Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

Story Cubes are a great way of both telling and recalling parts of a story. With this cube, tell the story of Holy Week and then throw the cube to remember individual events. There are 2 versions- a colour your own page and a page that is already coloured and labelled. Use one or both! Click here to download and print. Think about all of the things that happen- Palm Sunday, Last supper, Garden of Gethsemane, Crucifixion, Burial in the tomb and resurrection and wonder about them. I wonder... ...which part of the story is your favourite? ...which part of the story makes you ask a question? ...where you are in this story?

Crafts to help you explore the events of Good Friday. You will need: Hammer, nails, piece of wood, wool, paint, oil, paper, paintbrush, paint container. Good Friday Play Dough Mat Tape resist cross

Here is the next play dough mat in the Easter Story set. This time, we are looking at Good Friday and thinking how Jesus' friends would have  felt when they saw the cross.  This is a very tactile way to help younger children to explore the shape of the cross.  Use play dough to fill in the cross shape and to put expressions on the faces of the people.   Click  here  to print the mat and Laminate it so it will last repeated play dough sessions!

Here's another preview of our Messy Church crafts for Easter! I came across this idea on Pinterest and we love it.  It's quick, easy and makes a really colourful resurrection cross to celebrate Jesus rising to new life!  You can see the original idea if you  click here , but this is how we've adapted it!  Cut out a cross shape (we used A4 card)  Stick masking tape over the cross in whatever pattern you like! Dip the ends of chalk in water and paint with it in the spaces created by the masking tape.  (It doesn't matter if you go over the edges of the tape!) When the chalk is dry, carefully remove the masking tape from the cross!

Here's an activity that will be available at Messy Church this Easter but is also an interesting way to help children reflect on what happened to Jesus on the cross. When using it as a reflection activity, I'd put an adult with the board as a guide and also to help prevent any injuries should a nail come loose for any reason! The board is a piece of wood that I have hammered nails into so children can feel the textures and be reminded of what happened to Jesus on Good Friday. The nails are then used to stretch elastic bands into cross shapes of different colours and sizes.  As children make their cross they can thank Jesus for what he did or talk about what it must have been like for him.  The individual crosses represent us as individuals who have been saved by Jesus and eventually the whole board will be filled with overlapping crosses to represent the overlapping of our own relationships as Christian friends and family.  A note on the board:  I'm n...

You will need:  Nails, a piece of wood or a simple cross made of wood, felt tip pens, a hammer Let the children carefully feel the nails and touch the wood so that they get a sensory experience of what you are talking about.  If you wish, hammer some of the nails into the wood so that they can add the sound experience.  Talk them through the prayer station below. Crucifixion Feel the hard wood and the cold, sharp nails. How would you have felt if you had seen Jesus being nailed to the cross? Christians believe that Jesus died so that we could be forgiven for the things we have done wrong. Have you done something that you are sorry for? Tell God silently in your head. If you would like to, write your name on the cross to show that you have said sorry. This station remind me of the 'Sorry Cross' we sometimes use as a Sunday morning prayer station.  This is a large cross covered in paper that the children write on to tell God the things the...