Discover this Advent Sunday school lesson on Zacharias who meets the angel Gabriel

We offer you ten creative ideas that you can use in your Sunday school, kids ministry, children's church or youth work on the Bible story of Mary and the angel Gabriel in Luke 1: 5 - 25.

The Sunday School lesson consist fo the following ideas:

Idea 572:   Discarded or valuable?

Idea 573:   What number did you throw? - a Bible game / Icebreaker

Idea 574:   YouTube video and discussion – One Dayne Day

Idea 575:   Experiment – The Impossible Sumhe Impossible Sum

Idea 576:   No nice gift for Zacharias? - a creative activity

Idea 577:   Who is the angel Gabriel? - a creative activity

Idea 578:   Who can you trust? - a creative activity

Idea 579:   What did you say? - a Bible game

Idea 580:   I think God is really special, because... - a Bible game

Idea 581:   Keep that straw under your nose! - a fun Bible game

Discover this Advent lesson on Mary who meets the angel Gabriel

We offer you nine creative ideas that you can use in your Sunday school, kids ministry, children's church or youth work on the Bible story of Mary and the angel Gabriel in Luke 1: 26 - 38.

The Sunday School lesson consist fo the following ideas:

Idea 562:   A beautiful princess or just an ordinary girl?

Idea 563:   Icebreaker – the king that loves marshmallows!

Idea 564:   YouTube video and discussion – Eggs change

Idea 565:   Experiment – an Explosive Message

Idea 566:   Your Majesty - a creative activity

Idea 567:   His Name is Jesus! - a creative activity

Idea 568:   God looks at things differently to us - a creative activity

Idea 569:   The King / Queen says... - a Bible game

Idea 570:   Which animal is the most powerful? - a Bible game

A fun game about the Bible story of Mary's meeting with the angel Gabriel

In our story today the angel Gabriel tells Mary that Jesus will be the King of Israel and that there will be no end to his reign.

What does a king do? Is it easy or hard to obey a king?

What do you need:

- a toy crown

What do to:

This is an amended version of the well-known game ‘Simon says’.

Have the children stand in a circle, and have a leader stand in the middle of the circle. The leader is the king or queen, and wears the crown. The children have to obey him or her, but only if they use the words ‘The king says’ . So if the king says ‘The king says sit down’, then they have to sit down, but if the king only says ‘Sit down’ then they have to stay standing. The children who do sit down are out.
You can also have the children take it in turns to be the ‘king’ or ‘queen’.

In what ways is this similar to what a real king or queen would do? Why/ why not?
What sort of King is Jesus do you think?

A fun creative activity about the Bible story of Mary's meeting with the angel Gabriel

Gabriel promised that Maria’s child would be called the Son of God, and that he will reign for ever over Israel. What would you expect? A super hero, or a vulnerable baby?
God turns everything upside down, because He sees things differently to us…..

What do you need:

- magazines
- scissors
- a print out of the download (face).

You can download the face here: Upside-down-face---happy-or-sad.pdf

What do to:

Give the children a mix of magazines – some celebrity/fashion magazines, and also some magazines on Christian mission. Ask them to cut out photos of people who they think are heroes. They could be heroes for different reasons, not just for being famous.

Show the children the face that you have printed out.
Is it happy or sad? It all depends on how you look at it – show it both ways.
When is the face the right way round, and when it is upside down?
Gabriel promised that Maria’s child would be called the Son of God, and that he will reign for ever over Israel. What would you expect? A super hero, or a vulnerable baby?
We like to look at film stars, famous people, kings and queens. God likes to look at ordinary people, people like Maria and people like us.
So who is now looking at things upside down?!

A fun creative activity about the Bible story of Mary's meeting with the angel Gabriel

Gabriel tells Mary that she has to give her son the name ‘Jesus’. But what does that mean?

What do you need:

- worksheet with the names of Jesus in many different languages

You can download the worksheet here: Names-of-Jesus-in-many-languages.pdf

What do to:

Ask the children if they know what their name means.

