Props for storytelling Archives - Let their light shine!

The Ultimate Guide to Toddler Group Resources

The Ultimate guide to Church Toddler Group Resources is all about getting back in the swing of all things toddler group after a few weeks away.

Follow the links for extra ideas for toddler group Bible stories and toddler Bible story crafts. At the end of the post I’ve added a friendly toddler group checklist so you can see what you’ve achieved and what you might need to do.

Toddler Group Resources – set up ideas

Every toddler group is unique, different spaces, different people but here’s some ideas that can be copied or adapted. Setting up a toddler group in a church or community hall can be really hard work. Toddler group leaders become furniture movers and it can take it’s toll. If you can get some help.

Below are some photos of our set up and the toys we have out each week.

One of the groups I help with meets in a community hall but is run by a church. To help parents and carers know who we are we have a notice board. It’s good to display something about your group so people know what they are coming to. We like to have this behind our welcome table.

Some ideas for your toddler group welcome table

A leaflet or booklet with key details about the group including dates when you are running and phone numbers of leaders or a website address. Include details of your church.
Information that is helpful for families from your local area including details of other toddler groups
A box of tissues
Some christian tracts or booklets
Smalltalk – printable information sheets from Care for the Family that cover a wide range of topics. I recommend taking a look at the list on their website. They are family friendly and helpful without lecturing.
Your sign in sheet – this can be simple with first name of the adult and the number of children with them.

Resources for Telling Bible Stories to Toddlers

Telling Bible Stories in a toddler can feel a bit daunting so here are some resources to make it easier and hopefully enjoyable.

Invest in some props – take a look at this post all about these knitted bible characters

Other props that are helpful

Pringle people are easy to make and very versatile.
Home made paper plate scenes that tell a bible story
Purple cloth for the bible story about Lydia
A home made cardboard box bible time house for telling the toddler group bible story series Homes Jesus Visited.

Sometimes you can make use of toddler group toys for props such as a toy lion for a bible story about Daniel or things you borrow from home such as a pan and wooden spoon for a bible story about Mary and Martha.

Choose a story bag or basket that is easy to use. I have a few favourites – it is easier for me if they are bags/baskets that hold their shape.

It better to have fewer props – don’t feel that you need a prop for everything in the story or you’ll just have so much to remember and get out of the bag you risk losing the flow of the story.

The ultimate guide to toddler group resources story basket with props for bible stories

The ultimate guide to toddler group resources story bags with props for bible stories

Plan which bible stories you want to tell in your toddler group.

We recommend planning a term at a time – include seasonal things like Harvest and have a few weeks for Christmas and Easter.

There are lots of toddler group bible stories on the blog. Here are some for you to try that have been put in handy six week segments. One is all about saying ‘thank you’ to God for our bodies – it’s a great series if you want to introduce a bible story time in your group. The other story series is all about what God is like.

It can be fun to have a theme – Animal bible stories, Number bible Stories, Weather bible stories

Other resources are available from Go Teach and Faith in Kids

Toddler group resources for crafts

At the beginning of every term it’s a good idea just to check your craft resources. Here are a few basics that we use nearly every week at toddler group and consequently often need topping up.

Paper – coloured sugar paper, plain white A4 paper for printing
Glue sticks
Coloured tissue paper
Wax crayons (remove any that have broken into small bits)

Here’s a post with lots of ideas for craft resources

Play dough for toddler group play

There are lots of play dough recipes – this is the one I use most

I hope this guide has given you lots of ideas. Here’s a handy checklist

Welcome sheet with important info for adults
Sign in sheet
Tissues
Smalltalk from Care for the Family
Props
Story bag/basket
Bible story plan
Glue sticks
Paper
Wax crayons
Tissue paper
Play dough
Are all the toys clean and unbroken?

I’m sure you can add ideas of your own.

The Cast of Christmas are ready!

The cast of Christmas are ready! I’m really looking forward to telling the Christmas Story with these guys .. made by my super talented mum. The Wise Men are my favourites 🙂 Here’s a link to the Alan Dart pattern my mum used. (Affiliate link – if you click and buy the item I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

You can use the characters over several weeks and build up a nativity tableau. They are a great size and fit well in a story bag or basket. I add some toy sheep for the shepherds and we have some soft toy camels for the Wise Men.

