Nehemiah was given the job of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. His enemies made fun of him, ‘if a fox climbs on your wall it will fall down!’ (Nehemiah 4:3) they said. But Nehemiah kept building and with God’s help the wall was finished!
In the story bag – wooden bricks for the wall (not in the photo – I used our toddler group bricks), two men – Nehemiah and Sanballat and a fox.
Craft Idea – fox collage – crayons and crepe paper. Free fox PDF to print – fox
Week three of Bible animal stories was Jonah.
Craft Idea –
Can you spot Jonah? He is hidden away inside the big fish!
Here is a PDF of the fish whale (1)
Jonah was made from cutting up concertina people bought from Amazon.
The sea is crepe paper strips and cellophane strips. You have to be careful with the cellophane – if you think children might put it in their mouths then don’t use it. I was stationed at the craft table all morning as we had extra helpers.
We last did Jonah at toddler group in 2015 (where does the time go!) Here’s a link to the story and our huge big fish!
We are doing stories based on the theme ‘Animals in the Bible’ this half term at Thursday Toddler Group. We started with creation – lots of toy animals in the story bag that we named.
The following week we did Daniel in the Lion’s Den from Daniel 6.
In the story basket there were Daniel, the King, an angel and some lions.
Craft idea
This year we will actually have our Thursday toddler group on February 14th. Valentines Day is often in half term but not this year! So a special ‘keepsake craft’ is in order. Something special for parents and toddlers to make together, write the date on the back and keep.
Baker Ross sell card hearts that are perfect for making a heart wreath. The heart shapes are cut using paper punches – two different sizes. There will be wool and sequins too. The cut out hearts will be colour coordinated – lots of pinks, some green, patterns and bright yellow. The yellow brings the whole thing to life.
We’re doing stories from the life of peter at Tuesday toddler group. last week it was the calling of the first disciples (Mark 1:16-18. Peter is still called Simon at this point. We have used the name peter to save confusion). The craft was paper plate fish.
This week it was the healing of Peter’s mother in law. (Mark 1:29-31)
The craft is a little bit more involved than usual – it is definitely one for an adult to make with their child. But it uses different textures and can be used to tell the story as the woman can get in and out of the bed.
There’s a free PDF of the bed and the woman is from kit that needs minimal prep.
peter’s mother in law (side 1 & 2)
The two sides of the craft – if you can’t do double sided printing/photocopying the side with the quilt pattern can be blank. It will work just as well.
You need pieces of fabric for the pillow and quilt. Mum-in-law has wool for hair and has a happy face one side and a sad face the other. The idea is that she isn’t glued to the craft but can get out of the bed.
I used a set of concertina girl shapes for the woman. They are from amazon. They need to be cut into individual people.
There are lots of opportunities for chat while making this craft. Parents/carers and toddlers can talk about colour and texture and of course talk about the story. We have our story half way through the morning with craft before and after. For those who make it before it can help them know what to listen out for.
Hope you enjoy making!
Yesterday I posted a Christmas Card Star idea. Today another idea using the same star wreath. This time you can paint the star or decorate with stickers and then use tissue paper for a stained glass effect.
I used paint markers to create the dots. As with all paint check that what you use is washable and have aprons or warn parents/carers that there will be paint! I bought Washable Dab and Dot Markers. They are for 3plus years but if you put the lids out of reach and keep a watchful eye they are ok. If you don’t feel 100% comfortable with using something in your group then don’t use it.
The two ideas…
These paper plates can be used to tell the Christmas story and/or as craft ideas. They need some prep so I’m posting them now!
The Angel Gabriel visits Mary – Luke 1:26-38
Jesus is born – Luke 2:1-7
The shepherds are told about the birth of the Saviour – Luke 2:8-21
You can tell the story a little at a time over three weeks or use the plates altogether
They are made from sturdy paper plates that have a rim (not the cheapest but they need to stand up to being taken out of a story bag). The picture backgrounds are made from tissue paper and the scenes and people use paper, sugar paper, crepe paper, cardboard rolls (stable) wool, cotton wool and shiny paper. The angel wings are hearts cut out using a paper punch. The bodies of the people are triangles and the head scarfs (I can’t think of a better word!) are material. Lots of different textures and colours! Use what you have 🙂