Show them the worksheet with the names of Jesus in different languages. Which of them can we pronounce? Which ones do you like? Which sound a bit strange to you? Which languages do you recognise?

Who knows why Mary had to call her son Jesus? What does the name mean?

The name Jesus comes from the name Joshua. Who knows who Joshua was?

Joshua and Jesus both mean ‘God saves’. Later in the Bible the disciples go on to tell the people:

There is no one else through whom we can be saved, because his name is the only one on earth that can save. (Acts 4:12)

Look together once again at the worksheet. Why is this name the only name that can save people?

A fun creative activity about the Bible story of Mary's meeting with the angel Gabriel

Gabriel tells Maria that her son Jesus will be the king of Israel and that he will reign for ever. How does it feel to be a king?

What do you need:

- a paper crown, beautifully decorated

What to do:

Ask the children:

- Who knows what the angel Gabriel told Maria? (He told her that Jesus would be a King.)
- What does a king or queen do? What do people do when they see a king or queen? (They honour the king or queen.)
- Who knows what this means? What do you do to honour a king or a queen? 

The children take it in turns to be the king or queen. They put on the crown and walk around the room pretending to be royal. The other children then ‘honour’ them – cheering, clapping, making way for them.  When each child has had a turn, ask them what it felt like to be a king or queen. What did you like/ not like about it?

A fun way to introduce the theme of Mary meeting Gabriel

What do you need:

- a big bag of marshmallows

What do you do:

Have the children sit in a circle on the ground.

One by one the children introduce themselves, and are given three marshmallows, which they have to put in front of them.

One of the children starts as the king/queen. He or she stands in the middle of the circle. The aim is for the king to try and take the marshmallows from the children. The children can prevent this by calling out the name of another child if the king tries to take a marshmallow from them. If they say a name before the king has taken their marshmallow, the king has to then run to the child whose name has been called and take a marshmallow from them. But if that child also calls out the name of another child before their marshmallow has been taken…..then the king has to go to that child. And so on!

If the king does succeed in taking a marshmallow, they can eat it, and the child whose marshmallow was taken becomes the king.

Discover this Advent lesson on Mary who meets her elderly aunt Elisabeth, who is also pregnant

We offer you twelve creative ideas that you can use in your Sunday school, kids ministry, children's church or youth work on the Bible story of Mary and Elisabeth in Luke 1: 39 - 56

The Sunday School lesson consist fo the following ideas:

Idea 549:   Children’s moment/ introduction – a tie or an apron?

Idea 550:   Icebreaker – let that popcorn pop!

Idea 551:   Tips for telling the story of Mary meeting Elisabeth

Idea 552:   YouTube video and discussion – Memories

Idea 553:   Experiment – a Powerful Combination

Idea 554:   What is the meaning of being blessed? - an object lesson

Idea 555:   Create a chain reaction - a creative activity 

Idea 556:   Living Memory - an Advent Game

Idea 557:   Big Tummy race - a game

Idea 558:   Israel’s photo album - a craft idea

Idea 559:   What are you full of? - a Creative Prayer idea

Idea 660:   What makes your heart bubble up? - a Creative Prayer idea

An idea to help children to talk / communicate with God

A creative prayer idea about praising God. To be used with the story of Mary meeting Elisabeth and her song!

What do you need:

- bottles of bubble mix
- food colouring
- paper hearts and pens

What to do:

Put a few drops of food colouring in each of the bottles of bubble mix – a different colour in each bottle gives the best effect.

Give the children a paper heart and ask them to write things that they are thankful for, and what they want to thank God for.

Then show them how they can blow bubbles up against the paper hearts. When the bubbles burst they will leave their colour behind on the paper. The children can blow different colour bubbles to make a nice effect on their paper hearts.

An idea to help children to talk / communicate with God

A creative prayer idea about being thankful. To be used with the story of Mary meeting Elisabeth and her song!

