Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

Ok,  I'm going to admit that this was largely just for fun during our Joseph Themed Messy Church! We wanted an unusual activity that would appeal to all ages and would tie in loosely with the theme.  This worked perfectly... You can use the colour explosions to think about the various things that at first seem to go wrong in Joseph's life but then God uses for something amazing (the wonderful, crazy artwork that is produced).  There's also so much in this activity about the power of God that can't be contained. Or alternatively just use it to help create a coat of many colours! DO THIS OUTSIDE BECAUSE THE PAINT WILL FLY!!!  This was part of our wall at the end and I won't even talk about the floor.  It was amazing fun though! You will need: A large sheet of white paper or a sheet to paint on, paint, clear vinegar, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), small ziplock bags (I used 2.75x4" bags as bigger sandwich sized bags produced WAY too much liquid). ...

This is a very tactile way of praying for people who are going through difficult times and can be used with a variety of Bible stories where difficulties of some kind has to be faced e.g. the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. I love it because the wool 'sticks' to the sandpaper naturally, creating a colourful picture and breaking up the roughness of the surface with softness.   It is quite a reflective activity so children might even like to use it if they are having some quiet time with God... You will need: Sandpaper, short lengths of wool Talk about: The rough feel of the sandpaper.  What does this remind you of?  Which stories from the Bible do you know where people were having a difficult time but God brought a change and a new start for them? Share times from your life and from the children's lives when things have been rough and God has helped you through. Pray;  Feel the sandpaper with your fingers. Think about people you know who are going th...

This week in our journey through the story of Joseph, we've reached the part where Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream and becomes an important leader there.  I was inspired by an Egyptian collar craft I found here  but put my own slant on it!  This craft was very easy but gave a lot of scope for individuality as we had a group of children ranging from 3-13 years.  I really wanted the children to think about how God had looked after Joseph and had brought him through hard times to something really good.  Because of this we used lots of shiny things to decorate the collars with!  We wanted to make something special to represent how special Joseph was to God. We used felt for the collar base but card would work just as well.  To decorate we used sequins and strips of shiny coloured card. Draw round a large paper plate and cut out the circle from the felt Make a neck space (off centre) by drawing round a CD.  Cut this circle out and reserve fo...

The next part of the Joseph story we are going to look at is what happens after he is taken to Egypt- in Potiphar's house and in prison It's not terribly constructive to go into the precise details of how Joseph lands up in jail (especially with 3 year olds!) so we will be using the retelling in the  Lion Storyteller Bible , stopping just as Joseph is taken to see the king (that will be covered in the following session!).  What we really want to emphasise is that Joseph experiences good times and bad times (ups and downs) but God is always looking after him and never leaves him.  This retelling is especially good to help with this. To help this idea to stick in the children's heads we are going to make an 'ups and downs' craft. You will need: Foam sheets, beads, pipe cleaners. Front Back To make:   Push one end of the pipe cleaner through the foam sheet and bend over at the back to secure. put a bead onto the pipe cleaner. Bend the pipe clean...

In the summer, things tend to quieten down a bit for our children's work and we need to find something that will work with a group of children aged 3-11.  This isn't always easy so we try to be as practical and visual as possible! This summer, we are looking at the story of Joseph from Genesis.  Our first session told the part of the story where Joseph's brothers become jealous of him and sell him to some slave traders from Egypt.  We wanted a craft that would emphasise the change in Joseph's status so that we could talk about God being with us in the bad times as well as the good times.  Kylé came up with something great! Here are instructions for our Joseph's coat craft... Print off the template sheet (click here ) and copy it onto card. Cut out the Joseph shape  Cut out the coat shape.  We used sticky back plastic (contact paper) but card would work just as well.  Fold Joseph over so that the two halves fit on top of ...

I'm very excited about our Joseph story bag! We're going to be looking at the story of Joseph over the Sundays of the summer holiday and we've been planning contents of the bag to go with each part of the story. We used things that we already had in the craft and toy boxes and made a trip to the pound shop so nothing would break the bank. Hopefully, using the bag will help the children to remember the story and to have fun at the same time!  As usual, when we have finished using it, the bag will be available for parents to borrow and use at home.  Contents: Story books (I got a couple of used books very cheaply on Amazon but we found that the Lion Storyteller Bible has a great retelling as well) 13 craft stick people (12 named brothers and 1 Jacob- with grey hair to identify!) Joseph's coat fuzzy felt dustpan and brush (for when Joseph worked in Potiphar's house) toy grapes/ bread (baker's and butler's dreams in prison)  2 toy cows (Pharaoh...

We're putting together a Joseph story bag for the summer and it's been interesting planning what to put inside! Of course, the most obvious part of the Joseph story is the bit about his fantastic coat.  Genesis 37:3 states that the coat is 'a long robe with full sleeves', (or a 'decorated robe' in some translations), so we are justified in making it colourful- it does, after all, have to be something his brothers would envy! I wanted to make a fuzzy felt coat that the children could decorate and change as often as they wanted to so I was looking around for a stiff piece of board for my felt backing.  I didn't happen to have any board, but I did have some of those cheap takeaway plastic boxes with lids and that seemed as good as anything else! I cut out a piece of felt to be my backing and stuck it to the bottom of the box lid (so it would end up inside the box when the box was closed).  I then cut out a felt coat shape and stuck that on top of...