Jesus walks on water: messy painting with feet!

There comes a time when you just have to get messy in the pursuit of story telling.  I am usually an avoider of paint, but even I couldn't resist the messiness scale of this activity!

This is a fantastic way of exploring the story of Jesus walking on water, but please be aware IT IS MESSY!

You will need: Paint, wallpaper lining paper or a long strip of paper, feet, washing up bowls filled with warm water, towels (old ones that you don't mind getting a bit stained!)

Read or tell the story of Jesus walking on water and then talk about Peter stepping out in faith.  Who he walked towards Jesus he stayed afloat, but when he payed attention to the wind and the waves, he began to sink.  

Lay out the paper to make a long stretch of 'water' and make sure that it is fastened down! It is best to do this either outside, or somewhere easy to clean.

Squirt some blobs of paint onto the paper.  Make sure they are small blobs because big blobs will cause a slipperiness problem for bare feet...

Take off shoes and socks and step out onto the paper, use your feet to spread and mix the paint.  try using bubble wrap 'shoes' to make different textures in the paint.  Several people can paint at once!

When finished, clean and dry feet with the water and towels.

Talk about:
How did it feel, stepping out onto the paint? Were you worried? 
Sometimes stepping out into the unknown requires you to be brave.
Where in life would you like to be brave?
Has Jesus ever helped you to be brave?

Pray:
Ask children to write their names on the painted paper and pray that Jesus will give them the courage they need when they need to step out into the unknown or when they are worried.