Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

 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.

 It's been really busy recently reopening the church and doing many risk assessments. Not everyone is able or confident to return just yet, though, so we are continuing with our weekly online family services. This week we are taking a look at the story of Jesus and the 10 lepers and exploring the theme of thankfulness. If you fancy joining in, here are some links to the resources we are using: The video of the service including sorry and thank you prayers, story, wondering questions and creative prayer activity. The service liturgy if you'd like to join in can be printed off by clicking here . Click here to print off the play dough mat: Click here for more ideas on saying thank you.

Although some churches are open for socially distanced worship now, we have made the decision to remain closed for the time being. If you are in a similar situation and are looking for something that families can do at home this Sunday then here are some resources to help with the lectionary reading of Jacob's ladder in Genesis 28. Video of a 12 minute family worship service including 'sorry' prayers, 'thank you' prayers, story with wondering questions and a creative prayer activity (see above). Click here for the service words if you'd like to follow along. Click here for a colouring sheet. Click here for a play dough mat. Click here for more creative ideas.

During the Coronavirus crisis, while churches have been closed, I have been part of a project to help families in our diocese worship at home. Each week we produce a video with a short service including sorry and thank you prayers, a story and a creative prayer activity that people at home can easily join in with. For this Sunday we're looking at the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac and how God provides what he needs. Click here to see the video. Click here to download the words to the simple liturgy if you'd like to join in the words. Click here to access a set of resources to accompany the story, written by a collection of children's ministry bloggers, hosted  by Kate at Jesus Without Language. Enjoy worshipping together!

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.  ...

For those of you who have followed this blog over a period of time, you will probably know that last month saw the publication of my first book.  I am so excited about it! The book looks amazing and has loads of ideas for helping you to introduce Holy Communion to under 5s.  There are play sessions for Creche areas, sessions for more formal children's church settings and ideas for when you have no children's groups at all. There is also a section for what families can do at home to explore the main themes. What is extra great about this book is that it comes with downloadable and printable material.  To give you a taster, here is one of the play dough mats that links with a session exploring what it means to be part of God's big family.   To print click here You can buy the book here (overseas postage is available) or on Kindle here. Have fun!

In a couple of weeks we are going to be hosting a community pizza making event and Easter Egg hunt.  Because our pizza making project is about building initial trust and relationships in the community amongst those who have never been to a church, we are never the first to mention God (even though we make Pizza in the church itself!). We wanted to have a Christian flavour to the event, though, as it is in celebration of Easter!  We are going to use pictures of the Easter story in our egg hunt and I thought I'd share it with you here. You will need: Print outs of Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 (1 of each), Print outs of the competition sheet (1 per person), marker pens, hole punch, string, pens or pencils, Easter eggs and copies of the Easter story as prizes. Cut the egg shapes out of sheet 1 and 2 and laminate them.  Pictures show: A palm leaf, a crown, a cup and bread, a cross, a sad face, a cave and a rock, a happy face, the word 'alive.' With a marker pen, on th...

This is a fun activity we will be doing with our children on Sunday when they look at the story surrounding the birth of Isaac.  Food crafts always go down well but this one is also a reminder of what God has earlier said to Abraham. Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" Genesis 15:5 You will need: plain biscuits (Rich Tea or Digestive are good), icing sugar, water, star shaped sprinkles, Jelly Babies Make some thick icing out of the icing sugar and water and spread some of it over a biscuit. Sprinkle on some stars and then place a Jelly Baby on top. Talk about: What is your favourite part of the story? Who is your favourite character? How would you have felt if you were Isaac's parents? What is a promise? What does it feel like the someone keeps their promise? Do you wonder anything about this story? Pray Thank God...

Easter is coming way sooner than seems possible! Lent starts next week so here are some ideas to get things going... Shrove Tuesday is traditionally the day when people use up all of the rich foods in their homes, ready for the Lent fasting to begin. This is not a cooking activity (because every time I make pancakes it is a total disaster!), but it is an active way to celebrate and thank God for the good gifts He has given us. Shrove Tuesday Celebration Prayers Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and a day where we have a chance to say sorry for things we have done wrong and to think about our lives. This post contains a simple interactive liturgy, an 'ash' related prayer activity and a craft to draw out the themes of the day. Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Prayer and Crafts Some simple ideas to help families engage with the season of Lent . The printable booklet includes prayers, activities, and colouring sheets. Lent Ideas for Families: Printabl...

This year I have seen a variety of lovely ideas online for helping children and families to get involved with the Advent season.  Drawing on some of the ideas I've seen, I've come up with a little bag of things to give out (along with prayer ideas for each item) which will take people through some of the main Advent themes.  Putting the bags together doesn't take all that long when you have everything you need and it's quite therapeutic to paint a whole load of Baby Jesus stones! If you want to find out a bit more about the baby Jesus stones, click here. For each bag you will need: A prayer sheet ( click here to print), A felt or paper star, a felt or paper heart, a pipe cleaner, a baby Jesus stone, a tea light candle, an organza drawstring bag (I used purple bags to reflect the liturgical season. First paint your baby Jesus stones. I used white and brown paint and a black paint marker (but a sharpie would probably work too). I also covered the finished pain...

This is a resource I have created while putting together my book on introducing Holy Communion to under 5s. More will follow in due course on that subject! Anyway, this is a very simple idea prompted by a remark on this blog's Facebook page.  Thanks Nicole Hall for telling me about having placemats with prayer prompts on them so that children could join in with prayers over mealtimes! The idea with this placemat is that you print it off and laminate it so that a child can use it on the table and it can easily be wiped clean. The first time you use it, talk about the different pictures and what they symbolise. When you come to pray before you eat, ask your child to choose one or two of the pictures and to thank God for that thing. For example, if they choose the 'drink' picture, they might thank God for their favourite drink or for what they are going to drink at the table.  Gradually they will build up the repertoire of what they want to say thank you for! ...

I f you are looking for a prayer activity using things you may already have at home, here is an idea! Children can use this idea to pray for anything they want to and setting the cases on the water is very symbolic of giving their prayer over to God. You will need: Cup cake cases (or liners).  I used mini cupcakes cases here, felt tip tens, water, a dish or container to hold the water Ask children to choose a cupcake case and to write or draw their prayer on the inside of it.  When they have finished, set the case on the water and give the prayer to God.  Watch it float!  Alternative idea: write or draw a prayer on a small piece of paper, fold it up and put it inside a cupcake case.  Then put the case to float on the water. Have fun!

The rainbow is a great symbol for Christians of God's love and promise to us.  It's also the symbol of new beginnings- a key message of Christianity.  This activity helps children to think about their own ability to share God's love with others and to pray for those who don't yet know that love.  Plus it's pretty amazing to watch over time! You will need: 6 clear cups, water, food colouring in red, yellow and blue, 6 sheets of absorbent kitchen roll Fill 3 of the cups half full with coloured water and arrange with the three unfilled cups like so: Fold the kitchen roll in half lengthways and then double it over again. Place the end of each piece of kitchen roll in one of the cups of water and the other end in an empty cup, so that it looks like this: Wait! The water will start to climb the paper and pass into the empty cup where it will mix with the water from the next cup but one, which will also be transferring over... Your empty...