Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

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...

This is a version of the Advent booklet we will be giving out to children and families at church this year.  There is a grid of 24 things that can be done over the Advent period- at home or in church.  There will probably be some crossover!   Included in the pack are a colouring sheet, a game, make-your-own Nativity story figures, a recipe and some random acts of kindness to try.  I've removed all markings that tie it to our church in particular, so anyone can print it out and use it where they are!  Click here to print. The format means that it will print out quite well into a 4 page booklet.   If you use it, let me know how it goes!

I know that I'm having a bit of a phase with cubes at the moment but this is going to be quite a fun take home activity for our 3-5s this week! This week, Sparks are learning the story from 1 Samuel 24 where David cuts off part of Saul's robe when they are in the cave.  In order to recap the story and to see which bits they remember most, I've made a story cube of the main events... The story is around the outside so that parents can familiarise themselves with it and retell the story.  Simply cut out the net and make up the cube (maybe print it onto card or laminate if you want it to endure, otherwise paper is fine!) and then throw the cube.  Ask the children what part of the story the face up picture shows and/ or get them to tell the story to you using the cube.  I love hearing children retell stories because you never know which part is going to appeal to them most! To print out a cube click here .

This Sunday our 5-11s will look at the story of how Jesus chose his disciples and will think about what it means to follow Jesus.  As part of our effort this term to give them a take home activity based on what they learn so that the concept can be carried through the rest of the week here are some things for parents to print off.  We'll give them a paper copy, but you never know where that will end up! Link to printable sheet: Click  here

This week our 5-11s are looking at Jesus' temptations in the wilderness.  We are trying to help the children to see how Jesus is able to identify with their everyday experiences because of the human experiences He had himself.  This activity focuses on having the strength to do the right thing, even when it's difficult, knowing that Jesus himself was tempted but stood strong.   We're going to give the children some sandpaper, a paperclip and a copy of this verse: Because He Himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:18 Here are the activity instructions on the take home sheet... ·         Feel the roughness of the sand paper and think about times when it’s hard for you to do the right thing. ·         Cut out the Bible verse below, clip it onto the sand paper (glue is hard to stick to sandpaper!) and decorate the verse with c...

Here is the take home sheet we gave out as part of our Good Samaritan lesson this week, encouraging children to look out for and help others! For a printable version, click  here .

We've started to give take home sheets to our children so that they can do an activity at home that will reinforce our teaching on a Sunday morning.  This Sunday our 3-5s looked at the story of Jairus' daughter and finished with prayer for healing on their own version of our  healing board .   The children thought of someone who was ill and stuck a plaster with that person's name on it (though this is not necessary!) onto the heart as a symbol that they were asking God to heal them. The classroom version was A3 but we printed off some A4 versions for the children to take home with them to do with their family. For a printable version click  here Thanks Kylé for your work on this!