Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

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?

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?

 

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...

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?

 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 ...

 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?

 Themes you might investigate: God's love and protection God being with us in good times, hard times and danger Feeling safe Following the shepherd and following God

If you're looking at the story of the road to Emmaus, this is a really effective activity to help explore the theme of recognition and seeing clearly who Jesus is! You will need: A clear glass baking pan, a glass, paint, water, a story or Bible verse sheet (see below). Mix some paint and water so that you have a cloudy but not thick mixture. Do NOT mix this in the baking pan as the sediment sticks to the glass bottom and makes it hard to see the pictures!  Pour the paint mixture into the pan. Put the sheet you are using under the pan and push the bottom of a glass onto the bottom of the tray to reveal the pictures underneath! Either: Reveal pictures that tell parts of the story and see if children can recognise which part of the story the picture relates to. Or Reveal numbered parts of a bible verse from the story and put them all in the correct order. Talk about what a 'fire' burning inside you might mean! To print off both of the above options, click here.

 This Sunday, as we journey through the resurrection story, we get to the story of the disciples who meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  This play dough mat will help children to explore the story they've heard, while also creating something with their hands.  Click here to print off the sheet. As usual, cover with a plastic sleeve and you'll be able to use it again! Extra things to talk about as you create a path: I wonder... ...how the disciples felt when the stranger joined them? ...where have you seen Jesus breaking and sharing bread before? ...what it felt like to recognise Jesus? ...why Jesus vanished/

 Here is a useful colouring sheet if you are exploring the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples in John 20. It captures the moment when Jesus invites Thomas to put his hands in the wounds from the cross and to check how real he is.  To print out the sheet click here: Colouring gives a great window of opportunity for reflection and discussion. Have a think about these things: I wonder why Thomas is uncertain? I wonder what questions you would have had if you had been there? I wonder if you have ever seen something unbelievable?

Story Cubes are a great way of both telling and recalling parts of a story. With this cube, tell the story of Holy Week and then throw the cube to remember individual events. There are 2 versions- a colour your own page and a page that is already coloured and labelled. Use one or both! Click here to download and print. Think about all of the things that happen- Palm Sunday, Last supper, Garden of Gethsemane, Crucifixion, Burial in the tomb and resurrection and wonder about them. I wonder... ...which part of the story is your favourite? ...which part of the story makes you ask a question? ...where you are in this story?

  I love investigating what is going on generally in the creative world and I've recently been massively inspired by the work of Anna Bruder at A Line Art - particularly her recent work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Click here to see all about that! It struck me that bringing colour to black and white flowers was a really powerful symbol of the new life of Easter Day, so that's what we will be doing in our Easter day service. My plan is to give everyone who comes a flower and to invite them, at any point in the service to come and fill the flower with colour at one of our craft tables. We'll then use them at the end of the service as a symbol of the new life of the resurrection and create a flower garden. This works particularly well if you are using the passage from John's gospel where Jesus is mistaken for the gardener. Here's a quick how to: Print some flower shapes onto card (if you want to use mine, click here ). Stick the flower head to a paper st...

 This Sunday we hear the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead- an unforgettable glimpse into what will come on Easter Day. If you're looking at this story, here is a play dough mat to help children to explore a bit deeper. This mat focusses on the emotions of the various people in the story and asks children to use playdough to make facial expressions for different events. There are all sorts of characters they might choose to think about: onlookers, Mary, Martha, the disciples, Jesus, even Lazarus himself. Each character will have a different perspective and it is always fascinating to hear the reasoning behind what children create/ Another useful question to ask is always: I wonder where you are in the story?  If you'd like to print out the sheet, click here.

 This craft is really easy to make and helps to emphasize the enthusiasm of the crowd's Hosannas as they waved their palms. You will need: White A4 paper, green paper or card, glue, scissors, stapler. Cut a sheet of white A4 paper in half lengthways. On one of the halves, write the word 'Hosanna' and colour in. Start at one end of the paper and make a concertina. Fold an A5 sheet of green card or paper in half and cut out a palm leaf shape. This will give you two leaves. Glue a strip down the middle of each leaf. Stick one end of your concertina to the glued strip on one leaf and glue the other end to the stip on the other leaf. Press down firmly. This makes your Hosanna sandwich. Staple the bottom ends of the leaves together. Make sure you are not also stapling your concertina! Open your palm leaves to see the Hosanna!

 This year we are following the lectionary more closely than usual, so I've been getting ready around the story from John 9, of Jesus healing the man who was born blind.   This picture is split into two to show the difference of the two states. Colouring the picture provides a great opportunity to chat to children about seeing and to wonder what Jesus helps them to see. Click here   to download and print the page and head over to our instagram page if you'd like to see the picutre creation video!

 Here's the reflective colouring sheet we used on Sunday to help explore the story of Jesus healing the Official's son. One of the themes we drew out was Jesus' compassion, something that the Bible links clearly to his healing miracles. Click here to download and print the sheet.

 Tomorrow our all age service will look at the story of Jesus healing the Official's son (John 4: 43-54). We generally have a craft going on on a table at one side of church that people can opt into whenever they want to in the service.  This craft has a scientific basis and is a really creative, visual way to illustrate the healing miracles such as Jairus' daughter, the Centurion's servant and others. The tissue paper figure rises from lying down to dancing, all with the help of static electricity. To print out the instruction sheet, click here .

Recently our all age service explored the story of the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 and I drew a reflective colouring sheet for the service- for adults and children to use as one of the optional on table resources. Here's the video of the process, captured by my drawing app. If you'd like to use the sheet, click here to download and print.

 We're launching into Lent with a resource for families to pray through Lent together! This printable resource consists of 40 paper strips, labelled with different things to pray about/for: please, sorry, thanks, friends, family, world and a few blanks for something else.  Print off the pages (click here) , cut out the strips and put them into a box or cup. Each day, take out one of the strips and pray for that thing- there's space to write or draw your prayer if you'd like to. When you've prayed, add the strip to a paper chain of your prayers. Over Lent, you'll hopefully use up all of the strips and be able to look back at all of the things you've prayed for.