Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

Here is a reflective colouring sheet to go with the story of Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14). The  picture shows the reassuring words of Jesus and a foot stepping out into the water.  Click here  to print off the sheet! Talk about:  What might the disciples have been thinking/ feeling when they saw Jesus? When have you needed to have courage to step out? How does it make you feel? Who helps you when you feel like you might sink? Leaders give testimonies of times when Jesus has helped you to have courage Pray: Draw around feet and cut out the shapes.  Draw or write situations on them where you would like Jesus to help you not to be afraid. Pin the shapes to some blue fabric to make it look as if the feet are walking on water

I was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest recently of a sensory pathway and it got me thinking about how we could use the idea to help children to connect with God.  I had some fun putting this together and it can potentially be used on several different levels- plus I had to take a trip to IKEA to get a few things!!   I used: A glue gun and glue sticks, plastic trays, plastic mats, rope, stones, pom poms, giant bubble wrap, scourer sponges (with the sponge and scourer part separated), a bath mat. Do this either in socks or in bare feet. In terms of risk assessment- it's probably best to get the children to stand one at a time on any mat and to make sure there is no fast movement that will cause trippage!!! Under 5s- Jesus walks on the water.  Think about what it feels like to step out onto various different materials.  You could include a tray of water and some towels as well! Jesus sends out the 72 disciples - feel the different ...

Here is a play dough mat to help children to explore and respond to the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter's attempt to walk towards him.  It's especially useful to help children explore themes of bravery in life and looking to Jesus for confidence. As usual, the play dough mats work best if you laminate them as they are then easier to wipe clean and you can use them again and again! To print the mat,  Click here . Have fun!

There comes a time when you just have to get messy in the pursuit of story telling.  I am usually an avoider of paint, but even I couldn't resist the messiness scale of this activity! This is a fantastic way of exploring the story of Jesus walking on water, but please be aware IT IS MESSY! You will need: Paint, wallpaper lining paper or a long strip of paper, feet, washing up bowls filled with warm water, towels (old ones that you don't mind getting a bit stained!) Read or tell the story of Jesus walking on water and then talk about Peter stepping out in faith.  Who he walked towards Jesus he stayed afloat, but when he payed attention to the wind and the waves, he began to sink.   Lay out the paper to make a long stretch of 'water' and make sure that it is fastened down! It is best to do this either outside, or somewhere easy to clean. Squirt some blobs of paint onto the paper.  Make sure they are small blobs because big blobs will cause a slipperiness ...

Having discovered word clouds at  Tagxedo  I thought I'd play around a little! We were looking at the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter getting out of the Boat to join Him so I copied the text (Matthew 14: 22-31) and pasted it into the word cloud creator.  I made an oval and then inverted it so that the words were around a blank space in the middle. After telling the story, I then asked the children to take the word cloud and see what stood out to them from the words they could see ans from what they had heard.  We prayed that God would speak to them and then everyone sat in silence for a few minutes while they drew or wrote what came to mind in the space.  It was amazing to see what different things about the story spoke to different children and they were able to explain quite clearly what their responses were, having had time to reflect! Jesus helping Peter when he was sinking Believe that Jesus can help when you are afraid ...