These crowns are made from a dough that has three ingredients – and one of them is cold water! It’s air drying so you need to make it a few days before you want to decorate the shapes.
If you are celebrating The Coronation Twinkl has some great ideas and resources here with lots of ideas for Coronation Parties and decorations. Twinkl also have loads of great Coronation themed crafts that would be great for an at home Coronation party. It’s free to join Twinkl and they have loads of resources and ideas. Well worth a look.
Ingredients for the dough
3 Cups Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)
11/2 Cups Cornflour (Cornstarch)
2 Cups Cold Water
To make the dough
Mix everything together in a large pan (it will be watery)
Cook on medium heat – stirring all the time
Once it has formed a dough remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
Knead it on a surface (sprinkle some cornflour to stop it sticking)
Roll out
Cut into shapes
Leave to dry out for at least 24 hours
It’s a lovely dough to use. It did stick to my pan a bit but came off easily with hot soapy water. I have to admit that it was so watery at first that I thought it was never going to work but it did! At toddler group we will decorate the crowns – either with glitter or finger paints. If you wanted to make hanging decorations then you just need to add a hole with a skewer before the shapes have dried out.
The People of God were in the wilderness. They had escaped from Egypt but were thirsty. They moaned! God told Moses to strike the rock and out came water. The story is from Exodus 17:1-7
W is for Water from the Rock – story idea
Have you ever felt hungry? God’s people had been hungry and so God had given them food to eat.
Have you ever felt thirsty? God’s people felt thirsty. But instead of asking God to help them find water they moaned and groaned! Why isn’t God helping us? they said to Moses.
Why are you moaning and groaning? Moses said
Then Moses asked for God’s help. What shall I do with all these moany and groany people?
God heard Moses. God helped Moses. God said, ‘Moses, take your staff and hit the rock’.
Moses did what God said. He lifted up his staff and struck the rock and out came water!
God gave the people water to drink. He looked after them.
God is able to look after you and me too.
Water from the Rock Craft Idea
A simple collage to make. Beforehand prepare the rock from brown paper, a sun, some blue paper strips for water and Moses (Pdf below). The children can build the scene.
Make a basket using a large paper plate! This is a great basket to make for an Easter Egg Hunt. See end of post for some other ideas too! Baskets are really useful!
All you need
Paper plate (9in/23cm diameter)
Scissors
Stapler
Hole Punch
Pipe cleaner (12in/30cm length)
Stickers to decorate
Tissue paper to put inside
Small Easter eggs/chocolates hidden – to find!
How to make the baskets
If making these with young children you may want to do several of the stages beforehand. Older children can cut the plate and use the stapler (with supervision – make sure they can use it safely). Punching the holes needs supervision just to make sure they aren’t punched too close to the edge of the plate. You want the pipe cleaner handle to hold!
Mark out where to cut the plate (picture 1)
Cut along the lines
Fold the small section inwards and bend round the two longer sides. Secure with a staple. Do this twice.
Punch holes
Add pipe cleaner handle (Twist around the punched hole to secure)
Decorate with stickers
Add tissue paper lining
Collect eggs!
The basic basket can be used as a craft for the story of Feeding the 5,000. Just add the five loaves and two fish. If you click on the link you’ll find a post with a Pdf with loaves and fish that you can print.
You could also make it to celebrate harvest. Add some pictures of fruit and veg to your basket.
If you leave out the pipe cleaner handle you could use the basket for a Baby Moses craft too! here’s another idea about Moses.
Once you have a basic craft idea it’s great to be able to adapt it for different age groups and Bible Stories and Seasonal crafts. I’m sure you can think of other ways to use a basic basket shape!
Make a ‘Thank you God’ book to share with toddlers; a great way to teach children about how wonderfully made they are.
We used our ‘Thank you God’ book over several weeks at toddler group. Each week we had an activity to tie in with the theme and sang songs that were connected.
Make a ‘Thank you God’ book
The pages to make your own book are below for you to download and print. The photos on each page are all loyalty free. (Please don’t remove the attribute that is on each photo). You can tie the pages together with string – make two holes in each page in roughly the same place and tie together. Or you could make a large folder and stick the title page to the outside. Each week take out the page that you are using.
Using your ‘Thank you God’ book
At toddler group we began our story time with our welcome song and then talked through the page of the ‘Thank you God’ book that we were using that week. There’s no need to recap on previous weeks – you want to keep the story time short. The children and adults were encouraged to join in – for example clapping when it was in the book. We added extra ideas too. The book is a starting point; add activities that suit your group.
For each week I’ve listed some song ideas. Every week read the Bible verse together (you don’t have to read out the reference but you can say that these words are from God’s Book, the Bible.)
The following are the files for you to download and print
There are lots of songs that will fit in with this theme. Here are some ideas.
Songs/Rhymes to use any week
Head, shoulders knees and toes
From my head down to my toes God loves me
I wiggle my fingers, I wiggle my toes
The Hokey Cokey (if you are a large group don’t get in a circle – wave arms up in the air for ‘oh the hokey cokey’)
Songs about feet
The Grand old Duke of York
Walking through the jungle
Sleeping bunnies (jumping/hopping at the end of the song)
Songs about hands
Open shut them, open shut them
If you’re happy and you know it (can use for feet too)
Round and round the garden (a rhymes using hands – for adults to do with their child)
Miss Polly had a dolly (knocking on the door with our hands)
Tommy Thumb (a song using our hands)
We all clap hands together
Songs about ears
I hear thunder
Old MacDonald (all the sounds the animals make)
Oh we can play on the big brass drum
Songs about mouths
Jelly on a plate (for eating)
All songs – we use our mouths for singing!
The wheels on the bus – the verses the Daddies on the bus go ‘Shush’, the babies on the bus go ‘wah, wah, wah’ and the mummies on the bus go ‘chatter, chatter, chatter’.
Songs about eyes
I see blue sky (second verse of ‘I hear thunder’)
Sleeping bunnies (we close our eyes to sleep)
Songs about noses
I wiggle my fingers, I wiggle my nose
Head, shoulders, knees and toes
A really great book for songs and rhymes is ‘This Little Puffin’ compiled by Elizabeth Matterson. First published in 1969 it’s been updated. Well worth buying if you work with under fives. I’ve had my copy for over thirty years (might be time to buy the updated edition!) – Affiliate link – if you click on the above link and make a purchase this blog will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Craft/Activity Ideas to go with the ‘Thank you God’ book
Ears – put together a sound/listening table with musical instruments, scrunchie paper, rain sticks.
