Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

This prayer activity would work really well if you are looking at the Armour of God or any story involving God's protection. You will need: oranges or tangerines/ clementines (one for each child plus a couple of spare ones), permanent marker pens, a tall, clear jug or vase. Peel an orange or tangerine and put it into the water. It will sink to the bottom of the jug.  Then put an orange with the peel left on into the water. It will float. The peel is actually like armour, keeping the orange safe from sinking.  Ask children to write or draw on their oranges things that they would like protection from in life- maybe things that scare them. Float the decorated oranges in the water as a celebration of the protection and strength God can give.

Next week our younger children will be exploring Psalm 121 and thinking about God's help and protection.  They really enjoy doing anything related to food, so here is an activity I have planned for them.  As it's about God's protection it would work equally well with any story that has that theme: Daniel in the Lion's Den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Jesus calms the storm...  You will need: undecorated cupcakes, a knife or spoon, small sweets e.g. Skittles, fondant icing, rolling pin, circular cookie cutters. Cut a hole in the top of a cupcake with a spoon or a knife. Fill the hole with sweets. Roll out some fondant icing and cut out a circle of it that is big enough to cover the top of your cupcake. Cover the cupcake with the fondant and decorate it (maybe with the initial letter of your name). The sweets will be hidden under the icing and protected by it. Bite into the cake to reveal the protected sweets! Talk about:  Link the ...

One of the key themes in the story of Daniel and the Lions' den is that of God keeping Daniel safe.  This craft helps children to explore this idea of protection. You will need: Paper plates (it is easier to pull the masking tape off compared with paper!), masking tape, felt tip pens. Stick masking tape onto the paper plate however you like. Here I've done it in the shape of an initial letter but it really doesn't matter.  The important thing is having some tape stuck down! Colour over and around the tape.  Children of any age can do this so it doesn't have to be neat and tidy, though it can be if you want it to be! Carefully pull the masking tape off to reveal the 'protected' space beneath. Talk about: How might Daniel have felt at different times in the story/ How would you have felt?  Think about imes we feel scared and in need of protection.  Who can we ask to help?  Have you ever asked God to keep you safe? What happened? (It's ...

I'm doing a storytelling workshop at the weekend and will be using the story of Daniel in the Lions' den.  I wanted to produce a set of cards that would tell the story in an easy way, without too many words and this is what I came up with.  Please feel free to print off, cut out and use!  Click here to download the sheet. I think I'm going to use them in a pass-the-parcel. The story will be revealed layer by layer until the final card is found in the centre of the parcel with some sweets so that everyone can celebrate how great God is! Click to see pass-the-parcel versions of the Easter and Nativity stories.

Here is our next new story bag, which we tested out in Sparks this week! Contents: 2 Daniel board books Lion cuddly toy finger puppet sad and happy faces to discuss feelings in the story lion mask 3 lion sticks and a box 'pit' Daniel and King stick puppets Angel figure We told the story using the bag and then acted out being lions who had our mouths closed by an angel- roaring one minute, then stopping suddenly on a signal. We asked the children to build dens for the lions... And then made a paper craft with hearts to remind us that God loved Daniel and saved him from the lions. We also talked about Daniel being brave and trusting in God to help him.  We talked about times when we were scared and then built a strong tower with the lego to show that God can help to make us strong when we are afraid!

Our children absolutely love making anything edible and this is an activity we tried with the 0-3s who come to TOTS! After hearing the story of Daniel in the lion's den- here are the biscuits they decorated (or didn't quite in some cases!) We used: Digestive biscuits, icing, writing icing, raisins, mini smarties, yellow fondant cut into flower shapes, strawberry laces The adult made model!!