Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

After the success of our Prayer Space at school and the enthusiasm from the children, we thought it would be a great idea to give each child a practical prayer to take home with them. It was a great idea until I found myself sorting skittles into 120 little bags. Fortunately it's a fairly small school! I went in to school to do a collective worship session where I demonstrated the prayer activity and then each class was given prayer bags to distribute to the children. I know from feedback on the street and on my next visits that at least some of the children did the prayer at home, so I will call that a good result! You will need : a copy of the prayer and a small bag for each child, Skittles sweets, bag ties, stapler. I put roughly 10-12 skittles into each bag, tied the top of the bag and then stapled the prayer to the front. Click here to print off a sheet of prayers.

Last week was a busy but amazing week! I spent most of it in our local primary school in the prayer space we had created with some inspiration from Prayer Spaces in Schools . We were given a classroom for a week and turned it from this... To this... Each class spent at least one session in the room and lunchtimes, when children could make their own way there, were very busy! We had some amazing conversations about life, death, families, worries and everything in between. Here are some of the things we got up to... Unfolding Hopes and Dreams Water Prayers Play dough thank you prayers Whiteboard worry prayers Bringing light: How can I help to make the world a better place? Saying sorry sand prayers- drawing things to say sorry for in the sand and then smoothing it over as a sign of God's forgiveness Cardboard box prayers for people who have no homes Pipe cleaner people thank you prayers ...

Game: Pop Up Pirate Story Link: Be ready! (Luke 12: 35-40) Talk About: What things in your life do you have to wait for? How do you feel when you are waiting? What do you do to get yourself ready for the event you are waiting for? What things in life do you do where you need to be prepared in advance? e.g. packing school bag, packing for a camping trip Waiting for Jesus to return- like the pop up pirate, we don't know when it will be, so we need to be ready! What will it be like when he comes? (Revelation 21 gives a good idea) How can we get ready? What can we do in our lives to show that we are following Jesus? (the master who returns in the story blesses his servants and gives them a meal, so there is a theme of blessing from God that we could link to us working to bless others as we wait for him to come). Prayer Take it in turns to put swords in the barrel. Every time you put a sword in, ask God to help and be with someone who is waiting for something e.g wait...

Guess Who is a popular and easy game that even younger children can play. Here are some ideas about how you might connect the game with God... Story link:  You formed the way I think and feel.      You put me together in my mother’s womb. 14  I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way.    I know how amazing that was! Psalm 139: 13-14 Talking Points: What is special about you? How are we similar and different to the people around us? What is your favourite thing about yourself? What is your favourite thing about someone else? Use the game to think about the ways in which people are unique. How do we know who we are looking for? Several people in the game have orange hair, but not all of them have curly orange hair or orange hair and blue eyes. God has made us all differently but he knows every part of us and knows all about us. He knows not just our appearance (like in the game) but our personaliti...

This Summer we are experimenting with a 'board games cafe' once a week at the local community centre. It's probably wrongly named because none of the games need a board, but they are all popular and readily available children's games! It got me thinking about how we could use the games as a church activity as well, so this is the first instalment of some prayers and activity ideas based on games... You will need : A Hungry Hippos game (or more than one!) Play the game and get your hippo to collect as many of the balls as possible. Prayer Idea 1: Count the number of balls you have and, for each ball, say thank you to God for something or someone. Prayer Idea 2: Count the number of balls you have and, for each one, say thank you for a food you like Story Link: The parable of the rich fool (Luke  12: 13-21) The hippos are greedy and try to get as many balls as they can. What things in life are worth having? What does the story say about storing o...

If you grew up in the UK then you are probably very familiar with Flying Saucers- sherbet filled rice paper sweets that do look rather like flying saucers! I have to admit to being fairly partial to the odd flying saucer and when I last went to the cash and carry I bought an enormous tub of hundreds of the things. It became very clear I was never going to get through all of them, so I took them with me to a great children's ministry residential I was at this week and challenged a group of children's leaders to come up with some creative prayer activities with them. They did not disappoint.  Here are some of their ideas... 1. Hold the flying saucer in your mouth. Don't bite or chew! Think about something worrying you and offer it to God. Feel your worry 'dissolve' or 'disappear,' then bite into the sweetness released! 2. Flying saucers are out of this world! Think of an amazing experience or encounter. Place the flying saucer in your mou...

We have a beach in the parish which is always full of dog walkers, so this Sunday we did 'Blessings on the Beach,' giving out printed blessings to humans but also dog blessing bags for the dogs! The blessing bag consisted of a dog treat and a prayer to bless the relationship between the dog and the human.  We blessed about 30 dogs and numerous humans. People really seemed to love it and animals were a great way into faith conversations!  The prayer could easily be used for any pet, though, and it struck me that it might be a really meaningful activity for children to get involved in- either for their own pets or pets that they know in other homes.  After all, if God made all creatures and saw that they were good, then God must want good things for them! Thank you God for everything you have created. Bless this pet and the relationship it shares with those who love it. May that love continue to grow. Amen. You will need: Print outs of the prayer, small bags, dog tre...