If you are planning on making them give yourself plenty of time or ask for help! My mum used Stylecraft Special DK from Wool Warehouse. It is reasonably priced yarn that comes on lots of colours. Of course you could also ask for donations of yarn from friends and family.

If you don’t have time to do some knitting you can make a nativity set from paper plates – have a look at this post.

The cast of Christmas is ready

Knitted doll nativity for story telling at Christmas

Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer

Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer Bible Story for young children based on Acts 8:26-40.

To tell the Story have some items in a story bag – Philip, The Treasurer, chariot, horse, scroll.

Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer Bible story prop

The Chariot is made from a shoe box. I turned the box inside out and put it back together and then cut the shape. The wheels are from a cardboard box. They are sturdy enough to take the weight of the chariot.

Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer Bible Story

Say hello to Philip! Philip was a follower of Jesus and everywhere he went he told everyone he met that Jesus had died and come alive again. He was very busy. Lots and lots of people listened to what he said about Jesus and they became followers of Jesus too.

Then one day an angel told Philip to leave the towns and all the people and go to a road where no one lived! How was he going to tell people about Jesus if no one was there?

But he went.

And there he was on the road. When he heard something coming! Clip, clop, clip, clop. It was getting closer and closer. A chariot was coming along the road with a very important man inside. This very important man was on his way home to Africa. Can you guess what he was doing? He was reading and Philip could hear him reading the words out aloud. Philip recognised the words; he knew that the very important man was reading part of the Bible.

‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked the man.

‘No! How can I unless someone helps me.’ the very important man replied.

Philip knew he could help. He got into the chariot and he explained the Bible and helped the very important man to understand that Jesus is the forever king sent from God who came to save us.

The very important man went home happy!

Philip and the Ethiopian craft idea

The Ethiopian Treasurer would have been reading from a scroll. This is a simple way of making a scroll that can be written in by the child. You could choose to encourage children to make marks or write their name. It depends on their age and how much they enjoy having a go at writing.

I used A3 sugar paper cut in half length ways and toilet rolls. If you aren’t happy using toilet rolls you can buy cardboard rolls from craft shops or cut kitchen rolls in half.

Secure the toilet rolls to the sugar paper at both ends using cellotape (I tried using pritt stick but it just didn’t stick!) The children can write in their scroll. To hold the scroll together you can use wool or pipe cleaners.

Step by step photos showing how to make a scroll craft for children to use when telling the Bible story Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer

On the way to Easter…paper plate pictures

On the way to Easter paper plate pictures that help to tell the story of the first Easter. In the Gospels Jesus meets several people when he is on his last journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the final time. So four of our stories are about the people that met Jesus as he was going to Jerusalem. Then we have the story of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

I’ll be using different props for each story but as we go there will be a paper plate picture for each week that will build a bigger picture.. (If you don’t want to use all the stories just pick and choose)

Our stories will be… (Click on the links to go to the stories and crafts)

The Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-23 and Mark 10:17-22)
Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35-43 and Mark 10:32,33,46-52)
Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
Mary anoints Jesus (John 12:1-8)
The Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40)
Death and Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 23:44-24:12)

This is how our big picture will look when we have told all the stories..

Pictures on paper plates showing the people Jesus met in the run up to the first Easter

These are paper plates covered in tissue paper with people and buildings and trees etc added.

The people are available to download – if you would like to make a contribution to the blog you are very welcome to do so but of course you don’t have to!

woman-smile-x4 Download

man-smile-x4 Download

man-small-smile-x4 Download

man-sad-x4 Download

children-x21 Download

The pictures of trees and buildings are available in this post https://lettheirlightshine.com/2015/03/20/jesus-enters-jerusalem-palm-sunday/

On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

Easter can be a difficult story to tell to young children. It isn’t necessary to go into detail about how Jesus died. It’s always good to include the positive for example you can say – that although Jesus died and his friends were sad he came back to life again and his friends were happy! Be factual with sensitivity. Easter is a good news event!

A couple of Easter story videos – Palm Sunday and Easter!