Mouths – decorate biscuits (check for allergies first). Make smiley faces using paper plates.
Eyes – have a ‘looking table’ with large magnifyers and leaves, pine cones, flowers for children to take a closer look at. We used this idea for Autumn too.
Noses – make scented pictures. Beforehand use some inexpensive perfume to spray collage materials. Allow to dry. At toddler group let the children create scented pictures using the now scented collage materials. Here’s a similar idea. Scented flower pictures.
Samuel heard God’s voice story and craft for toddler group. This is a lovely story to tell – there are actions for everyone to join in with and an idea for story bag items.
Samuel heard God’s Voice story idea for toddler group
In the story bag have Eli and Samuel. I have a knitted doll for Eli and a cardboard tube model of Samuel.
Eli Samuel
You can also do actions during the story – particularly for Samuel sleeping. Encourage everyone to join in with the voice that calls ‘Samuel’
Samuel Bible Story for toddlers
‘Say hello to Samuel! he was a real person who lived a long time ago. When he was a young boy he lived in the temple; the very special place where people went to worship God.
One night he got ready for bed, and snuggled down to go to sleep. Let’s pretend to be asleep. We have to be very quiet. Suddenly Samuel heard someone calling his name, ‘Samuel’. That must be Eli, the old priest calling me, he thought. So up he got and went to Eli. ‘Here I am, you called me!’ ‘No I didn’t’, said Eli. ‘Go back to bed’.
Samuel went back to bed and closed his eyes and snuggled down to go to sleep. ‘Samuel’, he heard the voice again! He got up and went to Eli, ‘Here I am, you called me’. ‘No I didn’t, go back to bed’.
Samuel went back to bed. Snuggled down and closed his eyes. ‘Samuel’, he heard the voice again! He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, you called me.’
Then Eli realised something. It was God calling Samuel’s name. God wanted to speak to Samuel. ‘Go back and lie down Samuel and when he calls your name again say, ‘speak Lord, your servant is listening.’
Samuel went back to bed and lay down. And sure enough he heard, ‘Samuel, Samuel’. He said, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.’
God still speaks to us today. Not in a voice we can hear like Samuel heard, but through the Bible. Show your Bible.
Samuel Craft Idea for toddlers
This craft is Samuel in his bed – don’t glue Samuel to the bed; he just slots inside. Children will enjoy taking him in and out of bed and can retell story.
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The Wheels on the Bus is a well known and often sung song at Toddler Group so we made a fun craft to go with the song. The Bus can be decorated with collage materials and crayons. We added some fun face stickers too.
Some ideas for collage materials
Tissue paper squares (lots of colours)
Wool
Sugar paper cut up into different shapes
Bits of wrapping paper
Fabric (Cut into squares using pinking shears – it won’t fray)
Felt
Card shapes – often designed for card making, you might find some in charity shops
Petit four cases/Cup cake cases
You can decide if you want to use lots of different materials or just a few. It’s good for children to have some choice.
Make a beautiful picture for spring using stickers and colours! There are loads of great stickers suitable for young children and if you don’t feel like using glue they are a good alternative. It also saves you from having to find lots of pictures to cut out so a really useful time saver. When you set up the craft space provide a pot for all the left over sticker backing. It’ll make tidy up so much easier.
We used a printed background for our spring picture that has hills, trees, a sun and some water. The children then decorated the scene with crayons and stickers. Wax crayons are great to use as you can blend colours and cover an area more easily that with felt tips of pencils. The stickers stuck to the crayon just fine.
We used stickers from Amazon. They come on a roll – we cut them up into individual stickers for ease of use. They are a great size for children to be able to peel the backing off themselves – great for using fine motor skills.
Here are links to some stickers. They are different designs as the ones we used are no longer available! (Affiliate link – some of the links in this blog are affiliate links which means that if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you)
In Mark 1:16-20 we read about Jesus calling his first disciples.
Jesus calls his first disciples – Bible Story Idea
To tell the Story you will need the different characters, a boat, a net and a fish in the Story Bag. Take them out as you need them.
One day Jesus was walking along near the Sea of Galilee. It’s a big lake that has lots of fish. Most days there were people there who were fishing. They had boats and big fishing nets to catch the fish in.
On this particular day Jesus saw two men who were throwing their big fishing net into the water – their names were Simon and Andrew. Jesus called over to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’
Simon and Andrew heard Jesus. They looked up from what they were doing and then they left their net and their boat and they followed Jesus!
A little further along Jesus saw two brothers, James and John. They were sitting in their boat mending the fishing net. Jesus called to them, ‘Follow me’. They heard Jesus and they left their boat and their net and they followed Jesus!
Craft Idea
To make this craft you need
Paper plate folded in half (Cut a small slit to slot the lollipop stick through to make a mast)
Lollipop stick
Card or sugar paper to make the sail
Corrugated card to make water (optional)
Tissue paper or similar to decorate the boat
A net (I used the net that is packaging for oranges/lemons)
Let’s make a clay boat with air-hardening modelling clay. This craft is suitable for older children and gives them the opportunity to work with clay even if you have no access to a kiln.
Air-hardening clay is easy to use and will dry out and keep it’s shape. We used Das. It is great to use when you want to make a finished product for the children to keep.
We are using it to make small boats as our Bible Story in our 5-11year olds after school club is Jesus Calming the Storm on the Lake. from Mark 4:35-41. There’s a fun and interactive idea for telling the story using a parachute here.
Let’s make a clay boat instructions
Start by making a ball of clay. Then make a pinch pot. Gradually shape this into an oblong. Add a small ball of clay to the inside of the shape, You will use this to attach the sail while the clay is still fairly soft. Them make a sail. Take a lollipop stick and a glue on a triangle of card. Push this gently into the small ball of clay that’s been added to the inside of the boat shape – make sure it is attached.
Hints and tips
Cover your work surface with a plastic, wipeable cloth and dust the surface with cornflour to prevent sticking.
Add some decoration using some clay tools or the ends of paint brushes
If you need to change something adding some water will make the clay workable. But don’t add too much at once.
Leave to dry out (24 hours per centimetre). There may be some shrinkage and if necessary use PVA glue to reattach the sail.
