Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

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...

Here is a last minute Pentecost talk idea.  We will be using it tomorrow in our cafe church service! This works best before you read or tell the story. You will need:   A bag of sweets (enough to share with everyone) Lollipops for each layer Pictures of: a dove, a windsock, fire, the word 'welcome' in various languages.  To download a sheet with these pictures on click here. Newspaper sellotape The bag of sweets and the picture of the dove will be your central layer.  Wrap them in the newspaper.  On top of the dove layer, put the 'welcome' picture and a reward lolly! For the next layer, put the fire picture and a lolly and the top layer will be the windsock (the closest I could get to a wind picture!!) Talk about Pentecost being the birth of the church where, in one day 3000 people came to know Jesus.  We all got an amazing birthday gift that day- the Holy Spirit. At birthday parties you normally play games so we are now g...

This talk is suitable for smaller groups of children or even for a larger group as long as you have plenty of resources to go around!  The talk goes through key events of the Easter story and involves touch, taste, sound, sight and smell.  Beware allergies!! You will need: bread, some stones, salt water in a pot, nails, a piece of wood, salt and vinegar crisps, a bandage, a hollow, chocolate Easter egg, scented candle and lighter bread - Talk about the last supper.  Jesus gathered his friends around to share a last meal, to prepare them for what would happen and tell them how to remember him.  Share out pieces of the bread stone- Gethsemane.  After the meal, Jesus went to a garden to pray for strength and that God would help him in the coming days.  Children take a stone and hold onto it.  Think of things in their life that are hard.  Ask God to help them. Nails-  After being arrested, Jesus is led out to ...

Remembrance Sunday can be quite sensitive for many reasons and schools often request assemblies at this time.  Here's an assembly based on the theme of peace that can be adapted for any age group. You will need: a large poppy prop, bubble mix and bubble wand, poppy seeds (optional but useful!) Ask Children about the poppies they see people wearing at  this  time of year and might be wearing themselves.  What are they for?  Using the prop,  talk  about the different parts of the poppy Red petals- a reminder of the blood that was and is spilled in wars- sacrifice of others Flower-the poppies that grew on the battlefields were a sign of new life and hope for the future leaf- set at 11 o clock position to remind us of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when the  armistice  was signed.   This  is the day and the time we remember those who have died. Talk about the fact that war is a painful, hurtful th...

This is a great visual illustration for thinking about God's protection and can easily be used in a school assembly. You will need: An orange, a deep, clear container, water.  Also useful are items such as sun cream, a bike helmet and a hi-vis jacket I used the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace but any story involving God's protection is good- Daniel in the Lions' Den, for example. Tell the story and get the children to participate with sound effects and actions if possible! Next bring out your 'protection' items and talk about what we do and wear to keep us safe in the sun, on the road etc.  What about people who help us to feel safe?  Talk about God keeping the characters in the story safe and speak about times in your life when you ask God to keep you safe. Put an orange in the container of water and watch it bob along the surface.  Then peel off the skin and watch it sink.  The peel is what protects the orange and stop...

This is a talk that can be easily used in an assembly or for an all age service and focuses on the idea of Jesus being an unexpected gift. You will need: 4 items to wrap as gifts.  One should be really easy to guess (e.g. a book), a couple should be quite difficult to guess (I used sunglasses and a duck shaped door stop!) and one should be an ordinary looking, quite boring container with chocolate coins hidden inside. Ask children what their favourite thing about Christmas is.  Gifts are bound to come up! Talk about why we give gifts- to show people that we love them and care for them.  Ask some of the children to try and guess what is wrapped up in your gifts.  Start with the easy to guess gift, proceed onto the harder to guess gifts and end with the box containing chocolate coins.  Each time, after guesses have been made, reveal what the gift is.   Explain that sometimes we know immediately what we've been given but sometimes it's harder to work it...

Here's a clever way to help children to think about nothing being impossible to God.  It's quite a good illustration for an assembly and, if you practise, you will be able to cut while talking!  It's especially good for times of transition when children are worried about going into a new situation. Ask some children to come out to the front give each of them a sheet of A5 sized paper and some scissors. Ask them to cut a hole in the paper that they will be able to fit their whole body through. Some of the children will immediately decide that this is not possible, while some may have an attempt! Sometimes we are faced with problems that really worry us and that we don't know how to solve! Now take a piece of the A5 paper and follow these instructions... 1. Fold the paper in half lengthways 2 Cut alternating 'up' and 'down' slits in the paper as shown 3.Cut through the fold of the paper, leaving the fold of the end slit pieces in tact 4....

On Wednesday we have a thanksgiving service at school and my job is to tell the story.  We're going to look at the importance of remembering to say sorry by using the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers.  As usual, the story needs to be as visual and interesting as possible.  I thought about it for quite a while and came up with various scenarios including the use of rubber gloves, but this is what I decided on in the end... You need a chain of 10 'lepers' made from sticky backed contact paper with white sticky dots randomly stuck onto it (I happened to have red in the cupboard, but any colour will do!) Use them to tell the beginning of the story when the group of lepers see Jesus and call out to him to have pity on them.  Jesus sends them away to see the priests and as they go they are healed.  At this point, pull the sticky side away from the backing paper and dispose of it (leaving the paper behind as the 'healed' lepers. Put the 'healed leper...

