Valentine collage to make using coloured tissue paper.
Tissue paper is a wonderful paper that can be torn, layered, crumpled and glued. It comes in a whole variety of colours and is relatively inexpensive. I use it a lot in crafts with children.
This Valentine themed tissue paper collage is very simple to prepare and make. The added hearts are a nice touch but if you don’t have a paper punch to make heart shapes stickers would be great.
All you need to make the valentine collage
A4 or A3 sugar paper
Glue sticks
Hearts cut from paper (and/or heart stickers)
Tissue paper torn into shapes – I used pink, red and yellow in large squares and some green in smaller shapes
Young children can be given the torn tissue paper shapes. Older children could select the colours they wish to use and tear the paper themselves. Tissue paper tears easily but usually there is a direction in the paper that tears in a straightish line – so experiment and see how the older children get on. If they are having trouble tearing the paper easily suggest that they turn the paper 90 degrees and try again.
Is Jesus the forever king? Is the final part of our story series, ‘Who is the forever King?’ We began with King David and God’s promise to David,
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ 2 Samuel 7:16.
We have told simple stories about David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah. These kings are all mentioned in Matthew 1 in the genealogy of Jesus, the son of David.
Now we have arrived at the birth of the forever king – the Lord Jesus.
All of the previous puppets can be displayed – then add the Manger picture at the end.
To tell the story – you need
Mary
Angel Gabriel
Joseph
Donkey – optional as it isn’t mentioned in the bible
We are still looking for the forever King! The king that will be on the throne of David forever. Lets see if we find him today.
A long time ago there was a woman called Mary. One day she had a very surprising visitor with a very surprising message!
It was an angel, a big strong messenger sent from God who said to Mary, ‘ You are going to have a very special baby. You must give him the name Jesus. He will be God the son and God will give him the throne of David. His kingdom will never, ever end.’
The forever king was going to be born! He was going to be the very best king and the most powerful king in the whole world.
Mary listened to the angel and she was willing to be the bay’s mum.
But then just before the baby was going to be born Mary and Joseph had to go on a long journey to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was their home town (and it had also been King Davids home town). They might have taken a donkey to carry their bags. It took quite a while.
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ No not quite. They carried on. Are we nearly there yet? Almost. They carried on. Are we nearly there yet? Yes we’re here! But oh no there’s no where to stay.
Mary and Joseph ended up staying where the animals were. And that night the Lord Jesus was born. He was an ordinary baby – with fingers and toes and a nose and mouth and eyes. But he was God’s forever king too.
Outside Bethlehem there were shepherds looking after their sheep. It was really dark with stars shining in the sky. Suddenly an angel was there with them. They were terrified.
‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘today in the city of David, a Saviour has been born. You will find him all wrapped up and lying in a manger.’ Then lots of angels filled the sky singing. And then they were gone and it was dark again.
‘Let’s go and find him’ the shepherds said to one another. So the rushed down the hill, through the town and they looked for the forever king who is the Saviour – and they found him.
Jesus is the Saviour sent for you and me. Is he the forever King? Yes! The shepherds found him and we can find him too.
Jesus is the forever king craft ideas
To make the stained glass nativity you need
Paper plates – I used a brown plate
Yellow tissue paper – this can be shredded like straw. This is quite messy so if you prefer less mess use torn tissue paper.
Crayons
Christmas wrapping paper odds and ends
Nativity picture printed on card – see download. This needs to be cut out beforehand. Older children could do this themselves – just cut the page in half for them.
To make – decorate the nativity first then fold and glue to plate. Cover the plate with tissue paper straw and add any other decorations to the rim of the plate.
Is Josiah the forever king? is the penultimate story in the series ‘Who is the forever king?’ We began with King David and in the final story we will find the forever King – The Lord Jesus.
All the different king puppets used to tell the stories are from Free Bible Images.
In the series we have told simple stories about different kings who are in Matthew 1. So far in each story there is a link to the House of God – the temple. It’s planning (David), it’s building (Solomon), going to God’s House to pray (Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah). It’s an important link. These men were all on David’s throne and they are connected both to God’s House-the temple and God’s House – the family kingly line from which the Lord Jesus would come. David had wanted to build God a house but God had promised to make David into a house.
Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ 2 Samuel 7:16.
So now we come to Josiah, and his connection with the temple is in repairing it and finding the Book of the Law. For ease we use the word Bible when telling the story.
Is Josiah the forever king? story from 2 Kings 22,23
Say hello to King Josiah! Josiah became king when he was very young. He wanted to obey God. But things had got very bad. The beautiful house of God that Solomon had built with the beautiful wood and stone and all the gold was in a mess. No one had bothered to look after it.
Josiah decided to sort out the mess. He sent in the builders! They moved out all the rubbish, they hammered, they sawed, they hammered some more and then they stopped. ‘What’s that? they said to each other. ‘It’s not just more rubbish. It’s not a stone. What is it?’
The builders had found something that had been lost for a long time. They found part of the Bible. It had been lost and forgotten.
