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)
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.)
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
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.
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!
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
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.
Lost Sheep Bible Stories with two craft ideas for different age groups.
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.
The Lost Sheep is a story that Jesus told. Jesus often told parables; stories that have one hidden meaning. In Luke 15:1-7 Jesus tells the story about the lost sheep to show the self important Pharisees that the Tax Collectors and sinners who he socialised with were welcome in the Kingdom of God. The latter often knew that they needed a Saviour while the former thought they were already righteous. When we tell this story we can and focus on the joy in Heaven when something lost is found. In this case the sheep is like us, we need to be found.
The Lost Sheep 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.’ ‘
The Lost Sheep Craft Idea
Lost Sheep Craft- download the image and decorate with yarn, crayons and/or cotton wool
An idea for older children – Lost Sheep Collage– the download for the small sheep is below. I used a gardening catalogue for the tree and flower photos and coloured paper for the hills and sun. The paper is from A4 Coloured Paper
All you need – glue, paper to make the hills (different shades of green), blue paper for background, yellow for sun, pictures of flowers and trees, tissue paper for grass and a sheep to hide.
The Good Samaritan is one of the stories that Jesus told and is from Luke 10. It teaches one simple truth about how we treat other people. Here is a simple storytelling idea for young children..
Characters for telling the good Samaritan story
The Good Samaritan Story Idea
To tell the story I had several of the characters (the man who was hurt and the three men who were walking on the road) and a donkey in the story bag. You can make the sounds of the men walking and the donkey going clippity-clop when you tell the story. Get everyone to join in with ‘Oh No!’ when it appears in the story.
‘One day a man asked Jesus a question – ‘how can I get to heaven?’ Jesus said to the man, ‘what do you think you need to do?’
‘I need to love God and love my neighbour. But who is my neighbour?’ The man was hoping that he had been good enough and that he really only needed to love the people that he liked. So Jesus told this made up story…
Once upon a time a man went on a journey and was hurt. He needed help but there was no one to help him. Oh No! (get the children and adults to join in with ‘Oh no’ each time you say it)
Then he heard footsteps. Someone was coming! A man was coming along the road. He looked, he saw that someone needed help but he kept on walking! Oh No!
Then he heard more footsteps. Someone was coming! Another man was walking along the road. He looked, he saw that someone needed help but he kept on walking! Oh No!
But then he heard something a bit different – it was clippity clop. A donkey was coming along the road and a man. The man looked, he saw that someone needed help and he stopped. Now this man was from far away and from a different place. But he was happy to help the man and he put him on the donkey and took him to a place to stay and gave him medicine until he was better.
Jesus has finished telling the story. ‘Who was a good neighbour?’ Jesus asked. ‘The person who helped’, said the man. And he knew he hadn’t loved other people like that.
We all find it hard to be a good neighbour to everyone. No one can never be good enough to earn a place in heaven. We need Jesus to help us.
Craft Idea
Lots of photos of people to make an ‘everyone is my neighbour’ collage. Use magazines and catalogues to find photos and cut them out beforehand. Try to provide a wide variety of people from different cultures, backgrounds and ages. The Good Samaritan is a great story to teach children to love others!
The children can select pictures and glue them onto A4 Sugar Paper/Construction Paper. Here’s a link to some recycled paper that’s great for the background.
This story is one of several in a series for toddler groups ‘Stories Jesus Told‘ – the others are linked for you below
It’s a lovely set of stories to tell and fits nicely in a six week half term.
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.
God knows when I feel excited is all about Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Children are often excited so it’s great to tell a story they will relate to. This story from Matthew 21 is about the excited crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Traditionally this event is called Palm Sunday. It begins the week of Easter. We’ve told this story many times at Toddler Group. The following is an idea…
God knows when I feel excited story idea
In the storybag you might like to have a large leaf and a donkey..
‘I wonder if you have ever felt excited? In today’s story from the Bible there are lots of excited people. Let’s find out why they were excited.
