Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

This is a simple but fun craft with a real ‘awe’ factor when the children see the curds and whey separating.   The fact that something solid is made from the liquid helps children to reflect on the fact that God’s promises to Abraham are solid and firm and that Abraham can trust God to do as he says.  This activity is linked to the story of Abraham in Genesis 15, where God tells Abraham: “Look at the sky. See the many stars. There are so many you cannot count them. Your family will be like that.” You will need: 250 ml milk, 3 tablespoons vinegar, a sieve, a spoon, a bowl, kitchen roll, cookie cutter stars (or other cutters if you would like children to choose!), food colouring if you want to make coloured stars! Heat up the milk until it is hot but not boiling and pour it into a bowl.   Add the vinegar to the hot milk and start stirring.   Very quickly, the milk will separate into solids (curds) and liquid (whey).   ...

I used this idea in an assembly yesterday, focussing on people we trust and what it means to trust God.   This would work really well if you are exploring miracle stories or stories about trust.  Suitable verses to use with it might be:  Joshua 1:9: Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the  Lord  your God will be with you wherever you go.” Psalm 56: 3  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. John 14: 1  Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me  I have to admit that this trick is not an original idea.  I found the trick in this book:  Simple Science Object Talks by Heno Head Jnr  and would definitely recommend getting cold of a copy if you can! You will need: A glass of water (about half- 2/3 filled) and an index card. This is what you do: place the index card over the top of the glass, making sure that the whole of the rim is covered by it, and press...

Here's a fun way to pray creatively and symbolically give over prayers to God.  You will need: an A5 sheet of very thin paper or tissue paper.  4 strings of equal length (about the same length of the sheet of paper), a large button (or a little plastic person if you have one!), a hole punch, some scissors and some pens. Punch a hole in each corner of the sheet of paper. Tie a piece of string through each hole and attach each string to the button or plastic person.  Think about things or people you are worried about and talk about how it helps to give our worries to God and ask Him to help us.  Write the people or things you are worried about on the paper and pray that God will help you to release them to Him. Climb on a chair or stand at the top of some stairs.  Ask God to bless these people or situations and release the parachute as a sign of letting go of the prayers and trusting them to God.

Kylé and I found this idea on Pinterest a while ago and it's progressed from simple craft idea to prayer activity!  The original seems to come from this  Bulgarian website that has loads of great children's craft ideas (and Google translate helps to understand it!) Thanks to Kylé for this idea. We often talk about 'putting things into God's hands' and this is a really visual way of doing it!  Fold a piece of paper in half and draw round your hand (index finger and thumb right up against the fold). Cut the hand out and open out.  It should look like the picture below! The heart shape made by the join of the finger and thumb is great because it helps us to talk about God's love for us.  We can then talk about putting people or worries into God's hands and trusting that He will look after them for us because He loves us and He loves them.  Children can write the names or draw the people or the worries they want God to take into his hands and then...

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 a response we used at our 'Seaside' Messy Church last summer. After telling the story of the wise and foolish builders, we brought out a house made of a cardboard box.  We asked everyone who they trusted to keep them standing firm and strong when things got difficult (just like the wise builder's house stayed firm in the storm because it was on a rock).   They might have friends or family members they could trust but Christians also believe they have Jesus to keep them steady in hard times.  After giving people the chance to think about it, we played some music and asked people to come forward and stick a 'brick' sticker on the house to stand for the person who kept them steady.  When those who wanted to had come forward we thanked God for those people and asked Him to remind us that Jesus was always there for us to lean on too.  On the way out, everyone took a mini stick of rock with the words 'Jesus is our rock' stuck to the wrapper as a reminder...

We did this as an All Age talk during the summer and it really stuck in the mind! We were looking at the story of David and thinking about who our real friends were- who could we trust? I poured some hot milk out of a thermos into a clear glass bowl.  The milk shows us what our friends appear to be, warm and comforting.  However, I then added some vinegar to the milk and it started to separate into curds and whey.  The vinegar represents difficult things that happen in life.  The friends may start to separate, as the milk does, into those who are solid and dependable and those who are watery and insubstantial.  We drained the whey away so that only the curds were left.  God is solid like these curds.  He is a friend who will never drain away when things get difficult.  When everyone else has drained away, he will always be close ro us.  We then introduced the verse below as something to remember. A man of many companions may come to rui...