Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

This can be quite a reflective activity, so it might be good to create a peaceful atmosphere for the children when they do this.  Equally it's good to make room to chat to them about what they are thinking as they do it so see how it goes! You will need: Paper plates, scissors, wool, a pen, mats e.g. made of cork, plastic tapestry needles Fold the paper plate in half and draw half a heart at the middle fold.  Cut the shape out and open the plate up so that you can see the whole heart  Lay the plate on a mat that will be forgiving to holes (e.g. cork!) and poke a pen through the paper around the cut out heart.  Leave a wide margin or the paper might tear when you come to sewing. Talk to the children about what the heart symbolises to them: love, strength, caring etc? Esther showed great love for her people and for Mordecai but she also showed that she had a great deal of courage in her heart.  Ask the children to think about times whe...

The Story of Esther hinges on an ordinary woman, in an extraordinary situation, having to show a great deal of courage.  Although the name of God is not specifically mentioned in the whole of the book, Esther must be rooted in her identity as one of the people of God so that she can help to save them.  This prayer activity will help children to visualise the amazing help and courage that God can bring. You will need: A ziplock or sealable sandwich bag, water, sharp pencils and pens Fill the sandwich bag with water (leave some space at the top) and seal it. Talk about the times when we need to have courage.  What are the things that scare us and we worry about having to do?  The things that we worry will hurt us?  Ask children what would happen if we poke a pencil in the plastic bag? Hopefully they will suggest that it will leak!  Take a pencil and poke it all the way through the bag (see picture above).  There is no leakage whatsoever.  ...

This craft is very messy, requires some patience and is very effective for exploring the idea of Jesus giving us the strength we need (e.g when looking at verses such as Philippians 4:13). You will need: wool, PVA (white) glue, greaseproof or waxed paper, string, at least 24 hours!  Cut lengths of wool and dip them in PVA.  Cover the strands quite thickly and be prepared to get very messy and sticky.   Arrange the wool in patterns on top of the greaseproof paper.  We made crosses but you can do anything!  Make sure that each strand of wool connects with at least one other strand so that they will stick together when the project dries. Now wait AT LEAST 24 hours for your artwork to dry.  The wool will stiffen.  Even if you think it is dry- wait!   Carefully pull the dried projects off the paper and thread some string through them so that they can be hung in windows or from door handles. Talk about: sometimes we find things ha...