X is for Xerxes

X is for Xerxes is part of our Bible Alphabet. The following is a much shortened telling of the story of Esther, King Xerxes and Haman. When you are telling a story in a toddler group you have to shorten the narrative and find a way to tell the story simply. To read the full story see Esther

X is for Xerxes story idea

Our story happened a long time again in a country called Persia. There was a powerful king called King Xerxes. He was in charge of a huge kingdom and in his kingdom lots of God’s people lived. They were a long way from home.

Now one of God’s people had married the King (he didn’t know that she was one of God’s people – he had married her because she was very beautiful) Her name was Esther.

And there was another man whose name was Haman. The king liked him very much but he was a very bad and horrible man.

Haman didn’t like God’s people at all. He wanted to get rid of all of them. And so he asked the king, ‘Can we get rid of all these people?’ And the King said, ….. ‘yes!’

Now Esther was very sad and worried. She had to find a way to keep God’s people safe. She knew that she needed help. But who could help her? She sent a message to her family – Pray to God. Ask him to help me. And I will pray too.

Esther asked God to help her. She went to see King Xerxes. She told him what was going to happen to God’s people and how she was one of them. The King was horrified. He was angry with Haman and he protected God’s people. They were kept safe.

King Xerxes was very powerful – but not as powerful as God who is able to keep his people safe and hears them when they ask for his help.

X is for Xerxes props for story telling

People characters made from cardboard tubes

King Xerxes and Queen Esther are made from Pringle Containers. Xerxes is a regular Pringle container and Esther is a whole wheat Pringle tube which is slightly smaller (perfect for making storytelling people of different heights!)

To make you just cover the tube in coloured paper (I used a glue gun to stick this) and then add a face , hair and some clothes. Pipe cleaners are very useful for holding everything together. As they are royalty I added crowns but often it’s just a piece of material held in place with a pipe cleaner as in the case of Haman. There are instructions here

On the Way to Easter…Palm Sunday Story

Jesus rides into Jerusalem

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story can be told as a stand alone story or used as part of the series ‘On the Way to Easter’.

Bible story from Luke 19:28-40 and Mark 11:1-10

Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus is the King!

‘Jesus and his friends were almost at the big city of Jerusalem. Lots of people wanted to see Jesus. But how was Jesus going to arrive in the city? Was he going to arrive in a car? No! Was he going to arrive in a helicopter? No! (they didn’t have those!) Was he going to ride into the city on a big, strong horse? No!

Jesus sent two of his friends to borrow a donkey. (What noise does a donkey make? Hee-haw) They bought the donkey to Jesus and put their cloaks on it’s back. Jesus sat on the donkey and he rode into the big city.

Crowds and crowds of people were there. There were mums and dads, grandmas and grandads and children just like you! Some of the people took their cloaks off and put them in the road for the donkey to walk on. They called out, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ as Jesus passed by. They shouted, ‘hosanna!’ (which means ‘God saves’). Can you say ‘hosanna’? They waved palm branches in the air. The people in the crowd were welcoming Jesus into the big city. They were excited!

They welcomed Jesus – the King sent from God.’

Some pictures to use to tell the story

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story visual aid — Palm Sunday

Dowload the links to make the street scene

People pictures are available in this blog post

The donkey to make

https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/leglessdonkey.pdf

The street scene https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/streetscene.pdf

The trees and palm leaves

https://lettheirlightshine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/palmleafsceneparts.pdf

I cut the cloaks out of material.

On the way to Easter Palm Sunday story visuals

Craft ideas

You could use the printouts as a craft if telling the story at home or with older children.

The pegs for legs donkey is a fun craft to make. Print and cut out the donkey shape. Colour and add wooden clothes pegs for legs.

There are some Palm Leaf craft ideas here

On the way to Easter…paper plate pictures

On the way to Easter paper plate pictures that help to tell the story of the first Easter. Next half term at Thursday toddler group we will be travelling along the road to Easter. In the Gospels Jesus meets several people when he is on this last journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the final time. So four of our stories will be about these people that met Jesus as he was going to Jerusalem. Then we will have the story of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and in the final week the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Our stories will be… (Click on the links to go to the stories and crafts)

The Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-23 and Mark 10:17-22)
Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35-43 and Mark 10:32,33,46-52)
Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
Mary anoints Jesus (John 12:1-8)
The Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40)
Death and Resurrection of Jesus (Luke 23:44-24:12)

This is how our big picture will look when we have told all the stories..

