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.