You can then paint the boat.
Once dry see if the boats float!
If you would rather not use clay then plasticine or modelling dough would work too.
A lift the flap craft! Can you find the lost sheep? This craft is not only something to make but will help to retell the story of the Shepherd finding his lost sheep. (From Luke 15:1-7) Children are familiar with lift the flap books – something to find on the page that’s hidden under a flap. This craft uses the same idea and is fairly simple to make. Young children will need some help to make sure that they glue the sheep in the right place and that they don’t stick the flap down. You could always choose to glue the sheep in place beforehand.
Step by step to making the lift the flap craft
The dark green paper is folded in half but the top half is cut slightly less wide (by about 1cm) so it is easy to open. You don’t have to do this but it makes it easier for children to use.
The Lost Sheep Bible Story Idea
‘One day there were some very moany, groany people who were cross with Jesus. They thought that they were very important, special people and that Jesus should spend all his time with them. But Jesus was busy spending time with people who had done bad things! ‘How can he spend his time with these awful people?’ they said.
Jesus knew that they were moaning and groaning about him so he told them this story…
‘Once upon a time there was a shepherd who had a 10 sheep. He looked after them really well. He gave them food to eat and water to drink. Every day he counted them – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 – just to make sure they were all safe and sound.
But one day there was a problem. The shepherd was counting his sheep, one – then two – then three and so on – all the way to nine! And then… where was 10? One sheep was lost. Oh No! What could he do?
He missed his lost sheep and so he went off to find it. The Shepherd was determined to find his lost sheep. He looked here and he looked there, he looked everywhere! He walked over the hills, through the forest, behind the rocks. Looking and looking!
And then he found the sheep that was lost! He picked it up and carried it home. Can you imaging how he felt?
He was so happy that he called all his friends and they celebrated! All his sheep were now safe and sound.’
Jesus had finished telling the story. Jesus looked at the moany, groany people and he said to them, ‘There is lots of happiness in heaven when someone who knows they are lost comes back to God.’
This Lost Sheep Storybook is available from Amazon. (affiliate link – if you click and purchase let their light shine will receive a bit of money from Amazon – to buy craft supplies! – at no extra cost to you.)
Candle crafts are lovely for homemade Christmas decorations. I saw this idea on pinterest. It’s from Kidscraftroom.com which is a great place for craft ideas. This craft combines two of my favourite things – yarn and Christmas! If you are making this at home with your own children you can use what you have – cardboard tubes from toilet rolls and kitchen rolls and paper and yarn you already have. If making in a group then it’s better to avoid toilet rolls or check with your group first. If you don’t have shiny paper or card for the flame just use what you have – silver foil or sweet wrappers would work just as well.
To make the candle decoration you need
Cardboard tubes
White paper to cover the tube – or any colour you choose
Yellow and gold card to make the flame. This needs to be the same width as the tube at it’s base as you are going to slot it into the tube.
Yarn.
Before making something with children I always try it our first. It’s the only way to know if it will work! I had a few different attempts at wrapping yarn around the cardboard tube and decided to go with a variegated chunky yarn. I used a pink based colour that is really bright! It’s available from amazon. (affiliate link – if you click on the link and make a purchase the blog recieves a small payment from Amazon at no extra cost to you). You can use any yarn that you have but you need it to hold to the tube without using glue.
Candle decoration To make
Cover the tube with paper. Secure with glue and then cut and tuck in extra paper at both ends. The tube should still stand up.
Cut two slits opposite each other at one end.
Slot the begginning of the yarn in one of the slits and start wrapping
Wrap the yarn from top to bottom and then back to the top and secure in the other slit. Push the end of the yarn into the centre of the tube
Make the flame
Slot the flame into the top of the candle
Another Christmas craft from the blog is here – A Christmas Star to make.
Here’s a Light Party Lantern that is easy to make and inexpensive too! It’s a lantern that will twinkle in the dark and remind children that Jesus is the light of the World. If you are planning to celebrate a light party as an alternative to Halloween or you are looking for something to make at home then this craft is a fun make.
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Begin by getting the tissue paper squares ready. Let children select the colours they would like to use. They can cut them smaller if they wish
Turn the plastic cup upside down and cover half with glue. Stick on the tissue paper. It’s ok for colours to overlap. Once you’re happy do the other half.
Turn the cup the right way up. Add the word strip. If the cup is tapered this need to go in the middle.
The pipe cleaners make a great handle. Lay one pipe cleaner down flat on the work surface. Secure the other pipe cleaner in two places about a cup’s width apart. You may need to adjust this a bit as you go on. Secure the first pipe cleaner to the cup’s rim – just wrap it around and twist the ends together. You should have a secure handle to carry the lantern or hang it up.
Place a battery operated tea light in the cup – and you have a lantern!
This is a lovely lion craft using paper curls that are surprisingly simple to make. The paper curls add a lot of texture for the mane. If you use a variety of yellow and orange colours it adds some depth to the finished craft. It’s really important that you use light weight paper to make the curls or you won’t get curl effect.
We used this craft to accompany the story about Daniel in the Lion’s Den. You can find a toddler friendly version of the story here.
All you need to make the lion craft
Print out of the lion (see below)
Yellow and orange paper cut into 1cm wide strips that are about the length of A4 paper and then curled. Simply hold one end of the paper and then pull a scissor blade along the length. I used this paper. You ideally want a low weight paper to make the curls
Autumn is a great time of year for crafts and activities. The colours and textures of autumn lend themselves to so many colourful crafts and there’s lots to see and do to celebrate the season.
Autumn craft activities
A few ideas of things to use for crafts that celebrate Autumn (be mindful of the age of the children – avoid small items when making craft with younger children)
Yellow, orange, red, tissue paper
Real leaves that have fallen from the trees
Conkers
Acorns
Twigs
Playdough in autumnal colours
Apples for printing
Autumn coloured paint
Yarn, wool in autumn colours
A few green, brown and purple bits of tissue paper etc also add to crafts
Pinterest Board – take look at some great ideas for autumn crafts!
If you want to grow a tree then you can plant a conker in a pot! So long as you keep the squirrels from digging it up it will grow into a tree. (Don’t plant it in your garden unless you want a really huge tree! – much better to keep it in a pot and keep repotting it until you are happy with it’s size) Here’s how…
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Here’s some instructions on how to make pringle people. They are easy to make and really useful when telling Bible stories. You can make lots of variations and they stand up all by themselves which keeps the storytellers hands free for lots of actions!