Crowds and crowds of people were all along the road. There were mums and dads, grandmas and grandads and children just like you! ‘Can you see? Is he here?’ They looked along the road. And then they saw him! They called out, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ as Jesus passed by. They shouted, ‘hosanna!’ (which means ‘God saves’) They waved palm branches and threw their cloaks into the road. They were so excited to see King Jesus!
Jesus wasn’t riding a big, strong horse – he was on a donkey. He was the king but he was the good King who had come to save and rescue the people.
They people welcomed Jesus – the King sent from God.’
Craft Ideas
Large leaves to decorate
A palm leaf sun catcher made with a paper plate and sticky back plastic. Add green tissue paper and glitter!
A palm leaf to wave – made using the shape cut from the paper plate suncatcher!
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.
God knows when I feel busy! This term we are telling Bible Stories that remind us that God knows how we feel. We start with Martha feeling busy. The story is from Luke 10: 38-42. Each week there will be a different emoji paper plate face that represents how the character in the story is feeling.
I’m not sure that toddlers dislike feeling busy but the adults listening in to this story will probably relate to Martha.
God knows when I feel busy bible story idea
In the story bag I had – the emoji paper plate face, Martha, Mary, pan, wooden spoon and an apron that I put on during the story. As you introduce the characters take them from the story bag and say ‘hello.
One day Martha invited Jesus to come to her home for a meal. She lived with her sister Mary
Jesus was very happy to go to Mary and Martha’s house.
When he got there Jesus began to talk about God. Mary so wanted to listen to everything that he had to say. She sat down and listened.
But Martha had a lot to do! There was tidying to be done. There was the cooking to be done. Pans needed stirring!(Use the props from the story bag – encourage the children to mime the actions too) Food needed chopping! Plates needed wiping! Water needed pouring! She was busy, busy, busy! (Can you say that with me? She was busy, busy, busy!) – show the face of the busy person.
Mary sat still and listened to Jesus.
Martha was not happy! She was so busy and no one was helping!
She said to Jesus, ‘Tell my sister to help me!’
But Jesus didn’t do what Martha said. Instead he said to Martha, ‘You don’t need to be so busy. You need to sit and listen to my words too.’
Today we can stop being so busy and instead listen to the words of Jesus by listening to stories about him and reading the Bible.’
Martha – God knows when we are busy
The print out is from pixabay. Here’s the link to the plate for you to print
I cut out lots of food pictures from magazines for the children to choose from to decorate their plates. Here’s a photo of the craft table set up (minus the glue which I always put out last so I can put the lids away – they are small and could be a chocking hazard)
A home made Valentine craft that is easy to make. The heart shapes become flower petals. You can buy heart shaped paper punchers/cutters which make the preparation of this craft quick and easy. You could buy heart shaped stickers to add to the choice of hearts too.
All you need for this valentine craft
Card blanks (I often buy card blanks as they usually come with envelopes, but you can fold A4 card in half instead)
Heart shapes – I’ve used shiny paper in bright colours
A pot or vase shape cut out of paper
A green piece of card cut in strips for the flower stem
Smaller hearts to decorate the pot
Glue
When you prep all the heart shapes think about the colours you want the children to be able to choose from. My personal preference is for bright colours – not just pinks and reds but some blue and yellow. You might like more pastel shades. I think it’s good to give children a choice of colours. If they choose all pink or all blue then that’s fine but choice is good.
If you are interested in encouraging children to explore colour in their making have a look at this blog post, ‘Making and exploring with colour’.
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.
Noah and two of every animal is our second bible number story. Last week we thought about the Number One and told the Bible story about Jonah and the One Big Fish. This story is all about counting to two! The Bible Truth for toddlers is, ‘Those who trust in God are rescued’. You can read the story from Genesis here.
To tell the story you can use – an ark, animals in pairs, Mr and Mrs Noah, a toy saw and hammer.
Storytelling props for Noah
Noah and two of every animal toddler group story script
Say hello to Noah! God told Noah to start building. He needed to cut lots of wood and use a hammer and a saw. But what was he making? It wasn’t a house. It wasn’t a new bed. It wasn’t a table. It wasn’t even really a boat! It was an ark. It was like a big, big box that would float. God had told Noah to build an ark, he told him exactly how big it should be and what sort of wood to use.
