Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

 Here is a useful colouring sheet if you are exploring the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples in John 20. It captures the moment when Jesus invites Thomas to put his hands in the wounds from the cross and to check how real he is.  To print out the sheet click here: Colouring gives a great window of opportunity for reflection and discussion. Have a think about these things: I wonder why Thomas is uncertain? I wonder what questions you would have had if you had been there? I wonder if you have ever seen something unbelievable?

One of the key elements of the story of Jesus and Thomas after the resurrection is that Thomas finds it hard to believe that the resurrection is possible if he doesn't see it with his own eyes.  Sometimes people tell us things that it's really hard for us to believe and we want proof. This craft is something that seems hard to believe unless you see it. With two cuts you are going to make two circles into a square.  Give children some strips pf paper and show them how to make them into circles by gluing the ends together. Then ask them to take two of the circles and, with only two cuts, make a square. When they have struggled for a while and found it impossible, then show them the steps below! You will need: scissors, two identically sized strips of paper, glue. Glue the ends of the one of the strips and make it into a circle Put glue in the centre of the second strip of paper. Glue the centre of the paper to the inside of the first ring as shown. Glue the end of the second s...

This Sunday the lectionary leads us to the story where Thomas meets Jesus after the resurrection. It's hard in times such as this not to be sympathetic towards Thomas. It's hard, sometimes to see where Jesus is when there is pain and sadness all around. That is why I've chosen to focus on Hope this Sunday. How do we find God and have faith in all of this when we can't see him face to face as Thomas does? We can look for the people bringing hope and compassion and love and light in the darkness and that is where we will see God at work. This play dough mat will help children to explore this idea of hope as a sign of God. As usual, print it out ( click here ), laminate for future repeated uses and have fun! 

This Sunday the lectionary covers the story of Thomas being invited to touch the wounds of the risen Jesus and recognise him.  A lot of the time when we cover this story with children we focus of the idea of faith and being able to believe even though we don't see.  It struck me that it's also about how we recognise Jesus and what implications that might have for us as disciples. Here are some ideas to help explore the theme! Games:   'Feely' bag.  Can you recognise the item even if you can't see it?  How did you know? Blindfold a child and get them to fell the face of another child.  Can they guess who it is? How? Get a collection of celebrity photos or photos of people in the church.  How many people do you recognise? How? 20 questions- can you guess the mystery person?  What helped you to guess? Make a diagram to identify eveyone in the group by looking at hair/ eye colour etc. Think about: Even after doubting, Thomas saw Jesus...