Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

 We're launching into Lent with a resource for families to pray through Lent together! This printable resource consists of 40 paper strips, labelled with different things to pray about/for: please, sorry, thanks, friends, family, world and a few blanks for something else.  Print off the pages (click here) , cut out the strips and put them into a box or cup. Each day, take out one of the strips and pray for that thing- there's space to write or draw your prayer if you'd like to. When you've prayed, add the strip to a paper chain of your prayers. Over Lent, you'll hopefully use up all of the strips and be able to look back at all of the things you've prayed for.

Ash Wednesday can often get forgotten in church children's work, as it happens mid week rather than on a Sunday.  If you are observing the day, here is a useful resource for you. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent and ashes are used to remind us that we are human and that this life is temporary. We also remember the wrong things we have done and take the opportunity to trun back to God. To print the sheet, click here. Make some ashes (i burned some paper in a metal biscuit tin).  Mix the ashes with some oil (not water as this can cause burns). Use a finger to paint the ashes onto the sheet, just as ash crosses are drawn on foreheads. Have a go at making ash crosses on foreheads and hands if this is something you are all comfortable with. The words 'Father forgive' are part of the prayer we pray oon Ash Wednesday, remembering the things we have done wrong. The heart is a symbol of God's forgiving love, which we also remember.

Easter is coming way sooner than seems possible! Lent starts next week so here are some ideas to get things going... Shrove Tuesday is traditionally the day when people use up all of the rich foods in their homes, ready for the Lent fasting to begin. This is not a cooking activity (because every time I make pancakes it is a total disaster!), but it is an active way to celebrate and thank God for the good gifts He has given us. Shrove Tuesday Celebration Prayers Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and a day where we have a chance to say sorry for things we have done wrong and to think about our lives. This post contains a simple interactive liturgy, an 'ash' related prayer activity and a craft to draw out the themes of the day. Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Prayer and Crafts Some simple ideas to help families engage with the season of Lent . The printable booklet includes prayers, activities, and colouring sheets. Lent Ideas for Families: Printabl...

This talk is suitable for smaller groups of children or even for a larger group as long as you have plenty of resources to go around!  The talk goes through key events of the Easter story and involves touch, taste, sound, sight and smell.  Beware allergies!! You will need: bread, some stones, salt water in a pot, nails, a piece of wood, salt and vinegar crisps, a bandage, a hollow, chocolate Easter egg, scented candle and lighter bread - Talk about the last supper.  Jesus gathered his friends around to share a last meal, to prepare them for what would happen and tell them how to remember him.  Share out pieces of the bread stone- Gethsemane.  After the meal, Jesus went to a garden to pray for strength and that God would help him in the coming days.  Children take a stone and hold onto it.  Think of things in their life that are hard.  Ask God to help them. Nails-  After being arrested, Jesus is led out to ...

Here is a simple game to play at home or at church that will help to introduce the key symbols of the Palm Sunday story- palm leaves, donkey, robes laid down on the floor and a crown to symbolise Jesus' kingship.   Click here to print out the picture sheet. Cut out the picture squares and back them with card so that the ink of the pictures doesn't show through the back when they are lying face down!  If you want to keep the cards long term it might be good to laminate them too. Mix the cards up and lie them all face down.  Children take it in turns to turn over two cards.  If they are a matching pair then children can keep them.  If they don't match, then replace the cards and wait for the next turn.  The winner is the person with most matching pairs at the end of the game. Use the pictures to either introduce the story or to reinforce the elements of the story and get the children to explain in their own words what the pictures mean or to ...

Here is another idea that you could easily do at home as a family Lent activity.  It would also work well in any setting with an oven! I've always fancied making pretzels but, to be completely honest, I don't have a lot of spare time for bread baking and I find that, if you are working with a children's group, making real pretzels is not going to fit into your time allocation!  These are scone 'pretzels' so not the same but much quicker than the traditional kind!! Pretzels are traditionally linked with Lent because they are said to resemble arms crossed in prayer.  I can't say that this is a position I have ever prayed in, but I certainly like the link!  Here's how to make them and then ideas to help you include some prayer in the activity... Ingredients:  100g self raising flour 30g butter milk to mix tablespoon sugar Pinch of salt 1 Egg Preheat the even to 180C Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in t...

This is a really practical way to get children involved in a prayer walk around the local area and to help them think about praying for the people around them.  This activity is part of the printable Lent Ideas for Families book  and you can print off the stand-alone instructions and picture sheet here if you want to pass it on to other families. You will need: paper cut into heart shapes, pens or pencils.  Scavenger hunt sheet, phones or digital cameras. Walk around the streets of your neighbourhood as a family.  Give each child a scavenger hunt sheet.  When you get to a street sign, write down the name of the street on a paper heart.  Look out for things on the scavenger hunt sheet and take photos of interesting things on phones or digital cameras: When you get home, choose a paper heart and pray for God to bless the people on that street.  What else could you pray about, based on the scavenger hunt? Eg. people staying safe o...

A few months back we had a look at Illustrated Children's Ministry, a new ministry using illustrations as creative way of exploring the Bible with children at church and at home. ICM has continued to grow its resources and the newest product on offer is 'An Illustrated Lent.'   If you're looking for a high quality product that will engage children in creative and reflective ways over this season, then this might be a solution!  Even better- this is a downloadable resource so you won't have to wait for it to arrive in the post... There are two possibilities depending on your situation and I've taken a look at both below.  The exciting thing is that Adam at ICM has offered Flame readers an exclusive 20% discount code for this week only- valid until Sunday 14th Feb.  Read to the end of this post to find the code! The Church edition contains ideas and colour illustrations to engage children with each of the 7 weeks of Lent, using the stories of Jesus i...