All you need to make pringle people
Empty pringles cartons
Material cut to approx 25cmx25cm (10in x10in) square
Felt cut to approx 20cm x18cm (8in x7in)
Circle 8cm (3in) diameter
Pipecleaners at least 30 cm (12in) in length available here
Sharpie or felt tip
Yarn for hair
Cellotape or glue
Coloured paper – A4 size is fine
How to make pringle people
Clean out your container and replace the lid. Cover the tube with coloured paper and secure with cellotape or glue. Add a face – it can have any expression that you choose. If you want hair add it now. Then secure the headress using the material and a pipe cleaner. Then add the cloak using the felt and secure with a pipe cleaner.
You can use pringle people in all sorts of Bible Stories. We’ve used the basic idea and made Pharoah and Joseph for the story about ‘Frogs in the bed!‘ You can add all sorts of extras such as Pharoah’s style of dress. We also used the idea to make Jezebel and added beads and buttons.
Children can make their own versions too and retell the story.
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We will be celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee at toddler group with crowns to make, cakes and a special song! The bunting will be up! Here are some Platinum Jubilee Ideas for you!
Platinum Jubilee crowns to make
Depending on your budget and size of your group there are two choices. You can buy ready made crowns to decorate or you can make your own completely from scratch!
Make your own crowns from scratch
You need some long strips of light card or sugar paper that will fit around a toddlers head. Leave them flat – you don’t want to transform them into a wearable crown till after they have been decorated.
Once you have your long strips of card or sugar paper let your toddlers imagination take the lead – they can decorate the crown as much (or as little) as they like. Provide lots of crayons, stickers and paper shapes that they can use to add lots of ‘jewels’ to their crown. Once the glue has dried transform the card/paper strip into a wearable crown using some cellotape. Make sure it fits!
If you have lots of collage bits and bobs this is a great craft for using some of them up!
Buy some crowns to decorate
If you are short on time then this will save you some. You can buy crowns that are ready for some decorations to be added and come with an adjustable fit. There won’t be another Platinum Jubilee for a long time so you may want to splash out! I bought some ready to decorate crowns and some stickers to decorate.
A Jubilee Song
As well as making crowns to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee we’ll be singing this great song by The Cheeky Pandas
We’ll also be having cakes to share but those aren’t made yet! Keep an eye out on my instagram where they will appear!
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Spoon puppets are easy to make and lots of fun! Buy some cheap wooden spoons and add collage materials and some imagination and you have some puppets for storytelling!
Start by drawing on the face – you can choose to make your puppet happy/sad/angry. If you want to you can draw an alternative expression on the reverse.
Add clothing using felt or fabric. Felt is great to use because it doesn’t fray at the edges but if you don’t have any use any fabric that you find. You can glue the felt/fabric to the spoon and then add pipe cleaner arms. Twist the pipe cleaners around the spoon. Add a belt too as this will help the clothing stick to the spoon!
Wool or yarn makes great hair! Choose a style that fits with your puppet – spiky, long, short, and any colour you like. If your puppet is reversible you need to take this into account when you add the hair. Just add wool to one side and then turn the spoon over and add more hair to the other side.
And then you are ready to tell a story with your new spoon puppets! Here’s some I’ve made to tell a Bible story in Toddler Group.
How to use your puppets
Puppets are great for telling stories! Use them to tell a story to young children and they can then retell the story using the puppets that they have made. Keep the number of puppets you need for a story to a number that you can easily manage to hold and/or change. Practise using them to tell the story. I will be using two spoon puppets to tell the story of the Prodigal Son.
This Story is from Matthew 13:44. It’s all about finding treasure in a field. It’s just one verse but one clear meaning too – being in God’s kingdom is worth more than everything else.
Treasure in a field story Idea
You need some treasure in a box, a green blanket/cloth and a trowel or spade (keep the latter away from young children or use a plastic spade). Bury the treasure under the green blanket ready to dig it up at the right time in the story.
‘One day Jesus told a made up story to show everyone that being part of God’s Family (Kingdom) is worth more than anything else. Let’s listen to the story he told…’
Once upon a time there was a man who was digging in the farmers field. He was digging and digging – and then he found something. I wonder what it was? It was a box of treasure! (Show the treasure). But the field wasn’t his and so the treasure wasn’t his!
But he had a plan. He put the treasure back where he had found it (put it back under the green blanket). Then he went home and he got all the things that he owned together and sold all of them! He went to the farmer – ‘Can I buy your field?’ ‘Yes’, said the farmer, ‘It’s now yours.’ Then the man got his spade and went to the field and starting digging – (act this out) and there was the treasure and now it was his. Now had more than he had ever had!
Jesus told this story to show us that being in God’s family is worth everything!
Craft Idea – finding treasure in the field
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Followers of Jesus – Tabitha toddler bible story to tell in toddler group.
In Acts 9:36-43 we meet Tabitha (her Aramaic Name) or Dorcas (her Greek name), a follower of Jesus who sews clothes for the women in the church. The simple toddler group craft is a printout of a T-shirt that the children can decorate with fabric pieces. Use any fabric that you have!
When Tabitha dies the church leaders send for Peter. He comes to visit and seeing the sadness of the women he sends them out of the room, kneels down and prays. He takes Tabitha by the hand and says to her, ‘Tabitha, arise’. And Tabitha opens her eyes and sits up! It is a wonderful story.
Followers of Jesus Tabitha toddler bible story
To tell the story to young children have some dolls/puppets to represent Peter and Tabitha. Show something that has been sewn (a dress, or blouse). Take the items out of the story bag as you need them.
Tabitha and Peter
‘Say hello to Tabitha! She was a follower of Jesus. She cared very much about the other women in her church and she made them beautiful clothes. But one day something very sad happened – Tabitha died.
Everyone was very upset. They sent for Peter – one of the friends of Jesus. He came to see them straight away. He was sad too. He saw how much everyone missed Tabitha.
He knelt down and he talked to God. Straightaway something amazing happened. Peter looked at Tabitha’s body and he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, she sat up! Peter took her by the hand and helped her. Then he called out to the women – Come and see, Tabitha is alive and well again!’