These are paper plates covered in tissue paper with people and buildings and trees etc added.

The people are available to download – if you would like to make a contribution to the blog you are very welcome to do so but of course you don’t have to!

woman-smile-x4 Download

man-smile-x4 Download

man-small-smile-x4 Download

man-sad-x4 Download

children-x21 Download

The pictures of trees and buildings are available in this post https://lettheirlightshine.com/2015/03/20/jesus-enters-jerusalem-palm-sunday/

On the way to Easter – some thoughts about telling the story

A couple of Easter story videos – Palm Sunday and Easter!

Let’s Share Bible Stories with Toddlers

“Hello friends, hello friends. How are you, how are you? It’s time for a story, time for a story. Come and listen, come and listen.”

We sing this song to the tune of ‘Frere Jacques’ every week at toddler group. We gather round the story chair in a semi – circle; some sit on the rugs and others on chairs and then we share a story together.

By saying ‘share a story together’ I mean that I don’t just read a story from a book or recite a story script. It is story telling – a much more interactive group activity. We are ‘in it together’, taking part, joining in.

There are different ways of creating a joining in experience when telling a story. Here are a few ideas

Sounds to make – the sound of the storm on the lake
Actions to do – climbing the tree with Zacchaeus
Saying hello to the characters in the story as they come out of the story bag
Singing a song – include ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ part way through the story of the shepherds and angels.

So how do you choose which stories to tell?

As a church-based group (although we meet in a community hall) we tell stories from the Bible. It can help if each story is connected to a theme for half a term. Animal Bible stories, Homes Jesus Visited, Stories Jesus Told, Creation. Choose stories that you feel comfortable with and will enjoy telling.

When to have Story Time?

Pick a time in your session when there are less distractions. If you want the children to join in, then serve snacks before or after. Try to time things so that hands are free to take part in the story actions. If possible, have a space where there are no toys or do Story Time at the beginning or towards the end of the session.

Create a space

The storyteller needs to be seen and to be on the children’s level. Choose a low seat and create a semi – circle. Clean rugs encourage parents/carers and children to sit on the floor, but chairs are good for adults who need a higher seat.

The idea is to know the story well and encourage interaction with the group. The Bible is full of the most wonderful stories. Enjoy sharing them!

(This is an article I wrote for CEF Britain’s Newsletter)

Here are some of the items I use when telling stories…

The spies hiding

Easter Story Idea

Jonah

the big fish that swallowed Jonah

Christmas story paper plates

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 🙂

The Cast of Christmas are ready!

If you don’t have time to do some knitting you can make a nativity set from paper plates – have a look at this post.

The cast of Christmas

Holiday Bible Club Craft (2)

We used a wooden spoon based craft for the bible story about Jesus healing a man who had leprosy. You can read the story in Matthew 8.

The children drew a sad face one side of the spoon and a happy face the other. We used kitchen roll for the clothes – a fairly good quality brand that the children could decorate with felt pens. The arms and belt are pipe cleaners. Use a slighty longer pipe cleaner for the arms.

To make –

Draw the faces on the spoon and write name on the spoon handle

Colour/decorate the square of kitchen roll – I cut the kitchen roll squares into quarters which made them just the right size for our small wooden spoons. Once coloured fold the quarter in half and then in half again and make a small cut on the fold. Slide the spoon through this and then add the arms. Finally add the belt.

This basic idea can be used for retelling lots of Bible stories. Large wooden spoons make great puppets too. Have a look at this idea here.

God made water – and a giveaway!

a pre-school teaching resource to win!

This term we’ll be using Scripture Union’s Tiddlywinks ‘The Big Green Book’ each week at toddlers.

We will adapt the different ideas each week to suit our group. We are starting with ‘God’s Wonderful World’. It’s all about water. So here’s my craft idea – with a PDF for you and my collection of wet weather gear that I’m planning on dressing up in.

