Flame: Creative Children's Ministry

I love sensory prayers and sandpaper is a great touchy-feely medium to use when praying about things that are difficult and grind us down. You will need: Colouring pencils, sandpaper cut into small strips, a cloth God is our protection and source of strength.      He is always ready to help us in times of trouble.  Psalm 46:1 Feel the roughness of the sandpaper.  Who do you know who is going through a rough time at the moment?  On a piece of sandpaper draw or write the name of a person, place or situation you'd like to ask God to help. Pray that these people and places will know that God is there for them, whatever they face. Place the sandpaper on the cloth as you give your prayer to God.

I've been thinking a lot about the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13: 31-32) recently, and for some reason it keeps cropping up all over the place! Because it's been on my mind, I've made a play dough mat to help children in their exploration.  The seed is a little bit bigger than it should be if we're going to keep accurate proportions, but I wanted children to at least be able to see it! As usual, if you laminate the printed sheets, its much easier to clean up the play dough and you can also keep the mats for repeated future use! To print the mat click here .

I was recently trying to come up with some different visual ways of saying sorry to God and wanted something that would be symbolic of the forgiveness He gives. That's when I came across dissolvable paper! From what I gather, this paper can be used to draw patterns which can then be sewn over and when the embroidery is complete, the paper will dissolve, leaving only the stitching in place. Suffice to say, that is not what I used it for! You will need: Dissolvable paper cut into small strips, warm water (this helps the dissolving process), a large bowl, pens Talk about the fact that when we say sorry to God for the things that we have done, we know that he will forgive us and give us a new start.  Ask children to write or draw something they would like to say sorry for on a strip of paper. They might even just want to write the word 'sorry' and keep things entirely between themselves and God. Place the paper strip in the water and watch as it s...

This is a fun way to celebrate Jesus as the light of the world, especially if you are celebrating Candlemas this Sunday! Traditionally at Candlemas (or the Presentation of Christ), the passage from Luke 2 where Simeon and Anna meet Jesus is read and we hear the famous lines: “Now, Lord, you can let me, your servant, die in peace as you said. 30  I have seen with my own eyes how you will save your people. 31       Now all people can see your plan. 32  He is a light to show your way to the other nations.      And he will bring honor to your people Israel.” (Luke 2: 29-32) Jesus is recognised as the saviour who has come to bring light to dark situations and to show people the way, and this prayer craft helps children to work with this image. You will need: battery operated tea lights, A6 size paper, felt tip pens, glue Put the A6 Paper in landscape orientation and ask children to draw pictures and write the names of ...

I have a bit of a weakness for glow in the dark things. I ended up buying 100 glow in the dark baby Jesus figures before Christmas and I still haven't figured out what to do with them, but the day will come! My new favourite thing, though, is glow in the dark tape.  It has a lot of potential!  I got some quite cheaply online  and have used it for a craft to help children explore the concept of God being with them in the darkness and hard times.  This craft would work well with stories about God's protection and presence e.g. Daniel and the lions' den, Moses and the Red Sea, Paul and Silas in jail. You will need: Paper (any colour), scissors, glow in the dark tape, marker pens Get children to cut up the tape and stick it on the paper in any design they fancy.  They can then, if they want to, decorate the tape with marker pens/ write verses about God's presence and protection. Useful verses might include: Psalm 16:1  Protect me, God, because I d...

We're getting ready for Christmas and one of the things I'm most excited about is our upcoming crib service.  It's a new venture for our church, but it sounds as if the community are really getting behind it!  We have invited families to turn up dressed in nativity character costumes and everyone can join in the tableau that is formed during the narration. For people who don't have a costume, tea towels, tinsel and crowns will be at the ready. This is a script written with children under 5 in mind.  It can be narrated by a single voice but if you have older, more confident children, they might like to say the lines of Mary, Joseph, the Angel and the Innkeeper. The songs are all to the tunes of well known nursery rhymes, so everyone should be able to join in.  Click here to print off the script. Have fun!

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