Noah worked hard. He trusted God and he did what God said. Everyday he sawed and hammered. Every night he went fast asleep. Then he woke up and sawed and hammered until one day the Ark was finished. It was huge!
It was too big for just Noah and his family. Who else was it for?
God sent animals to go inside the ark. Two of every kind. Let’s count them! (show animals in pairs and count – 1,2). They went into the big ark that Noah had built. Noah collected all the food that they would need and put in safely in the ark and then Noah and his family went inside too. And then God shut the door.
Everyone inside the Ark waited. They waited. And they waited.
And then it began. It rained and it poured. It rained for such a long time. But Noah and his family and the animals were safe in the ark. God took care of them and rescued them from the big flood.
And when the flood had gone they were able to come out of the big ark that Noah had built. God had rescued them from the big flood.
We added tissue paper in different shades of blue for the water and used animal stickers. I liked that they were photos of animals. Lots of opportunity for naming animals while making the craft.
Song Idea
Instead of ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’, we sang ‘Mr Noah had an ark’ and added the animals that we had used in the story with any sounds that they make.
Noah’s Ark shape sorter that we used as a storytelling prop.
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.
You can make a shepherd to add to a Nativity display or use when telling the Christmas Story. Below is a photo of a nativity to give you an idea of how you can use paper plate Christmas characters to build a Christmas scene. In the picture we have Mary and Joseph, angels and shepherds. The manger is a party bag with yellow tissue paper inside – see this post for instructions and a printable baby , the stable is made from a cardboard box lined with yellow tissue paper on the inside and covered with brown tissue paper on the outside.
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!
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!
Instead of blossom I’ve used tissue paper for the sky – you could use anything blue including paint or crayon. But the lovely thing about tissue paper is that I’ve made the strips long so they hang down from the spiral and they will move when the spiral is displayed.
Where I live there is already blossom on the trees! So next week at toddler group our craft will be on a spring theme. We are going to be making some spring blossom spirals. There is some prep for me to do beforehand but not too much. The paper plates will need to be cut and some wool tied on. The blossom flowers will be cut from petit four cases. This will make the blossom more 3D than flat paper. I’ll cut out some leaf shapes too and we have some heart shapes left over from Valentines that we’ll add.
So – blossom spirals step by step – the first few pictures show the prep before toddler group. Older children could do the cutting and threading themselves.
At toddler group there will be lots of sticking, selecting blossom and leaves. It’s up to the children how much blossom to place on their spiral.
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.
After the Christmas break I like to get back into toddler group crafts in a fairly simple and straight forward way – so, we will be making calendars this week.
It’s a good way to use up bits and bobs of craft materials that are left over from last year and to make use of calendar pictures from 2019 and a few Christmas cards!
All you need is – A4 card or heavy paper, glue, small calendars (from amazon or newsagents, stationary shops), collage bits and bobs, pictures from old calendars and christmas cards
Luke tells us that shepherds were told that the Saviour had been born!
‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord’ Luke 2:11
So here are some shepherds to make … using paper plates
All you need to make these shepherds – paper plates,pipe cleaners, wool, tissue paper and circles.
This is how to cut, fold and stick the paper plate so that your shepherd will stand up. Once you have done this add two holes to slide in the pipe cleaner crook. Then add the face and clothes etc.
‘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.
Group craft to make! offers an alternative to having everyone make something to take home. Some things really lend themselves to a big group make. For example you can draw a large Goliath to decorate with collage material, make the Tower of Babel either build the tower with cardboard boxes or create a 2D version by sticking ‘bricks’ onto a roll of paper. Noah’s Ark makes a great large group craft too. We have enjoyed creating Noah’s Ark together in our toddler group.
All you need
Floor space or tables put together lengthways
Roll of wall paper/lining paper spread out
An outline of Noah’s Ark and the water
Glue sticks
Blue tissue paper shapes
Blue crepe paper shapes
Animal stickers (or animal pictures cut from magazines) or a mixture!
We just let children join in as they wished as the craft activity was set up during our free play time. We weren’t pernickety about the animals being in pairs!
