Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

In the joy of Christmas it often feels like bursting a bubble to remember Herod's slaughter of the children but, sometimes, it's fitting to acknowledge the difficult and uncomfortable parts of the Bible. This year, we used the opportunity to think about those people across the world who are suffering and in despair, and to stand alongside them in their tears, even as we were still in the midst of celebrating Christmas. Obviously this is a subject that needs to be handled sensitively and with knowledge of individual life situations if at all possible. As part of an all age service we spoke about loss and sorrow and sometimes having to ask where God is in a situation. We also remembered that Jesus, the hope and light of the world was not extinguished, even in this despair. As a craft activity we invited people to make teardrop sun catchers from tissue paper and sticky back plastic. Our prayers focussed on those people and places we knew who were suffering, with each person adding...

This is a great idea from our amazing children's worker, Sharon.  A few weeks ago we were looking, as a congregation, at the question of what heaven is like. We talked about one of my favourite passages,  Revelation 21:1-4 . Those who were being creative with the passage looked especially at verse 4:    He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.” Sharon had the brilliant idea of using handkerchiefs to convey the message of heaven being a place where God wipes all of our tears away.. Here's what they did. You will need:  White fabric or  white handkerchiefs ,  fabric pens Thinks about what heaven will be like and what it will be like never to be sad or in pain again. What would it be like for God to wipe our tears away? On the handkerchiefs, draw or write words about heaven and take the handkerchief home as a reminder of what we hope for.

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

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.  Revelation 21:4 Sometimes the life can be sad and worrying. It is important to acknowledge that children feel these emotions and I strongly feel that it is part of our ministry to help them to express to God what makes them feel sad.  I love Revelation 21 because it really paints a picture of a place where God is and where all that makes this world sad is washed away forever. This prayer activity is based on that hope. You will need: paper (watercolour paper is especially good), small spray bottles, water, paint, stiff cardboard (I used an Amazon box), scissors Before you start the activity put a small amount of paint in the spray bottles and water it down so that it will easily spray onto the paper. Ask children to think about People who are going through difficult times or situations that are hard, or of something that ma...

Often we avoid speaking to children about sad and traumatic times, but to do so is to do them a disservice.  This activity helps children to pray for themselves or others who are going through sad times and gives an opportunity for discussion to be opened up. It is helpful, in this activity to use the verses from Revelation 21: 3-4 where the new heaven and new earth is described and we can see that, in God's kingdom, all sadness and pain will be taken away for ever: I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.   He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.” You will need: Strips of paper (5cm by 2cm is a good size), ready mix paint, water, baby oil (or vegetable oil, but this will give yellow drops!), containers for the paint. Water down som...

This week our 3-5s will be looking at the story of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is sad at the state Jerusalem is in and building the wall is difficult, but in the end there is great joy and he knows that God has helped his people.  Here are some of the activities we'll be doing to help the children to explore the themes of the story... Play the feelings prayer game  (looking at the emotions of happiness and sadness and how we can tell God about our feelings: Happy and sad masks (stickers for eyes and mouth which can then be decorated by the children). Play with cups and jugs to remind children of Nehemiah's job as the King's cup bearer Use Mega blocks and Duplo to build walls  Builder role play Build walls on our giant felt board- bricks and hearts to represent God's love for His people and Nehemiah's love for the city Use the umbrella and raindrops to pray that God will help people who are sad (see  praying for sad situations post ).

Children can really identify with a sense of sadness and, as a fact of life, sad things happen- in our lives, in the lives of people we know and in the world as a whole.  Here is a prayer station to help children (especially younger ones) to pray that God will bring joy and happiness to those experiencing times of sadness.  We're going to use it next term in one of our lessons with the 3-5s, but I wanted to road test it first! I got some thin, sheer ribbon and attached lengths of it to the spokes of an old umbrella.  Then I stapled some blue raindrop shapes to each ribbon.. You need some way of balancing the umbrella in order to perform the prayer activity.  When working with a small group, the leader could hold it but balancing it on a chair also seems to work! Children can then think of someone who is sad, or a sad situation in the world and ask God to bring them joy.  As a symbol of their prayer they can then draw a smiley face on a circular stic...