What do you need:

- balloons

What to do:

Tell the children how Mary was full of what was happening to her….and that she was full of the Holy Spirit. She was about to burst with it!

Give each child a balloon and ask them to blow it up but don’t tie it. When the balloons have been blown up, ask the children ‘What are you full of?’ ‘What are you excited about?’ You could also ask them ‘What are you thankful for?’

The children can take it in turns to give their answer, and then let the balloon go – this will fly round the room as it empties!

A super fun reflection on the Bible story of Mary meeting her aunt Elisabeth

When you read this story you can see that from the very moment Mary and Elisabeth meet, things start to happen – a chain reaction is set in motion. The baby in Elisabeth’s tummy starts to move around, Elisabeth is filled with joy and calls out that Mary is blessed, and Mary sings a spontaneous song, because she’s so happy with what God is doing.

What do you need:
- marbles
- some pvc piping
- bottles
- domino pieces
- string
- etc...

What to do:
As a group, or in smaller groups, you can lay out a course in which one thing leads to another. It would be fun if you could end with a wow factor, which will have the children cheering and celebrating, just as Mary was celebrating all that God was doing.

For some inspiration, watch the following video:

An icebreaker as part of the Bible story where the pregnant Mary meets her pregnant aunt Elisabeth

Tell the children that everything’s going to start bubbling up in this weeks’ story. The baby in Elisabeth’s tummy jumps for joy, Elisabeth calls out that Maria is blessed, and Maria suddenly starts singing a song. Everything starts bubbling up and happening, just like the popcorn that starts jumping all over the place.

What do you need?

- microwave popcorn and a microwave
- OR corn, oil, a pan. a camping stove and paper cups

What to do:

In the microwave:
- make the popcorn and give each children a handful op popcorn

On the camping stove:
Be careful! This activity is not without its own risks! Prepare it well beforehand and make sure you have enough leaders. The effect can be fun and exciting.
Make sure you create a safe environment by making sure that the children are sitting in a circle around the camping stove at a good distance. Make sure the camping stove is on a sturdy surface. Heat a little oil and get the popcorn popping, but don’t put the lid on. Then you will see it fly all over the place as it starts to pop! Maybe the children will be able to catch a bit in their paper cups as it pops out of the pan! You could always have made some earlier that you can give to the children to eat at the end if they haven’t been able to catch much.

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.

God is not far away from us. In Jesus He came so close…

A fun Christmas idea on God coming to us in His son Jesus. You can use this Advent idea at home or in your children’s ministry. 

Put a Lego figure into a small cup of water and put this into a freezer. Once it is frozen take it out and show it to the kids. Explain to them that when we celebrate Christmas we celebrate that God became like us. In Jesus He became a man. God is not very far away - show your hands and move them far away from the Lego figure in the ice. But through Jesus He has come very close – put your hands on the ice block.

By reading the Bible, praying and going to church we can grow closer to Him. This is what God wants for us, because He loves us so much. His love makes you warm. Shall we see if we can make this block of ice warm, so that it will melt. How can we do that?

What on earth could be the link between cornflakes, a magnet and the star of Bethlehem?

To find out, you’ll have to watch this surprising TheDadLab video below. It is another one of his great, short videos on easy to do science experiments.

Just as the cornflake is pulled along by the magnet held above it, so the (three) wise men experience the pull of the star. It leads them towards Bethlehem, where they will worship Jesus and present their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

"They went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." Matthew 2: 9 - 10

This is a great object lesson to illustrate the Christmas story of the wise men following the star of Bethlehem.

It is fun and easy to do with the children. They can take it in turns to try moving a cornflake over the water.

Theme:

The Magi, the (three wise men, the (three) kings, the star of Bethlehem, God's direction

Needed:

- a strong magnet
- fortified cornflakes (check the label to see how much iron each serving contains—the more the better!) 
- a bowl of water

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

Is there someone pregnant in the church or someone you know. Maybe it is a fun idea to invite her to the children’s program, Sunday school lesson or kids ministry.

