A craft activity with a surprise element for Easter

The tomb is empty, but where is Jesus? 

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on the Easter Bible story in Luke 24: 1 - 12.

This craft activity can also be used as an object lesson and a fun science experiment. It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- white candles
- waterbased paint and brushes
- worksheets, that you can download here

What do you do:

A fun introduction activity about the Easter story 

You can use this idea as the children are arriving, before the programme has started.

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on the Easter Bible story in Luke 24: 1 - 12.

This introduction activity will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- hardboiled eggs
- felt pens

What do you do:

Do:
Give each child an egg to decorate as they arrive.

Once everyone is there, you can either eat the eggs together or you can give them another boiled egg to eat and they can take the decorated ones home.

A fun crafts idea about the Bible story of Abram and Lot separating

Abram and Lot had decided to separate. Lot was allowed to choose first. What a beautiful country! It looked like the garden of Eden. Lot knew exactly what he was going to choose. What do you think the land looked like? 

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on the Bible story in Genesis 13: 1 - 18

This crafts idea / object lesson will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- rolls of paper – old wall paper for example
- pens
- clay
- paint and brushes
- blue paper for water
- plastic trees and animals

What do you do:

A fun crafts idea about the Bible story of Abram and Lot separating

Abram and Lot were nomads – they lived in tents and moved around. This meant that they could move to the places where there was enough food for their sheep and cows.

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on the Bible story in Genesis 13: 1 - 18

This crafts idea / object lesson will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- pieces of cloth
- sticks
- string
- chairs
- tables

What do you do:

A creative group activity to enhance your telling of the Easter story

A simple craft activity that you can do as a group - decorate a large candle which you can light at the start of each Sunday School lesson or children's programme. It’s a lovely symbol to light a large candle to remind the children of Jesus’ presence in their lives. 

What do you need:

- a large white candle
- coloured sheets of candle wax
- pairs of scissors

What do you do:

Use this craft activity to teach about the Bible story of Joseph and the Pharaoh

Even though it seems that the Pharaoh is the most powerful person in this story, God is working in the background. He gives Pharaoh the dreams, and warns him. He gives Joseph the wisdom to be able to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams. In this way Joseph is able to save everyone with his clever plan.

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Use this craft activity to teach about the Bible story of Joseph having to be patient

Joseph has to wait thirteen years until the Pharaoh takes him out of prison and makes him viceroy of Egypt. It’s hard to wait! Luckily the children won’t have to wait that long with this craft activity.

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Use this easy craft activity to teach about the Bible story of Joseph being imprisoned in Egypt

Joseph went straight from Potifar’s household to an Egyptian jail. That was no fun. Maybe he even had to wear a ball and chain on his ankle. But even in jail Joseph discovered this: ‘Even in hard times God is with me’.

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Use this creative activity to think about Joseph's time in prison

Joseph is sent straight to prison. But even in prison Joseph knows this: “God is always with me, even here in prison. I can never be separated from God.”Joseph is sent straight to prison. But even in prison Joseph knows this: “God is always with me, even here in prison. I can never be separated from God.”

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Use this introductory activity to teach about the Bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colours

This activity is most suited to the start of a children’s programme, as the children are arriving, before the programme has actually started.

Hang the coat up on a hanger in the corridor, or in the classroom as long as you are teaching on Joseph. You could also wear it as you tell the story of Joseph.

What do you need:

- a disposable plastic poncho or large plastic bin bags, or old second hand coat
- double sided sticky tape
- decorating materials

What to do:

A wonderful craft idea about the Bible story of Mary meeting Elisabeth

In her song Mary sings that God hasn’t forgotten His love for Israel. That’s why he is going to help His people. He had promised this to Abraham and to everyone who came after him.

Mary knows that the arrival of her child means that the God of all the stories in the Bible still loves his people. He hasn’t forgotten them at all.

