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:
Here are some ideas for exploring the story of David and Goliath with 5-7s.
Tell the story from a children’s Bible or use items in a story bag…
Challenge the children to walk in ‘Goliath feet’ made from cardboard and string (see picture above).
Have a bean bag target throw competition (as a reminder of David’s throwing skills).
Have a go with some paper ball catapults. Click here to see the original idea.
Decorate some stones to remind the children that something so small had such a great impact. .
Talk about times when we need to be brave. How do you feel? What or who helps you? Talk about times when you have trusted God to help you (it’s great for adults to share their expriences with the children!)
Prayer: Write each child’s name on a different stone and give them out so that each child has thier own name. Children hold their stone and ask God to help them when they need to be brave. Swap stones with someone and pray that God will help that person to be brave. Take that person’s stone home and remember to pray for them in the coming week.
Here are some ideas for exploring the story of the Good Samaritan with 5-7s.
Tell the story with felt shapes: Click here to see the idea. Alternatively, tell the story with fruit. This gets a bit messy!
Let the children play with toy doctor’s kits
Draw out the themes of being good neighbours and helping and encouraging others.
Pray for people who are ill using the healing board
Take home a ‘Helping Hands’ challenge sheet and encourage children to be good neighbours during the week!
| 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. |
| 5 mins | Reflective colouring while waiting for all children to arrive. Click here for ideas to print out |
| 5 mins | Game- musical statues
This links well with the idea of ‘calm’ (statues) and ‘storm’ (dancing) |
| 2 mins | Song (click for a Pinterest board of Children’s Ministry songs) |
| 10 mins | Tell the story either from a book or interactively. The Lion Storyteller Bible is great!
Talk about ‘stormy’ or difficult times in life. How do they make you feel? Who do you go to for help? Have you ever asked God to help you? What happened? |
| 10 mins | Use this Play Dough Mat to explore the story further and/or use this ‘anchor’ craft and prayer activity. |
| 3 mins | End with a game! Click here for a Pinterest board full of ideas. |
The Well Creative Children's ministry 