Here's what we did in our SEALs assembly about change today... We wanted to focus on the idea that, when we are going through changes, God will help us to do things we couldn't do by ourselves.  With Him we can do more than we ever imagined possible! Game: Two teams of two children are needed.  At one end of the hall put person A from each team and at the other end, put person B.  Give person A a flame shape cut out from paper and a straw.  Give person B some glue and the outline of a person's head and shoulders.  Person A is not allowed to touch the flame with their hands and person B is not allowed to move their feet.  Have a race with person A blowing the flame across the floor to person B who then has to pick it up and stick it to the head of the outline shape.  The winners are the first team to stick the flame down.  The point of the game is that neither person could complete the task by themselves- they needed help! Story: We acted ...

Today we went into school to do a SEALS assembly on the theme of 'Good to be me'.  We acted out the story of David and Goliath, focusing on the fact that, though others thought that David had no chance against Goliath, David trusted God and God was able to use him and the skills he had.  This led us to talk about how we all had things that we were good at (sometimes things that no one else but God and ourselves know about) and that we can all be used by God to help others.  We illustrated the point with this simple scientific trick... Before the children arrive, take a balloon and fill it with about a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. It's quite easy to make the balloon seem as though it is empty as long as the children don't get close enough to touch it! Fix it to the neck of a bottle containing some vinegar.  Talk about how it would seem impossible for me to inflate the balloon using just what is in the bottle.  You might think I was silly to even think it....

Today we did a Christingle assembly at school and then went into every class to help the children make Christingles.  It was brilliant- by the 5th class round we had the system well in place and got the whole class finished in 20 minutes! Here is the assembly we used to introduce the idea... Game:  wrap boxes in gift wrap.  The first team to wrap their gift is the winner Talk about Gifts that God gives us- Christmas is the time to remember the gift of Jesus.  What gifts does the Christingle remind us of? I brought out 4 gift bags containing hidden items and asked the children to guess what was inside. The first bag held an inflatable globe- we had to squash it a bit to fit it in the bag but then we reinflated it!  It also held an orange which we use to symbolise the world.  The next bag contained fruit and sweets- the good things that God gives to us.  On the Christingle we put sweets and raisins on the 4 cocktail sticks to sym...

Today we went into school to do a SEALS assembly about 'getting on and falling out'.  We decided to focus on the story of Saul and David in the cave, where David chooses not to kill Saul, but just to cut off a piece of his cloak to prove what he could have done but chose not to.  We then talked to the children about what it's like when people upset us and we get angry and want to fight back.  This is the illustration we used... You will need two jars or bottles with lids, white vinegar, water and bicarbonate of soda. Put neat vinegar in one jar and a mix of vinegar and water in another jar Talk about what it is like when people make you angry.  Add half a teaspoon of bicarb to the water/ vinegar jar.  The mixture will fizz a little but nothing more.  Put a lid on the jar.  Next, put a spoonful of bicarb in the vinegar jar and add another spoonful as well.  The mixture will fizz up and explode out  of the jar (best to keep t...

Beware that this story telling gets messy but the children absolutely love it! This is how we told the story of the good Samaritan in assembly today.  Thanks to Sarah for this genius idea and brilliant storytelling!  Start off by introducing the idea that bananas and oranges do not like each other and can be very mean to each other!  Stan is a happy banana but on the way to the shops one day he is set upon by other fruit, his money is stolen and Stan ends up squished and peeled on the side of the road (this is where is can get very messy, but the messier the better to make the point!)  A high and mighty lady banana comes along but is worried she will get dirty and she is just too important and busy to care about poor squished Stan so she carries on with her journey. Next, the banana mayor comes along and sees Stan but he is late for a meeting and is way too important to stop and help so he also goes on his way.  Stan is feeling a bit upset t...

Today we went into a new school to do an assembly.  Taking advantage of the fact that it is Halloween today, we thought we'd focus on All Saints day tomorrow and the Christian symbol of light in the darkness. We started by explaining how Halloween got its name from All Hallows Eve (the day before All Hallows/ All Saints) and then talked about how Saints were people who had made the world a better place and brought light to dark situations. We played a relay race with 2 volunteers First they hopped to a parachute, crawled under the parachute, and then hopped to a light at the finish line that they then held in the air.  The first to hold up the light was the winner. This symbolised the idea of how sometimes things in life could get scary and sad and feel dragged down (like going under the parachute) but there is light and hope at the end. Next we told the story of the good Samaritan with bananas and oranges (see separate post!) to illustrate how others could he...

Here's how we told the creation story at our Harvest Messy Church this week.  We're going to do the same thing again tomorrow at the harvest service at our local primary school.  It's very visual and helps you to involve a lot of children! You will need a big bag to put everything in.  We took things out one at a time (in the correct order!) and asked everyone what part of the story they thought it showed...  Day 1: God says 'Let there be light!' (black and yellow felt joined together)  Day 2: God separates the waters above and the waters below and makes the sky (dark blue and light blue felt joined together) Day 3: God separates the sea and the land and makes the plants (green and blue felt joined together and a flower)  Day 4: God makes the sun, moon and stars (headband with sun on one side and moon and stars on the other side)  Day 5: God makes the birds and the fish  Day 6: God makes the animals and humans ...