What do you need:

- an empty photo album or file
- printed photo sheets - that you can download here.
- felt pens/crayons

What do to:

Ask:
Ask the children which of them has a photo book or scrap book at home?

Tell:
They are full of photos that help you remember what it was like when you were younger and what you did. 

I’ve got Israel’s photo album here . Only look…..it’s empty!

Do:
Show the children the empty photo album, or the file filled with the blank photo sheets.

Ask:
- How does Israel know that God loves them?
- Which stories/photos should be in their album?

Ask the children which stories they know from the Old Testament in which God shows that he loves the people of Israel.

Do:
Write the names of these stories on the sheets and ask the children who wants to make a ‘photo/drawing’ for which story.

Give each child their own sheet and ask them to draw something that illustrates that particular story.

When the drawings are finished, they all go in to the album – so we now have an album with many different ‘photos’ and stories, which will also help us to remember how much God loves us.

A fun and easy to do craft to finish this Sunday school lesson on following Jesus!

Jesus calls Peter and the others to become fishers of men. From now on they will be making lots of disciples, all people who are also going to follow Jesus.

What do you need:

- strips of white paper
- pens and coloured pencils
- pairs of scissors

What to do:

Fold the paper into a concertina and draw the shape of the people on the uppermost fold with their arms going right up to the edge.

The children can cut out the shape, and if you fold it open you will have a whole row of people holding hands. It would be a good idea to make an example to show the children beforehand. They can then colour in all the people different

Theme:

Fishers of men, come follow me, the calling of disciples, miraculous catch of fish, calling of Peter

A complete programme for your Sunday school

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school / kids ministry programme about the calling of the disciples and the miraculous catch of fish.

Idea 542.    Introductory game – seek the fish!
Idea 543.    Children’s moment / introduction: what is your job?
Idea 544.    Catch the balloon with your funnelatch the balloon with your funnel
Idea 545.    A fun way to tell the story of the miraculous catch of fish
Idea 546.    Creative activity / YouTube video - the calling of Peter
Idea 547.    Game – balloon crab!
Idea 548.    Craft activity – a row of disciples

Create your own story sticks so you can tell the story of the paralyzed man

If you have used the four ‘story sticks’ to tell the story of the paralysed man, then it’s a great idea to have the children make their own story sticks so they can practice telling the story at home.

You can do this with strips of cardboard and lolly sticks, or wooden sticks with small nuts and bolts. Wooden lolly sticks work well too – if you make holes in them beforehand the children can make them with split pens.

Theme:

The paralyzed man healed by Jesus, the story of the man through the roof 

A complete programme for your Sunday school

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school / kids ministry programme about the story of the man lowered through the roof.

Idea 529.    How to tell the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man with four pieces of cardboard
Idea 530.    Is it a duck or a rabbit? - an objectlesson
Idea 531.    Bubble fight - a cool science experiment
Idea 532.    Never without my denture - a YouTube video
Idea 533.    It’s hard working together! - a creative way to have a group discussion
Idea 534.    Reaching your goal - a fun indoor game!
Idea 535.    Make a body - a fun indoor game!
Idea 536.    Create your own story sticks - a craft activity
Idea 537.    Make a parachute for the egg - a fun indoor game!
Idea 538.    The fifth friend in the story - a creative prayer idea

What do you need for each child:

- four strips of card and three split pens OR wooden lolly sticks and split pens OR…
- four thin pieces of wood, and nuts and bolts.

Method:

Attach the four strips of card or wood together in the following way.

When the children have done this (they can of course decorate them before putting them together), they can practice telling the story. Here you can see most of the forms that you need to make to tell the story:

Fig. 1 The legs of the paralysed man

Fig. 2 The window of the house where Jesus was

Fig. 3 The paralysed man’s bed, or the flat roof of the house

Fig. 4 The house where Jesus was

Fig. 5 The stairs behind the house

Fig. 6  The letter M for the paralyzes Man or maybe his name Mark / Matthew

Fig. 7 The letter W to express the frustration of the Pharisees saying: "What?!"

