Jacob's Ladder Ascending Angel Craft and Prayer Activity

The story of Jacob's ladder in Genesis 28 (vv 10-17) is one of my favourites and this is a creative way to pray about the story's themes using an easy but effective craft.

Tell the story of Jacob's ladder and think about the theme of God's closeness to Jacob, even when Jacob, himself, didn't at first realise it.  

Talk about: How do you think Jacob felt when he saw the ladder and the angels? How would you have felt?Have you ever felt or known that God is with you? Do you have anywhere where you feel close to God? How do you know that God is with you?  Do you know anyone who might like to know that God is with them, caring for them?

Craft- You will need: paper, scissors, pens, string, sellotape, straws and a coin

Get children to cut an angel shape out of the paper (or provide them with a pre-cut version).  Cut 2x 2cm pieces of straw and sellotape them to the angel shape as shown below.  Make sure they are parallel to each other. Sellotape a coin to the bottom of the angel to give it some weight (I used a 2p coin here).  Thread string through the straw as shown.

Anchor the string to a coat hook or a nail on the wall- something static, strong and above head height if possible!  Bring the angel to the bottom of the strings and hold each end in a separate hand.  Spread your hands out so that they are wider than the parallel straws and pull on the strings.  The angel should rise up towards the anchor point.  Release the tension on the strings and the angel should descend.  Have fun testing this out!

Prayer
Write the names of people who you would like to know that God is close to them- perhaps people who are having a hard time or who don't know about God yet.  As you pull the angel up and down the string, pray that God will bless them and they will know His closeness, just as Jacob did in the story!