PDF – Umbrella & Rain

Thank you God for my nose..

For the Bible story we used Luke 7:36-46. This is a difficult story to tell as it probably seems strange to us that someone would anoint a persons feet. You need to explain that in those days people would wash their feet when they went into a home as they would be dusty and hot. But when Jesus went for a meal at this man’s house he wasn’t given any water to wash his feet. Explaining this helps to make sense of what happens when the woman pours the expensive ointment or perfume on Jesus’ feet. The man didn’t really like Jesus all that much but the woman knew that he could forgive her and she showed how grateful she was.

I used a story bag to tell the story- the perfume bottle is a miniature dove moisturiser!

The craft was perfume pictures – collect lots of collage material – tissue paper shapes, wool etc and beforehand spray with perfume. Put in a sealed container until needed. The collage material is then used to make pictures that are scented. I had some flower pot and flower shapes left over from a previous craft but you could use any shapes. It’s the scent that you want!

Alternative craft with playdough idea can be found here and an alternative story idea and craft here

Jericho

We don’t usually do stories in strict chronological order at Toddler Group. We generally tell Bible stories that are linked by a theme and may or may not follow on from the previous week. However, we followed the story of Rahab and the spies with the story of Jericho and it worked well. The duplo Jericho was very visual – a bit tricky to make sure that Rahab’s home stayed intact when the walls came down but the lego duplo was carefully put together to make sure her home was safe!

The Story (Joshua 6)

To tell the story we had actions for everyone to do – marching, blowing pretend trumpets and a loud shout. We did lots of counting too – the seven days and the final seven times round the city walls. With the shout the duplo walls fell down.

Main Teaching Point – the people believed that God would do what he said. God always does what he says he will do.

Rahab had great faith – she put the red cord in the window and went and got her family together. And she waited. The Israelites had to cross the Jordan before getting to Jericho but she didn’t doubt that God would give them the city. We read about Rahab’s family in Matthew’s Gospel. She was Boaz’s grandmother. Boaz married Ruth and was King David’s great grandfather. She is one of the few women named in the genealogy of Jesus.

Hebrews 11:30,31

‘by faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient’

Easter with toddlers

Easter with toddlers! There are some lovely Easter Garden ideas in this post and if you read to the end an Easter Story video.

A simple Easter garden is a great way to introduce young children to Easter. You can use natural materials such as soil/compost and leaves or you can make a garden like the one here. The playdough will last a couple of weeks before it dries out – so this won’t keep for ever – but then next Easter the children can make another garden.

At the end of this post there is an idea for telling the Easter story using different faces – there is a PDF for you to use too.

To make an Easter Garden like this one each child needs

Green square paper plates (affiliate link)
paper ice cream cups (affiliate link)
Green playdough
Foam self adhesive flowers
Crumbled Weetabix
Brown paper cut into squares
Glue stick
Sticker/label with the words ‘Jesus is alive!’ printed on to them -here’s PDF of a sheet to print onto labels Jesus is alive! (label)

Make a garden yourself to show to give children and adults an idea of what they are aiming for.

If you click on the links above you will be taken to where I bought the plates, ice cream tubs and flowers. You could use different plates – just make sure they are the shiny coated type so the dough won’t soak through.

To prepare the craft cut a ‘stone’ out of ice cream tub and make the dough. You will need a lot of dough!

Playdough recipe

2 Cups plain flour (cheap flour is fine)

2 Cups water

Food colouring (add this to the water)

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 Teaspoon cream of tartar (don’t be tempted to leave this out)

1 Cup salt

Put everything in a large saucepan and mix over a medium heat till it comes together as a dough.

Take out of the pan and kneed on a lightly floured surface for a of minutes till smooth. It will be hot!

Store in an airtight container/bag in the fridge till you need it. Let it come to room temperature before the children use it.

This amount will make 5 square plate Easter Gardens if you cover the entire plate. You could cover less of the plate as in the picture above.

Enjoy making..

Have a look at an Easter garden I made to show the children at Toddler Group during story time.