It’s also fun to help the children practise the numbers 1 – 4.

Three in one!

This creative activity is three things in one – a craft activity, a game, and a reflection on the Bible story of the calling of the disciples, (Mark 1: 14-20), which you can tell beforehand.

Materials:

- sticks (collected in the woods)
- magnets
- string and paper clips
- glue and cellotape
- paper fishes 
- a washing up bowl or a bucket
- pens and score card
- egg timer

Let’s make a difference this Christmas

This is an interesting Advent idea for use at home or within your kids ministry or Sunday school lesson.

Create a pile of activity cards. Each Sunday of Advent, ask a child to pick one of the activity cards – hold them so that the child can’t see which card they are choosing. This card is the coming task for the coming week. You can fulfil this task as a group or as a family.

You can think of lots of fun and interesting tasks such as:

- Make a Christmas card for someone
- Clean up the rubbish in your park
- Sweep the street
- Give food to a foodbank or to someone who needs it
- Buy a cup of coffee for a homeless person
- Make a present for someone who is lonely
- Give someone a compliment
- Create your own bird feeder
- Bake cookies and share them with neighbours and friends

You can think of twenty or more activities that you can do as a family or as a children’s group.

You can use this object lesson to teach on a range of Biblical subjects

We love this simple, but powerful object lesson. At first glance it would seem impossible to step through an index card, but once you have watched the video and learned its secret, suddenly the impossible becomes a reality.

Watching this object lesson reminded us of Jesus’ saying in Matthew 19:24 -26: “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." To which the disciples replied: “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”…

You can use this object lesson of stepping through the index card to teach on the paraple of the camel and the needle and the powerful truth that nothing is impossible with God.

As we were thinking about this object lesson a little bit longer more Biblical lessons came to mind, such as:

The real meaning of Christmas:

God steps into our world by becoming a small infant born in a stable. He does the impossible.

As a fun craft idea and object lesson you can give all the children an (old) Christmas card and a pair of scissors. Can they step through the Christmas card in the same way as God stepped into our world two thousand years ago?

The impact of Jesus on the lives of others:

Everytime Jesus steps into the lives of people something amazing happens – think about Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, the widow at Nain, the lives of his disciples, Jairus and many other people. God’s power is demonstrated. His love is shown. His justice is uphold.

The resurrection of Christ:

Jesus doing the impossible and stepping out of the tomb.

Give the children an index card. Let them write the name of the person who met Jesus on the index card, such as Nicodemus, Lazarus, Mary, Martha, etc. Give them a pair of scissors and see if they can step into the lives of these people.

The power of the indwelling Holy Spirit:

Take a photo of every child in your Sunday school class or within your kids ministry group. Get the photos developed. The children can cut the photo as shown in the video. Now they can step through their own photo.

Explain to the kids that as we step through our photo,  the Holy Spirit steps into our lives as we ask Him.

Stepping into the life of someone who is poor:

Find a photo of children living into poverty. Give the children a pair of scissors and see if they can step into the lives of these children.

Once you know how to cut the photo it is easy to do this. But how can we step into the lives of children in poverty for real? What can we do to make a difference? Take time to reflect with the children on this question.

Watch the video below:

A craft idea that will especially appeal to boys, although girls will enjoy it too

In the course of giving my children’s shows I come across the best creative ideas! I really want to share this one with you.

This is a craft idea that will especially appeal to boys, although girls will enjoy it too.

Themes:

For which Bible stories or themes could you use this craft idea?

- Think about the story of Jacob who saw a ladder going up to heaven. Or stories that have a building theme.

Or what about stories where water plays an important role? Then if you use blue marbles, they can represent the flowing water.

You could also use it at Christmas because of the angels who came from heaven, or as a picture of Jesus who came down from heaven. 

Learn all about the idea below:

A fun creative prayer and crafts idea for your youth ministy on Psalm 24

I have written a series of ideas and activities especially for Micah Sunday, that you can use during your Sunday school lesson or children’s ministry.