The beauty of a group craft like this is that everyone owns it and you can display it afterwards and use it during the story time. If your group meets in a church building see if you can display what you’ve made for a few weeks for your church to see something that happens in the Toddler Group.
Give the children freedom to create!
If you would rather have an open ended large group craft then just provide the paper roll (either on tables or on the floor) and wax crayons and collage materials. Challenge the group to cover the paper! Adults can find it quite difficult to just go ahead and create but it’s a good thing to do! Encourage adults and toddlers to chat about the colours, shapes and textures that they are using.
You can do a cover the paper challenge on a small scale too. Just have a selection of collage materials, glue and paper on the craft table. For the collage materials here’s a list of ideas. It’s worthwhile asking for donations of yarn, fabric and greetings cards and magazines. Free stuff is great!
Tissue paper
Feathers
Yarn
Fabric
Sequins
Paper shapes
Crepe paper
Pictures from magazines – people, places, food, nature
Baby Moses 3D craft for young children. This is a lovely Baby Moses craft that is easy to make and very effective. It uses easy to find materials that take just a little bit of time to prepare.
All you need for this Baby Moses 3D craft –
A4 card (cut the slits so that the card will fold and stand up),
small baby printout (there are some to download in this blog post),
A long time ago there was a very bad King in Egypt. He was very bad. He wanted to get rid of all the baby boys. That was very awful.
But there was a family who didn’t think that the very bad King was right. And they had a brand new baby boy. He was so lovely! He gurgled and he burped! The baby wriggled and he slept. It was good that he slept a lot because his mummy and daddy had to keep him a secret. (Everyone go ‘shush’)
But as he grew and got bigger he began to make more noise! When he cried it was LOUD. Oh no! (Everyone say this together)They weren’t going to be able to keep him a secret for much longer.
His mummy had an idea. It was a good idea. She made a basket. She made a waterproof basket with a lid.
And then she wrapped her lovely baby son up and placed him in the basket and tucked him in. She and her daughter went down to the river. They carefully picked a spot where they knew someone very important would come to wash in the river. They put the basket in the water and the mum went home, but his big sister hid and watched.
And sure enough the women came to wash in the river. The bad king’s daughter and her servant. Down into the water they went. ‘Oh! What’s that? Can you get me that basket? I wonder what’s inside?’
They lifted up the lid …. and there … inside.. was a beautiful baby boy with big tears, crying for his mummy.
Now the big sister did something very brave. She came and said, ‘Shall I go and find someone to look after the baby you have found?’
‘Yes’, said the bad king’s daughter.
And the big sister ran home and called her mum to come.
‘Take this baby and look after him for me’, said the bad king’s daughter, ‘and when he is older he can come and live in the Palace. And she gave him the name Moses.
There’s been a lot in the news about how our planet is in danger. We are losing biodiversity at a faster rate than ever before. We need to be grateful for the beautiful creation that God has given to us. Even young children can be encouraged to value the natural world and care for it.
Here is one idea –
Begin with ‘God is good!’ (Simple actions for this – point up for God and thumbs up for good)
Then as you name the things he has given to us take them from the story bag.
You could begin with a globe and if it lights up all the better!
Other items you could take from the story bag…..
craft idea – use gardening catalogues, tissue paper, pictures from magazines, pasta stars, feathers and anything suitable!
Songs to sing … click on the highlighted links to go to youtube and hear the songs.
We are doing stories based on the theme ‘Animals in the Bible’ this half term at Thursday Toddler Group. We started with creation – lots of toy animals in the story bag that we named.
The following week we did Daniel in the Lion’s Den from Daniel 6.
In the story basket there were Daniel, the King, an angel and some lions.
We started a new set of Bible stories at Toddler group today. Each week we are going to meet someone from the Bible who followed Jesus. Today we started with Tabitha (or Dorcas) from Acts 9. She came along in our story basket together with a few sewing related items.
We begin by saying hello to Tabitha and then I talk about how she helped others because she followed Jesus. The way she helped was by making clothes. As items are taken out of the story basket they are named. The children listened really well!
