craft Archives - Let their light shine!

Is Jesus the forever king?

Is Jesus the forever king? This lesson is the final part of our toddler group Bible story series, “Who is the Forever King?” If you are looking for a simple toddler group Bible story for Christmas, this interactive lesson shows young children how Jesus fulfills God’s promises in the Bible. 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.

Why did we put the Christmas Toddler Group story in a series about kings?

We tell a toddler friendly Bible story every week at toddler group and we wanted to place the Christmas story in the context of the whole Bible. If you need a Christmas toddler Bible lesson that connects the Old and New Testaments, this approach helps children see the bigger picture.

You can also explore our Journey to Bethlehem series of toddler Bible stories in this post for more inspiration.

This time we shifted our focus to the promise given to David that there would be a forever King on his throne.

Links to the stories in this ‘Who is the forever King?’ toddler Bible story series

To tell each Bible story you need six weeks (this includes the Toddler Christmas Bible story)

Week One – Is David the forever King? read the post here
Week Two – Is Solomon the forever King? Bible story idea here
Week Three – Is Jehoshaphat the forever King? Bible story and craft here
Week Four – Is Hezekiah the forever King? read the post here
Week Five – Is Josiah the forever King? the story is here
Week six – Is Jesus the forever King?

Props and pictures to use in the series

We made use of free printables from Free Bible Images for the kings. They are available here. The chosen images were printed onto card, cut out and a lollipop stick was added to make a puppet.

We also made an A3 poster with the series title, ‘Who is the Forever King?’ a name card for each King and added velcro to the back of the King puppets so we could build up our picture board each week. The ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was added at the end of each Bible story.

Although toddlers won’t be reading these names the adults will and it helps them to be involved and listening to the Bible story.

King puppet for the Toddler Bible Story series, 'Who is the Forever King?' — The King puppets for the Toddler Bible story series, ‘Who is the forever King?’

Toddler Group Christmas Bible Story Script – Is Jesus the forever King?

This short, 10-minute toddler group Bible story script is designed for preschool children, toddlers, and their parents. It uses simple repetition and props to keep young minds engaged. Read through the narrative below or use it as an outline for your toddler group nativity story session.

Is Jesus the forever king? visual aid for telling a toddler group Bible story

To tell the story – you need puppets or dolls representing the following plus a manger. If you don’t have puppets or dolls there is a paper plate alternative below.

Mary
Angel Gabriel
Joseph
Donkey – optional as it isn’t mentioned in the bible
Baby
Shepherds

Here’s the links to how to make a paper plate nativity – angels, manger with baby, shepherds

Preschool nativity made from paper plates

OR you could use dolls –

Is Jesus the forever king? storytelling dolls

Is Jesus the forever king? Toddler Group Bible story

Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-16

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.

Easy Toddler Christmas Craft: Stained glass Paper Plate Nativity

This paper plate nativity craft is a fun, easy toddler group Christmas craft that doubles as a keepsake decoration for parents. It works brilliantly alongside any preschool nativity Bible story. It doesn’t matter if the picture isn’t coloured neatly! Allow the toddlers to make it their own.

Materials needed for the Toddler Craft

Paper plates – I used brown plates
Yellow tissue paper – this can be shredded like straw. This is quite messy so if you prefer less mess use torn tissue paper.
Crayons (avoid very dark blue and black)
Christmas wrapping paper odds and ends cut into shapes toddlers can easily pick up.
Glue
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.

Christmas Toddler craft free download

Nativitiy-Scene-paper-plate Download

To make the paper plate Christmas Toddler craft

decorate the nativity first
then fold along the line marked (adult help needed)
add glue to the plain are of the nativity picture and stick in the centre of the plate.
Cover the plate with tissue paper straw and add any other decorations to the rim of the plate.
Make sure to add the toddlers name too

If you tried this interactive toddler Bible lesson or paper plate nativity craft, I’d love to hear how it went! Leave a comment below or share your group’s finished creations with us.

Scented flower craft for 3 year olds

This is a scented flower craft for 3 year olds to make. It’s ideal for young children and makes a lovely take home picture at toddler group. There is some preparation needed but it’s worth the effort!

Scented flower craft for 3 year olds

Materials needed for flower craft

Flower shapes printed onto coloured card or heavy paper (you want a weight of paper or card that will be easy for you to cut out and also heavy enough for the scent to be sprayed on to it and still keep it’s shape)
Green card cut into strips for the flower stalks.
Green card cut into leaf shapes
Coloured background paper
Glue sticks – we used these

Step by step instructions for scented flower craft for 3 year olds

Do all your prep beforehand – print flower shapes, cut stems and leaves. Lightly spray a scent over the flower shapes and leave to dry.
On the day lay your craft table with a PVC cloth
Put the flowers, stalks and leaves in separate shallow containers (don’t put everything out at once, keep some back to top up for toddlers who come to the craft table later in the toddler group session)
Remove glue stick lids and put out of the reach of toddlers
Have an example made and display
Let the children choose the colours and number of flowers for their own craft creations.

Scented flower craft preparation

Cheap body spray to make scented flower craft

Spray card flowers with a scent

What children can learn in making a scented flower craft

Young children can learn about colour – encourage lots of chatting about naming the colours of the flowers, favourite colours, matching colours.

Fine motor skills are developed through the use of glue sticks and handling the craft materials

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I encourage a reluctant 3 year old to make craft?

This can be tricky. Model the behaviour you would like to see. Make a flower craft yourself, ask your 3 year old to help you choose the colours. Keep the activity short though and if you only stick one flower take it as a win and tell your 3 year old how pleased you are that you made something together.

Links to other crafts suitable for 3 year olds

Black paper collage is a super easy craft to prepare and looks stunning.

This post all about Exploring Colour with Toddlers has lovely ideas for colour filled craft activities to help 3 year olds experience making with colour.

For more flower themed craft take a look at this post about Beautiful Flowers

Finally some Creation Bible Story Crafts for Toddlers are in this post – including some flowers!

Our feet craft and song ideas for toddler groups

Our feet craft and song ideas for toddlers to enjoy in your church toddler group. In our amazing body series at our Toddler Group we have been learning about our feet. Our focus Bible verse is Psalm 139:14.

Our feet are amazing story time for toddler group

In the story time we used our feet to jump, stand, run on the spot, walk and stand as tall as we could on tiptoe. It was a very active few minutes. Then we sat down and we counted our feet and wriggled our toes. You could count toes depending on whether you want everyone to take their shoes off!

How to tell the story

Always begin toddler group story time the same way – with the same rhyme or song to get everyone settled on the Bible story mat.
Begin with saying hello!
Your opening sentence, ‘ Today we are finding out more about our amazing bodies!’
Can you find your feet. Let’s count them – 1,2
Feet are amazing. Let’s see what they can do..
Let’s all stand up
Let’s jump
Can you stand on one leg? That’s quite difficult to do
Can you stand on tip toe and reach up high?
Let’s sit down and count our feet and our toes together
God made us – he has given us amazing bodies!

You can end your toddler story time with a simple toddler friendly prayer, ‘Thank you God for our feet. Thank you that we are wonderfully made. Amen’

An easy feet craft for toddlers

The craft is super easy and fun.

Materials needed

Feet printable (included below) – print as many as you need for your group
Glue sticks – we use these
Tissue paper squares in assorted colours
Collage materials – these can be paper scraps, fabric pieces, yarn. Provide a choice of colours, textures and shapes in different containers. Make it inviting.
Wax crayons

Step by step

Set up the craft table with a washable cover
Set out the collage materials in shallow bowls
Remove lids from the glue sticks and set aside (we do this at our group because they are small and we don’t want toddlers putting them in their mouths)
Put out the wax crayons in a shallow bowl. Remove any that are broken.
Make a proto-type craft – and display it near your craft table to give some inspiration.
Place some of your feet printables on the table (keep most nearby – but if you put them all out at one you run the risk of a few toddlers using them all and you’ll run out)
Encourage the toddler group adults to sit with their toddler as they make
Have a place where the finished craft can be placed to dry ready to be taken home.

our feet craft collage toddler group — our feet craft for toddler group

Our feet Song time for toddler group

‘Head, shoulders, knees and toes’, – which is the theme song for this series about our amazing bodies.

Rhyme, ‘I wiggle my fingers, I wiggle my toes. I wiggle my shoulders, I wiggle my nose. There are no wiggles left in me, and I’m as still, as still can be.’

‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ has lots of marching on the spot.

A great rhyme for a parent/carer to with with their young child/baby is ‘This little piggy’. Here’s a link to the rhyme.

What children can learn from our feet toddler story

God made our amazing feet
Gratitude for their amazing body

Our feet craft printable for toddler groups and families

Thank-you-God-for-my-FEET-1 Download

FAQ’S

How do I keep toddlers engaged with the Bible Story in Toddler Group?

This story about our feet is very interactive rather than a straight forward narrative the toddlers have activities to do that make the most of learning through movement.

How do I encourage gratitude in a toddler?

By focusing on our bodies and what they can do this story encourages toddlers to be thankful for their body which is wonderfully made.

Links to Bible Stories about feet

Thank you God for my feet – the Bible Story about the Lame man who is healed.

Toddler Group Bible Stories about our bodies

Thank you God for my hands – a Toddler Bible Story and activity about Tabitha

Thank you God for my nose – A Toddler Group Bible Story about Mary anointing Jesus

Thank you God for my mouth

Have a look at our Thank you God Book post that is full of ideas about our bodies. This is a great series of stories for Church Toddler Group. The post is full of free prinables to make a large book that you add to over several weeks.

Bartimaeus – a Toddler Bible Story all about being able to see – this is one of my favourite Bible Stories that I tell in our Church Toddler Group. This post has a little video of me telling the story.

Links to toddler crafts and songs about our bodies

I am wonderfully made crafts for toddlers (with ideas for song time at toddler group)

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.

Plant collage fun holiday family craft

Plant collage fun holiday family craft. Take a wander in your garden or some outdoor space and collect some leaves and petals. Only collect what you know to be safe and wash your hands after collecting and then again after making the collage.

It’s a good rule of thumb to teach children that they must not eat plants from the garden. Don’t eat any plant or part of a plant…. unless it is at a meal and on your plate!

