Noah’s Ark Exploration Session

May 26, 2019Leave a comment

We’ve been experimenting with an after school club for adults and children together and it’s been going very well!

Our structure is very simple so there is minimal preparation needed, but we have been really pleased at the level of engagement from both children and parents. Every week we tell a story, ask some wondering questions and then let everyone choose what they want to do. At the end of the session we come back together and share what we have been getting up to.

Choices include:

a simple prayer activity (with Noah’s ark we chose an animal to say thank you to God for)
a book corner with Bible stories
drawing
Lego
play dough
playing with the story sets
cake and drinks to help yourself to

You can see from the photos above what people got up to in our Noah’s ark session!

God’s Strength: Paper Challenge

May 28, 2017Leave a comment

This idea was inspired by something I read in a great book by Heno Head Jr: Simple Science Object Talks. I would totally recommend the book as it has some amazing ideas to help children to connect with God and to explore the meaning of Bible stories. I’ve used this activity in primary school assemblies but it would work just as well in an all age service or in a children’s group.

You will need: I sheet of A4 paper per child, sellotape, toilet roll tubes or kitchen towel tubes, mugs or books.

Challenge children to use 1 sheet of paper to make a construction that will hold the mug or book off the floor. DO NOT show them the tubes!

Invariably, the children will find this an impossible task!

Now take a sheet of A4 paper and bring out the paper towel tube. Wrap the paper tightly around the tube and sellotape the edges to make a paper tube covering the card tube.

Show how the mug will balance happily on the tube, but admit to the fact that you are cheating because you used tube and you didn’t let the children use one!

Now take the paper tube carefully off the card tube and ask if the children think that the paper on its own will hold the mug. They will probably say no. Put the mug on top and it will balance.

Talk to the children about the fact that when things are hard and we try to do it by ourselves, sometimes we don’t get far and things seem to collapse around us. When we ask for help, we can do things we never thought possible. Think about the verse from Philippians 4: 13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” As Christians, we can ask Jesus to help us and nothing is impossible to him. Share times when you have asked Jesus for help and pray for people who are faced with difficult situations.

School Club Session: The 10 Lepers

October 26, 2016Leave a comment

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5 mins	Reflective colouring while waiting for all children to arrive. Click here for ideas to print out
5 mins	Game- 10 cup bowling Set out 10 cups in a ten pin bowling formation and throw a soft ball or beanbag at them. Can you knock down all 10 with 3 throws?
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! Get children thinking about what they are grateful for. Remind them that out of the 10 lepers, only one came back to say thank you. Why do you think that was? How do you feel when someone forgets to say thank you? What would you like to say thank you for?
10 mins	Prayer: balloon praise- blow up balloons and write/ draw thank you prayers on them with sharpies (or write on stickers and stick to the balloons) Play some music and bat the balloons around. When the music stops, everyone grab a balloon and say thank you to God for something on that balloon. Repeat. Make up a word search using words from the story or using word of things they would like to say thank you for. Click here to print out a blank word search sheet.
3 mins	End with a game! Click here for a Pinterest board full of ideas.

Worry Assembly (The Exodus story: Wandering in the wilderness)

September 20, 2015October 22, 2015Leave a comment

This assembly works well with years 1-6 and is quite interactive- especially if you have a willing teacher who doesn’t mind taking a risk!

You will need: A retelling of the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and being given manna by God, a sealed plastic ziplock bag 2/3 filled with water, sharp pencils or pens

We told the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness and worrying about where they would get food and drink and also about where they were going. A great retelling can be found in this book: 9780745964331

Talk to the children about what worries them and then talk about the way that God helps the people in the story. They don’t need to worry because He has got it covered!

Invite a teacher to come out to the front (we had a very willing head teacher who we had prepared beforehand!). Sit them in a seat and hold a ziplock sandwich bag filled with water (and sealed!!) above their head. How worried do they feel now on a scale of 1-10? Then bring out a pen or a sharp pencil. What if I threatened to push this pencil into the bag? How worried would you be then? Stick the pencil ALL THE WAY THROUGH the plastic bag in one steady move so that the pencil is poking out either side of the bag. No water will come out! Repeat this twice more.

Emphasise the point you knew that no harm was going to come to the teacher even if they were worried. You had it covered. When we are worried, we know that God has it covered and will look after us. We can tell Him anything we are worried about. Who can the children talk to if they are worried?

Say a prayer, thanking God for people who help us when we are worried and thanking Him that we can talk to Him about our worries too.

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!

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.