The puppet is new and was from E W Education via Amazon. They come as a set of 10 different puppets in a lovely hessian sack with several accessories.
Our craft was decorating people shapes with fabric and wool.
On a slightly different note – I will be leading a seminar/workshop about craft at toddler group at the Care for the Family Playtime Conference in September. It’s going to be all about crafts for different seasons. I am chuffed to bits to have been invited. Here’s a link to the info. There are lots of seminars and great speakers. It’s going to be a really good day 🙂
Sometimes I have cut out wreath shapes from paper plates but when you need to make 50 that can take a while! So when I found that Baker Ross were selling cardboard wreath shapes I was really keen to try them out. As you can see they are dark brown, obviously made of card and come with a hole and some string so they can be displayed at home. A big win! Here’s the link to Baker Ross with all the info about the craft wreaths.
The embellishments are from Hobbycraft (eggs and bunnies) Take the eggs out of the packaging well ahead as they really do smell! The paper hearts and circles are made with a paper punch and the confetti is the biodegradable kind. I cut the bird and ladybird from molliemakes magazine. The Easter greeting is on sugar paper and I did write happy Easter 50 times. Part way through I began to worry that I was spelling Easter incorrectly!
I will definitely be using the craft wreaths for other crafts. Really great find.
This past week our Bible Story was all about Joseph, his special coat and how his brothers sold him to people travelling on camels to Egypt. The camels were donated to the group about a year ago and normally live in our ‘Vet’ box. They come in very useful for several stories.
Craft – Joseph and his coloured coat! There is a PDF –Â Joseph
Look out for the umbrella in one of the children’s pictures 🙂
This Abraham in his tent craft has a lift the flap element that hides Abraham! It’s a lovely craft to make with lots of sticking and opportunities to add texture to the tent by using fabric and texture to the sky by using cotton wool for clouds.
Abraham in his tent craft
Everything you need to make the craft
Abraham (this picture was from a google image search),
Blue sugar/construction paper,
Green sugar/construction paper cut into a narrow strip,
A cloud (optional – you could use cotton wool balls that can be unrolled and split),
A tent shape (see the photo and instructions below)
Glue
Tissue paper and/or fabric squares.
To make the tent shape – use the same size paper as for the blue background and trim about an inch off the bottom. Then fold as you see in the picture below. I pre-made the basic tent shapes in different colours in advance.
Making our Abraham in his tent craft at toddler group
Lay out your craft area to make it look welcoming. If it’s a large group don’t put out all your supplies at once but keep some for children who want to do the craft later in the session.
Craft table all readySky and grassAbraham’s tentAbraham in his tent craftAbraham in his tent craft
Our Bible Story was all about how Abraham left his home and went to a new land that God had promised to show him. This story is found in Genesis 12:1. Abraham travelled around this new land and lived in a tent. So our craft is Abraham in his tent!
‘Abraham’ came to toddler group in the Story Bag! We did lots of pointing to our ears when we heard how Abraham listened to God and lots of walking (hands on knees and making the sound of footsteps) as we heard how Abraham did what God said and went to a new place to live.
Later on we told the story about the birth of Isaac – the craft is almost the same but with more people! Take a look at this post Isaac is Born to see the craft idea.
I used a picture of Abraham from the web for the craft but have made a download of Abraham for you to use. Use the link below.
I really enjoyed putting this craft together and the children enjoyed making their own too – which is the main thing!
There was a bit of prep – cutting an ark shape from a folded paper plate and tearing tissue paper into long strips. the ark ‘floats’ on the tissue paper water. The animal stickers were a perfect size.
God made people – story and craft ideas for use in toddler group or at home or in Sunday School. The craft ideas are very easy to make. You could do more than one in your toddler group in the same week.
For the Story have some puppets for Adam and Eve, and some toy animals and pictures land and the sea and plants and trees to take from the story bag as you tell the story.
God made people story
At the very beginning of the world God made everything. He made all the plants and animals. But who was going to look after them? God made people to care for the plants and animals.
When God made people he breathed life into them and they were perfect! He called the man he made Adam and the woman that he made Eve. They were the worlds first family.