This year the theme of the Micah Sunday is based on a text from Psalm 24: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.’

In this creative idea we’re going to pray for the earth and all of God’s creation.

What do you need:

- white balls made of polystyrene
- felt pens

What do you do:

Make a large painting that consists out of lots of small paintings

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Philippians 1: 1 - 11.

It is a fun crafts activity on Philippians 2: 1 - 11 about looking at what it means to be one in Christ.. It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- for each participant you need a small canvas of 10 x 10 cm, paint and brushes, or wax crayons.

What do you do:

Tell:
We are going to make a big painting together, consisting of lots of different small paintings. Paul tells the church in Philippi that they are one. They belong together.

Do:
Read the text again carefully.

Ask:
- What is it that binds the people in Philippi?
- Is that easy, do you think?

Tell:
We’re going to make a painting of a meadow of flowers together. Everyone is going to paint their own flower, but the edges of your painting must blend seamlessly with the painting next to it.

Tip:
Write the name of each child lightly in pencil on the canvases, then put them all on the floor to make one big canvas. Then write on the four edges of the canvases the names of the children whose canvas borders on the other canvases. In this way the children will know who they have to work with to make sure that their paintings blend together.

Do:
Depending on the age of the children you could draw the shapes of the flowers that overlap two canvases. Then at the end you can put them back together, like a puzzle.

If you could make a medal of honour for Jesus, what would it look like?

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Philippians 1: 1 - 11.

It is a fun crafts activity on Philippians 2: 1 - 11 about looking at Jesus. It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

In this crafts idea we look at the question: "If you could make a medal of honour for Jesus, what would it look like?"

What do you need:

- self drying clay
- a plastic table cloth to keep the table clean
- pencils
- a rolling pin or empty wine bottle
- a round cutter (biscuit or scone cutter, or a glass, about 8 cm across)
- stamps and cocktail sticks to make shapes in the clay

What do you do:

Living like Christ - who is your example?

Paul, who wrote this letter to the church in Philippi, said that we should try to imitate Jesus, to mirror what he did.

When you look in a mirror, you often check if your hair’s looking alright. You might check that you’ve not got any food round your mouth, or a dirty nose. You want to check that everything’s ok. Paul says in his letter that if you want to live a good life, the best thing you can do is to look at Jesus and see how he lived and what he did.

People often take other people as an example. I want to be like him or her. Who is your example? Your parents, perhaps, or a pop star? Can someone be a bad example to follow? If you listen to what Paul says about Jesus, do you think he would be a good example?  

This is a fun crafts activiity on Philippians 2 about being imitators of Christ. It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- a mirror tile for each child (you can buy these at DIY shops0 of 15 x 15 cm
- pieces of cardboard cut out to 25 x 25 cm (for example from cardboard boxes)
- glue
- different sorts of dried pasta
- spray paint

What do you do:

Do:
First of all put the mirror in the middle of the cardboard square and draw around it. Cut out the middle square, trying to keep the edges as neat as possible.

Glue the cardboard frame on to another cardboard square.

Stick the pasta onto the frame – you can make all sorts of patterns with it.

Once the glue has dried, spray the frame with paint- do this outside on a newspaper.

Once the paint has dried you can stick the mirror in the middle.

Dear God, I am really thankful for...

A creative prayer idea / Bible game and crafts idea to help the children reflect on being thankful in the Bible book of Psalms...

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 150.  

It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need: 

- coloured strips of paper
- crayons or pens
- a stapler or cellotape

What do you do:

It pleases God when we sing for Him

A fun crafts idea / object lesson / creative activity to help the children reflect on what it means to worship God in the Bible book of Psalms...

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 150.  It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you need:

- A3 paper
- candles
- watercolour paint
- brushes
- pots of water

What do you do:

Let's make some music together

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 150.  It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

What do you do:

Do:
Read psalm 150 together.