How could Peter do that? Peter didn’t bring Tabitha back to life. Jesus did. And many people who heard about what had happened believed in Jesus.’
Tabitha Toddler Group Craft Idea
Tabitha T-shirt craft
This is an idea I’ve posted about before but this time it’s a download! A simple T-shirt outline for the children to cover in fabric.
All you need
Print out the T-shirt shape and photocopy for your group
Fabric cut into shapes that toddlers can handle (if you have pinking shears use them to prevent too much fraying. If possible have a variety of colours. Toddlers won’t necessarily cover the whole T-shirt so you may not need as much fabric as you imagine.
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Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive commission at no extra cost to you.
This parable of the builders is from Luke 6:46-49. It’s a great story to tell as you can dress up as a builder, use actions, sing the song ‘The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock’, and, if you are feeling adventurous, use sand rock and water. But it is really helpful to explain why Jesus told this story – so that is where we began. A simple sentence – ‘Jesus told this story to show how important it is to listen to and do what he says.’ It’s also helpful to finish by saying , ‘If we listen to and do what Jesus says our lives last, just like the house on the rock lasted’.
We can’t always explain everything about the parable in the way we might like because the children are so young but we can say something to encourage the adults listening to begin to think further about Jesus.
The Parable of the Builders Story Idea
We had two people to act out the story. One of them also narrated what was happening. We dressed up as builders! Everyone joined in with actions of building, the rain, the floods and the crash as one of the houses fell.
Once upon a time there was a builder who just wanted a house as quick as possible! He chose to build on the sand. It would be quick and easy to build a house. He did a bit of digging and found some stones to make a house on the soft sand. Soon he was finished and sat down to have a rest!
There was another builder who also wanted a house. This builder wanted to build the house really well and so he built his house on rock. He worked so hard digging the foundations, cutting the stones, building them on top of each other. It took a lot longer to complete the build! But then the house was finished and he sat down to have a rest.
Suddenly the rain came and the floods. The house on the rock kept standing! But the house on the sand fell down with a crash!
If there is just one person telling the story they could stand in a different spot for the foolish builder and act out the part and then move to a different spot for the wise builder.
Parable of the builders Bible Story props
The builders craft idea
For the craft we made a house – print out the outline and cut up loads of paper to make bricks that can be stuck on the house.
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive commission at no extra cost to you.
A cup cake case flower wreath is a colourful craft to celebrate spring and summer. Paper cake cases are inexpensive and come in lots of colours. You can go for the really bright or the pastels or a mixture of the two. There’s two ways of going about making this – older children can have a go at making the flowers, selecting the colours they want to use and cutting the shapes themselves. Younger children can have fun choosing colour combinations and have an adult do the cutting for them (in a large group do this preparation ahead of time) Any age can glue the flowers onto the cardboard circle. The paper cases can be layered as in the photo above. Older children might like to shade the wreath. For example start with reds, then oranges and then yellows. Let them experiment first and then glue the finished piece.
To turn the cup cake cases into flowers you need to make a few folds and cut an arc – take a look at the gallery below to see how.. it’s easy..
Arrange the flowers any way you choose – if you have different sizes you can layer them. You can use plain colours or patterned cases. Here are some ideas.
God knows when I feel sad and when I feel happy is a toddler friendly version of the Easter Story. We focus on how Jesus’ friends felt and how they were sad because he had died and then happy at the conclusion of the story. This is a suitable way to tell the Easter story to young children. There is no need to dwell on the physical suffering of the Lord Jesus but it is OK to use the word ‘died’ rather than euphemistically refer to Jesus ‘going away’. Adults go away all the time – we don’t want children to confuse these two separate experiences.
To tell the story it is helpful to have a model of the tomb. We used a cardboard box.
God knows when I feel sad story idea
Mary was very sad (can you look sad?). Her friend Jesus had died. He hadn’t ever done anything wrong but some people were jealous and had wanted to get rid of Jesus. They had made sure that he died. It was an awful thing to have done.
Jesus’ body had been put in a tomb and a big stone had been put infront. But now the stone had been moved and the body was gone! Mary was so sad that she began to cry. She looked inside the tomb – the body of Jesus was gone but there were two angels sitting down. ‘Why are you crying?’ they asked. ‘The body of Jesus has gone,’ she replied.
Mary heard footsteps. She saw a man who she thought was the gardener. ‘Have you taken the body of Jesus? Can you tell me where it is?’ she asked.
He looked at Mary and he said one word – he said her name, ‘Mary’. And then she suddenly knew – it wasn’t the gardener, it was Jesus! He was standing right infront of her. ‘Go and tell the others’, Jesus said. And off she she went to find Jesus’ friends to tell them that Jesus was alive! Mary wasn’t sad anymore – she was happy! Jesus knows when I am happy too. He knows when you feel happy!
Easter craft Idea
What you need to make the stained glass effect paper plate Easter scene
Square paper plates – cut out the centre
Sticky back plastic to fill the centre – sticky side the same as black rim of plate
Tissue paper – torn into squares – to cover the sticky back plastic
A tomb and stone to glue on last
Black Square Paper Plates click the link to buy the paper plates used in this craft (affiliate link)
Easter Craft – a paper Easter Garden that is easy to make. Easter Gardens are lovely but if you don’t have the time to make a garden with soil and real plants then this is a simple alternative. It is a great reminder of the Story of Easter.
To make the Easter Garden you need
picture of the empty tomb printed onto card (see file to download – there is a choice – one has the words ‘Jesus is alive!’)
pictures of flowers from garden catalogues or magazines
glue
pencils and crayons
Make the picture while the card is flat and then fold in half so the tomb and hills are vertical.
This craft is suitable for toddlers upwards. Older children can cut out the flower pictures and or draw their own. You can add stickers and tissue paper shapes too.
God knows when I feel scared. God really does know how we feel. This week’s story is from Luke 8:22-25 when the disciples were scared. Even though Jesus was sleeping during the storm he is the Son of God, and he still knew how the disciples felt.
God knows when I feel scared story idea
In the storybag – disciples, a boat, a cushion and the emoji face. There are lots of actions you could do during this story. Encourage everyone to join in.
To begin – I wonder if you have ever felt scared or frightened? – show the emoji face. One day Jesus’ friends were very scared. Let’s find out what happened…
Jesus and his friends got into the boat. ‘Lets go across the lake’, Jesus said.
