Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

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...

We're getting ready for Christmas and one of the things I'm most excited about is our upcoming crib service.  It's a new venture for our church, but it sounds as if the community are really getting behind it!  We have invited families to turn up dressed in nativity character costumes and everyone can join in the tableau that is formed during the narration. For people who don't have a costume, tea towels, tinsel and crowns will be at the ready. This is a script written with children under 5 in mind.  It can be narrated by a single voice but if you have older, more confident children, they might like to say the lines of Mary, Joseph, the Angel and the Innkeeper. The songs are all to the tunes of well known nursery rhymes, so everyone should be able to join in.  Click here to print off the script. Have fun!

This year, the Church of England has launched a campaign called Follow the Star, which is encouraging churches and local groups to engage in star related activities in Advent and Christmas.  If you are joining in, and even if you aren't, here are some 'star' ideas to help you out! Star tea light mats and Advent prayer Nativity star reflective colouring page Nativity Star craft and prayers Messy Christmas Star Ornaments Epiphany star finger print prayers Epiphany play dough mat

We are now totally on the countdown to Advent. If you haven't read December's edition of Premier Youth and Children's Work magazine, then I suggest you get your hands on one!! Here is one of the crafts I wrote for my page in the magazine as a little taster of what you can expect... This craft explores the idea of a journey towards the birth of Jesus, echoing the journey that Mary and Joseph take to Bethlehem and our own waiting for Jesus to come again. You will need : air drying clay, small candles (Christingle candles are ideal!) Before doing this with children, it might help to do a test run to see roughly how much clay each person will need. Roll the clay into a long, thick sausage shape and slightly flatten out the top.  Make a spiral with the clay.  Take your candle and, starting at the centre of the spiral, make 25 indentations deep enough to let the candle stand up securely.  Leave the spiral to dry.  ...

The Church of England's Advent and Christmas campaign is called 'Follow the Star' and, now we are getting to the time of preparing for such a busy period, I've started thinking about 'star' related activities that children can get involved with.  Here's an easy craft that can be used with children of all ages and a prayer that they can take home and use throughout Advent. You will need: Air drying clay or Model Magic, a large star shaped cutter, sequins, hama beads, tea lights, a copy of the prayer for each child to take home, coloured pens (if using Model Magic!) Roll out the clay fairly thickly and cut out star shapes with the cutter so that each child has their own. Decorate the star shapes by pushing beads and sequins into the clay and by decorating with coloured pens.  Let the clay dry and use as a mat to lay a lit tea light on. Talk about: Chat to children about the star in the story of the Nativity leading to Jesus who is the l...