Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

 We are gearing up for Epiphany on Sunday and have a great all age service planned. At the side of church, for those who want to be a bit hands on, we have a few crafts ready and this new craft will be one of them. This craft is really effective but will need some help for very young hands. You will need:    3 x A6 size yellow/orange  paper, scissors, glue, 2 lolly sticks. Start at the short end one of the pieces of paper and make concertina folds all the way down. You should now have 3 concertina-ed papers. Snip the ends off of each concertina, as shown in the photo. Fold each concertina in half. Open out and glue together the bits of paper closest to the fold line. This will make your concertina into a fan. Glue the three fans together as shown. You will now have a large fan! Let the glue dry for a moment. Squeeze the fan shut and point it with the snipped ends downward. Glue lolly sticks to each side of the fan as shown here. Wait for the glue to dry. Hold on to t...

An agamograph is a piece of artwork that changes as the viewer shifts perspective. Basically there are two different pictures and you see a different one depending on how you are looking at the piece.  This is a special agamograph for Christmas! There are 2 original pictures- a star and an angel: Click here to print off the colour in sheet Colour the sheet in Score along each of the vertical lines so that it will be easier to fold along the lines Concertina the picture, folding along the vertical lines Open the picture up slightly and try viewing it from different angles

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

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...

This is a very simple prayer activity, for all ages, which helps to connect with the story of the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus. It's especially useful if you are celebrating Epiphany this Sunday!  This activity is best done when you have told the story of the wise men and had the chance to discuss it. You will need: A fairly large star shape made of paper or card, finger paints (or any paint!), hand washing facilities If you are doing this as a group, sit around the star shape and make sure there is plenty of room to access the paints. Choose a prayer to pray.  When you have finished your prayer, put your finger in the paint and leave a finger print on the star as an 'amen' Pray for: People who are travelling a long way- that God will look after them and keep them safe People who are looking for something- that they find it People who like to learn and understand more about the world- that they will have opportunities  People who rule an...