Here’s a link to plants that are to be avoided – make sure you look at this list!

We collected leaves form our garden, a variety of shapes and colours and some rose petals and jasmine being careful to choose only leaves and flowers that we knew to be OK.

Once you have made your choice start to make your leaf collage using glue and sugar paper.

Above – the leaves and petals we collected. Below the collage on coloured sugar paper.

If you prefer to use edible plants only then herbs are a good choice. We used sage and basil with some rose leaves. (It’s still possible to have allergies to these plants but rare).

Plant collage using sage, basil and rose petals

Plant collage fun holiday family craft ideas

Use bright or dark backgrounds. Before gluing in place the leaves on the paper to see which you prefer

Experiment with showing the front and back of the leaves. The veins will be more pronounced on the underside and will ad texture to the collage

Layer the petals

Fill the paper or leave lots of space

Note down the date and the plants you used

Be careful of plants you don’t know, don’t eat any, pick what you know is safe.

This flower craft using paper cases is a fun, easy craft as an alternative to using real plants.

Nehemiah Builds the Wall: Free Toddler Bible Story & Craft Idea

Nehemiah Builds the Wall (Mr Keep Going) – Toddler Bible Story

Nehemiah and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem’s Walls for Toddlers

Looking for a simple, engaging toddler Bible story about perseverance and trusting God? The story of Nehemiah—our “Mr Keep Going”—is a fantastic lesson for young children on working together and not giving up when things get tough.

Storybag Props & Preparation

Puppets: Cardboard tube or Pringles tube puppets to represent Nehemiah and Sanballat. Toy builders set.
Play Props: Toy builder tools, a toy toolbox, construction hard hats, wooden play bricks, duplo or cardboard boxes.

Nehemiah toddler Bible story puppets made from Pringles tubes

Nehemiah Builds the Wall (Mr Keep Going) – Toddler Bible Story script

Say hello to Nehemiah! He lived a long, long time ago.

Nehemiah had a big job to do. The walls of the big city of Jerusalem were all broken down. Everything was a mess. God gave Nehemiah the job or organising a rebuild. But he had never built anything before!

Nehemiah said, ‘Yes I will rebuild the walls’. He asked people to help him and they got started. It was really hard work. Lots of people helped but there were some who thought, ‘ We are too important to do any building work.’

Did that stop Nehemiah? No. He kept going.

Say hello to Sanballat. He didn’t like God. He didn’t like Nehemiah and he certainly didn’t like the wall being built. ‘I will stop Nehemiah’, said Sanballat. He began to make fun of Nehemiah, ‘you don’t know how to build. Your wall is rubbish! If a fox jumps on it it’s going to fall down.’

Did that stop Nehemiah? No. He kept going.

Nehemiah asked God to help him and he trusted God and he kept going. Nehemiah is Mr Keep Going!

He didn’t stop building until the wall was finished!

Toddler Craft Idea: Fox Collage

Decorate a picture of a fox using orange paper scraps, felt or crayons

fox Download

Nehemiah builds the wall toddler play ideas

Provide some building activities with wooden bricks, duplo or cardboard boxes. Have a toy tool kit for children to use and some builders dressing up clothes and hats.

selective focus photo of a kid stacking building blocks — Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

person holding yellow and pink lego blocks — Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

If you would like to make the Pringle People to use for Nehemiah and Sanballat instructions are here

The Philippian Jailer toddler Bible story

The Philippian Jailer Bible story is found in Acts 16:25-34. Paul and Silas are in prison at midnight at the beginning of our story. By the end they are having a meal with the jailer and his family.

For young children a few details have been ommitted or simplified.

The Philippian Jailer Toddler Bible story

In the story bag – dolls/puppets representing Paul, Silas, the jailer, some play food. Take the items from the bag as you need them. You can add some movement in the story too.This is indicated in the text below.

Telling the story

‘Say hello to Paul and Silas. They had had a very tough day. People in the town of Phillipi weren’t happy with them talking about Jesus. They had been locked up in Jail! It wasn’t very nice at all. It wasn’t clean and tidy and it definitely wasn’t comfortable.

What could they do? They might have decided to moan and groan. They might have decided to be really angry and upset. But they didn’t do any of those things.

In the middle of the night when it was dark, they were praying to God and singing.

I think they were singing quite loudly because the Bible tells us that all the other people in the jail could hear them!

Suddenly the ground began to shake and shudder! (you could all shake and shudder here).The jail walls moved! The jail doors opened! Everyone’s chains fell off!

The man in charge of the jail was frightened. He would be in big trouble if Paul and Silas escaped. But they didn’t. Paul called out,’ Don’t worry, we are still here’.

The jailer ran into the room, he was shaking with fear, ‘What do I need to do to be saved?’ he asked Paul.

What would Paul say? He told the jailer about the Lord Jesus, the only one who can save. And the jailer believed in Jesus.

The jailer took Paul and Silas into his home and he and his family looked after them and they had some yummy food to eat.

The next day Paul and Silas were set free and the people who had hurt them and put them in jail said, ‘We are sorry Paul and Silas.’

This was the beginning of the church in the town of Phillipi.’

For another story about the new church in Philippi have a look at Lydia hears about Jesus

Philippian Jailer Bible Story Toddler Play Ideas

Make a music area for the children to explore. Collect toddler friendly musical shakers and drums and place on a mat. Allow children to explore making music. You could do this at the end of song time and play some music/songs in the background.

colorful xylophones and hand bells on display — Photo by Lena Ti on Pexels.com

a kid covering his eyes with maracas — Photo by Lena Ti on Pexels.com

Make musical instruments using yogurt pots, uncooked rice, lentils and beans and paper lids secured with tape. Decorate the pots with stickers and glitter glue

Decorated transparent cup filled with grains and covered with colourful paper — A colorful homemade shaker filled with dried grains brings creativity to sensory play.

Song ideas For Toddler Group

Paul and Silas were singing praises to God in prison – here are some songs you could sing with the children in your T

From my head down to my toes God loves me

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands

My God is so great so strong and so mighty

Paul and Silas in Jail craft For Toddler Group

Paul and Silas collage showing them singing in Philippian Jail

Scroll down for the printable downloads you need for the above craft. Cut out the pieces you need and provide an A4 piece of sugar paper for the background. You also need crayons and glue.

Printable Resources – Philippian Jailer toddler group craft

Bible Men (3 up)Download

Prison bars (6 up)Download

Singing (Musical notes) (6 up)Download

The first Christians

The first Christians is a simple story about sharing and meeting together. It’s based on Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37. These two Bible passages aren’t really a narrative (as in a straightforward story with a beginning, middle and end). They are more of a selection of facts about the first Christians in the early church – what people did and where they went. Consequently it’s a bit more of a challenge when telling to very young children.

Pictures help! For each piece of information about what the first Christians did or where they went I printed a picture onto A4 card. You could just as easily use props.

Just a couple of things to note – doing these things didn’t make people Christians, they did them because they were Christians. Kindness and sharing are things that are good for all people and often qualities people share and are not the preserve of Christians alone.

God helped the first Christians to share story

Have some dolls/puppets to represent the first Christians

Jesus had gone back to heaven and had sent the Holy Spirit to help his friends. Now lots and lots of people believed in Jesus. But what did they do every day? How did they care for each other? Where did they go? The Bible tells us…

They spent time learning more about God from the Bible.

They went to each others homes and spent time together.

They remembered how Jesus had died for them by sharing bread and wine together – just as Jesus had asked.

They prayed together – talking to God, saying thank you to him and asking for his help.

They went to the temple together.

They shared what they had with each other.

And every day more and more people believed that Jesus was the Saviour sent from God.

Sharing craft ideas

A group craft idea as simple as having a long roll of paper and letting children decorate with crayons, pens and stickers. If you have the space display your group art.

You could also focus on sharing meals together and make a dinner plate craft.

Some additional ideas on a pinterest board..

The Pearl of Great Price

The Pearl of Great Price is one of the stories Jesus told about the value of being in God’s Kingdom. It’s a very short story found in Matthew 13:45-46.

The Pearl of Great Price Story idea

Jesus told a story about how valuable it is to be part of his family.

Once upon a time there was a man whose job was to buy things and sell things. He was looking for something very special. He was looking for a beautiful, expensive piece of jewelry called a pearl.

He went form one market to another. He looked at all the things on sale. But nothing was quite what he was looking for. But he didn’t give up. He kept looking..

Until one day.. there it was! The most perfect and beautiful pearl.

He looked in his pockets – he had some money but it wasn’t enough. Oh no! What could he do?

He went home and started to collect all his things together, his clothes, his furniture, his carpets, his books .. everything he had and he took his things to the market and sold all of them.

Then he took his money and he bought the pearl. It was worth more than everything he had sold! He was happy!

Jesus told this story to help us understand that being in his family is worth more than anything else.

The Hidden Treasure is a similar story. Here’s a link to a story and craft with a printable.

Pearl craft idea

What you need

Cheap paper plates that are easy to cut and fold
Tissue paper
Glue sticks

For younger children you can do the cutting beforehand. Here’s a picture gallery of the stages. The pearl is made of scrunched up tissue paper. Make it large and be aware of chocking hazards.

Pearl shell craft — Fold the plate and draw on the scallops

Valentine Collage

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.

Some other ideas for Valentines Day

Card to make

Valentine heart wreath to make

Is Josiah the forever King?

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 Josiah the forever king? craft ideas

Is Hezekiah the forever king?

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

For these stories we have used lollipop stick puppets with Free Bible Images visuals

Is Hezekiah the forever king puppet for storytelling

Is Hezekiah the forever king? story idea from 2 Chronicles 29-32, 2 Kings 19

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.

Is Hezekiah the forever king? craft ideas

God is everywhere – Jonah

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 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

Picture of large fish with Jonah inside for God is everywhere story

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)
Glue and crayons

whale-1 Download

Here’s a link to how to make a giant fish for telling the story.

Making and exploring with texture

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)
Corrugated paper
Tissue paper (flat and scrunched up)
Crepe paper
Sugar paper
Leaves
Flowers
Paper straws
Wooden lollipop sticks
Thick paint/watery paint
Cardboard tubes
Felt
Pasta/rice
Cup cake cases
Feathers
Sweet wrapers
Finger paint
Egg boxes
News paper
Sequins
Ribbon
Cotton wool
Sponge
Mesh – lemons are often packaged in this!