God told them, ‘look after everything that I have made’, and everything was very good. (thumbs up). Can you remember the things God made that the people had to look after?
There was the land and the sea. There were the plants; the tall trees and the small flowers. There were the small animals and the large animals. (Have pictures and toy animals to show to the children from a story bag). God had made all these beautiful things and now Adam and Eve were to look after them.
God loved the people he had made and he loves you and me too. We are all important and special to him.
God made people craft ideas
People shapes are available from Amazon – this is an affiliate link. If you click on the link and purchase the product the blog receives a very small payment at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Here’s a link to a different version of this Bible Story
This week at Toddler group we learnt that God made the sun, moon and stars. I put on my sunhat and sunglasses for the sun and we pretended to be asleep when we thought about the moon and stars. God made these things just by speaking and they were very good! (we all do thumbs up).
Our craft was making a paper plate sun and a paper plate moon surrounded by stars. We used pre-cut card stars (charity shop find) and pasta shapes, silver and yellow tissue paper and PVA glue. The moon and stars were glued onto black card. The chidren and parents are free to use the craft materials as they like so we have some suns covered in stars 🙂 It’s all about the fun of making rather than the end product.
Our songs were all part of the theme too. These laminated posters are displayed during the session to advertise our song and story time!
On the way to Easter with Peter – Jesus’ last meal Bible story. Bible references – Â Mark 14 and Luke 22 (see also the accounts in Matthew and John).
The following is a story idea for toddlers. Some of the details have been omitted as this age group would find all the details bewildering! As we are using Peter as our main character I have concentrated on two main parts that he played – getting the room ready and then his conversation with Jesus. His outburst about not letting Jesus wash his feet has been omitted. The concept of being clean as explained by Jesus is quite complicated for toddlers!
The story is quite sad – so don’t overdo the sadness. Just tell it like it happened. The aim is to tell about Peter’s failure in order that we can then tell about Jesus’ love and forgiveness.
Use some props for the story – puppets or knitted people, some pitta bread, a cushion and a picture of a rooster as children may not know what this is.
The story…
Do you remember that we are on our way to Easter with Peter? He is one of the friends of Jesus.
Jesus wanted to have a very special meal with his friends. He knew that this would be the last time that they would all be together before he died. But, some people wanted to hurt Jesus and so the meal had to be kept secret.
Jesus had an important job for two of his friends – John and Peter. ‘Go into the town and when you see a man carrying a water jar follow him into the house.Then ask if you can use the room upstairs.’ John and Peter did exactly what Jesus said and they got the room ready. There was a table for the food – some bread and wine to drink and some cushions to sit on.
Jesus and his friends sat down and had a meal together.
When they had finished they sang a song and then went outside for a walk. It was dark. The stars were twinkling in the sky.
Jesus wanted to talk to Peter. ‘You are going to let me down and say that you aren’t my friend’, he told him.
‘No!’ Peter said,’I will never do that!’
‘Peter, you will tell people you don’t even know me before the rooster crows to show it’s morning time’ Jesus said.
Would Peter do that just when Jesus needed his friends? We’ll have to wait and see!
loaves and fish – printed on paper and cut out. I cut all the loaves as a group which saved a lot of time. Children who are able/old enough to use scissors could cut out their own. Here is a PDF file of the loaves and fish.5-loaves-and-2-fish-2
orange/yellow tissue paper in small squares
crayons
PVA glue and glue sticks
sequins (I love using sequins!)
paper plates cut in half
a sticky label that explains what Jesus did with the loaves and fish
Preparation – attach half a paper plate to the construction paper/card beforehand. I used a stapler.
It’s harvest celebration time! At toddler group we often mark this event at story and craft time. The story is usually focused on saying ‘thank you’ for our food. I have a basket of various fruit and veg (all real) to show to the children and as I take the fruit and veg out of the basket we name them and I mention what we can use the veg for – eg potatoes can be mashed or made into chips! And sometimes where the fruit or veg grows; potatoes in the ground, apples on a tree. It’s also good to have some wheat or flour and a loaf of bread. But choose things that suit where you are. Our aim is to say thank you for the food that God gives us.