It's that time of year again... Easter eggs are already in the shops and that's a reminder that Lent is just around the corner!   Here is a printable book of ideas for the whole family, with an activity for every week in Lent and also one for Easter Day. Weekly themes covered include: 'blessings,' 'love your neighbour,' 'hospitality,' 'giving,' 'praying,' 'fasting,' 'Holy Week,' and 'celebrating.' Activities include a prayer walk scavenger hunt, a reflective colouring sheet and scone pretzels recipe. When we give these out at church, each family will also have a little bag containing a piece of sandpaper, some strands of wool and a play dough mat.  Nearer to Holy week, each family (or anyone who wants one!) will also get a 'Holy Week in a box .'  See inside the booklet for further details! Click here to print off and start the journey!

Here's our second ever guest post!  This time Traci Smith introduces an idea to help children think about giving to others during Lent.  I'll hand over to Traci... In a new book from Chalice Press called   Seamless Faith: Simple Practices for Daily Family Life , author Traci Smith shares dozens of simple practices to equip families of all kinds with the tools they need for bringing faith home. Today's idea is specifically for the season of lent, and it encourages families to connect the spiritual practice of almsgiving to food and hunger. Though we are in the middle of lent, this practice can be started anytime during lent and does not have to be the full 40 days long.  Download the PDF from the book  or continue reading for more details!  Almsgiving: 40 Days of Giving During Lent Giving to the poor is a key feature of most of the world’s religions. In Christianity, giving is especially important during Lent. Almsgiving is one of the three tra...

We did a session on Palm Sunday at our school lunch club today and had a great time! I wanted to make flags but didn't have any appropriate sticks.  I improvised by folding a paper plate in half and stapling it over the side of some paper to make a 'handle' the children could hold when they waved it.  No one even asked where the sticks were!! Children decorated the flags as they wished... We then told the story, acting it out with our hands and shouting 'hosanna' at the tops of our voices! Next we talked about praise words for God.  We started with the word 'amazing' and asked the children to come up with words that meant the same thing.  They loved this and we soon had a long list- incredible, unbelievable, fantastic, fabulous, wonderful... We stood in a circle and children chose a word, shouted it and waved their flag.  Then we all together shouted our word 5 times and made a lot of noise for God to hear!

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...

You will need: a pile of small pebbles or stones, a large bowl.   The Garden of Gethsemane Jesus came to the garden to pray to God about the hard thing he was going to have to do.   What things do you find hard?  Is there anything that scares you? Tell God about the hard things in your life and put a stone into the bowl as a sign that you are giving that hard thing to God and would like Him to help you.

You will need:  Bread, a cup, water, a bowl and a towel if you want to illustrate foot washing! The Last Supper Jesus showed how much he loved his friends by washing their feet and by sharing a special meal with them. Who are your friends? How would you help them? What would you share with them? Share some of the bread and think about what you would do.  Ask God to be with your friends.

We are putting together a set of prayer stations to tell the Easter story.  Here is the first one! You will need: A large sheet of paper or wallpaper roll with the words Hosanna! and Alleluia! outlined on it in large letters, glue, sequins or other shiny stickers Palm Sunday The crowd greeted Jesus like he was a king or a great hero. Who is your hero?  Who do you really admire and look up to? Why? Say thank you to God for that person and glue some sequins  to the banner to reflect how special they are.

Thinking about the approach of Easter, I thought I'd post this prayer that we used last year.  The only fiddly bit is making up little packets so that each child has one smartie of each colour.  The children loved it, but make sure the younger ones remember to eat the colours as you say them or they'll have nothing left within 5 seconds! Say each line and eat a Smartie of the appropriate colour: Pink for the people who came and praised, Green for the palm leaves that they raised; Purple for the robe that Jesus wore, Brown for the cross that Jesus bore; Red for the blood that Jesus shed, Blue for the tears when he was dead; orange for the stone that was rolled away, Yellow for joy- He's alive today!

I am always aware of the Lord's presence; he is near and nothing can shake me. Psalm 16:8 Here's an idea to help emphasise God's closeness to us, wherever we are and whatever we're doing. Talk about times we face during the day that can be difficult and when we'd really like to know God is with us, or even times when we are on our own and feel lonely.  God is always there, but sometimes it's hard to remember that when we can't see him! Take a safety pin and pin it somewhere on your clothes as a reminder that God is always with you and keeps you safe.  You might prefer to put it somewhere where no-one can see or you might have it on show as a potential talking point!  You might even want to personalise the safety pin with a couple of beads or a small strip of ribbon!

This is an idea for the whole family to get involved in! Take a jam or coffee jar and decorate it (I used sparkly paper because I like that type of thing!) Cut up some bits of paper and put them by the jar with some pens or pencils.  Put the jar somewhere accessible to everybody at any time e.g kitchen table.  When something good happens or someone has been kind to you, write it on a slip of paper and put it in the jar. Make a routine of opening the jar once a day or once a week when everyone is together, reading the slips and saying thank you to God for His blessings!  Maybe you could even glue them all into a book to look back at in the future to see how God has blessed you!