Tell:
The writer encourages us to sing for God and to make music for God. We’re going to do exactly that – we’re going to make an instrument. You can make many different instruments.

Do:
You can have the children make the same instruments or all sorts of different ones.

You can also give older children a harder challenge.

You could also make small groups of children that can form a ‘band’.

Then they can also think together about which instruments they need to make for the band.

Options to make:

- Drums
- Guitar
- Bottles filled with water
- Pan flute
- Samba balls
- Tambourine

Let's create some noise

This is an activity that has to suit you as club leaders.

 

It needs someone who is practical and who can help the children to use the tools safely. If that’s not you, you can always ask someone to come and help you of course.

 

It’s good to have made some examples beforehand to give the children an idea of the sort of things they can make. Don’t make it too difficult. Just by hitting an empty can with a wooden stick you get a good musical instrument.

 

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 150.  It will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

 

 

Together with the children, and using the things you have brought with you, make some new instruments that they can use to make music. Challenge them to be creative with what you have brought with you.

What do you need:

A messy, but fun activity about Abram's journey to the promised land

The Lord said to Abram “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’

Show on the globe where the children live and where the story of Abram took place. Tell the children that we’ve magnified part of the globe for them, so they can see where Abram went to in this story.

Paint one of the children’s feet with acrylic paint and ask them to make a footprint on the route that Abram travelled...

Duration: 10 minutes

Let's make crystals

Genesis 12: 1-4 and 7: The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[a] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him."

Talk about the meaning of a promise. Read the Bible passage together. What does God promise Abram?

Do you think that it would have been hard or easy for Abram to believe that these promises would come true? When is it easy to believe a promise? Often it’s harder to believe in a promise if you can’t imagine how it could come true, or if you have to wait for a long time.

Today we’re going to make crystals. This is a promise, but you’ll have to wait before you can see the crystals.

Duration: 20 - 25 minutes

A fun activity that will help you to start thinking about Advent.

You can use this idea to create a creative prayer moment with the children.

Scripture reference:

Luke 1:41-42  (NIV)

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!

What do you need?

- bottles of bubble blower (or you can create your own!)
- liquid food colouring
- paper hearts and pens

A creative prayer idea about the cross being God's present

This is part six of a 45 minute Sunday School programme on mission.

An idea for a creative prayer moment in which the cross turns into a present.

Ice lollies as a rod or a staff?

Your rod and staff comfort me... Being guided by God is not always as clear, easy or obvious as we would like. With this craft activity and creative form of prayer you can help children to think about the guidance that God gives us.

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 23 and the Bible passage in John 10: 11-18 on Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

This creative activity will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

Themes:

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the church as a flock

What do you need:

- ice lolly sticks
- labels with string
- pens
- stickers

What do you do:

Ice lolly sticks aren't really comparable to the rod and staff of the Shepherd. But still...

In this prayer idea/craft idea you can decorate an ice lolly stick with stickers, markers and. When you have decorated your stick, take a label and write on it in what way you want God to guide you in the future. Tie this label to the stick and take it home with you.

Let's create a flock 

Did you know that the Good Shepherd wants to help us to look more and more like Him every day? He changes us, in order that we as sheep wlll start to look more like the Shepherd.

What do you do:

On the table there are cardboard sheep, balls of wool, toy eyes, stickers and felt pens. You can make your own sheep using these materials.

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 23 and the Bible passage in John 10: 11-18 on Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

This creative activity will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

Themes:

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the church as a flock

What you'll need:

-  sheep made out of cardboard
-  balls of wool, toy eyes,  stickers and felt pens

Download:

Download the worksheet:  "Sheep"

Your rod and your staff they comfort me

This is a fun activity in which every child makes a shepherd's crook.

Take the children to the park to look for suitable sticks to make a shepherd’s crook. With the help of sandpaper and (under supervision) a penknife, they can prepare their sticks and make them smooth.   (You can always collect the sticks beforehand! That saves a trip with the kids...)

