Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

 Here is a play dough mat to help explore Jesus' words in John 14:1-14.  I've chosen to go with the theme of 'do not let your hearts be troubled', giving space for children to bring worries to Jesus and then chance to chat about who we trust to help us. As usual, print out, put in a plastic sheet protector and chat as you create! Click here to print off the sheet. I wonder what worries you? I wonder who helps you when you are worried? I wonder what helps you when you are worried? I wonder what it feels like when you tell someone about your worries?

This Sunday's Gospel is about God's provision for creation- the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, and us.  Here's a printable colouring sheet to download and colour in, inspired by the passage.  Click here to download:  Link this to the activity here for more exploration of the text.

This is a striking way to think about God being with us in our worry and whatever we are facing in life and is a useful activity if you are looking at 'do not be afraid' passages or the 'do not worry' passage in Matthew 6. Here is a short video (1 minute 20 seconds) to show you the simple art activity: For those who prefer written instructions: You will need : small pieces of paper (I used A7 size), wax crayons, watercolour paints, paint brush, water. Cover the whole of the paper with wax crayon. Screw the paper up tight and then unscrew it and flatten it out. Paint over the wax with a contrasting colour of watercolour paint. The paint will get into the creases you created when screwing up the paper. Let the paint dry and it will become more pronounced. Scrunching up the paper is symbolic of the feeling of worry and anxiety we often get inside us. Filling the creases with paint is symbolic of God being with us in those worries. Talk about How does worry make you feel? ...

I've been thinking about the armour of God recently and this is a fun activity that really helps to emphasize the idea of 'standing firm' in the strength that God gives. It also really takes me back to my childhood of playing with 'Weebles' (they wobble, but they don't fall down!) You will need: permanent marker pens, plastic Easter eggs that can be opened up, blue tack, marbles, small decorative stickers. An important attribute of the armour of God is that it helps us to stand our ground and to stand firm against the things that might try to upset us and throw us off course. These ‘weebles’ might wobble, but they will stand their ground and not fall over!  Open up a plastic Easter egg and put a blob of blue tack on the inside, at the bottom. Wedge a marble on top of the blue tack so that it stays in place.  Close the Easter egg and decorate it with the permanent markers and stickers to reflect your personality. ...

Worry is something that affects us all- no matter how old we are! In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about God’s care and provision for us, comparing it to the provision he makes for the birds and the flowers of the field. He tells us not to worry. If God can provide for the birds, he will give us everything we need too.   This craft is something that children can take home (or do at home) and hang outside. Every time they see a bird feeding from it it will hopefully remind them that God has got them covered. Be warned- it can get a bit messy and, if you are using peanut butter, you will need to be aware of any allergies!  You will need: pipe cleaners or string, Cheerios (or hoop shaped cereal), Toilet roll or paper towel tubes, peanut butter, knives, bird seed, a plate With a knife, carefully coat the outside of the toilet roll tube with peanut butter. Cover a plate with birdseed and then roll the tube over the plate so that the seed sticks a...

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...

Sometimes when we are praying, it is incredibly helpful to symbolically give over our prayers to God- to let go and trust them to Him.  This is a colourful and kinesthetic way to help children to do this... You will need: circles of card (one for each child), colouring pens, string, small sticky dots.  Stick a pen or pencil through the middle of the circle to make a hole. Encourage children to decorate their circle of card, maybe using colour to represent things they might want to pray about e.g. a different colour for each person or thing (world, self, others, healing) or to express something they know about God's character.  Let them be creative!  Next, ask children to place a sticky dot on their circle for each person or thing they are praying for.  Let them pray out loud or in their heads.  Talk about giving our prayers to God and trusting that He will deal with them.  Sometimes this is especially helpful when we pray about somethi...

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.

Here's an idea for a prayer station that is cheap, easy and very kinesthetic for those children who like to use their hands when praying. You will need: A pinboard (at the moment, Wilkinsons are selling A3 size boards for £2!), push pins, wool, paper, pens. Push the pins into the board in a cross shape. Ask children to write or draw on a piece of paper something they want to bring to God- a please, sorry or thank you prayer. When they have done this, encourage the children to tie a length of wool around one of the pins and use it to weave in and out of the pins within the cross shape.  As they weave the wool, ask them to be thinking about the thing they have written/ drawn on their paper.  When the length of wool has been used up, get the child to fold up their paper and put it under one of the pins as a symbol of giving that prayer to God for Him to take care of. Weaving a cross shape helps the children to think about bringing their prayers to Jesus and layin...

Here's a clever way to help children to think about nothing being impossible to God.  It's quite a good illustration for an assembly and, if you practise, you will be able to cut while talking!  It's especially good for times of transition when children are worried about going into a new situation. Ask some children to come out to the front give each of them a sheet of A5 sized paper and some scissors. Ask them to cut a hole in the paper that they will be able to fit their whole body through. Some of the children will immediately decide that this is not possible, while some may have an attempt! Sometimes we are faced with problems that really worry us and that we don't know how to solve! Now take a piece of the A5 paper and follow these instructions... 1. Fold the paper in half lengthways 2 Cut alternating 'up' and 'down' slits in the paper as shown 3.Cut through the fold of the paper, leaving the fold of the end slit pieces in tact 4....

This week we reached the stage in the sermon on the mount where Jesus speaks about worry.  There is great imagery in the passage about birds and flowers being given everything they need by God and the children were really able to identify with the simplicity of the ideas.  It led to great discussion about what God provides for us and what we worry about.  Each child took a stone and glued a heart to it.  This was to remind them that God loves them even more than he loves the birds and the plants.  A stone is also something strong to hold onto, a reflection of the strength and reassurance God can bring in worrying times.  We wanted the children to take the stone home as something they could hold on to when they were worried and that would remind them of God's love and might prompt them to pray.   I thought it would be a good idea for the children to make a pot to keep the stone in that would remind them of the verses about the birds and flowers...

This Sunday our 5-11s will be looking at what Jesus teaches about worry in Matthew 6. As part of our teaching, I wanted to emphasize the fact that we have to trust God to take care of our worries and that sometimes that means that we intentionally have to give them to Him and ask him to help us.  It seems to work better with our children if they pray in a tactile way so we needed something that involved a deliberate action of release.  What better than bubble wrap!!   I picked up a huge roll for very little at our local scrap store this week and this is what we're going do with it...  The children can take it turns to tell God something that is worrying them (either aloud or silently) and then they can pop one of the bubbles as a sign that they have asked God to help them and have released their worry to Him. I've also cut some strips for the children to take home with them so that, when they worry over the coming week, they can release their worries 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!

As part of our work on the creed, we spoke about Jesus dying to set us free from the wrong things we had done and also to release us from the things that worry and oppress us.  Children thought about something they wished they hadn't done or something they were worried about and, in their heads or out loud, asked God to help them with it or to forgive them.  They they blew some bubbles and watched them float as a symbol of the freedom that Jesus was giving them.  We asked them not to deliberately pop the bubbles and they were very good about it!!