Samson
- Judges 13-16
Samson
grass heads
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| Our grass-heads with a previously made one. |
Sadly I could not attend Toddler Praise this week, due to
our 5 year old having chicken pox. These things happen and sometimes we are
still able to provide a simple craft and sometimes we can't. Due to the lovely
weather we are having in England at the moment, it was decided to have outdoor
play. This meant today's craft could go ahead without much supervision, it
doesn't matter if the soil goes everywhere. However I don't have any photo's of
our toddlers making them, fortunately our chicken poxed 5 year old was keen to
have ago one afternoon this week.
Making grass heads is such a lovely activity to do with
toddlers and older children, also perfect for our story of Samson; whose hair should never be cut. Toddlers love doing things that
are messy; they love the sensory experience of it and the creativity in
decorating their own cups. Then they watch in awe as the grass begins to peep
through the soil and bit by bit they can see it grow more and more each day.
Then there is the fun of cutting the grass, giving the grass heads hair styles.
There's lots of fun to had with this craft. Our eldest son made one a few weeks a friends birthday party.
Like so many characters in the bible, Samson was born to
a childless couple. God often shows his glory and power in this way. Samson was
the son of Manoah and an unnamed woman, although it is the woman that an angel
keeps appearing too. The angel tells the woman that she will bear a son and
that she is not to eat or drink of the vine or any other fermented drink and not
to eat anything unclean. Samson's hair should never be cut, for he is to be a
Nazirite, set apart for God's plan in order to deliver Israel from the hands of
the Philistines who rule over them.
Samson becomes a very strong man, the power of the Lord
is upon him and he defeats the Philistines on many occasions. He becomes a
Judge or ruler over the Israelites, the Philistines fear him. The Philistines
dream up many plots to capture Samson but he either defeats or evades them,
until Samson, falls in love with the wrong woman, Delilah.
The Philistines pay Delilah to persuade Samson to tell
her the source of his great power. Many times she asks him what is the secret
of his strength and how can he be subdued but Samson does not tell her, giving
her false scenarios, such as tying him up in fresh thongs (bow strings) or new
ropes or weaving his hair into fabric. Each time Delilah did these things, then
told him the Philistines were coming and each time Samson broke out of his bounds.
After constant nagging by Delilah, Samson finally told her the truth, the
source of his power was that his hair had never been cut. Delilah informed the
Philistines and then cut and shaved his hair off. When he woke Samson's
strength had gone, he was captured by the Philistines, taken prisoner and made
to do hard labour. They also blinded him.
The Philistine rulers and powerful people all gathered to
celebrate and worship their false god. They put Samson on show in the centre of
the temple, between two pillars. Samson called upon the Lord to give him great
strength one final time, in order to bring down the temple. Samson was filled
with the Lords power, he pushed over the two pillars, bringing down the roof of
the temple, killing Samson and all the rulers and powerful people of
Philistine. The Israelites were finally free from their rule.
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| Materials at the ready |
Materials required:
·
Plastic cups
·
PVA or fast tack glue and spreaders
·
Googly eyes
·
Sequins
·
Red marker pen
·
Compost in container
·
Small trowels or spoons
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| A decorated cup |
·
Grass seed
·
Water
Preparations:
·
Pour compost into easy to access container, I
used a seed tray.
·
Water the compost
 |
| Filling up with soil |
Instructions:
1. Draw
a smiley mouth before gluing.
2. Glue
on googly eyes and sequins.
3. Using
a trowel fill cup near to the edge.
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| Sprinkle the seeds |
4. Sprinkle
on grass seed.
5. Put
light covering of compost over the seeds.
Draw the smiley mouth first with the pen because glue
ruins pens and the pen will not work anymore. I watered the compost first,
otherwise the children's decorations might get washed away. It's handy if you can make one a few weeks before, so the kids can see what will happen.
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| A week later they look like this! |
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Have fun
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