Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

First of all, I have to say that I absolutely love this!! Adam at Illustrated Children's Ministry has produced an Advent pack of devotionals and activities for families which became available this week and is well worth a look if you are interested in a more structured, creative way of thinking about Advent at home with your children.  Plus, Adam has given Flame readers a generous offer:  if you use the code Flame15 you will get 15% off orders throughout November! Full of things to do and things to think about, this resource is an excellent way of keeping the focus on Jesus in an absorbing and engaging way, accessible to children (and adults!) of all ages. The pack is split into two different sections: ·       Weekly devotionals for the family including a short scripture passage, a reflection, a set of discussion questions to think about when colouring, an activity and a prayer- as well as some amazing colouring sheets · ...

I've been working on this for a while and it's great to finally have everything come together!   The Jesse tree is a lovely tradition where, each day of Advent, a new ornament is added to a tree to symbolise a different story or person from the Bible leading up to the birth of Jesus. It is linked to Isaiah 11: 1 The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David's descendants.  (Good News Version) The Jesse tree is a great way to show children people and events in the wider story of the Bible, from creation to Christmas, and to emphasise the fact that Jesus is part of the line of Jesse and David.  He is firmly rooted in a story that spans back through the ages. This particular version of the Jesse Tree uses 24 stories from creation to the visit of the wise men.  For each day there is a suggested story to explore, a picture to colour in and hang as ...

If you've ever thought of making your own Advent calendar but wondered if it would be too tricky- then this is the post for you!   Here you can make your own calendar that has a Nativity theme, can hold sweets and can also hold personalised daily Advent activities.  I love the idea of using a mini muffin tin and I managed to pick up 12 hole tins for £2 each at Tesco a couple of weeks ago!  You will need: Advent Calendar Sheets 1 and  sheet 2,  2 12-hole mini muffin tins, Advent calendar activity sheet , sweets, colouring pens, self adhesive magnets Print off the Advent calendar sheets and colour in the pictures.  Use the opportunity to talk to the children about who the characters are.  They should be able to find: Mary, Joseph, three wise men, two shepherds, a sheep, a star, an angel and Jesus! Laminate and cut the pictures out.  Turn them face down. Stick some magnetic strip on two of the corners of each picture Cut ou...