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.

Play dough
Salt dough
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!

making and exploring with texture collage

Include texture in craft activities. Some ideas include…

making and exploring with texture angel craft

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……

What are the children discovering about texture?

What are they learning about shape?

How are they exploring colour?

Here’s a link to Studio in a school you tube channel that has lots of ideas.

Making and exploring with shapes

Making and exploring with shapes is just some ideas of how we can introduce children to shapes during craft time. We’ve already though about making and exploring with colour.

Have you ever looked back at the craft activities you’ve set out for children and discovered that most of them involved a piece of A4 paper? Maybe not, but sometimes this is what happens as it is a standard size and if you have something printed it will often be on A4 paper.

These are some ideas to add variety. Some of these crafts do include A4 paper but shapes are added! Or the printed shape is cut out. Of course children can decorate a picture of a fish but it is lovely to have a fish shape to cover with shiny paper!

Use the shape of what you want to create.

This can be as simple as a fish shape or a person shape. Make giant leaves or an enormous egg. Decorate a star.

Use paper plates – different colours, sizes and shapes

Paper plates make for brilliant making. They come in different colours and shapes and sizes. You can use them as they are for making faces or fold them and cut them into different shapes. Here’s some ideas.

Make greetings cards for special occasions.

You can buy blank cards in different sizes (and colours) and decorate for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines etc. As you can see we’ve made a lot of cards with hearts.

Start with different shaped paper

Sometimes long and thin paper can make for a lovely picture. It’s good to start with a shape that isn’t A4 or A3. If you are making a caterpillar or a field this is great. If you want a tower it works just as well.

Wreath shapes

Wreath shapes are great shapes to use to create seasonal makes. You can make your own from paper plates or buy cardboard wreath shapes. Add tissue paper, pictures cut from greetings cards, shapes cut from patterned paper.

Use shapes to make pictures

Provide cut out shapes for children to make their own creations. These are some ideas – children can make up their own or follow an idea.

making and exploring with shapes collage

Making and exploring with shapes craft idea

Make 3D crafts

Use cardboard tubes, paper plates to make 3D objects. Have rolls of card to make crowns or hats. Lollipop sticks, cereal boxes, yogurt pots, clean egg cartons (no egg residue) are all useful to collect ready to use.

Instructions for the 3D angel are here.

Use cup cake cases

Cup cake cases can be used flattened out or as flowers or a Moses basket. You can cut them in half or into quarters. They are a great addition to craft materials and come in different sizes and colours (Avoid the waxy type as they won’t stick to anything!)

Useful craft supplies for incorporating lots of different shapes in your toddler group crafts when making and exploring with shapes

Paper punches – to cut your own hearts, circles, leave shapes etc. If you don’t want to buy a whole set I’d go for a large circle.
Cup cake cases – large and small (choice of colours/patterns)
Paper plates – round and square
A4 sugar paper cut in half
Blank greetings cards
Tissue paper squares and circles
People cut outs
Sugar paper squares/rectangles
Stars/sun/moon shapes

These are just some of the ways I’ve tried to make sure we aren’t always using A4 paper for craft.

Exploring colour with toddlers

Exploring colour with toddlers.

When we plan crafts for children it can be helpful to think about three basic things; colour, shape, and texture. This post is all about colour. How can we include an experience of colour (or the lack of it) in our craft times with young children? Here’s some ideas..

Coloured paper as the base for creating.

It’s good to give coloured paper as the base for making sometimes. Take a look at whether or not you tend to always start with white or off white paper. When can you start with something else? Sometimes white/cream paper is exactly what you need to use but not always.

Black paper can give a good contrast to colours.

Black paper collage exploring colour with toddlers

Children can use black paper as the background for a colour filled collage.

Exploring with colour black paper collage of the moon and stars

Black paper makes a great base for a moon and stars picture. Other ideas include mark making with white wax crayon on black paper.

Sometimes you may like to start a picture craft with a background colour like this picture of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac in their tent.

Exploring colour with toddlers a picture that starts with a green background.

Exploring colour with toddlers -Painting

Powder paints are great for young children. Use non spill pots, easy to hold brushes and provide aprons. Large pieces of sugar paper are great. Children may want to cover the paper with layers of paint or be happy with just a few marks here and there. Let them decide. (Just try to prevent so much coverage that the paper disintegrates!). Sometimes children want to use there fingers and make hand prints. This is great!

Exploring colour with toddlers child's painting covering an A3 page with red, yellow, blue and green coloured paint

Crepe paper printing

Crepe paper printing is a fun way of discovering that colours change when mixed together. (It can leave fingers stained too so warn parents).

For each picture you need

two pieces of sugar paper – we used A3
crepe paper of various colours in strips.
You also need a water spray bottle.

Children can choose the colours of crepe and lay them on the paper (they don’t need to cover it). Then spray with water. Place the other piece of sugar paper on top and pat down.

Pull apart and remove crepe paper. The beauty of crepe paper is that the colour runs when wet. The children can see some lovely effects when the colours blend and mix.

When we do this activity at toddler group some children love having the opportunity to make lots of pictures so if you can allow them to experiment and enjoy the process.

crepe paper printing to see colours mixing

Exploring colour with toddlers a crepe paper print

Wax resist washes

Use wax crayons to mark make on white sugar paper and then paint over a colour wash (very watery powder paint). You can use several different colours on the same picture or just one.

Exploring colour with toddlers a blue and white wax resist

Exploring colour with toddlers single colour collage

Make a colour collage (lots of shapes and textures to explore here too) This can help children to learn the names of colours and also help them to start to think about how the colour makes them feel. You can ask, ‘Is this colour warm or cold?’

exploring colour with toddlers collage of red paper, card and textures

Explore the way light and colour come together

Make simple sun catchers or a stained glass effect. These pictures are colorful but come to life when light shines through them. Here’s a link to detailed instructions on how to make these gorgeous colour filled crafts.

Home made finger paints

Finger painting on a paper plate can provide a lovely opportunity for children to mix colours. Here’s a link to a recipe from Rainy Day Mum.

Use colourful materials

Sometimes you might want to limit the colour choices to make nightime pictures or a single colour collage but at other times have lots of options available. Here’s some ideas

Paints
Chalk
Tissue paper
Crepe paper
Wax crayons
Felt tips (washable) We sometimes use these but not all the time. They make mark making easy for young children.
Colourful collage materials (see the post all about texture)

These are just a few ideas about making and exploring with colour with toddlers. We haven’t begun to talk about primary and secondary colours or the colour wheel and I’ve only mentioned one idea about hot and cold colours or how different colours make us feel!

The ideas in this post are just some activities that we’ve used to include lots of making and exploring with colour in our toddler group. They would all be great to do at home too. Feel free to share your own ideas about crafts with colour in the comments.

But if you’d like to think more about colour take a look at this really interesting video Color theory for Noobs

Crepe paper printing craft

Crepe paper printing craft ideas. Crepe paper and water make for great craft. It’s not exactly mess free but almost. You will have lots of soggy crepe paper at the end so you do need to have some newspaper and a tray to put your used crepe paper out of the way. Paper towels and some wipes are useful too as hands can get dye on them. But don’t let any of that put you off this lovely creative activity that really is suitable for all ages.

All you need

Water and some spray bottles (that have only ever been used for plain water)
Crepe paper cut into strips
Sugar paper (2 sheets for each picture)
Cover your table with newspaper
Have something on hand to put the wet crepe paper in to
Wipes and paper towels for hands

To make –

Take a sheet of sugar paper
Lay on crepe paper – let the children choose the colours they would like. They can layer them if they wish. They don’t have to cover the paper.
Spay with water (you’ll see the colours start to run. Experiment with just how wet you want the picture to be – too dry isn’t great but neither is too wet!
Place the second sheet of paper on top (like making a paper sandwich with crepe filling)
Pat down
Peel apart
Take the crepe paper off and throw away

Crepe paper printing in pictures

This is a great craft for toddlers. It doesn’t matter if they can’t operate the water bottle as the main point is to experiment with the colours and see how they mix and change

You can also develop the basic craft into an Easter themed craft by using egg shaped paper.

Easter egg shape decorated with crepe paper printing

You can also add the symbol of the cross using black crepe paper.

Older children can experiment with how they want the colours to look – like in the picture above with rays of light coming from the centre of the cross.

Enjoy being creative with colour with this craft. The pictures will need some time to dry so keep that in mind. But it is really fun so have a go at some crepe paper printing craft!

Here’s another Easter craft idea with a free printable – you could make both!

I used this crepe paper from Amazon. (Affiliate link – when you click and make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Jesus feeds four thousand people

Jesus feeds four thousand people is a story from Mark 8:1-10. A large crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus and have stayed so long that they have no food. Jesus shows his compassion and feeds everyone from a small amount of bread and fish.

Jesus feeds four thousand people story idea

Jesus was talking to lots and lots of people about God. There were mums and dads, grandads and grandmas and children! They had been listening for a long time. They had been listening – for – 1,2,3 days!!! Can you imagine that!?

I think they had some time to sleep too and some food to eat. But the food had all gone and it really was time to go home.

Jesus called his twelve special friends together, ‘We must give everyone something to eat,’ he said. ‘They have to be able to walk home and some of them have got a long way to go’. Jesus cared about all the people.

His friends didn’t know what to do. ‘We are so far away from anywhere,’ they said.

Jesus asked them, ‘how much food do you have?’ They looked at what they had – it wasn’t much. Just 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 small loaves of bread and some fish. Oh dear. Not really enough for Jesus and his twelve friends never mind everyone else!

Jesus told everyone to sit down. Jesus thanked God for the seven loaves and the few fish and then he started to share it out. All the tired and hungry people; all the mums and dads and grandmas and grandads and children had more than enough to eat. And once they were full, they started to go home.

Jesus’ friends had to tidy up – there was so much food that there were 7 baskets of leftovers!