You can ask someone if they want to teach the children something about wood carving.

You can decorate the crook with ribbons, stickers and flowers.

The aim is that every child has his or hers own shepherd's crook.

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 23 and the Bible passage in John 10: 11-18 on Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

This creative activity will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

Themes:

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the church as a flock

A crafts and game that especially the boys in your children's ministry will like.

This activity fits well with the story of David the shepherd or with the story of the good Shepherd. 

This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Psalm 23 and the Bible passage in John 10: 11-18 on Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

This crafts idea and game will help the children in your Sunday school lesson, youth ministry, Bible lesson, VBS, kidmin, children’s church or children’s ministry to reflect on this powerful Bible passage.

Themes:

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the church as a flock

What you'll need:

- PVC tubing
- Tape
- Pieces of paper
- Sellotape
- Cardboard wolf heads - download here

What do you do:

How many stars can you count?

Further along in the Bible God promises that Abram’s descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. In the activity below we give you four easy craft ideas to (re)create a night sky with the children.

You could also use these ideas around Advent or Christmas as you are thinking about the star of Bethlehem. Of course you can also use this idea also for the themes of creation and the greatness of God.

Themes:

Stars in the sky, God’s promise to Abram, the night sky, Christmas, star of Bethlehem, creation, the greatness of God

Discover our ideas below

Introduction:

Recently I visited a church where they had literally built their own prayer wall. It looked like a real wall, but it was made out of cardboard boxes and cleverly chosen wall paper with a stone print. Church members and visitors were encouraged to write their prayers on pieces of paper and put these through ready-made holes in the wall. Very impressive, but also very easy.

It's important to let people know what you do with their prayers. Do you read them and pray about them afterwards? Or do you see the prayers as being for God's eyes only, and you throw them away without reading them?

A giant prayer wall in the church!

Small holes through which you can place your prayer notes.

As light as a feather and very easy to move.

Introduction:
This is a series of ten ideas about the Bible story of the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler that you can use. These ideas come from Martine Versteeg from www.kliederkerk.nl (the Dutch version of Messy Church). Messy church is a new form of being church for children and the people around them. It's inspired by the English Messy Church.

In the time that Jesus lived, a lot of people thought that you get rich when God thinks you're good. This meant that people in that time didn't really look at the poor people in a positive way. They had to be really bad, otherwise God would have made them rich. Because of this story about Jesus, people started looking really differently at the poor...

In this idea we're going to look in a different way with children.

Themes:
The rich young ruler, Jesus teaches us to look through his eyes at the world around us

Messy Church program:
188.  The treasure chest - the Rich Young Ruler
189.  Make your own rules? - the Rich Young Ruler
190.  Jesus turns everything upside down - the Rich Young Ruler
191.  Give something away! - the Rich Young Ruler
192.  Shuffleboard with money! - the Rich Young Ruler
193.  The camel race - The Rich Young Ruler
194.  Crawling through the eye of a needle - The Rich Young Ruler
195.  Pimp your own camel - The Rich Young Ruler
196.  Looking through Jesus' eyes at the world - The Rich Young Ruler
197.  Praying with a needle and a thread - The Rich Young Ruler

Introduction:
This is a series of ten ideas about the Bible story of the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler that you can use. These ideas come from Martine Versteeg from www.kliederkerk.nl (the Dutch version of Messy Church). Messy church is a new form of being church for children and the people around them. It's inspired by the English Messy Church.

What is the prettiest animal in the world? I don't think the camel would end up in the top 10. But today he is! The children can make their own camel and 'pimp' it.