They began to row. But Jesus wasn’t rowing. He was doing something else. He was sleeping.
Jesus’ friends kept rowing.
And then something started. Drip, drip, splash, splash. It was raining! Whoosh, whoosh! The wind was blowing! The boat was rocking. The boat was fillng up with water!! Oh no! They were in danger. And they were scared.
‘Wake up, Jesus!’ they said, ‘We are in danger and we are scared.’
Jesus knew they were scared. He cared about his friends.
‘Stop!’ Jesus said to the wind, the rain and the stormy waves. And they stopped. And everything was calm.
Jesus cares when we are scared. We can ask for his help.
Jesus calms the storm craft idea
All you need for the craft..
Background paper – Grey or white
Selection of blue paper waves
Boat shape
Lollipop stick for the mast
Triangles for sails
Crayons to colour rain
Glue
‘God knows when I am scared’ printed out
The labels are available for download. Either print on paper and cut out or print onto a sheet of labels.
Weaving craft is a great activity for an after school club for children aged 4-plus. It needs a bit of prep but is well worth the effort. We made these at our children’s club and everyone joined in; there was lots of concentration!
Try to have yarn of different colours so the children can make some choices. We used a double knitting weight for the centre of the flower and then changed to aran weight. But chunky or aran weight yarn for the whole flower would be great too. Just don’t use really fine yarn as it will take forever to complete. If you want to you can use ribbon which would look lovely (just make sure that it works and stays put – satin ribbon might be a bit slippery). It’s always a good idea to test out a craft activity and any materials you are hoping to use to double check that the craft is makeable.
All you need for the Weaving Craft
Paper plate (cut the petals – we have 11. It’s best to have an odd number as it makes the weaving easier. It’s always ‘over, under,with an odd number!’)
Yarn – we used Double Knitting for the inner circle and Aran for the outer circle. Look at the photo below to see the difference. It’s helpful to have the yarn in small amounts as this helps with the weaving.
Cellotape to secure the yarn at the back of the plate
Ribbon (optional)
How to make
Cut the petals – have a look at the photos to see how far to cut into the plate.
Thread the loom – use any colour but one that stands out will make a great contrast when you are weaving.
To start weaving knot the first colour of yarn at the centre and then start weaving alternating ‘over, under’.
Change colour as often as you like by knotting a new colour to the old colour.
Use the Aran weight yarn as the circle gets bigger.
I often buy yarn from Wool Warehouse – stylecraft DK comes in many colours and is very good. You can also find yarn in charity shops and ask friends and family for any small amounts they might have that you can use for crafts.
Cut out a triangle from the plate to make the mouth. (Do this beforehand)
Use the triangle for the fish tail. Attach this with glue or staple. (The stapling needs to be done by an adult)
Glue
Glue lots of shiny paper to the fish. We used a variety including cellophane, tissue paper with a glittery finish, shimmer paper and left over Christmas wrapping paper. (It’s always worthwhile keeping used wrapping paper for crafts)
Add an eye. Older children could use googly eyes. I prefer not to use them with toddlers so we draw on eyes instead.
Encourage lots of layering of the different types of paper and cellophane to blend the colours.
Jesus and three disciples is our next Bible number story. We are up to the number 3. This Story is from Matthew 17:1-13. (We have already thought about Jonah and One Big Fish and Noah and Two of Every Animal.) This week’s Bible Truth for Toddler’s is, ‘We can listen to Jesus.’ To tell the story you could have three people to take out of a storybag – say hello to them and count them too.
Jesus and three disciples story idea
Meet three of Jesus’ disciples (friends) – Peter, James and John. They knew each other really well.
One day they went for a walk up a mountain – up, up, up they went. No one else was at the top. Just the three of them.
And then something extraordinary happened. Jesus began to shine really brightly.
Peter and James and John looked at Jesus. Something very special was happening. Although Jesus was a man just like them, he was also the Son of God. They were seeing a little bit of his glory. They were seeing just how special Jesus is.
And then they were surrounded by a bright cloud. Not an ordinary cloud – but one that was shining. And they heard God’s voice say, ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.’
And then it was over – and they walked back down the mountain.
Jesus really is God’s Son and we can listen to him today by reading God’s Special Book – the Bible.
Three Friends of Jesus – Peter, James and John
Craft Idea
We made shiny pictures – using various types of paper and celophane. Wrapping paper is really good for this. We also had a colouring sheet with the three disciples/friends of Jesus. This is a free download.
Candle – colouring stained glass craft. This is a very simple candle craft – you can choose whether to cut out the flame and glue tissue paper to the back for a stained glass effect or just colour in the flame or add some glitter!
And you can choose whether or not to add a Bible verse to the heart shape. Sometimes it depends on how much time we have for preparation and the age and stage of the children who are making the craft.
One of the downloads for the candle craft comes with the words from John 8:12 printed on the heart, the other is left blank.
In the picture the bible verse is written by hand but I felt the downloadable version needed an upgrade!
The picture is made up of
a candle – to represent light,
a heart – to remind us of God’s love, and
the Cross – to remind us that Jesus died for us and in doing so showed his love for us.
This would make a great Memory Verse craft to help children learn John 8:12.
What you need to make the candle colouring stained glass craft
Wax crayons or blendable colouring pencils are great for adding colour to the candle design; they can be layered and blended (you can use felt pens but I’m not sure that they would have such a good effect as sometimes you just end up with a streaky effect! If young children are using felt tips it’s best to make sure they are water based pens )
Glitter (optional)
Yellow tissue paper if cutting out the flame and adding the stained glass effect
Jonah and the One Great Big Fish – A Bible Number Story. We are thinking about counting in toddler group. So we have some Bible Stories with numbers. First up is Jonah. The Bible truth for toddlers in this story is ‘God always knows where we are’. The story is from the book of Jonah.
To tell the Story you need –
Jonah (we used a figure from happyland),
a big fish (the one pictured is VERY big – made over a tent) and
a toy boat.
Jonah and the boat to NinevahThe big fish that swallowed Jonah
Jonah and the One 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.
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.
Elisha and the widow’s oil is a story from 2 Kings 4:1-7 where we read about Elisha helping a widow who needed to pay her debts. He told her to borrow as many empty jars of oil as she could from neighbours and then go inside her home and close the door. What happened next shows us God’s care for his people.