Telling the Easter Story

This idea uses faces to explain the story – angry, sad, surprised and happy. As you tell how some people were angry with Jesus show the any face and ask everyone, ‘can you look angry?’When Jesus died his friends were very sad – show the sad face and ask everyone, ‘can you look sad?’ Then something amazing happened; Jesus came alive again. His friends were surprised! Ask everyone, ‘can you look surprised?’

Jesus is still alive today! Show the happy face and ask, ‘can you look happy?’ We can be happy because Jesus is alive!

Easter with toddlers paper plate faces to tell the story — Paper plate faces to help tell the Easter Story – see below for a telling of the story.

Here are the faces as printable PDF’s if you would like to use them

Angry & Sad Face Surprised & Happy Face

or plain circles to make your own – Circles for paper plates.

frogs in the bed..!

Bible story from Exodus 8. This is part of our series of stories about animals in the Bible.

Meet the main characters – Moses, Pharoah and frogs!

Moses was the leader of God’s people. God’s people lived in Egypt. They were very sad (can you look sad). Everyday they had to make bricks. they made bricks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, days a week. It was hot and dusty and horrible.

God told Moses to go and rescue the people. It’s always good to do what God says. ‘Moses, go and tell the King of Egypt to let all of my people go’

So Moses went to see the King of Egypt.

God says you are to let his people go

‘No’ said the king of Egypt ‘i won’t’. It’s always a bad idea to ignore God.

Moses told the king, ‘God will send something to make you change your mind!’

God sent … frogs!

Not just 1 frog, or 2 frogs or even 10 frogs but lots of frogs.

When the people wanted to cook food there were frogs in the oven, when they went to get a wash there were frogs in the water, when they went to bed there were frogs under the covers! frogs everywhere! When the king went to sit on his throne there were frogs already sitting there!

‘Take the frogs away’, said the King.

So Moses asked God to take the frogs away and God did. Now the frogs were back in the river.

After the story we sang our ‘new’ song. This went down really well.

Jonah and the big fish

This half term we are thinking about animal’s in the Bible. So we made a start with the story of Jonah. I had seen a tent made into the big fish on Handsonbibleteacher.blogspot.co.uk so thought I would have a go at making one – my attempt doesn’t look as neat – I think my pop up tent was a little too square – but you have to use what you have! Jonah is made from a Pringles carton – I saw that idea on Pinterest. It’s originally from this blog Preachmanswife.blogspot.co.uk

Story

Say hello to Jonah! Jonah was given a job to do. God told him to go and tell the people living in Ninevah that God loved them.

‘No, I won’t’ said jonah. ‘I don’t like the people who live in Ninevah’

so Jonah packed his bag and went the other way. He walked to the boat (make walking sounds by tapping hands on knees) and he bought a ticket and off he went.

Jonah was tired (yawn) so he went inside the boat and settled down for a sleep. (put hands on side of head as if sleeping)

Do you think God knew where Jonah was? God knows everything. He knew that Jonah was on the boat.

God sent a storm. the waves got bigger, the wind blew, the rain came down. The sailors were worried. ‘Someone has done something wrong’, they said ‘and God is angry.’

They went to wake Jonah up. ‘Wake up Jonah!’ (ask children to repeat this)

Jonah opened his eyes. ‘Oh dear’, he said ‘this is my fault. You must throw me into the sea.’

‘No!’ the sailors said.

But the storm got worse and in the end they had to throw Jonah into the sea. Splash!

The storm stopped.

Jonah sank down,down, down into the water. But God loved Jonah and he had somthing there to save him. A great big fish swam up and swallowed Jonah. He was safe. (Place Jonah inside the big fish)

Jonah knew he had done the wrong thing and he talked to God. ‘I am sorry’ he said.

Could God hear Jonah? Yes, God hears when we say sorry to him.

God sent the great big fish to the beach and it gave a big hiccup and out came Jonah. (take Jonah out of the big fish)

God said,’Jonah go and tell the people of Ninevah that I love them.’ This time Jonah did what God said.

Y is for the rich young man

The story of the Rich Young Man (Mark 10:17-22) has a sad ending. He loves his money more than Jesus. With older children you could talk about things that get in the way of them following Jesus. You could also add a question mark symbol and talk more about why the young man asked the question, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Did he already think he was good enough?

