Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

This Sunday we lit the first candle on our Advent wreath and began looking forward to Christmas. If lighting the candles week by week in Advent is part of your tradition, then you might enjoy this printable reflective colouring sheet. Click here to print off your copy and have a great Advent!

This Sunday we are celebrating Candlemas or the presentation of Jesus in the temple. The story of Simeon and Anna is one of my absolute favourites and I love how this simple craft gives the impression of a person holding the light that Jesus represents, just as Simeon takes Jesus in his arms in the story.  You will need: A copy of the templates , glue, scissors, paper (if patterned make sure the pattern is on both sides). Use the templates to cut out a person shape. Glue along edge B and create a circle with edge A. You can colour the shape in as desired or even write the words of the Nunc Dimitis on it: “Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant, die in peace as you said. 30  I have seen with my own eyes how you will save your people. 31       Now all people can see your plan. 32  He is a light to show your way to the other nations.      And he will bring honor to your people Israel.” (Luke 2: 29-32). You can also use the wings ...

 If you're celebrating Candlemas or the presentation of Christ in the temple this Sunday, here is a short stop motion video of the story! Click here for the link to the video.

Celebrate the new life of resurrection with this butterfly craft. You will need: two squares of coloured paper (one smaller than the other), string. Easter Egg Prayers Easter Day colouring sheet Easter Day Play Dough Mats

A craft to help you to explore the events of Holy Saturday. You will need: Shiny or holographic card, coloured/ patterned paper, sticky back plastic or lamination pouch and laminator, dark coloured paint, washing up liquid, paint pot, paintbrush, cocktail stick.

This is a fun way to celebrate Jesus as the light of the world, especially if you are celebrating Candlemas this Sunday! Traditionally at Candlemas (or the Presentation of Christ), the passage from Luke 2 where Simeon and Anna meet Jesus is read and we hear the famous lines: “Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant, die in peace as you said. 30  I have seen with my own eyes how you will save your people. 31       Now all people can see your plan. 32  He is a light to show your way to the other nations.      And he will bring honor to your people Israel.” (Luke 2: 29-32) Jesus is recognised as the saviour who has come to bring light to dark situations and to show people the way, and this prayer craft helps children to work with this image. You will need: battery operated tea lights, A6 size paper, felt tip pens, glue Put the A6 Paper in landscape orientation and ask children to draw pictures and write the names of ...

I have a bit of a weakness for glow in the dark things. I ended up buying 100 glow in the dark baby Jesus figures before Christmas and I still haven't figured out what to do with them, but the day will come! My new favourite thing, though, is glow in the dark tape.  It has a lot of potential!  I got some quite cheaply online  and have used it for a craft to help children explore the concept of God being with them in the darkness and hard times.  This craft would work well with stories about God's protection and presence e.g. Daniel and the lions' den, Moses and the Red Sea, Paul and Silas in jail. You will need: Paper (any colour), scissors, glow in the dark tape, marker pens Get children to cut up the tape and stick it on the paper in any design they fancy.  They can then, if they want to, decorate the tape with marker pens/ write verses about God's presence and protection. Useful verses might include: Psalm 16:1  Protect me, God, because I d...

Last week we went into our local church infant school to run a prayer workshop for each class in celebration of the 'Thy Kingdom Come' 10 days of prayer. This was one of their favourite activities! We got the original idea from the cross in this great post at Easy Breezy Sunday School  and then added a few little twists to it :-) We wanted the children to think about God being a provider (linked to the Lord's prayer and 'give us today our daily bread') and to know that God wants good things for us. My friend Charlotte built an amazing cross out of cardboard tubes of various sizes and spray painted it gold to make it extra special. In each of the tubes we put a sweet and then we asked the children to write or draw their asking prayers on a piece of paper, put it into one of the tubes and take a sweet as a reminder that we can ask God for things and that He wants to give us good things. We have done quite a lot of work with the children at the school and th...

The story of Jesus being presented in the temple is full of amazing imagery from Simeon and Anna about light and Jesus' power to set people free.  If you are covering the story this Sunday (and even if you aren't!) here are some ideas to help you... Activities Light of the world Sun catchers Light of the World Play dough Mat Oil and paper sun catchers  The Lord is my Light reflective colouring Prayer activities to bring out the theme of Jesus bringing light and rescue  Light to the world Use print outs of world maps or of the local area and use highlighter pens to mark areas on the map. Pray that Jesus will bring his light and hope to those areas. Candle Prayers Give each child their own candle. Ask them to think of a situation in the world or their life where there is worry or sadness or loss. Ask Jesus to bring his light to those situations Bubble wrap worry prayers Tell God what you are worried about and pop a bubble on the bubble wrap ...

