This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Zechariah meeting the angel Gabriel, as part of our series for advent and Christmas.
- a big dice
- an A4 with the name ‘Zechariah’ on it.
This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Mary meeting the angel Gabriel as part of our series for advent and Christmas.
- a big bag of marshmallows
Do:
Have the children sit in a circle on the ground.
Ask:
Ask the children to introduce themselves one by one, and give three marshmallows, which they have to put in front of them.
Do:
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.
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 Mary is blessed, and Mary suddenly starts singing a song. Everything starts bubbling up and happening, just like the popcorn that starts jumping all over the place.
This idea is part of a complete Sunday school lesson on Mary meeting Elisabeth as part of our series for advent and Christmas.
- microwave popcorn and a microwave
- OR corn, oil, a pan. a camping stove and paper cups
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.
Abram had to travel from Haran to Canaan. Two strange places with strange names.
Where is Haran? Where is Canaan? This activity will help the children to place the story of Abram in a geographical context.
Maybe we can make a small start with this activity for the younger children. 
- a map of the world
- pen and paper
Ask:
As the children are sitting in a circle you ask them which countries they know. How many countries do we know all together?
Do:
Write all the countries down on a big list.
Tell:
Today we are going to look at someone who used to live in Haran and had to move to the country of Canaan.
Ask:
Who has ever heard of Haran and Canaan?
Can we find these places on our world map?
Do:
See if you can find them with the children.
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