With young children the story lends itself to using actions – running, kneeling and walking. Make a money bag using real coins as they are weighty and jingle! Or use an action to represent money such as rubbing your thumb and fingers together.

The Story about The Rich Young Man – for younger children

One day a young man came to speak to Jesus. He didn’t walk up to Jesus. He ran to Jesus. (Run on the spot) He wanted to ask a question. He thought that Jesus was important so he knelt down in front of him and asked ‘Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?’ (kneel down)

It was a good question and the young man really wanted to know the answer.

Jesus said to him, ‘ You know what the Commandments are that God gave us, to tell us how to live to please him.’

‘I’ve kept them all since I was a young boy,’ he replied

Jesus looked at the young man. Jesus cared about him. Jesus wanted to help him. Jesus said to him,’Go, and sell all you have and give your money to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.’

But, oh dear, the young man had a lot of money.(Show money bag) He loved all his money very much. (Hug money bag to yourself) What a choice! Sell everything and give all his money away and follow Jesus or keep all his things and his money and go back home. What would he do?

The young man walked away from Jesus. (Walk on the spot, looking sad and dejected) He felt sad. He chose to keep his money.

We are almost at the end of our Bible Alphabet – next up is Zacchaeus!

Who’s in the story bag?

I like to use a story bag at toddler group story time. I find it holds the interest of the children and adults better than a picture. My mum is a great knitter and made some Bible characters for me.

If you are able to have a go at making some then the pattern is here. They are a good size and can be adapted by adding different clothes. A lovely reader of this blog asked about the pattern so as well as replying in the comments I thought I would share the info here too.

Happy knitting 🙂 and even happier storytelling

Calling of the first disciples – Mark 2

Last week at toddler group we told the story about the Baptism of Jesus. This week we move on to the calling of Simon and Andrew to follow Jesus.

To help the children picture what is happening in the story I have made a boat and two disciples using an egg box and cardboard rolls.

The story will be very short and will be told from Mark 1:16-18.

The visual aids are easy to make – all you need is

Egg box (6 egg size)

Two toilet rolls or cardboard rolls

Two pieces of material for head gear and two pipe cleaners to fasten material

Felt pens or Sharpies to colour cardboard roll disciples

Paint to colour egg box

Pipe cleaner for mast and triangle large enough to fold around pipe cleaner to make sale (stick this with double sided sticky tape)

The pictures should give a clear idea of how everything was made!

For a simple craft make a paper plate fish

DSCN0540 — Fish craft using a paper plate

Jesus is baptised

We are planning on telling Bible stories from Mark’s gospel at toddler group from now till Easter. The idea is to link the stories about Christmas with Easter. For the children each story will be complete on it’s own but the adults will be able to follow the chronology.

The first story will be from mark 1:9 – the baptism of Jesus. To tell this I am using a simple visual aid that I found on Pinterest (link in the text below)

The following stories will be –

The calling of the first disciples (Mark 1:16-20)

Man through the roof (Mark 2:1-12)

Calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41)

Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:21-43)

Feeding of 5,000 (Mark 6:30-44)

The rich young man (Mark 10:17-22)

Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52)

Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11)

Easter (Mark 15-16:8)

For the baptism of Jesus I will be using a very simple visual aid that I found here. I have altered it a little. It could also be made as a craft. The figures for Jesus and John were taken from this book. (I would definitely recommend that you get a copy if you teach young children in sunday school)

To make the craft/visual aid you will need

Two paper plates

Colouring pencils and felt tips (I used Sharpies)

Cellotape and blue tac

One popsicle stick or wood skewer

Two figures to represent Jesus and John – both cut out and coloured in. Attach ‘John’ to paper plate and ‘Jesus’ to the popsicle stick

Stapler to attach plates together

Scissors to cut one plate into sky and water – making a gap between.

Once you have all the different materials this is very quick to make – just leave enough space for the popsicle stick/skewer to move so that you can demonstrate the baptism.

This is a very short Bible Story video – just two minutes. Let me know what you think…

The angels and shepherds – Christmas

Christmas is almost here!

The story of the first Christmas is a lovely story to tell. Children can also act out what happened and dress up as the different characters.