Elisha and the widow’s oil Bible Story
Bible Truth for Toddlers – God cares about us
To tell the story to young children – you need a bottle of oil.
‘There was once a woman who had two sons. Sadly, her husband had died and she was in trouble. She owed some bad people money and she had no way of paying them back.
She went to see Elisha. He was God’s prophet. ‘I am in trouble. Can you help me?!’ she asked
What do you have at home? Elisha asked
I have one jar of oil. (Show the oil)
Elisha told her what she must do. ‘Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your neighbours. Then go home. Shut the door and start to pour the oil into the empty jars and then sell the oil and pay your debts’
What would the woman do? She started to borrow empty jars. She went to one home and then another and then another. Soon she had lots of empty jars.
Then she went home and closed the door.
Her sons helped her start to pour the oil into an empty jar. And something amazing happened. As they filled the empty jar the oil that they had started with didn’t run out. They filled another jar and still it didn’t run out. Soon all the jars were full of oil. And once they were all full the oil that they had started with stopped flowing.
Now oil is expensive and the woman was able to sell all this extra oil. She had enough money to pay her debts and money left over for her and her sons to live on.
Elisha was able to help because he was God’s prophet. God cared about this woman and her sons. God cares about you and me too.’
Craft ideas – free downloads
One idea is to colour/decorate jars of oil. The other is to add more jars of oil to the picture and then colour or decorate.
While you are making talk about the names of the fruit and vegetables, their colours and where they grow (in the ground, on trees etc). When you eat something that is on your picture you could add a smiley face 🙂
Cup cake cases are lovely for crafts! They can be used to make lots of things including caterpillars! Just flatten them and glue them slightly overlapping each other. You can make patterns by alternating two colours or use one colour or go for multicoloured! You can even use metalic cases. Use what you have. Add a smiley face and some grass (I’ve used tissue paper). You can add some smaller circles at one end too.
Star Christmas decoration to make to hang on the tree! Lots of sequins are needed for this simple star shaped decoration for the Christmas Tree. It’s a fun craft to make and looks lovely as a special home made decoration. The printable banner, ‘Joy to the World’ is a reminder of the great news of the first Christmas.
Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
Everything you need for the star decoration
Six lollipop/ popsicle sticks per star. (plus some spare in case of any mishaps!) Try to buy the coloured sticks. (Please consider purchasing through this link as the blog will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!)
Sequins (different colours, shapes and sizes)
PVA glue and spreaders
A button and thread
‘Joy to the World’ mini banner (download available below)
Angel tree topper instructions that are easy to print. We made these angels last year in our toddler group. There are some instructions here on the blog in a previous post but this printable instruction leaflet is much easier to print and share. It can be handy to have some instructions for the adults to look at on the craft table. You could also make them available as a take home for parents and children to make during the Christmas holidays.
Homes Jesus visited – the crowded house is a short video story for young children to enjoy. It is a retelling of a Bible story from Mark 2:1-22
Take a look at the other videos in the series by vising let their light shine’s You Tube channel where you will find stories for young children and some short videos about telling stories.
The Crowded house craft ideas
Here’s a link to an easy craft based on this story
Here’s a craft using an envelope. This is better suited to older children (we made it with reception age – 4/5 year olds) To make you need…
Blank square envelope
Face stickers
Man on a mat
Yarn
Tissue paper for the bricks (or colour these with crayons)
Turn the envelope into a house by adding windows and a door. Add faces to the windows so the house is full. Add yarn to the man on his mat and colour. The children can enjoy making this craft and suing it to retell the story.
Homes Jesus visited – the crowded house craft step by step
If you would like to use the man on the mat visual go to Teachkids.eu by clicking this link. Download Little kids can know God through his miracles. It’s a free download. Then go to page 79 where you will find the man on the mat. There are lots of other things in the download too!
Easter garden to make at home is a great way to celebrate Easter. The garden is a reminder of the Easter story and is also fun to make. Traditionally an Easter Garden would be made using soil, moss, flowers etc but this version is made entirely from paper and card – if you haven’t got easy access to soil and plants this is for you!
What I used to make the Easter Garden
paper plate (a piece of card would do too)
cereal box to make the cross (make two cross shapes and glue together so it will stand up)
paper ice cream tub for the tomb ( a roll of paper with card glued over an end would be fine)
a paper circle for the stone
tissue paper for the path and grass
pictures of flowers from magazines/garden catalogues.
To attach the cross add a fold and glue the tabAdd the tomb – this might need to be glued and then held in place till it has stuck. Make a fold on the edge of the circle for the tomb then glue the tab that you have made and glue down. If you want to add the words do that first.
We’ve arrived at Easter! We have traveled along the road to Jerusalem to reach the first Easter. Each week we’ve met different people that Jesus met on his journey and now we are at the end of our journey.
This weeks story is the Easter Story .. to tell it you need puppets or dolls to represent Peter, John and Mary and the paper plate visual (or something similar.) If you have been making the paper plates display all of them together and then add the one from this final story.
Bible truth for toddlers – Jesus died and came alive again
‘Our story has a sad beginning – can you look sad? Jesus died on the cross on the Friday. He was put in a tomb (cave) and a big stone was put over the entrance.
His friends were very sad and frightened. A whole day went by – that was Saturday.
The next day was Sunday. A woman called Mary went to the tomb very early in the morning. When she got there something had happened. The big stone had been moved. What could she do? Who would help her?
Mary knew someone who could help her – Peter! She went to find Peter and John and told them what had happened.
They listened. Then they started to run. They were running as fast as they could to the tomb. John got there first and looked inside. It was empty.
Then Peter got there. He didn’t just look inside. He walked right in to the tomb. It was empty!
Jesus wasn’t there anymore. The Bible tells us that that he had died and then come alive again. This is happy news for you and for me.’
The paper plates that have been used to show Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem can be displayed altogether!
There are several Bible Stories that you could use this craft for – creation, calling of the first disciples, the large catch of fish.. It is mini fish cut out of sugar paper, tissue paper water and sea weed, some cellophane, blue, green and yellow crayons and a piece of sugar paper.
Man with four friends craft is ideal for young children to make with minimal help. Sometimes it’s nice to make a craft that you can also use for telling and retelling the Bible story and this craft does just that as you make the man and his mat!
The story is from Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26.