Themes:
The rich young ruler

Messy Church program:
188.  The treasure chest - the Rich Young Ruler
189.  Make your own rules? - the Rich Young Ruler
190.  Jesus turns everything upside down - the Rich Young Ruler
191.  Give something away! - the Rich Young Ruler
192.  Shuffleboard with money! - the Rich Young Ruler
193.  The camel race - The Rich Young Ruler
194.  Crawling through the eye of a needle - The Rich Young Ruler
195.  Pimp your own camel - The Rich Young Ruler
196.  Looking through Jesus' eyes at the world - The Rich Young Ruler
197.  Praying with a needle and a thread - The Rich Young Ruler

A fun and messy crafts activity that will help you reflect on the story of God calling Abram

This is quite a messy activity, which can go totally wrong very easily! So why would you do it? Well, on the other side this will create a fun and lasting memory of us walking through the stories in the Bible, starting with Abram.

What do you need:

- paint brushes
- different color water-based paint
- large piece of painting canvas or wooden board

What do you do:

All the children are allowed to paint the sole of one of their feet with a certain colour. In turn they place their painted foot carefully on the canvas and we are left with a colourful piece of art: lots of feet in different sizes and colour. As a lasting memorial of our journey together through the scriptures. 

Short introduction:
An idea from the programme KrachtKanjers by Marjolein Goedegebuur & Hanneke Schuit:

The children learn how to care for something. In addition, the purpose of the plant is so the children can see that, just like the seed grows, they are also going to grow. Just as the plant hopes to become a beautiful flower, a child also can have dreams and hopes for their future.

Theme:
A child and his or her dreams.

To be used for:
Creative times during children’s work

Bible Verse:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Ages:
4-12 years

Description:
The children can decorate their own flowerpot and plant flower seeds in it. They can take it home and care for the plant themselves.

Tip:
Explain that like them, the plant is going to grow. Tell them that just like the plant they can have the desire to grow and  have dreams and wishes for the future.

Materials needed:
- flowerpots, bowls, or cans
- Soil or cotton pads
- flower seeds

Short explanation:

A clear illustration and creative prayer idea for children and adults, whereby a cross can be changed into a box for homeless children to sleep in.

Themes:

Creative prayer, homeless children, poverty, the cross

To be used for :

Children’s moment during a service, creative prayer, prayer room, an illustration for your teaching on prayer.

Bible text:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1: 27)

A crafts idea and fun game that will help you reflect on the story of Abram walking all the way to Canaan

Abram had to travel 700 kilometres or 440 miles to go from Haran to Canaan. He didn’t have: a car, a train or a plane. He would probably walked this distance. How hard is this?

In this activity we are going to make paper sandals and wonder: “How far can we walk on these?”

What do you need:

- coloured piece of A4 paper
- pens / pencils
- scissors 
- staplers

What do you do:

Introduction: 

This is a wonderful festive way of praying with children, which works well around Easter, but also really does not need an excuse! Fun, colourful and still a way of praying.

Themes:

Lord's Prayer, Our Father in heaven, Gods will

To be used for:

- Creative prayer moment in church, Sunday school. assembly or RE lesson
- Prayer room

Bible text:

‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ (Matthew 6:10)

Introduction:

In this creative task the children are going to decorate a cross. This is a follow-up of writing and drawing prayers on the cross (see idea 4).

Themes:

Light of the world, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This idea can be used for:

- Creative prayer or interactive moments during a service
- Prayer rooms
- Teaching concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus

Bible text: 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Description:

A big wooden cross is lying on the ground. In small groups the children get a few minutes to decorate part of the cross. Every child can glue beads to the cross, paint on the cross, or find another creative way of expressing what Jesus’ cross means for him or her. Within the preparation of this creative task around 50 holes have been drilled into the cross. After the decorating is completed fairy lights can be put through these holes. The cross can then be hung up somewhere and become a cherished memory, or be referred to within future settings.

You will need:

- A wooden cross (with holes drilled into it for fairy lights).
- Glue
- Beads
- Paint
- Fabric
- Scissors

Most of these ideas are members only. To give you an indication of the quality and content of our material we have made a number of ideas available for free - see below.

To get access all the ideas you can become a member for only $25 per year. Click on the button on the right for more information.