Craft Idea

Jesus feeds the four thousand craft of a basket and bread and fish

To make the bread and fish in a basket

Basket download
Bread and fish download
Crayons
Glue
Shredded paper for the basket decoration

7 loaves & come fish – LOAVES & FISH (3-up)Download

7 leaves & some fish – BASKET Download

Here’s a link to a similar story

Black paper collage toddler group craft

Black paper collage to make those colours pop! There is nothing wrong with using pastel coloured sugar paper or the off white recycled sugar paper but black paper makes a great alternative. You can really enjoy the colours of the collage. They stand out and the collage looks vibrant.

All you need to make a black paper collage

Good quality black paper that can take plenty of glue. If you want to you can use card.
PVA glue and glue speaders (Glue sticks are an option but PVA works better in this activity as it will stick all the collage materials so that’s what we used for this make)
Collage materials – card shapes (ours were from a charity shop and I’m pretty sure were once part of a make your own greetings card kit), feathers, stickers, tissue paper, pictures from magazines, ribbon, fabric pieces, yarn
Light coloured crayons – white, yellow

To make – This is a great craft for letting children choose what to use. I like to lay out all the collage materials in a way that makes it easy for young children to see what there is. A couple of ideas are to sort the collage materials by colour or type. Before the children begin decant some PVA glue in to shallow containers that won’t spill easily. Then let the children create. Some children will want to pack their paper with loads of materials and others may be happy with one or two things on the paper. Let them choose what they want to do.

Collage on black paper toddler group craft

Take a look at this helpful article about collage and young children.

The article mentions collecting recycled items for a collage ‘busy box’ which is a great idea. Ask your friends and family for donations of yarn and fabric offcuts, paper and greetings card pictures, ribbon – all sorts of things we can use for collage.

Here’s a blog post about craft supplies – some bought and some collected!

Valentine’s Day Bible verse craft

Valentine’s Day Bible verse craft that is lovely to make and easy to prepare ahead. To make this you need a few bought items and some card. Psalm 136:26 reminds us that God’s love never ends.

Hearts for Valentine's Day craft made with heart stickers

Valentines heart craft with a Bible verse

everything you need to make Valentine’s Day Bible verse craft

Heart shape printed out onto card. Older children can cut it out. You’ll need to cut the shape out for young children (toddler group age)
Heart stickers (if bought on a roll you can cut them into small strips)
Crayons/pencils

Valentine Craft Download

to make

Print heart onto card (paper would be ok if you don’t have card)
Cut out
Colour (I used crayons – pinks, yellows, reds)
Add heart stickers to the border

to use

You could add a ribbon so this craft becomes a wall hanging! Either use a hole punch to make a hole at the top centre and thread a thin ribbon through (Yarn would work too) or tape a loop of ribbon to the back of the heart. If you want to make wall hangings I would suggest you print the heart shape on card so it holds it’s shape. You could laminate it too.

If making in your church group see if older children can find the verse in the Bible and have a go at learning it.

Here’s a link to some other Valentine’s Day crafts

Three women and a baby – women in the Bible 3

Three women and a baby is the story of Moses’ birth, his mothers’ plan to keep him safe and his rescue. Three women make sure that Moses is safe. You can read the story in Exodus 2:1-10.

To tell the story I used some pictures from Free Bible Images. They have a great selection of Bible characters that you can print onto card, cut out and make into lollipop stick puppets. Here’s a link – you will need to have a look at the different sections to find pictures suitable for Moses’ mum, sister and Pharoah’s daughter. The characters aren’t named, just have a look and see what you would like to use.

I also used a doll for the baby and an oval storage basket and some blue cloth for the Nile.

Baby Moses in a basket props for story telling

Three women and a baby – story idea

In our Bible story today there are three women. Let’s find out what they did.

A long time ago there was a really bad king. He was very cross that God’s people, who were living in his country, were having families with lots of children. ‘I’m not happy about this!’ he said to himself. Then he had a very bad and horrible plan. ‘Get rid of all the baby boys’, he said. That was a horrible plan. he was a very bad king.

There was a family that had just had a baby boy. They weren’t going to get rid of him. They loved him very much. So they kept him a secret. Every time he cried they said ‘Shush’ (can you say that?). But as he got bigger he cried louder. What could his mummy do? His mummy trusted God and she made a plan to keep her baby safe.

His mummy (take puppet from story bag) had a plan. She began to make something. Shall I show you what it was? It was a basket. She made it waterproof and very strong with a lid.

When it was finished she wrapped up her baby son and put him gently into the basket. Then she took the baby in the basket down to the river. The baby’s big sister came too. (Take her from the story bag) Now they weren’t going to just any part of the river. The mummy knew that someone important would be going to this part of the river too.

The mummy put the basket in the water and she went home. But big sister hid and watched and waited.

Sure enough down to the river came the third woman in our story. She was very important. She was the bad kings daughter! (Take her from the story bag) She looked at the basket. What’s inside? she thought. So she opened the lid! And there inside was the little baby boy and he was crying. The King’s daughter felt sorry for him. She knew that he was a baby belonging to God’s people.

Now the baby’s big sister did a very brave thing. She stopped hiding and called out, ‘Shall I go and find someone who can take care of the baby for you?’

‘Go, and get someone’, the Kings daughter said.

Who could she find to care for the baby? His mum!

These three women rescued the baby boy and he was called Moses, which means taken out of the water. Moses mummy trusted God to keep her little baby boy safe – and he did. God can always be trusted.

Maybe when you were a baby you were put in a Moses Basket? It’s called a Moses basket because of this true story from the Bible.

Moses in the basket craft idea

All you need to make a simple paper plate Moses in the basket craft

Paper plate
Cup cake liner
Blue and green tissue paper
Baby – see download (He is sad because he was crying)
Glue

baby-moses-x-24 (1)Download

Jesus calls Levi

Jesus calls Levi is found in Mark 2:13-17 , Luke 5:27-28 and Matthew 9:9-13 In Matthew’s gospel Levi is called Matthew. When you tell the story it’s up to you which name to use.

To tell the story you need some props for Levi and the Lord Jesus , a picture of a house, some of Levi’s friends. I’ve used a set of power point pictures from lampbiblepictures.co.uk You have to purchase from the site but they are good value. I won’t be using them as a power point but as printed pictures that I’ve attached to lollipop sticks. I’ve also made a large house picture that opens up to reveal Levi and his friends having a meal with Jesus.

Jesus calls Levi – Bible story

There was once a man called Levi who had a job that meant that most people didn’t like him very much at all! I wonder what that job was? Let’s say hello to Levi and find out.

Hello Levi! (Take Levi out of the story bag)

Levi! Aren’t you going to say hello?

He’s too busy counting all the money. Levi is a tax collector. Everyone thinks he is really awful. His only friends are other tax collectors. He probably takes too much money and keeps some for himself.

One day someone comes along to just where Levi is sitting doing his job, collecting the money. But this isn’t just anyone walking along, this person is Jesus. He knows all about Levi. He knows he isn’t a good person. he knows he does things that are wrong and unfair. What is Jesus going to do?

Jesus looks at Levi and he says to him, ‘Follow me’.

Levi stops counting the money. Levi gets up and he follows Jesus. And Levi wants his friends, all the other tax collectors to meet Jesus too so he invites them all to his home for some food.

Some people were cross! ‘Look at what Jesus is doing’, they said. ‘Doesn’t he know how bad those people are?’ But Jesus said, ‘I’ve come to help the people who know they need me.’

Some of the pictures below are from Lampbiblepictures. The large house picture opens up to show Levi’s friends

Large Bible time house for story telling

Pictures for telling the bible story Jesus calls Levi

Jesus calls Levi – craft idea

I really like a ‘lift the flap’ craft and this one is very simple. Part of the craft is the house and inside are some people.

All you need

House printed on to A4 (portrait) and folded in half (if you use the download below the house will be in the lower half of the A4 page – and this is right.)
Group of people printed out. You need a group of 4 for each house. (Have some extra as children often use more than 1)
Tissue paper, crayons, glue to decorate the house and the people

Friends of Levi in a lift the flap house craft

Lift the flap – House Download

Lift the flap – Crowd Download

Eve Bible Story for Toddlers: Creation & Family Craft Idea

Welcome to our first lesson in a new series exploring women in the Bible for toddlers. Because Eve was the very first woman, starting with her story is a natural fit.

In this lesson, we cover two main truths that are simple for toddlers to understand:

God made Eve

God made Adam

The Bible Story is based on Genesis 2: 4 -24

Let’s say hello to Eve Bible (Toddler Story Script)

Story Bag Prep: Place puppets or dolls representing Adam and Eve inside your story bag before starting.

Say hello to Adam! Adam was a real person who lived a long, long, long time ago. He was very special because he was the very first person ever! He wasn’t ever a baby! He wasn’t ever a toddler! So how did he get to be the first person ever?

The Bible tells us that God made Adam. God had already made the birds and the fish, the sun, moon and stars. God had already made all the trees, plants and flowers. He had already made the elephants, tigers, lions and all the other animals. Everything in God’s new world was beautiful. It was all very good! God had made all these things by just speaking.

But then God did something different. He made Adam out of the dust. And God breathed life into him.

Now Adam needed somewhere to live so God made a beautiful garden for Adam. He gave Adam a job to do, ‘Look after the garden,’ God said. He gave Adam one rule to keep,’ Don’t eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden,’ God said.

But when God looked at Adam in the garden there was something that wasn’t good! ‘It isn’t good for Adam to be alone’, God said. There were lots of beautiful plants and amazing animals but they weren’t enough.

So God made Eve, the very first woman to be Adam’s best friend. Are you ready to say hello to Eve? Hello Eve!

Adam and Eve weren’t just the very first man and the very first woman, they were the very first family. God loved them and gave them the very best place to live. And they were happy!

If you want to tell the next part of the story then there is an idea in this post that covers Genesis 3.

Craft idea – make a family collage

All you need for making a family collage

People shapes – either buy or cut out your own
Tissue paper
Fabric scraps if you have any
Crayons
Yarn for hair – try to have a variety of colours
Glue
Backing paper

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Set out a variety of collage materials where children can reach them.
Have the children select their paper people shapes and glue them to the backing paper.
Let them decorate the shapes using tissue paper, yarn, and fabric.

Tip for Toddlers: Allow room for creativity! It is fine if they put yarn on the body for clothes or glue tissue paper where the hair goes. The goal is to let them express how they want their picture to look.