They hurried to King Josiah. ‘Look what we have found?’
Josiah read the Bible. ‘Oh no’, he thought, ‘we haven’t been living the best way’.
Josiah called the people together to come with him to the house of the LORD. Josiah stood up and he read the Bible, God’s Word to all the people. And King Josiah and all the people made a promise to obey God.
King Josiah was a really good King but he grew old and died. Is Josiah the forever king? No. We still haven’t found him. Let’s keep looking.
Is Hezekiah the forever king? is story number four in the series, ‘Who is the forever king?’ These stories lead up well to the birth of Jesus, who is the forever King. We began with King David.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. – Luke 1:31,32
Say hello to King Hezekiah! King Hezekiah was a good King. He obeyed God and he trusted God and he cared about the people.
But he had a big problem. The King of Assyria wasn’t very nice. He came with his army and started to say horrible things to King Hezekiah. He wanted to get all the land for himself.
What could Hezekiah do? He believed that God was powerful. He believed that God would keep the people safe.
The King of Assyria didn’t give up. He wrote a letter, ‘ Dear King Hezekiah, your God can’t help you! We are more powerful than anyone. we always win. We are more powerful than your god. No one can stop us!’
King Hezekiah went to God’s house. He took the letter and laid it out and he prayed. ‘Lord God, the Assyrians are very powerful but please show them that you are greater than them, because you are the God of everything and the only true God.’
Could God hear King Hezekiah? Yes! Could God help? Yes!
God said to King Hezekiah, ‘I will defend this city’. And God did. The King of Assyria went home.
King Hezekiah did lots of good things but as he got old he wasn’t a wise king. He grew old and he died.
Is Hezekiah the forever King? No. We haven’t found him yet. Let’s keep looking.
God is everywhere is a truth we learn from the Bible. We are using the story of Jonah to illustrate this truth in a way that is easy for toddlers.
To tell the Story you need –
Jonah (we used a figure from happyland),
a big fish (the one pictured is VERY big – made over a tent) and
a toy boat.
Jonah and the boat to NinevahThe big fish that swallowed Jonah
Jonah and the Great Big Fish story
God said to Jonah, ‘go to the big city called Ninevah (can you say that? repeat the name together) and tell everyone there about me.’
Jonah listened to God.
But Jonah didn’t like the people in the big city of Ninevah.
‘I don’t want to! I’m not going to go!’ He said (have you ever said that?)
Jonah thought to himself, ‘I will go far away – so far away that God won’t know where I am.’ He went and got on a boat and sailed away, far, far away from Ninevah.
But then the rain came and the wind blew – and out of the boat came Jonah – and splash into the sea!
Down, down, down he went. ‘Please God, help me!’ he prayed. Could God still hear Jonah from inside the great big fish? Was God too far away? No he was not far away. He was right there with Jonah.
God is everywhere. Jonah couldn’t run away from God.
God knew exactly where Jonah was, God always knows where we are; and he sent something to help. It wasn’t a boat – it was one great big fish. The one great big fish opened up it’s mouth and swallowed Jonah. He was safe!
The one great big fish took Jonah back to land. God said, ‘Jonah, go to Ninevah’. And this time Jonah did exactly what God said.
God is everywhere, all of the time. So wherever you go God is already there!
God is everywhere – Jonah in the big fish craft
To make Jonah in the big fish you need
Printouts of the big fish
Some men to represent Jonah
Blue crepe paper for the water (these are attached at the top of the picture so they can move)
Making and exploring with texture is our final look at craft ideas based on three key area – colour, shape and texture. Thinking of these three key areas can help us as we plan creative crafts for young children. Sometimes it’s easy to get into a way of doing things and it’s really good to reflect on what we are doing and providing for children to make. It’s helpful for us to ask – What are we exploring about colour? What are we learning about shape? Are there different textures to explore?
Making and exploring with texture in craft – some ideas
What creates texture? Think about using materials that aren’t smooth A4 paper! Here’s a list of ideas
Yarn
Fabric (different types of fabric have different textures)
The above list can be used to make collages and pictures. You can also use the following to explore texture and make 3D crafts or just use to enjoy and explore.
Boxes of various shapes and sizes for ‘junk’ models.
Give children opportunities to make texture collages. This can be an open ended activity with everything laid out for children to choose which items they wish to include.
When it comes to exploring textures PVA glue is my top choice when making texture collages but glue sticks can work well with too. Make sure you have a try yourself to see what works. Also, be mindful that if you use glue sticks with cotton wool the cotton wool sticks to the glue stick pretty quickly!
Include texture in craft activities. Some ideas include…
Texture, colour and shape – there are overlaps between these three but if you aim to consider them when you are putting together a craft for young children you will make it a richer experience. You don’t have to include all the ideas all the time, sometimes you might want to make black and white pictures or just use circles or see what children can make with only having fabric and glue. Sometimes less is better! But it’s good to ask these question as we plan crafts……
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