Man with four friends story idea
Our story begins in a house with a flat roof and some steps up the side. It had windows and a door. I wonder what could be happening in this house? We are not told who lived in this home, (show the house) but when Jesus arrived lots of people went to the house to meet him. They squashed themselves inside. There was hardly any room. The house was full!
In another part of town there was a man who couldn’t walk. He lay on his bed. (show the man on his bed) He needed the help of his friends everyday. Let’s count the friends together as they come out of the story bag – 1,2,3,4
His friends wanted him to see Jesus.
So, they picked him up and carried him to the house where Jesus was – carefully, carefully they carried their friend through the town to the house where Jesus was…
…they believed Jesus could help their friend.
When they arrived at the house they could not get in the front door because of the crowd. They didn’t give up!
They carried him up the outside stairs and onto the roof – slowly, slowly – carefully, carefully…
…they made a hole in the roof, then – slowly, slowly, carefully, carefully they lowered him down in front of Jesus!
When Jesus saw that they really believed he could help the man he said, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Some people in the house didn’t believe that Jesus could forgive the wrong people do. So, Jesus said to the man, “So that you can be sure that I can forgive sin, get up, pick up your mat and go home.” Straight away and really quickly he got up, rolled up his mat, and walked home!
All the people in the house were amazed!!
‘We never saw anything like this!’ They said to one another.
All you need to make the man with four friends craft..
For the craft we made the man’s mat by decorating sugar paper with large pieces of tissue paper and then we made a man – on one side he was happy and on the other side he was sad. We used fabric for clothes and wool for hair.
People shapes – if you can get skin coloured shapes rather than bright white
Yarn for hair
Fabric for clothes
Crayons
Sugar paper for the man’s mat – you want to be able to roll and unroll this
Tissue paper
When telling the story I pretended to carry the man up the steps to the roof of a house and then lower him down to the feet of Jesus. The paper mat was rolled up as part of the story too.
The people shapes are from Baker Ross via Amazon. This is an affiliate link – if you click and purchase you won’t be charged any extra but I will receive a small commission to help fund the blog – so a big thank you if you support in this way. It’s much appreciated.
This is a short video of this story for young children to enjoy!
There are lots of Bible stories that include angels so this craft isn’t just for Christmas! But obviously we often make angel crafts at Christmas so here is a paper plate angel that stands up and could be used as a tree topper.
All you need – paper plates (cheap and quite thin as you want to cut them in half and fold them), doilies (not too large and cut or folded in half), wool for hair, stars and shiny paper to decorate, glue and crayons to draw on features and glue.
If you are making these in a toddler group do all the cutting out prep beforehand and have a made angel to give an idea. If you want to do the folding of the plate ahead of time you could.
‘Jesus stops the Storm’ was another of our weather themed stories at toddler group. It’s from Luke 8. It’s a great story to tell – lots of drama with the wind blowing and waves crashing, frightened disciples, dark skies and Jesus sleeping!
Craft Idea
This craft is in two parts; the lake made from a paper plate – square paper plates with two shades of blue tissue paper – and mini boats. Round plates would be just as good but they need to be a bit sturdy. The boat is cut from card (done beforehand) and has a tab so it can be glued in place but still stand up. The label says ‘Jesus stopped the storm’.
It’s a very effective craft that’s quite easy to make.
Make the boat first and attach to the paper plate. Then add the waves and the label.
Jesus stopped the Storm Bible Story Idea
Introduce actions for the children to do during the story. It’s helpful to explain these actions before you start. Include them as you tell the story.
1. Move arms to represent waves (vary the size of the waves in the story)
2 Blow into closed hands for the wind
3 Pretend to be sleeping
4 Say, ‘shush’ – ‘be still’
You could play some sound effects during the story – thunder and rain recordings are available on MP3 downloads (usually used for relaxation). Make sure you listen to anything you plan to use beforehand.
‘ One day Jesus asked his friends to get in a boat and go to the other side of the lake. It was very calm and the water was gently moving the boat. Jesus was very tired. He laid down in the boat and rested his head on a pillow and went fast asleep. The boat moved slowly out across the lake. Some of Jesus’ friends were fishermen and they knew all about rowing boats.
Suddenly a the wind began to blow. the waves got bigger and bigger and bigger! Water was starting to come inside the boat! It was so scary. But Jesus was fast asleep.
Jesus’ friends felt the wind blowing, saw the waves getting bigger and bigger and they were frightened. ‘We are going to die!,’ they said.
Jesus was still fast asleep. So his friends woke him up. ‘Don’t you care about us? they said.
Jesus cares very much.
He got up and stood up in the boat. And then he did something that no one else could ever do. He told the wind and the waves to ‘STOP! Shush – be still.’
It was suddenly all quiet and still. No more wind blowing and waves crashing.
Jesus’ friends were afraid and shocked. ‘Who is this?’ they said to each other, ‘that even the wind and waves obey him!’
Jesus is God. He is the only one who can stop the storm’.
Isaac is born craft for young children to enjoy making. The tent opens up to reveal Abraham and Sarah with baby Isaac!
We’ve made an Abraham tent craft before – for the story of how Abraham left his home and went to the land that God promised to give him (Genesis 12). Click here to have a look.
The above craft is about the birth of Isaac from Genesis 21. It’s the same idea as the Abraham craft but with more people! I really like ‘lift the flap’ crafts! I need to think of some more 🙂 We printed lots of labels with ‘God keeps his promises’ and these were added to the craft.
The children enjoyed decorating the tent – you can use felt tips, crayons, stickers – whatever you like! We had some flower stickers around the tent too. Let the children be creative.
Making a Bible town scene is one of my favourite Holiday Bible Club crafts. It fits with so many Bible stories as it is just a scene of a town. It’s fun to make and 3D.
All you need is
Square paper plate (needs to be quite sturdy)
Tissue paper/sugar paper
Background scene printed onto card – same size in width as the centre of the paper plate with about an inch of card that can be folded to make a flap which will be glued so the scene stands on the paper plate
Felt tips for colouring the scene
Square block of wood to make a house – doors and windows and outside steps to be added by the children
To Assemble the children need to –
Colour the background scene and stick onto paper plate to make a back drop
Add doors, windows and steps to house (wooden block) and glue onto the plate in the foreground
Add tissue paper/sugar paper to make paths/grass/sand
We bought the background scene from creativeforkids.com (as of 2023 I don’t think they sell it anymore.)
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