Maybe she can share what it feels like to be pregnant. Has she even felt her baby kicking? Or even leaping, like Elizabeth? Maybe some children can feel the tummy and see if the baby moves.

How do think this would have been for Mary and Elizabeth? (10 - 15 min)

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!

You can use this idea in a:

Sunday School lesson, Sunday school class, Sunday school curriculum, children's ministry, kids time

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

In this Bible story two pregnant women meet each other. Split the children into two groups and do a relay race with them. Create a fun course for them to run. Give each group a blown up balloon. When the race starts, the first child places the balloon underneath his or her shirt and runst the course with the balloon. After finishing the course the balloon is passed to the next child.  (10 min)

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!

You can use this idea in a:

Sunday School lesson, Sunday school class, Sunday school curriculum, children's ministry, Messy church, kids time

A fun final act that will make people leave with a smile on their faces

This is probably one of my favourite magic tricks. I currently use it as an ending to two of my Christian children's theatre shows. I like it because it is so easy, but it always gives a 'wow' effect. 

Take the red umbrella out of the tube. When you open the umbrella you can show that it is a normal one. You close the umbrella and put it back into the tube. Now show eight different coloured silks to the audience. Then put them into a bag, and suddenly the bag changes into the top of the umbrella and all the silks have disappeared. Pick up the tube and pull the umbrella out. Now the top has been disappeared and instead of the top, the eight silks are hanging on the umbrella.

In your Christmas show you use this trick to answer the question: Who is welcome in the stable? Who can find a place of refuge with Jesus?

Watch the video:

In the video below I will show you how you can use this amazing act during your Christmas service, school assembly or in your Sunday school lesson.

You can buy your copy of the Magic Umbrella Deluxe through the site of Dynamite Magic.

Don't forget – any children’s worker can do this! It only needs a little bit of practice. So give it a try!

A spectacular act that is so easy to do it will surprise you!

The following act is all about the Magi arriving at the stable and giving their presents to Joseph and Mary. It is educational, fun and spectacular with some magic fire at the end of the act. And you know what? You can do this too. It is so easy...

The Magi arrived in Bethlehem and saw Jesus. They worshipped him and give him their presents. To demonstrate the giving of these three presents you use The Incredible Kettle and pour water in the first glass. Somewhere during the pouring the water turns red.

Who knows what the red present was? Incense!

Now you pour the second glass and to your surprise the water turns yellow. This yellow water is a symbol for the second present: gold!

And the third present?

Again you pour water in a glass. This time the water turns green: myrrh!

After pouring the water you lift off the lid, reach in and pull out a long (and bone dry) rainbow streamer! This streamer is a demonstration of the celebration in the stable.

To create a spectacular moment, take a piece of flash paper and light it! This will create a real flame in the air. The boys especially will love this!

You can finish this act with a dove pan and a large sponge cake. 

Watch the video:

In the video below I will show you how you can use this amazing act during your Christmas service, school assembly or in your Sunday school lesson.

Don't forget – any children’s worker can do this! It only needs a little bit of practice. So give it a try!

Use the puzzle piece of the presents to introduce the story line of the Magi.

After completing the several different acts about the shepherds. take the fourth piece of the puzzle out of the folder. It's a picture of a present. You can talk about all the different presents that we hope to get at Christmas. Put this picture on the board and you are ready to start the following act: introducing the Magi.

Use the picture of the present to talk about the Magi who brought their own presents for Jesus: gold, incense and myrrh. It is important to ignore the hole in the middle of the puzzle. Just act like you haven't seen it and don't mention it yet!

This fourth piece of the puzzle helps you introduce the story of the Magi and their presents.

You can do this too during your Christmas service, school assembly or in your Sunday school lesson

In idea 289 I demonstrate the use of the Christmas puzzle as the main story line in a Christmas show