Make a gingerbread house paper craft scene

Make a gingerbread house inspired scene with bits and pieces of paper and wrapping. Making a real gingerbread house is lovely but sometimes it’s good to just have a rummage through odds and ends of paper and card and create something festive.

I always keep wrapping paper scraps and christmas card pictures as they make great almost free craft materials.

Here’s some inspiration for your pictures..

Here’s my finished gingerbread house street scene

Gingerbread house street scene made with paper and craft materials

This would be a great activity to make at home in those days between Christmas and New Year or on Christmas Eve!

All you need to make a gingerbread house inspired scene

Paper for the background – I put two A4 pieces together with tape. (Have the tape on the back of your picture)
Paper to cut into house shapes and trees. I went with simple shapes.
Wrapping paper and Christmas cards cut into shapes
Small hearts, snow flakes, circles
Optional – glitter, sequins, tinsel
Glue

Use whatever you like – and whatever you have.

If you want to do this with very young children prepare the shapes of paper beforehand and make them slightly bigger so they are easier to hold and stick. Children’s interests vary so if children love making they will spend a bit longer creating a paper picture. If you are doing this at home make your own version alongside your child or create a street scene together.

Older children can be encouraged to make the shapes for the trees and houses themselves and create their own gingerbread paper art from scratch. Give them lots of choice of materials.

There’s an idea in this post for making a mini ‘gingerbread’ house using biscuits. It’s very easy to do and lots of fun!

If you would like to make an edible gingerbread house here’s a link to a Mary Berry recipe.

The Saviour is here! – Christmas 3

The Saviour is here is our third Christmas Story in a series of three. We began with Isaiah foretelling the birth of Jesus, The Saviour is Promised and then we told the story of Angel Gabriel visiting Mary, The Saviour is on his way.

The story is based on Luke 2:1-20

The Saviour is here! Bible Story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – Jesus is the Saviour

In the story bag you need – Mary, Joseph, a donkey, the baby, a manger,shepherds, sheep and angels. Take them out as you need them.

‘Say hello to Mary and Joseph! They had to go on a long, long journey. All the way back to Joseph’s home town of Bethlehem. It wasn’t a good time to travel, Mary was soon to have her baby that the Angel Gabriel had told her about. But they had to go. Maybe they had a donkey.. Off they went..

Down the road, over the hills.. Are we nearly there yet? No! On and on they went. Are we nearly there yet? Almost!

But oh no, Bethlehem was so busy. So many people. Where could Mary and Joseph stay. They asked at the hotel. ‘No room here’, the man said. But you can stay in the stable with the animals.

And that’s where the special baby, sent from God, was born. Mary wrapped him up and put him in the manger – all safe and snuggled up.

That same night, out on the hills outside the town there were shepherds looking after their sheep. It was dark! When all of a sudden there was a bright light, the brightest light they had ever seen and there was an angel! The shepherds were scared. ‘Don’t be afraid’, the angel said, ‘I bring you good news! Today a Saviour has been born for you. You will find him in a manger and all wrapped up.’ And then there were loads of angels filling the sky and singing. Then they were gone and it was dark again.

The shepherds looked at one another. ‘Let’s go and find this baby, the Saviour who has been born,’ they said. So off they went..down the hill, through the town, are they nearly there? Not yet! Looking here, looking there, are they nearly there? Almost! – until they found Jesus. They found the Saviour.

Jesus is the Saviour, he is the Saviour God sent for everyone everywhere.

Christmas craft idea

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.

Nativitiy Scene (paper plate)Download

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.

The Saviour is on his way – Christmas 2

The Saviour is on his way is our second Christmas story in a series of three. We began with, The Saviour is Promised – a Story all about Isaiah and now we meet Mary and the Angel Gabriel. The Bible Story is from Luke 1:26-38 and includes the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.

If you have told the first story in the series include the four things Isaiah said about the special baby to be born and have an action for each sentence

A child will be born – rock a pretend baby in your arms
A Son will be given – point up to heaven and then bring hands down
He will be King forever – put a pretend crown on your head
He will bring peace – clasp your hands together

The Saviour is on his way – Bible story idea

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God keeps his promises

Do you remember Isaiah? He told people what God wanted them to know. He had written down a promise that God had made – God was going to send someone – Isaiah told everyone that…

A child will be born – rock a pretend baby in your arms
A Son will be given – point up to heaven and then bring hands down
He will be King forever – put a pretend crown on your head
He will bring peace – clasp your hands together

But a long, long time had passed. Days, weeks, months and years and years and years went by. Had God forgotten his promise? No! God never forgets anything!

One day a young woman called Mary was at home. (Say hello to Mary!)It was just an ordinary day. Mary was cleaning the house (some actions here – maybe dusting or sweeping).

But then something extraordinary happened! An angel came to see her! Now angels are not like fairies. Angels are big and strong! (actions here too – make a big shape with your arms and then flex muscles). The angel that came to see Mary was called Gabriel (ask everyone to repeat the name). He had a message from God.

You are going to have a very special baby,’ he said to Mary. ‘This baby will be God’s Son and he will be King forever.’

The Baby was going to be born! rock a pretend baby in your arms

The Son was going to be given! point up to heaven and then bring hands down

He was going to be King forever! put a pretend crown on your head

The Saviour God promised was on his way. God always keeps his promises.

Craft Ideas – make Angel Gabriel

Joseph and the Angel

Joseph and the Angel is from Matthew 1:18-25. In Luke’s Gospel we hear about the Angel visiting Mary and in Matthew’s Gospel we find out how Joseph knew that the baby was from God. In this story we have the special name – Immanuel, a name that only appears a couple of times in the Bible, here in Matthew and Isaiah 7:14. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise.

We also read that Joseph is to name the baby Jesus.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1: 21

In Luke’s account we read that Mary has also been told to name the child Jesus.

..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 to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Luke 1: 31b-33

To tell the story – if you are tellling a series of Christmas stories you will probably want to focus on the message the angel gave to Joseph.

In the story bag – Joseph doll or puppet, some carpenters tools, Mary puppet, an angel,

Actions to include – sleeping!

Joseph and the Angel story

Mary (take her from the story bag) knew that she was going to have a very special baby. An angel had been sent from God to tell her!

But someone was very sad that she was having a baby. He didn’t really understand. He didn’t really know what to do. His name is Joseph. Are you ready to say hello to Joseph – ‘Hello Joseph’ (take him out of the story bag)

Joseph was all ready to marry Mary but then he found out she was having a baby. He wasn’t the father. He didn’t know what had happened but he decided that he couldn’t marry Mary. He was sad. Oh dear!

Joseph was a carpenter – he spent the day making things with wood, hammering, sawing.. and then he went home and went to bed. Soon he was fast asleep. (Pretend to be sleeping)

Now that was when something extraordinary happened. An angel appeared in his dream (this isn’t something that happens when you or I go to sleep). But it happened to Joseph. The angel had a really important message from God.

‘Joseph, you can marry Mary. Her baby is sent from God. He will be Immanuel, which means God with us. He is the one that God promised to send. When he is born you must name him Jesus because he is the Saviour’.

The next morning Joseph woke up. He got up. What was he going to do? He did what God had told him to do. He believed that this baby was God with us, the one who is the only Saviour. He married Mary and he cared for her.

You could finish with a question for the adults – ‘who do you believe Jesus is?’

angel craft

Make a rocking angel.

All you need

Paper plate folded in half
Circles for faces
Wool for hair
Shiny paper to decorate
Paper doilies cut into 1/8’s (depending on size). They just need to be a right fit for wings.
Glue
Crayons to decorate faces of angels

Here’s a link to the Bible story – The Angel visits Mary

In the beginning God made – days 4-6 – craft ideas

In the beginning God made – days 4-6 – craft ideas suitable for using at toddler groups and with young children in church or at home. Genesis 1 tells us how God made the world. Everything was made in a precise order and all of creation was good!

These crafts are easy to make. You need a variety of craft supplies and some preparation is needed. Below is a list of everything you need but be creative and use what you have. Magazines are great for finding pictures for crafts so have a look at what you have at home and ask people to be on the lookout for pictures on calendars and greetings card. It’s much easier than printing pictures from the web! The star shapes I have used were from a box of craft items that I found in a charity shop.

If you are running a toddler group or church group ask for donations of wool, fabric, greetings cards and used calendars. It’s like collecting treasure in the form of craft materials!

In the beginning God made – days 4-6 – craft ideas – everything you need

Tissue paper (various colours)
Paper plates – cut into moon and sun (see photo)
Small cup cake cases (I used metallic – brightly coloured would be fine too)
Small pasta stars
Star shapes
Pictures of birds cut from magazines
Pictures of animals cut from magazines
People shapes
Wool and fabric
Crayons
Glue (if using the pasta stars you will need PVA glue and glue spreaders. Glue sticks are fine for everything else)
Fish shape printed out
‘In the beginning God made…’ labels printed out
Animal stickers
A3 paper
Black A4 paper or card

I really like the large people shapes but if you would rather use pictures of people you can.

In the beginning God made – days 4-6 – craft ideas collage using pictures of people

Enjoy making! have a look at this post for craft ideas for Creation Days 1-3.

In the beginning God made – days 1-3 – craft ideas

In the beginning God…crafts days 1-3 for toddler groups and young children to enjoy making. In Genesis 1 we learn all about days of creation. These crafts cover the first 3 Days of Creation from Genesis 1:1-13.

All you need

Patterned muffin cases and cup cake cases – trim these to look like flowers
Blue paper
Large lollipop sticks
Shiny paper
Black paper – A4
Cotton wool shapes (make up remover pads are great!)
Blue and green tissue paper
Red dot stickers
Tree shapes
Cardboard rolls (toilet rolls or you can buy cardboard rolls if you prefer)
Blue paper – A4
Blue paper, different shades cut into waves
Brown paper cut into hill shapes
Glue sticks
Crayons

In the beginning God made light

To make ‘In the beginning God made light’ use the black A4 paper and put the label in the centre. The children then add the shiny paper shapes and can use white crayons to decorate.

Label (3×8) ‘In the begining God made light Genesis chapter1’Download

In the beginning God made sky and sea

To make ‘In the beginning God made sky and sea’ use the blue paper and tissue paper to make the sky and sea (different shades work well) and then add the label.

