Skip to main content

Making Peace: A hands on lesson for 5-11s

As part of our series looking at Holy Communion we spent some time thinking about community, the sign of peace and what it means to make peace with others.  Here's what we did!


Game: stand a stick of spaghetti into a bit of play dough and then thread cheerios onto it.  How many cheerios can you get on the stick in 1 minute? Eat the cheerios and then start again.  This game then leads on to talking about bringing people together as a community, which is what we do in the church family.

Talk about: 
belonging to our own families and to God’s family 
How do you show that you belong to a group?
Everyone is welcome in God’s family and it doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done or if you get on with that person!


Think about the part in the liturgy where we say “peace be with you’ and then we reply ‘and also with you’
What does peace mean?
How does it feel if peace is ‘with you’?
What does it mean to make peace?
Why do you think we do this in a communion service?

Activities
  • Think about words to do with peace and friendship. Children draw round and cut out their hands and arms.  Decorate them and use them to fill a canvas- reflecting us holding out our hands in peace to others.  Add some of the words you have thought of (see above)
  • Doves are a Christian sign of peace.  Make a dove straw rocket and write on the wings people and places who need to know God’s peace.

  • ice and decorate biscuits to share after the service as a sign of friendship with everyone


Prayer: write prayers on a giant cross outline (or on a chalk board cross if you have one!) and pray for people you find it difficult to get on with or who need to find peace.  Ask God to help you and to help them.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Button Prayers

If you are looking for an active, kinaesthetic, way of praying in a small group or even with the whole congregation, then this might be for you! You will need: A collection of buttons of different shapes, sizes and colours- at least one button for each person praying. Give everyone a button. Feel the hardness of the button and think about people who are going through hard times.  Ask God to help them. Buttons are used to fasten clothes together.  Ask God to bring together people who have fallen out and moved apart from each other.  Pray that He will bring peace. Look at your button and see how many holes it has.  Think of that number of things you would like to say thank you to God for and say Thank you prayers. Look at the colour of the button and say thank you to God for something that is that colour  Find someone who has the same colour button as you.  You might want to make a small group of people with the...
1 comment
Read more

Trusting God: The Amazing Water Glass Trick!

I used this idea in an assembly yesterday, focussing on people we trust and what it means to trust God.   This would work really well if you are exploring miracle stories or stories about trust.  Suitable verses to use with it might be:  Joshua 1:9: Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the  Lord  your God will be with you wherever you go.” Psalm 56: 3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. John 14: 1  Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me  I have to admit that this trick is not an original idea.  I found the trick in this book:  Simple Science Object Talks by Heno Head Jnr  and would definitely recommend getting cold of a copy if you can! You will need: A glass of water (about half- 2/3 filled) and an index card. This is what you do: place the index card over the top of the glass, making sure that the whole of the rim is covered by it, and press...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Prayer: Skittles Experiment!

This experiment with skittles is colourful, easy and makes a great statement about what we are asking God to do when we pray.  In essence, prayers are a way of joining with God and asking him to have an effect on the world and situations around us. We pray because we believe that our prayers, through God's power, will make a difference to the world.  In this activity, colour is released from the sweets into the surrounding water, creating a colourful picture, symbolic of how the prayers we raise to God are a way of us joining with Him to release the kingdom here on earth and have an impact. You will need: A bag of skittles, a plate, hot water (not hot enough to scald, but hot enough to make the colour run!) Arrange the skittles in the plate Pour some hot water onto the plate to cover its surface.  Pour it carefully so that the skittles stay in place.  Wait and the skittles will gradually release their colour Try an alternative... Cover the s...
Post a Comment
Read more