Harvest Craft Idea
This is a paper plate craft of a basket with fruit and veg inside (these can be made from card) – The two plates are cut beforehand to create a handle. Then at toddler group they are glued together so that the paper fruit and veg can slot inside and be carried in a harvest ‘basket’. The basket can be decorated – we used tissue paper and foam stickers. You need fairly sturdy paper plates so the handle doesn’t tear. PVA glue is best for sticking the plates together. You could have some cellotape to hand if needed.
Having Breakfast with Jesus is a Bible Story from John’s Gospel. It took place after the resurrection of Jesus and before his ascension. Note – the Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee.
Having Breakfast with Jesus – Story Idea
In the story bag I had Peter and some friends (there are seven disciples in the story but use what you feel able to hold) a boat (a cardboard box was great for this), a net and some fish and a small BBQ with some charcoal. The children loved having a look at the charcoal.
BBQ bucket in the story bag
Telling The Story-
Say hello to Peter! Peter was one of the followers of Jesus. This story happened after Jesus had died and come back to life again.
One day Peter said to his friends ‘I am going fishing’. ‘We’ll come with you’, his friends said.
It was night time. All the stars were twinkling in the sky (everyone make twinkling star shapes with their fingers). Peter and his friends got in their boat and rowed out onto the lake and threw their fishing nets over the side of the boat. And they waited. And they waited. And they waited. The men were in the boat all night long but there were no fish in the nets. The sun began to wake up in the sky. They looked in their net – no fish.
Then someone on the sand called to them ‘Have you caught any fish?’ They looked in their net – no fish.
‘No, we haven’t’, they called back.
‘Put the net the other side of the boat’, the man said. ‘and you’ll find some fish’
So they threw the net over the other side. Suddenly it filled up with fish. Lots and lots of fish!
One of Peter’s friends realised who the man was – ‘It’s the Lord Jesus!’ he said to Peter.
Now, Peter was so pleased that it was Jesus that he jumped out of the boat and started to wade through the water to Jesus. His friends carefully pulled the net and bought the boat to the sandy shore. And there waiting for them was Jesus. He had made a BBQ and was cooking some fish for breakfast. Jesus was alive. He knew where his friends were and what they were doing. He knew that after a long night fishing they needed some breakfast. He cared for and looked after his friends.
Jesus is still alive today and he cares about you!
Having Breakfast with Jesus craft Ideas.
Fish swimming in the sea picture
Print out the picture. Children can colour and use tissue paper to decorate the fish. Cut strips of cellophane or crepe paper for the waves.
Card strip for the wave (I’ve used notice board trim)
Blue card for the lake
Net (fruit is often sold in net packaging)
Glue
Sticky tape to secure the mast
If making with young children prepare the plate and mast first.
This story from John 21 is very similar to an incident that takes place at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Have a look at the story here where there is another fish themed craft.
A bobble hat and mittens craft to celebrate the cold, wintry weather. There are two free printables for you to use. I printed the outlines of the bobble hat and the mittens onto paper but you could use card if you like. If you are using Pritt Stick the paper will be fine but if using PVA thicker paper or card would be better. This is a great craft for using up scraps of collage materials. Let the children choose the textures and colours that they like.
You can also choose to use mainly yarn. I have lots of small bits of yarn that I keep from crochet projects so that will be on the craft table to choose from. It’s always useful to keep collage materials if you can or ask friends that crochet or knit to save the odd ends of wool/yarn.
You could also add large pompoms or cotton wool make up remover pads to add some pattern and extra texture.
Older children can have a go at making the mitten decoration symmetrical.
For younger children there lots of fine motor skill practice and learning the names of colours. Lot’s of opportunities to talk about the cold weather too!
A couple of simple crafts to accompany teaching about creation –
We made a collage of people surrounding a world map when we did the story of God making people from Genesis 1. The paper plate globe is a different version of the same idea – this time stickers are used to decorate the paper plate rim.
The pictures of people were downloaded and printed but you could use pictures from magazines and catalogues.
For a PDF and instructions on how to make a creation mobile take a look here
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