Label (3×8) ‘In the begining God made sky and sea Genesis chapter1’Download

In the beginning God moved the water and there was land

To make ‘In the beginning God moved the water and there was land’ you need some blue paper for the sky and sea plus some brown for the land. You can add some clouds too.

Label (3×8) ‘In the begining God moved the water and there was land Genesis chapter1’ (1)Download

God made the land on Day Three, when he also made the trees and plants. You could add cut outs of plants and trees to the above picture or make some extra crafts.

In the beginning God made trees and flowers

Label (3×8) ‘In the begining God made flowers Genesis chapter1’Download

Label (3×8) ‘In the begining God made trees Genesis chapter1’Download

Here’s a download for the tree shape. It’s best to print it onto card. Ahead of time make two slits opposite each other in the cardboard roll. After the tree shape has been decorated it can be slotted into the tree trunk.

Tree-Roll Download

The next three days of creation include the sun, moon and stars, birds and fish and animals and people! When God saw everything he had made it was very good. 🙂

There are lots more ideas on this pinterest board

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

Daniel in the lions’ den bible story for young children. You can read the story in Daniel 6.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den story idea

Daniel lived a long, long time ago. He loved God and often talked to God, we call that praying. He prayed to God three times every day. What do you think he said? The Bible tells us that he thanked God. He lived a long way from his home in a foreign country but he worked hard and he was always doing his best.

He worked for the King. (Say hello to king Darius). Now king Darius had lots of people who worked for him. But he knew that Daniel was the most hardworking and trustworthy person so he made Daniel the boss over all the other servants.

Well they weren’t happy about that at all! They were grumpy. They were jealous. ‘Why is Daniel the kings favourite and not us?’ they said.

Then they thought. ‘Let’s get daniel into trouble.’ But that was going to be difficult because Daniel worked hard and always did his best.

But these other servants were full of jealously and determination. ‘Let’s trick the king into making a law about praying to God. Then we will see what happens to Daniel!’

They went to the king and said, ‘ Oh most wonderful King make a new rule that everyone must only pray to you for a whole month or be thrown into the den with the lions’.

Well the king liked the sound of that. It made him feel important. So he made the new rule; and it couldn’t be changed.

So what was Daniel going to do? When Daniel heard about the new rule he didn’t start praying to King Darius. Oh no – why do that? He went home and he did what he had always done – he knelt down by his window and he prayed to God.

The jealous servants were so happy! We’ve got him ! Off they went to see the King. They told him all about Daniel breaking the new rule.

King Darius was sad. He spent all day trying to find a way to save Daniel from being thrown to the hungry lions. But he couldn’t think of anything. He couldn’t save Daniel.

When evening came Daniel was taken to the lions den. ‘I hope you God can save you,’ King Darius said.

King Darius went to his beautiful palace. But he didn’t eat. He didn’t listen to music. He couldn’t sleep.

As soon as morning came he hurried to the lions’ den. He called out , ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God saved you?’ He waited. He listened. He heard something! It wasn’t the roar of a lion it was a voice..

‘Yes, he has saved me’, Daniel called back!

King Darius was a very powerful king but only The living God could save Daniel. The living God still saves people today!

Daniel in the Lions’ Den storytelling prop ideas

Choose some props to take out of the story bag as you tell the story. It’s great to have everyone say hello to the different characters as they come out of the bag. I had three props; Daniel, King Darius (made from a Cardboard tube – instructions here) and a lion (which is also a craft idea)

Storytelling props for Daniel in the Lions' Den

Daniel in the Lions’ Den craft idea

Lion paper plate craft for Daniel in the Lions' Den

If you don’t have any paper plates there is another idea here (with a printable lion) that uses paper curls for the mane.

NOTE – my example has stick on eyes. Be careful with these. You can use stickers for eyes instead.

In the beginning God made light!

In the beginning God made light Bible Story and craft idea to use with young children.

How everything began is recorded for us in Genesis 1. Telling the story of Creation to young children is a great opportunity to help children understand that they are special and important because God made them.

In the beginning God made light story idea

You will need some dark blue or black fabric and some white fabric (sheets or blankets are fine)

Black and white fabric to represent day and night

Before the world began there was God. God had no beginning; he has always been.

Then God began to make the world.

It was dark! (show the dark fabric). And then God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light! (show white fabric). God was making the world from nothing. We can’t do that! If we make something we need something to make it with. If we want to build a tower we need bricks. If we want to make a sandwich we need bread. But God is so powerful he made things from nothing!

Now God had made darkness and light. But they were mixed up. So God separated the light and the darkness. God called the light day and God called the darkness night. That was the very first day ever!

In the beginning God made light craft idea

You will need

Black paper
Gold paper – cut in to strips
Silver paper – cut in to strips
White crayons
Labels – ‘In the beginning God made light’ Genesis 1.
Glue

Craft for In the beginning God made light using black paper and gold and silver paper.

Label-3×8-In-the-begining-God-made-light-Genesis-chapter1 Download

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

Good Friday crafts to make

Good Friday crafts for children to make that use paper plates! One craft uses round paper plates (use cheap plates that can be folded easily) and the other crafts use black and green square plates. (These are available online – take a look here)

Good Friday crafts – round paper plate

Good Friday craft made with a paper plate

The above craft was made with a cheap paper plate folded a third of the way down. The sky is a mixture of blues and blacks (I used wax crayons as they blend well). The hill is some green and yellow crayon. Fold then colour the plate. Cut out the three crosses and then glue them on the blue, fold over the green and glue in place. I used pritt stick. PVA would work fine too.

An alternative to crayons is to use torn up sugar paper and tissue paper.

I really like the added texture of the torn paper plus if you have a large group this works well – it’s likely that you won’t have enough blue and green wax crayons for a large group to share!

Good Friday crafts – square paper plates

Good Friday stained glass window paper plate craft — Cut out centre of plate

To make

Cut out centre of plate. Use this to make the cross shape.
Use tacky back to cover the centre (sticky side needs to be same side as black rim)
Cover tacky back with brightly coloured tissue paper (try to stay within the square of tacky back)
Glue on the black paper cross

Good Friday craft – Easter Garden

I love Easter Gardens. There are several versions of this paper plate Easter Garden on the blog. No soil is needed (although I love Easter Gardens made with soil, moss, twigs and flowers too!)

All you need…

Square paper plate (green)
Flower stickers
Cup cake cases various sizes (trim to look like petals)
Brown paper path
Cross and stone for the tomb cut from card (give both shapes a flap to use to stick to plate)
A small pot for the tomb (Make sure it will stick)
A strip of brown paper to cover the tomb and help glue it to the plate
Green tissue paper to make a hill around the cross

Take a look here for some additional ideas for making an Easter Garden with a paper plate. There is a simplified version of an Easter Garden here.

Hearts for Valentine’s Day

Hearts for Valentine’s Day! Valentines day is almost here. These crafts can be used for Valentine’s Day or at any time.

To make life easier I have a heart shaped paper punch like this one from hobbycraft that makes quick work of cutting out hearts. When it gets blunt I use kitchen foil to sharpen it (just cut out a few foil hearts).They are also available from Amazon. You can also cut out heart shapes and also buy heart shapes.

When making crafts with hearts I like to use a broad colour palette, not just pinks and reds. Patterned paper and shiny paper are also great to use.

You can make wreaths from pre-cut cardboard heart shapes. These are available in craft shops and from Amazon. Valentine cards are good if you want the children to have a card to give; I buy blank cards with envelopes. If you had rather not buy blank cards then just fold A4 card in half.

Craft supplies for Valentine hearts – pick and mix

Heart paper punches in different sizes – or templates to cut by hand
Glue
Card blanks and envelopes or card folded to A5 size
Heart shapes – large so they can be decorated
Patterned paper
Coloured paper
Shiny paper
Heart shaped stickers

It’s fine to make a craft yourself beforehand to give children an idea of what you did but then let them make it their own.

Older children might like to use the paper punches themselves. Show them how to use them safely and make sure they cut one sheet of paper at a time.

Hearts for Valentine’s Day ideas

Here’s link to a craft that reminds us about God’s love. This would be great for older children as there are two pdf’s to print and then they can cut out the wreath shape, hearts and ribbon.

If you are making this with older children have a go at helping them to learn the bible verse as they make the craft by repeating the words together a few times.

God’s promise to Abraham

God’s promise to Abraham is the final story in the series What’s in God’s big book? We began by making a Big Book and then each week we take out a page for our story. So far we have done God made everything , First sad day, Noah built the Ark , The big tower to Heaven and Abram leaves home ( I tell the story first and we finish by taking the page out of the book and reading the words)

This final story in the six week series is from Genesis 15:1-6

God’s promise to Abraham story idea

To tell the story use the same dolls/puppets for Abraham and Sarah as last time. (Although you might want to just focus on Abraham). You can use a picture of stars or just ask everyone to make star actions when you get to that point in the story.

Abraham (Abram) had left his home to go to a new land that God was going to give to him.

God had promised that Abraham would have a new place to live and have a family. But Abraham was old and his wife, Sarah was old and they had no children. Had God forgotten his promise? No! God never forgets anything.

But Abraham was worried. He talked to God,’ I don’t have a family of my own,’ he said to God.

Now it was night time. It was really dark outside the tent. ‘Abraham go outside and look up at the sky,’ God said.

So Abraham went outside into the night. He looked up at all the bright shining stars. ‘ Can you count them all? God said. There were just too many to count! ‘That is how large your family will be,’ God said.

Abraham believed God. He knew that God is so powerful and so good that he always keeps his promises.

Genesis 15 craft idea

Abraham outside his tent looking at the stars

We’ve made similar crafts before – take a look here where there is a download for the picture of Abraham

To create the night sky just use black or dark blue paper and add stars.

There is a flap inside the tent that Abraham can slot into and also the green strip is only glued at the sides and bottom so Abraham can stand outside. This allows the children to re tell the story. But if it’s too fiddly just glue Abraham outside his tent.

Abram leaves home

Abram leaves home is part of our Story Series ‘What’s in God’s Big Book?’ We started by making a Big Book and then each week we take out a page for our story. So far we have done God made everything , First sad day, Noah built the Ark and The big tower to Heaven ( I tell the story first and we finish by taking the page out of the book and reading the words)

The story is from Genesis 12

In the story bag have Abram and Sarah.

