a lunchtime club. Everything fits in a big box and makes prayer a very active and involving activity for the children. Exploring prayer with children is always an amazing experience, so be prepared to be bowled over!

‘What would you like to say to God?’ graffiti board (all you need is wallpaper lining and pens!)

Reflective prayers to colour in (very popular!)

Laminated maps (find a place you want to pray for, ask God to bless that place and stick a sticky dot there to show you’ve prayed for it)

Laminated people shapes- write prayers for people on the sheets with dry wipe pens

Prayer cubes

Prayer chatterboxes– the most popular!

When we tried this at a lunctime club, we managed to have some great conversations with children and some of them opened up in a way they never had before. They were eager to make their own chatterboxes, choosing what to pray for under each flap. One of the girls who was praying with the maps stuck a spot on the Antarctic because she was concerned about global warming!

If you use some of these ideas, please let us know how it goes!

Salad Spinner Pentecost Flames

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015Leave a comment

I found a cheap salad spinner (£4 in IKEA!) and was finally able to try out some spinner art! It’s brilliant: quick, clean (because the spinner sits in its own bowl) and each piece is unique! The process of making the art really lends itself to Pentecost themes so here’s an idea to help celebrate the occasion…

You will need: A salad spinner; red, yellow and orange paint, small paper plates, a tub of hair gel (optional)

Put a plate on the bottom of the inside of the spinner and blob some paint in. Put the lid on and spin!

It only takes a few seconds of enthusiastic spinning and this is what you get… I think that trying to get the plate balanced across the bottom of the spinner would have helped this one (above) to be a little less lop-sided!

Some sites recommend adding a blob of hair gel and it does make the paint a little more runny. Experiment and see what works best for you.

I love it! I tried it out yesterday with some 2 year olds and they loved it too. All ages pleased in one go.

Plastic Cup Nativity Figures

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015Leave a comment

This is a great way to help children to explore the characters of the Nativity story and is a fascinating window into what they think!

Tell the Nativity story and then let the children reflect their observations. What do you think the various characters were thinking and feeling at different times in the story? You might want to collect some descriptive words.

Next ask them to make their own versions of the Nativity characters and be prepared to be fascinated!

You will need: Plastic or paper cups, paper, pens, sellotape, glue, rubber bands, pipe-cleaners, scissors

Here are some examples of what children have come up with! I especially like the Mary with Jesus glued on!

Basic Assembly Structure

June 1, 2015Leave a comment

After years of doing assemblies, I have finally hit upon something of a formula. This may or may not work in your particular context, but hopefully will be of some use!

Timings are obviously very approximate.

5 mins	Hellos and game (based on the theme of the assembly) for one or two children to participate in up front Click here to see a Pinterest board of game ideas
5 mins	Storytelling e.g. acting out with the children, using props or from a good storyteller Bible
5 mins	Short talk about the assembly with an illustration if possible (including an example from my own life where appropriate) Click here to see a Pinterest board of object lesson ideas
2 mins	Short prayer (or reflection time if not a church school). Generally this works well with a lit candle.

Here are some assembly examples following this structure:

David and Goliath (Good to be me)

Abraham (Changes)

Pentecost Play Dough Mat

June 1, 2015June 1, 2015Leave a comment

Here is a play dough mat to help children explore the story of Pentecost.

Click here to print out the mat, laminate and let the children use play dough to make tongues of fire coming from the heads of the disciples.

Advent Angel Game

June 1, 2015June 1, 2015Leave a comment

Each child has their own copy of the angel sheet. Children need to take turns to roll a dice and colour in the number they throw. The first child to colour in the whole angel is the winner! Each of the dice numbers appears a different number of times so, for example, there are more 6s than 2s so there is bound to be a winner at some point!

Click here for a printable pdf version.