Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

As part of our all age carol service today we had a creation station, and one of the activities was to make a host of angels. Adults and children took part at any point in the service they wanted to and we ended up with a great display. This was easy enough for even the youngest children to do and was very popular.  Indeed, it was more popular than I imagined it would be and I got into trouble when we ran out of pieces and had to improvise! You will need: A5 pieces of coloured paper or card, triangles slightly less tall and wide than A5, small triangles for wings, small circles for heads, glue sticks Stick the 'wings' point down, somewhere about 1/3 of a page down from the top of the card. Stick the large triangle over the top and add a circle for a head. As you can see, some chose also to add faces and speech! As they were being made, we gathered the angels together and created a heavenly host for the congregation to see :-) 

On Sunday we are holding our all age carol service and one of the activities will be Christmas story bingo. Anyone who wants to participate can take a sheet as they come in and can then cross off every word on their sheet that they hear in the readings, talk and carols. There are 10 different word sheets and, for young children who can't yet read, there are 6 different picture sheets. If people are paying attention there will, of course, be multiple winners who have crossed off all of the words at the same time, but that's part of the fun! Click here to print off the Christmas story word bingo. Click here to cross off the Christmas story picture bingo. When I printed the sheets off, I printed 4 to an A4 page, but go with whichever size works best for you!

An agamograph is a piece of artwork that changes as the viewer shifts perspective. Basically there are two different pictures and you see a different one depending on how you are looking at the piece.  This is a special agamograph for Christmas! There are 2 original pictures- a star and an angel: Click here to print off the colour in sheet Colour the sheet in Score along each of the vertical lines so that it will be easier to fold along the lines Concertina the picture, folding along the vertical lines Open the picture up slightly and try viewing it from different angles

This Sunday we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath and began looking forward to Christmas. If lighting the candles week by week in Advent is part of your tradition, then you might enjoy this printable reflective colouring sheet. Click here to print off your copy and have a great Advent!

 We are gearing up again for Christmas and, next Sunday, we will be holding our annual Christingle service. This year I've created a short video to explain the various parts of the Christingle and what they mean. Feel free to make use of the video in your own contexts! If you'd like to try some Christingle related prayer stations, click here to go to my  Ko-Fi page.   There are 6 prayer stations- one for each part of the Christingle and they are suitable for small groups or even for stations in an all age service. As always, the resources are free but any support is welcome! Here is a preview of the first station.

Here is a 10 minute family service for Epiphany including thank you prayers, sorry prayers, story and interactive prayer activity. Click here for the service words if you'd like to follow along. Here are some extra things to do on the theme of the Wise Men: Epiphany Star Finger Print Prayers Make an Epiphany King Cake Epiphany Play Dough Mat                                           

If you're telling the story of the visit of the wise men this Sunday, here is a short video to help!  

For the last few years our church has taken up the tradition of chalking a blessing on the door to mark the day when, traditionally, the wise men visited Jesus. This is a tradition which is especially popular in Europe and I first came across it when I was living in Germany. Normally we bless some chalk in the service and then chalk the front door of church, saying a prayer asking God to bless that place. People then take a stick of the chalk home and do the same for their own front doors. This year we are placing packs in the church porch and at various places in the community so that anyone who wants to can join in the tradition and chalk their own doors. Here are images of the double sided prayer card we have put in each pack, along with a stick of chalk. To print a page of cards, click here . Here's a very short video I made of doing it at my own house, where the best place to chalk was actually on the name plate of the house!

If you're looking for a simple retelling of the Nativity Story, especially one that's suitable for under 5s, here is a short video for you using a widely available Nativity set.  Have a lovely Christmas everyone!

 I work with a group of clergy and lay leaders who (in non-Covid times!) go into a variety of schools for collective worship and lots of other things. We got together this afternoon to film a Zoom Nativity to show in our schools, since we can't be there in person. The whole nativity is 3-4 minutes long and is suitable for primary school audiences. It works by everyone naming their Zoom profile with their character name and switching their video off unless they are taking part in the scene. The script is very clear about when to switch on and off! Click here if you'd like to use the script :-)

I try to buy or make a new nativity scene every year and this year I decided to have go at making some story spoons. These can either be displayed or used to retell the story and are a good size to be held by little hands! You will need: 10 wooden spoons (you can buy some quite cheaply for crafts) , a copy of the print out, colouring pens and pencils, scissors, glue or sellotape. Print out the story spoons sheet and get children to colour in the character pictures. Cut the pictures out and glue or tape each of them to the back of a wooden spoon. I used sellotape so that I can remove the pictures easily and make a different story. Tell the story using the spoons as props!

We're getting ready for Christmas and one of the things I'm most excited about is our upcoming crib service.  It's a new venture for our church, but it sounds as if the community are really getting behind it!  We have invited families to turn up dressed in nativity character costumes and everyone can join in the tableau that is formed during the narration. For people who don't have a costume, tea towels, tinsel and crowns will be at the ready. This is a script written with children under 5 in mind.  It can be narrated by a single voice but if you have older, more confident children, they might like to say the lines of Mary, Joseph, the Angel and the Innkeeper. The songs are all to the tunes of well known nursery rhymes, so everyone should be able to join in.  Click here to print off the script. Have fun!

This year, the Church of England has launched a campaign called Follow the Star, which is encouraging churches and local groups to engage in star related activities in Advent and Christmas.  If you are joining in, and even if you aren't, here are some 'star' ideas to help you out! Star tea light mats and Advent prayer Nativity star reflective colouring page Nativity Star craft and prayers Messy Christmas Star Ornaments Epiphany star finger print prayers Epiphany play dough mat

We are now totally on the countdown to Advent. If you haven't read December's edition of Premier Youth and Children's Work magazine, then I suggest you get your hands on one!! Here is one of the crafts I wrote for my page in the magazine as a little taster of what you can expect... This craft explores the idea of a journey towards the birth of Jesus, echoing the journey that Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem and our own waiting for Jesus to come again. You will need : air drying clay, small candles (Christingle candles are ideal!) Before doing this with children, it might help to do a test run to see roughly how much clay each person will need. Roll the clay into a long, thick sausage shape and slightly flatten out the top.  Make a spiral with the clay.  Take your candle and, starting at the centre of the spiral, make 25 indentations deep enough to let the candle stand up securely.  Leave the spiral to dry.  ...

The Church of England's Advent and Christmas campaign is called 'Follow the Star' and, now we are getting to the time of preparing for such a busy period, I've started thinking about 'star' related activities that children can get involved with.  Here's an easy craft that can be used with children of all ages and a prayer that they can take home and use throughout Advent. You will need: Air drying clay or Model Magic, a large star shaped cutter, sequins, hama beads, tea lights, a copy of the prayer for each child to take home, coloured pens (if using Model Magic!) Roll out the clay fairly thickly and cut out star shapes with the cutter so that each child has their own. Decorate the star shapes by pushing beads and sequins into the clay and by decorating with coloured pens.  Let the clay dry and use as a mat to lay a lit tea light on. Talk about: Chat to children about the star in the story of the Nativity leading to Jesus who is the l...