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All Saints Day Activities with Printable Cards

 This Sunday is All Saints Day and I've had a great time putting these cards together for our all age service. Click here to download and print them off.  I'm aiming to use them in a few different ways... Each card shows a saint, a brief description of who they are, the date they are remembered and what/ where they are the patron saint of. I've gone for some local saints to Britain and tried to make a balanced male/female ratio. 1. Print them onto card and play snap 2. Print them onto card and lay them face down. Take turns to find pairs. 3. Use the internet to find out more about the saints. What are the symbols you see with each saint and what do they mean? 4. Group the saints according to what you notice e.g. royalty, animals, places. What are common themes? In the service, each person will be given one of the cards at random and we'll allocate a few minutes for googling and finding out more! We will talk about Saints being people who have lived out their faith and...
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Sarah Laughs Play Dough Mat

This Sunday, one of the stories in the lectionary is the that of 3 visitors coming to see Abraham and Sarah, telling them that Sarah will have a child. Sarah, an old woman, obviously thinks this is ridiculous and so she laughs. Of course Sarah then goes on to give birth to Isaac and this story reminds us of the wonderful, amazing and impossible things that God can do! If you're exploring this story, here is a printable play dough mat with some questions to chat about while you create. To print off the mat, click here.  Think and chat: What is something that you think is impossible? What makes you laugh? What gives you joy? What does joy look, feel and aound like? What joyful thing would you like to pray for?
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Jesus walks on water reflective colouring sheet

Last Sunday we looked at the story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14 and one of our activities was this reflective colouring sheet that focusses particularly on the verse where Jesus reassures Peter and the disciples in the boat. We took the opportunity to talk about the things that were worrying us right now and about how, with Jesus and the rest of our Christian family around us, we can be assured that we are not alone in the storms we face. To download and print the colouring sheet, click here. As you colour, have a think and a chat about these questions: I wonder how the disciples showed they were afraid? What do you do when you are afraid- what does it look or sound like? What does courage look, sound and feel like? Who or what gives you courage? How does it feel when you know that someone like Jesus is keeping you safe?
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Hands on Ways to Explore the Holy Trinity

 
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Trinity Play Dough Mat

The Trinity is a notoriously difficult concept to explain without committing a heresy of some kind or another, so I tend to veer on the side of mystery.  We don't know how it works, but how amazing is it that God can exist as a community of love and invites us also to live as a loving community of believers?  Very often, we get so caught up in having to understand and make sense and have all the answers, that we don't leave any room for mystery and wondering. It can be really liberating for children to see us modelling that we don't always have the answers but we choose to believe. In terms of speaking to children, it's useful to explore the different persons of God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to let them wonder and think about how they experience and describe God.  If you're exploring the Trinity, this is a useful play dough mat to use. As you fill the shape, use the time to chat, maybe using these questions to help: What words would you use to describe God? W...
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Ascension Play Dough Mat

This mat is part of our Ascension celebrations this week.  The Ascension of Jesus has so many themes to pull on, the one one I've chosen to pull for this mat is the theme of waiting- a reminder of the disciples heading back to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and help them in their new job of going out to all the world as his witnesses. As usual, cover the sheet with a plastic folder and get creating! To print off the page, click here . As you create, here are some questions to chat about: I wonder what the disciples felt when they saw Jesus disappearing in the clouds? I wonder what is was like to go and wait for the Holy Spirit? How does it feel to wait for something you want? What helps you when you are waiting for something?
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Noah's Ark: God's Promise Printable Play Dough Mat

 This week's lectionary has a variety of stories to choose from, but we will be looking at the old testament reading: the story of God putting a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise never to flood the earth again.  Some parts of the story of Noah's ark can be quite upsetting, and can inspire big questions about life, God's power and the consequences of doing wrong things. In the background, however, is the overarching story of listening to God, rescue, new beginnings, and God's promise to be with us. As the story ends, we have the powerful symbol of the rainbow stretched across the sky as a sign of God's life-giving love for us and his creation, and his promise never to send a flood again.  This week's play dough mat is an invitation to explore this part of the story and also to think about what promises mean. What is a promise? What does it mean to make a promise? What does God promise and what do God's people promise Him in return? How does it feel ...
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