Knitted dolls to use to tell the Bible story about Abram and Sarai leaving home.

You can add actions to the story and ask the group to repeat phrases (I’ve written these in Bold).

Abram leaves home story idea

Say hello to Abram! Hello Abram. Abram lived a long, long time ago with his wife Sarai.

One day God spoke to Abram and said to him, ‘Leave where you live and go to a new place that I will show to you. I will bless you and make your family a great nation and bless all the world through you.’

Wow! That was a big promise.

Abram listened to God. Abram got ready to do what God had said.

He packed up his bags. He said goodbye to his neighbours and friends and off he went! Can you wave and say goodbye. He didn’t travel in a car or aeroplane. He didn’t even use a boat. But he probably had a donkey or camel to ride on and sometimes he would have walked.

Abram trusted God and was sure that God would be with him and keep his promise.

Every day he and Sarai travelled and every night they put up their tent and went fast asleep.

Today God speaks to you and me in The Bible and we should do what he says. We can trust God to keep his promises just like Abram.

Abram in his tent craft idea

Abram in his tent craft made with sugar paper.

Abraham-1 Download

I have added a download for you to print and use for Abraham standing in his tent. For full craft instructions see this post. This is one of my favourite crafts – the children really love the lift the flap element!

Noah built the Ark

‘Noah Built an Ark’ is the third story in our ‘What’s in God’s Big Book?’ series that we have used with under 5’s. We began by making a big book that could be used to hold each page. Take a look here. It is really oversized – you could get away with making a smaller big book (especially if you need to take it on the bus!)

The first story was God made everything. The second First sad day. We now move on to Noah based on Genesis 6-8.

Noah built an Ark Story

In the story bag – Noah, a tool kit, wood, a variety of animals

Say hello to Noah! He lived a long tome ago. All around him and his family people were always cross. They argued, they shouted, they sometimes started fighting! It was horrible. No one cared about anyone else. No one listened to God anymore. They ignored him.

But God saw them! God sees everything. So God decided to wash everything way. He was going to end all the arguing and fighting.

Now Noah was not like everyone else. He did care about what God thought. Do you think God noticed Noah? Yes, he did. And God decided to save Noah.

He told Noah what to do – and Noah started to build! He sawed wood, he hammered, he measured.He sawed more wood! He was making something really, really big! It wasn’t a house. It wasn’t a tower. It wasn’t even a boat. It was an Ark.

It was like an enormous wooden box with rooms inside that would float.

It took a long time.

Then the Ark was finished. God sent some of the animals to go inside. (You can show some here – and maybe make the sounds they would make). Then Noah and his wife and family went inside too. And God shut the door – bang!

They waited – and then it started – the rain poured down. There was so much rain! Soon the whole world was covered in water. Everything was washed away except for Noah and his family and the animals in the Ark.

Days and days went by. Then God stopped the rain. Slowly the water went down until it was finally safe for Noah to come out of The Ark. Noah was very grateful. He said, ‘Thank you God’. And God made a very special promise to Noah, ‘I won’t destroy everything again. While the earth is here, there will always be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.’ And God put the rainbow in the sky to remind Noah of his promise.

That special promise is for us too! When you see a rainbow in the sky remember that God always keeps his promises.

Noah built an Ark craft ideas

A great craft to go with this story is a paper plate Ark that rocks! If making with under 5’s pre-cut the Ark shapes. You can also make the water using tissue and crepe paper on a blue sheet of sugar/construction paper. There are some great animal stickers that the children can enjoy adding to their Ark. These stickers are often sold on a roll so cut them into singles beforehand. Or use cut outs of animals for the children to colour and glue to the Ark.

We’ve also made a large Ark that you can use during the story and decorate with animal stickers.

Older children can have a go at making the rainbow cloud. We used cloud shaped gift tags and rainbow ribbon.

Celebrate Epiphany

Celebrate Epiphany with some lovely crafts and tell the Bible Story of the Visit of the Magi. The visit of The Magi (also known as Wise Men or kings) is found in Matthew 2.

Celebrate Epiphany Bible Story

Celebrate Epiphany story Wise Men knitted dolls

To tell the story you need – some Wise Men, toy camels and a star. You can add some actions too – stars with hands (like in twinkle, twinkle little star), running, looking, kneeling.

Far away from where Jesus was born there were some Wise Men. They read books and knew a lot. They loved to look at the stars in the dark night’s sky. One night they saw a new star! They looked at the new star and they looked at each other. ‘Wow! they thought, ‘this new star means that a new king has been born in Israel. Let’s go and worship him’.

So they packed their things and set off for the important city of Jerusalem. They travelled for a long time. It took days and days to get there. When they arrived in Jerusalem they asked everyone they met, ‘Where is the new baby king?’

Now, there was a king in Jerusalem called King Herod but he wasn’t a baby; he was a grown up and he wasn’t at all happy. He didn’t want a new King! He heard that there were men from a far away place who were asking people, ‘Where is the new king?’ This upset him and it upset the people who were living in Jerusalem. He sent for the men from the temple. ‘Where is this new King to be born?’ he asked. The men from the temple knew the answer because it was written in the Bible. ‘In Bethlehem.’ they said.

Herod sent for the Wise Men and he told them to go to Bethlehem and find this new King and then come back and tell him where the new King was so he could go and worship him too.

So off the Wise Men went. It wasn’t too far to go now. As they got nearer something very special happened. The star was there again and this time it went before them and shone right over the house where Jesus was. The Wise men had found Jesus and they knelt down and worshiped him. They took their treasures out of their bags and gave them to Jesus. They gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were special gifts for a King.

The Wise Men never told Herod where Jesus was. God warned them not to in a dream and they travelled home.

Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. He wanted to get rid of him. An angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and run away to a different country till it was safe to go back home.

Celebrate Epiphany Craft Ideas

Decorate crown shapes made from air- drying dough. Make crowns from card of buy crowns to decorate with circle stickers. The King is make from a Pringle Container.

Decorate wooden stars with paint and/or sequins. Put the decorated star on named envelope to dry and then put in the envelope to take home. The sequins stick best with PVA glue.

Use a square black paper plate to make these star stained glass windows. Cut out the star shape and then glue brightly coloured tissue paper over the gap on the reverse side. To make this even easier for young children use some clear sticky back plastic in the gap and then add small pieces if tissue paper (it won’t be as neat but it is easier)

A similar craft to celebrate Epiphany using a paper plate – take a look here for instructions!

Enjoy celebrating Epiphany!

First Sad Day Story and Craft

First sad day story and craft is the second ‘page’ in our ‘What’s in God’s Big Book? ‘ story series. We began with ‘God made everything‘. This story is based on Genesis 3

To tell the story

We had our Big Book with this page inside to show at the end of the story and read. We used props to tell the story – Adam, Eve, an apple (it was just fruit in the story but an apple is easy to take a bite from), a toy snake.

First sad day story

Adam and Eve lived in the beautiful garden. Everything was very good (thumbs up). There were trees and flowers and animals. They were happy (can you look happy?).

God had made everything and he had one rule for Adam and Eve to keep. Just one! He said to them, ‘Don’t eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. If you do you will die.’ They listened and they heard what God said.

Everything was lovely. But then one day a snake began to talk to Eve! ‘Did God really say that you can’t eat the fruit from all the trees in the garden?’

‘We can eat all the fruit from all the trees, except from the tree in the middle of the garden’, Eve replied. ‘If we eat from the tree in the middle of the garden we will die’

‘No you won’t’, said the snake, ‘you’ll become just like God’.

Eve looked at the tree in the middle of the garden. The fruit looked good! So she reached out her hand and she …. picked some of the fruit …. and she …took a bite! (you can ask another leader to play the part of Eve and act this out as you tell the story)

Adam was with her so she gave some to him and he took a bite too!

Adam and Eve had broken the one rule that God had given them. And everything changed. They felt sad. (Can you look sad) They had to leave the beautiful garden. And one day many years later they would die. It was a very sad day.

But God still loved Adam and Eve and he promised that he would send a Saviour to make everything good again.

First sad day craft idea

To make the spiral snake you need fairly sturdy paper plates (you need to be able to cut them but you don’t want them to fall apart when the toddlers start glueing on tissue paper!), tissue paper squares in lots of colours, snake tongue shapes cut out and some crayons/felt tips to draw on an eye. Adults can add the wool/string at the end of the make.

(You can add the string/wool beforehand if you prefer. An easy way to do this is to thread a darning needle with the wool and punch it through the plate. Tie a knot and cover the knot with cellotape.)

God made everything story and craft.

God made everything story and craft for toddler group and preschoolers. This is the first page of our Big Book that we made here.

The Story is based on Genesis 1

There are lots of different ways to tell the story of creation. You can use pictures, paper plates that represent the different days, objects from a storybag (model animals, model trees, fruit etc). When I teach this story I focus on a few details

God made everything by speaking – he said the word and things were made!
Everything God made was very good. (thumbs up!)
God breathed life into Adam and them he made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. (Genesis 2)

When you tell the story you can count the different days together, repeat the phrase ‘It was very good’ (everyone does a thumbs up) and explain that people are very special to God- he breathed life into them and gave them a beautiful and perfect place to live.

A big book to use as a visual aid when telling Bible Stories. God made everything story.

Some Creation paper plates that are great to use to tell the story – link to instructions

Paper plates decorated as the days of creation from Genesis 1. God made everything story.

God made everything craft ideas

There are so many crafts you can do about creation! Here are a few ideas from this blog plus a link to a pinterest board where I’ve collected ideas

A creation place mat (requires some cutting out – either do beforehand or let older children do it themselves) , creation collage all about people (cut faces from magazines) we printed out a picture of the world but if you don’t want to do that you could combine the sponge print globe with the faces, a sponge print world – we used circles cut from card, blue and green paint and kitchen sponges that were easy to hold. The paint should be fairly thick!

Creation Pinterest Board with lots of craft ideas!

Craft supplies you need for toddler group!

Craft supplies you need for toddler group! – or would really like, come in all shapes and sizes (and price ranges!). Here are some ideas of what you need (or would really like) when doing crafts with young children in toddler group or at home.