This is one of our most popular crafts at last week's Messy church and was a hit with all ages- from adults down to the youngest children.  These sun catchers are great to colour and display in your window.  Let the light shine through! You will need: Clear acetate, Sharpies or permanent markers, copies of the picture sheet. To print the sheet click here .  Print off the picture sheet and either  1:Photocopy it onto clear acetate, cut out the individual pictures and let children colour them with markers or  2. Lay clear acetate over the top of the picture sheet so that children can trace over the outlines of the pictures with black marker before cutting out the picture and colouring the rest of it in. Have fun!

We are getting ready for our light party next week and a light themed Messy Church as well!  This is one of the activities for Messy Church that we just might have on hand at the party as well.  Play dough is always a favourite. If you want to print out the mat, click here. Remember to laminate the mats if you want to reuse them in the future :-)

I came across something on Pinterest the other day that amazed my non-scientific brain... You can draw an electrical circuit with graphite pencils!!  No need for wires or anything.  This, of course, got me thinking on prayer activity lines :-) Here is how to help children pray that they can be the light of the world, bringing hope to dark places- in a very individual way! “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid...  your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5: 14, 16 You will need: paper, Graphite pencils (they MUST be graphite or this won't work- I tried! You can get them from art shops/ drawing supplies.  I got these ones ), a 9V battery, a 3mm or 5mm LED bulb (see this Amazon link ), sellotape. Draw a simple circuit first to test the idea out.  Imagine that you are drawing two wires instead of using physical ones. First draw a l...

Next Sunday some of us will be celebrating Candlemas or the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.  This is where Simeon and Anna meet the saviour they have been waiting for and Simeon states that he has seen God's salvation-  A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles      and bring glory to your people Israel.  Luke 2: 32 This presents the opportunity of lots of light to be used!  Here is a craft that might come in useful, helping children to explore what it means to reflect the light that Jesus brings. You will need: old Cds, permanent marker pens, a torch or lamp, a dark room Switch off the lights in a dark room and then switch on some torches and lamps. Speak to the children about what a difference it makes when you bring light into a dark place. Scary things don't seem so scary any more. Jesus was the one who came to bring light to the dark places of the world- to help people to feel less afraid and to give them hope.  This...

I've seen some 'stained glass' crafts on Pinterest recently that make use of plastic lids ( click here for an example using tissue paper).  I've just invested in some new sharpies so I thought I'd try out a variation.  Sharpies are great but any permanent marker will do!  This is a great activity to introduce children to some of the key Christian symbols they might encounter in church and especially in stained glass windows. You will need : A copy of the Christian symbols sheet.   Click here to print out, permanent marker pans (e.g. Sharpies), clear plastic lids (the circles on the sheet are just about right for the size of lids you find on large pots of yoghurt), blue tack  Turn the lid flat side down and trace over one of the designs with a black or dark marker to make an outline of the picture  Turn the lid over so that the outline marking is on the inside.  This will stop the outline smudging as you colour.  Now colour in the desi...

This is an activity that can be done by children of all ages and is a great illustration of Christ's light shining thorugh us. You will need : oil in small containers (I used vegetable oil), cotton buds, paper in various shapes.  Children might like to cut the paper in the shape of their initial or of something that speaks of their own personality. Use cotton buds to 'paint' oil onto the paper in whatever designs the children like.  Children might want to write words about themselves or words about Jesus. When the oil is dry, blu-tack the paper shapes to the window and let the light shine through the designs! Talk with the children about being light in the world.  We let the light of Jesus shine through us through the things we do and say, just as the light shines through the patterns we made with the oil.  You might like to create a group design on a larger sheet of paper, where children draw or write actions or words they can use...

This is a simple but effective craft to help children think about Jesus coming as the light of the world, especially relevant for Advent when we use lights and candles a lot to think about bringing light to the dark places of the world You will need: An A5 sheet of black paper or thin black card  Fold the sheet into quarters.  Cut shapes across the folds (as if making snowflakes!)  Open the sheet out.  Roll the sheet and secure to make a tube.  Tape up the top of the tube.  You should now have a kind of 'hat'. Place a battery operated tea light under the 'hat'.  Let the light shine through the darkness!  This is not a terribly good photo, but the effect is lovely as the candle shines through all of the patterned slits in the black paper. Use this craft to talk to children about John 1:1-5 Think about the 'darkness' in the world e.g. sadness, illness, poverty.  Light the candle and pray that God will break through and ...