There are different ways to tell the story-

– use a nativity set and a story bag. Place all the figures inside and take them out when you need them.

– use objects to represent the different people in the story – a toy sheep, a shepherd’s crook, the cloths to wrap the baby in. Add other items- straw for the stable, stars,

– adults could dress up for the different parts and either one person narrate the story or people have speaking parts.

When you tell the story it’s good to remind the audience that it comes from the Bible – so have a Bible to show. The events of the first Christmas are recorded in Luke 2:1-21.

The magi (wise men, kings) don’t visit the stable but arrive some time later. Their visit is recorded in Matthew 2:1-12.

Easter garden

We made an Easter Garden for our Toddler Group Story Time. A very simple but effective visual aid. Older children could make their own.

You need

Tray or baking tin (I used a baking tin)

Foil to cover the tray/tin

Potting compost

Moss (if you do this ahead you could plant seeds – I wasn’t that organised)

Small stones for the path

Twigs for trees (we didn’t add the crosses as the children are so young.But we did talk about them in the story)

Air drying clay for the tomb

Large stone to put by the tombs entrance

Air drying clay rolled into balls to stick the twigs into to secure them. Cover the balls of clay with compost.

This would be a great activity to do during the Easter holiday. You could have a competition to see who puts the most effort into making their garden.

H is for Horeb – Bible Alphabet

In Deuteronomy 5 Moses refers to the mountain where he received the ten commandments as mount Horeb. (In Exodus it is called Mount Sinai – same place; different name)

To tell the story I used a simple picture of a mountain drawn on to a large roll of paper (from Ikea). There was a ‘mini – Moses’ who ‘climbed’ the mountain, a cloud and the fire and smoke were added during the story using marker pens. There was also some actions for the children and parents to join in with. Actions are a great way of involving everyone in the story in a manageable way. As you do the actions say the phrase you are acting out.

Telling the story

Just before the story we practiced the actions we would need during the story. Once the group is settled I explain that during the story there will be something for them to do. We practice the action about twice and then we begin the story. I encourage the parents to join in too.

As the children are very young don’t include all the details – for example I don’t mention the Israelites at the foot of the mountain. The basics are focused on – Moses, Mount Horeb (everyone repeats the name. It’s included because we are doing the letter ‘h’), the cloud, smoke and fire and the ‘Ten good rules to live by’.

Main teaching point – God speaks to us – through the Bible.

The actions referred to the Ten Commandments which I referred to as ‘Ten good rules to live by.’

Ten

good

rules (shaped like a book because they were written down)

to live by (Walk your fingers over your hand to illustrate people walking/living)

Moses on Mount Horeb

To finish the story explain that today God doesn’t speak to us on mountains but from the Bible (have a Bible to show)

Make a life-size Goliath

The Bible tells us that Goliath was over 9 feet tall. (Read the story in 1 Samuel 17). It isn’t always easy to imagine just how tall someone is so we made a life size Goliath.

overhead projector to use to make life size pictures

The basic technique for doing this can be used for many pictures and would be very good for making scenery/background. (Don’t under estimate the amount of paper you need – like we did – and end up with a two tone background! This could be fixed by shading or painting the background)

You need:

An overhead projector

Acetate

The picture you want to enlarge in black and white – use one with a clear outline if possible.

A pencil

Permanent marker pens

Rolls of lining paper (plain wall paper). This is much thicker than the rolls of painting paper and so will stand up to being hung from a wall better.

A step ladder

To enlarge the picture

Photocopy or trace your picture on to the acetate.
Unroll your paper (We did this well in advance so it didn’t keep rolling up again!). You may need several widths of this tapped together. Use cellotape on one side only.
Hang your paper from a wall
Position the overhead projector so that your acetate image is projected on to the paper.
Trace over the projected image with pencil
Lay paper on the floor and go over the lines with marker pen. Use the original image as a reference for details.
Colour/paint your picture if you wish – we left Goliath black and white.
If you use a large picture of Goliath plan where you can display it. Refer to it during the story. The children can enjoy comparing their height with Goliath. You could have an adult dress up as David to show the contrast.

We’ve made Holiday Bible Club scenery using the same technique