Some craft supplies can be bought especially for doing crafts at home or in toddler group but there are others that you possibly already have or friends and family can collect for you.

Craft supplies for toddler group and home

Craft supplies you might like to buy

Paint
No spill paint pots
Paint brushes
Aprons (you can go old school and use old men’s shirts – children wear them backwards – buttons at the back. Use them and then wash them.)
Glue (PVA can last ages)
Glue spreaders
Glue sticks
Paper plates – round, square, white/black or coloured.
Paper cups/pots
Doilies
Wax crayons
Petit four cases
Cup cake cases
Wreath shapes
Sugar paper
Lollipop sticks
Stickers – stars, themed stickers for example animals, sea creatures.
Pipe cleaners

Of course you don’t have to buy everything on this list. Prioritise items like wax crayons, paper and glue. See if there is a local scheme for sharing supplies.

Paper can be very expensive so save paper from packaging if you can. Card is great to use so try to reuse packaging.

Craft supplies you may already have (or know someone who does)

This is the list to get excited about! Craft items for toddler group that are free are a bonus. Once you start looking you will see opportunities for free craft supplies all over the place.

Greeting card pictures. Collect all year round and especially at Christmas. Just ask donors to tear the picture from the greeting section of the card if they can.
Wrapping paper (all sorts including shiny paper)
Tissue paper – often used for wrapping flowers/gifts/breakables
Yarn/wool – Lots of knitters and crocheters will have yarn in small lengths in a variety of colours. Ask for donations.
Fabric – sewers will have scraps you can use for collage.
Cardboard tubes
Cereal boxes
Netting from fruit packaging
Natural collage materials – leaves, petals (make sure these are non-poisonous. Take a look at this post for more info.
Ribbon (this is often used as handles on gift bags)
Magazine pictures
Garden catalogue photos of plants/vegetables
Paint colour sample cards from DIY stores
Egg cartons (these should be clean, i.e no sign of any egg!) Children can be allergic to egg so take care.

It’s good to be on the look out for materials you can use – charity shops are great for finding bits and bobs!

Some supplies you need only buy once – non spill paint pots and good paint brushes. Glue spreaders will last and a good quality PVC cloth to cover the craft table will last years. (You can use newspaper but just check the content first!)

Here are some crafts that use a variety of the items listed

Here’s a link to a craft video post that goes through the steps of how to make a tree topper angel (or an angel ornament).

Have a look at this post for some more craft ideas!

Wax Resist Pictures

Wax resist pictures are fun and easy to create. All you need is some paper, wax crayons, watery paint and a paint brush. You can make patterns and pictures – it’s very easy and relatively mess free.

If you want to create a pattern then it’s fun to start with taking a crayon for a ‘walk’ around the paper. Create swirls and shapes. Then use bright wax colours to fill in some of the shapes you’ve created. You can use colour blocks, stripes, stars and circles – anything you like! Use white crayon on white paper to create some shapes. When you are happy with what you have made paint it all over with a thinned watery paint. I used blue ready mix paint that I watered down.

Let it dry and enjoy your wax resist picture!

You can also have fun making marks with a white wax crayon on white paper and painting over the colour wash.

This is a fun activity for a rainy day – here’s a link to a cup cake case craft that’s also great for the holidays.

I used crayola wax crayons which worked really well – and are bright colours.

Foy young children use chunky crayons

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Hannah Prays Story and Craft

Hannah Prays story and craft for young children. A Bible Story all about talking to God and how God hears us when we talk to him.

The Story is from 1 Samuel 1:1-20

Hannah Prays – Story

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God hears us when we talk to him

In the story bag we have Hannah and baby Samuel.

‘Are you ready to say hello to the person in our story? Her name is Hannah. ‘Hello Hannah’. (Take Hannah from the story bag)

Hannah lived a long time ago with her husband. She had nice clothes, and a lovely home but she was very, very sad.

Hannah didn’t have any children and this made her very sad.

What could she do?

No one seemed to care about how she felt.

Who could she talk to?

Hannah decided to talk to God. Sometimes we call that praying. She told him how sad she was. She told God how much she wanted to have a baby. She told God all about how she felt.

God always cares about how we feel. He is always able to listen to us when we talk to him. Even though we can’t see God he is there – he is real, and he is kind and good and powerful.

When Hannah had told God all about everything she felt much better.

Now God doesn’t always give us exactly what we ask him for but he heard Hannah’s prayer and she had a baby! (Take Samuel from the story bag) Let’s quietly whisper, ‘hello Samuel’ – because he’s sleeping!

Hannah called her baby Samuel. She loved him very much.

Let’s say bye, bye to Hannah and Samuel. (Place them back in the story bag)

Hannah prays story – Craft Idea

We have a picture of Hannah to decorate and baby Samuel to add. If you can, have some Skin Coloured Crayons for the children to use – these are really good for all crafts that include pictures of people.

Downloads for the craft

Baby-Samuel Download

Hannah Download

There is another Bible Story Idea about Samuel here. It’s all about Samuel hearing God’s voice and how God speaks to us today. You could tell these stories on consecutive weeks to teach that we can talk to God and God talks to us.

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David defeats Goliath

David defeats Goliath is a well known Bible Story found in 1 Samuel 17. This is a simple retelling of the story for toddlers

Bible Truth for Toddlers – God helps us

God’s people were in a lot of trouble! They were hiding in their tents! Every day their enemy laughed at them. Their enemy was a huge fighter called Goliath (everyone repeat the name together)

Goliath was taller than everyone else

Goliath was stronger than everyone else

Goliath was scarier that everyone else

What could God’s people do?

They felt small

They felt weak

They were scared

But David was brave. It wasn’t because David was tall (he wasn’t!). It wasn’t because David was strong (he wasn’t). David was brave because he knew God would help him.

‘I’ll go and fight Goliath,’ David said. And he did. He took 1,2,3,4,5 small stones and his sling. He walked towards Goliath and he threw a stone.

It whizzed through the air and plonk! It hit Goliath and he fell down! David won! God’s people didn’t need to hide anymore. God helped David. God is able to help you too.

David defeats Goliath craft Idea

Goliath-x-2 Download

David-x-6 Download

Easy to make finger paint

Easy to make finger paint that uses three ingredients (and one of them is water!)

I spent quite a while searching on line for ready made finger paints but was put off by some of the reviews. I really don’t want children breaking out in a rash because of allergies. The best thing about making something yourself is that you know what’s in the end product.

I found several recipes for home made finger paint and decided to try out the one from Rainy Day Mum partly because I had quite a lot of Corn flour (cornstarch) left over from making crown shapes.

It’s a fantastic recipe. Really quick to make and if you use a mug for the measurements there is a lot. I cooked my finger paints without any food colouring. Once I was happy with the consistency I split it between four bowls and added different colours.

finger paints in bowls showing the bright colours

Finger paint can be used on paper or card or on a plastic mat. You can encourage children to paint with it, make marks on paper and/or just enjoy the texture by mixing the colours on a plastic mat.

A fairly sturdy paper plate makes a good canvas.

You can also use these paints to add decoration to shapes and pictures. Here’s a crown made from Bicarbonate of Soda and Corn Flour dough with some finger paint decoration. You can see in the picture that home made finger paints add texture too!

You just need to be careful that the paint doesn’t get onto furniture or favourite clothes. If using in a toddler group let parents know beforehand so they can dress themselves and their toddler appropriately. Have some aprons for the children to wear and some baby wipes handy.

To store the finger paints use an air tight container. It will keep for a couple of weeks.

Why did we put the Christmas Toddler Group story in a series about kings?

Links to the stories in this ‘Who is the forever King?’ toddler Bible story series

Props and pictures to use in the series

Toddler Group Christmas Bible Story Script – Is Jesus the forever King?

Is Jesus the forever king? Toddler Group Bible story

Easy Toddler Christmas Craft: Stained glass Paper Plate Nativity

Materials needed for the Toddler Craft

Christmas Toddler craft free download

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Materials needed for flower craft

Step by step instructions for scented flower craft for 3 year olds

What children can learn in making a scented flower craft

Frequently Asked Questions

Links to other crafts suitable for 3 year olds

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Our feet are amazing story time for toddler group

How to tell the story

An easy feet craft for toddlers

Our feet Song time for toddler group

What children can learn from our feet toddler story

Our feet craft printable for toddler groups and families

FAQ’S

Links to Bible Stories about feet

Toddler Group Bible Stories about our bodies

Links to toddler crafts and songs about our bodies

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Toddler Group Resources – set up ideas

Some ideas for your toddler group welcome table

Resources for Telling Bible Stories to Toddlers

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

Toddler group resources for crafts

Play dough for toddler group play

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Plant collage fun holiday family craft ideas

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Nehemiah Builds the Wall (Mr Keep Going) – Toddler Bible Story script

Toddler Craft Idea: Fox Collage

Nehemiah builds the wall toddler play ideas

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The Philippian Jailer Toddler Bible story

Telling the story

Philippian Jailer Bible Story Toddler Play Ideas

Song ideas For Toddler Group

Paul and Silas in Jail craft For Toddler Group

Printable Resources – Philippian Jailer toddler group craft

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God helped the first Christians to share story

Sharing craft ideas

Some additional ideas on a pinterest board..

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The Pearl of Great Price Story idea

Pearl craft idea

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All you need to make the valentine collage

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Is Josiah the forever king? story from 2 Kings 22,23

Is Josiah the forever king? craft ideas

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Is Hezekiah the forever king? story idea from 2 Chronicles 29-32, 2 Kings 19

Is Hezekiah the forever king? craft ideas

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To tell the Story you need –

Jonah and the Great Big Fish story

God is everywhere – Jonah in the big fish craft

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Making and exploring with texture in craft – some ideas

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Use the shape of what you want to create.

Use paper plates – different colours, sizes and shapes

Make greetings cards for special occasions.

Start with different shaped paper

Wreath shapes

Use shapes to make pictures

Make 3D crafts

Use cup cake cases

Useful craft supplies for incorporating lots of different shapes in your toddler group crafts when making and exploring with shapes

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Coloured paper as the base for creating.

Exploring colour with toddlers -Painting

Crepe paper printing