Zacchaeus: Marshmallow and Spaghetti Tree building Challenge

If you want to offer an absorbing and challenging way for children to explore the story of Zacchaeus, then look no further.  This is a great way of helping them to think about the determination of Zacchaeus to see Jesus, because it will take some determination to complete the task!!

You will need: Dried spaghetti, mini marshmallows and a plastic Easter Egg

Challenge the children to build a 'tree' with the spaghetti and marshmallows, that will support and hold a plastic Easter egg (real eggs are way too heavy for what they are likely to build!)

Talk about:

How easy was it to build the tree?

What difficulties did you encounter?

What difficulties do you think Zacchaeus encountered in the story?

What lengths would you go to to see one of your heroes?

What lengths do others go to in order to be Christians?- think about the persecuted church

When do you sometimes have to be determined?

Do you ever have to use your determination in order to live as a Christian and to get to know Jesus better?

Pray:

Pray that weather people will have the determination to get to know Jesus better, even when it's hard. Draw or write prayers on a slip of paper and put them inside the plastic egg.  Put the egg back on top of the 'tree' and give your prayers to God

God looks at the heart: Litmus Paper craft and object lesson (1 Samuel 16:7)

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

This verse is a really useful one to use with children when you are helping them to think about who they are as children of God.  In times of peer pressure and social expectations, it can be really helpful to know that God looks at us through different eyes and sees our value and gifts even when others don't seem to.

This craft is deigned to help children explore ideas around the difference between what people might see on the surface and what God knows about us and uses something that takes me back to my school science days!

You will need: A book of Litmus paper strips (1 bought a book of 80 for less than £1 online), heart shapes drawn on paper, glue, various liquids (safe ones for children to touch! e.g. hand soap, washing up liquid, lemon juice, water, milk, different drinks.

Let children experiment with touching one of the strips to a certain liquid.  Each liquid will have a certain PH and that will turn the strip to the according colour.  You don't know what colour you will get until you test it and the colour of the strip/ liquid is no indicator of what colour the paper will change to.  You can't judge just by what you see on the surface and hopefully there will be some element of surprise for the children (maybe they could predict the colour before testing)!

Talk about:

• Could you tell what colour the strip would change just by looking at the liquid?
• what can't you tell about someone just by looking?
• what would someone not know about you just by looking at you?
• what does it mean to look at someone's heart?
• what would you like God to see in your heart?

Pray

Get the children to place their test strips into a heart shape.  Pray for those things they would like God to see in their hearts (they might want to write them on the strips) and ask God to help them to see people's hearts rather than just judging by appearance.

Family prayer bag: 10 easy and fun ideas to help families pray together

This weekend I am off at a gathering of churches from our diocese and beyond and will be running a workshop for parents about how they can help children to engage with faith at home.  To give them some ideas for praying together, I've made up some bags which we will work our way through during the session!

Here's one of the bags laid out...

I've included: some bubble wrap, felt tip pens, spotty paper, play dough, play coins, plastic teaspoons, bubbles, pipe cleaners, playing cards, skittles sweets and lego.

Here's how I will suggest we might use each item (after getting some ideas from the parents themselves which will probably be even better than these ideas!!)

Family Prayer Bag

1. God Venture Skittles Prayers: 

(Found at http://godventure.co.uk/prayer-activities/sweets-prayer/- thanks Victoria for this amazing idea!)

Choose a skittle at random, say the appropriate prayer and then eat it!

Red: family

Purple: friends

Green: the environment/animals

Yellow: the world

Orange: school/work

2. Play dough Prayers (see also Play dough intercessions)

Model the play dough into the shape of something you would like to thank God for or ask Him for

3. Heads/tails Prayers

Flip the coin

Heads- Thank you prayer

Tails- Please prayer

4. Bubble Wrap worry Prayers

Tell God your worries and pop a bubble as a symbol of giving your worry to God

5. Pipecleaner Intercessions (see also pipe cleaner prayers)

• Make your pipe cleaner into the initial of the name of someone or something.  Pray for that thing/person
• screw your pipe cleaner up and pray for people who are confused and upset
• link your pipecleaner to someone else’s and pray for people who are lonely
• put your pipe cleaner around your wrist like a bracelet as a reminder that God is always with you.

6. Teaspoon Prayers

Choose a spoon at random and pray the appropriate prayer

T- Thanks 

S-Sorry 

P-Please 

7. Squares Prayers

Take it in turns to connect two dots with a line.  When you make a complete square, write the initial of or draw a small picture of something or someone you want to pray for.  The winner is the one who has made the most prayer squares!

8. Playing Card Prayers

Choose a card at random

Red number- sorry prayer

Black number- thank you prayer

King- give a word that describes how great God is

Queen- pray for a girl

Jack- pray for a boy

9. Bubble Prayers

say a please, sorry or thank you prayer.  Blow some bubbles and picture giving your prayer to God

10. Lego Thank You Prayers (see also Lego prayers and Lego Intercessions)

Build a tower of lego blocks.  For each block you add, thank God for someone or something. 

Click here for printable instructions.

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.