God With Us: Crumpled Paper Paintings

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

This craft is a very visual way of helping children to explore the idea of the presence of God with them, even in the hardest of times. 

You will need: sheets of paper, watered down ready mix paint,  paintbrushes, wax crayons or oil pastels.

Screw the piece of paper up into a ball. 

Open the paper out and look at all of the creases. 

Rub a crayon or oil pastel over the creases and they will pick up the colour. Think about times when life has seemed a bit like this creased up piece of paper; when things have gone wrong in life, or when things have been hard or painful.

Let children choose a paint colour that most represents God to them and use it to paint over the top of the creases until all of the white paper has been covered. Even though you can still see the creases, the 'God' colour is right there alongside them and next to them, surrounding them.

Prayer Idea: As you paint your colour over the creases, pray that people who are sad or afraid or ill will know that God is with them.