Pentecost

This week's simple bible craft for toddlers follows on from last week's theme; it's Pentecost. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit, to enable them to carry on his work; spreading the good news of God's love for all people. In the bible, in the book of Acts, we hear how the disciples were gathered together when the Holy Spirit came to them. The sound of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house. They saw tongues of fire, that separated and rested on each head of those gathered. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they found themselves talking in many strange languages that they had never spoken before but the people on the street outside understood.

Disciples with flames on their heads

 

The typical craft for Pentecost is making flame crowns or drawing disciples with flames on their heads. I'm afraid I'm not going to break with tradition on this occasion. My first idea for this week had been completely different and I was almost prepared, when I found in Poundland a packet of 15 card people. I could not resist them, they were a must purchase and so this week's craft is card disciples with flames on their heads. However I do realise that not every Poundland (other pound shops are available!) in the country will be stocking these cut out people and there are readers of this page from other countries where Poundland has not darkened their shores. Therefore, on behalf of those readers, I am going to provide a step by step guide to making your own card person template.

Materials required:

·         Card, no surprises there!

·         Pencil

·         Something round to draw around

·         Ruler

·         Rubber/eraser, I found this to be essential!

·         scissors

Card person instructions:

 

1.    On the edge of your card, at the top, draw a semi circle. The card is the short side of a A4 sheet of card.

 

2.    Before drawing the arm and leg, decide where to draw the body and how wide to make the body. I think my person is too thin but it's up to you. Careful not to make it too long. That's what the eraser is for!

 

3.    Using a ruler draw the body.

 

 

4.    Again using the ruler, draw the arm and the leg, rounding them off at the end.

5.    Cut out the half person template.

 

 

6.    Draw around the template, then flip it over and draw around it again to make a whole body.

7.    Cut this out and use as a template.

As you can see above, the kids coloured in their own disciples, using wool strands for hair and googly eyes. I cut out flames from tissue paper to stick to the back of the head. The older children sat for such a long time colouring in there disciples, it was lovely to see how engaged they were with the activity. The younger children were also keen to have a go, needing help to spread glue and draw a mouth.

These card people can be decorated in anyway you wish, maybe strips of material or paper could be glued on to make clothes. Be careful with paint, as this will curl the people.

However way you do it, it's a fun craft the children will enjoy.

Have fun!

 

Ascension

 

Model of Jesus ascending to heaven

This week at Toddler Praise the children heard about Jesus ascending to heaven. He took the disciples to the top of a hill and told them to go and make disciples of all nations. The clouds then descended and Jesus ascended to heaven.  It's a little early in the church calendar but in a toddler group that doesn't matter.

When thinking about this craft I wanted Jesus to ascend into the clouds in some way. I had to think around different ideas of how we could create the scene. Having first thought how we could do this on card, I then settled for a 3D working model or diorama.

To do this model we needed an image of Jesus. Older children would be able to draw their own but when doing crafts with toddlers, most need the materials prepared. This is where the internet becomes an essential tool for crafters. By typing the keywords "images of Jesus cartoon" into a search engine an array of suitable images are found. The chosen image can often be "copy" and "paste" into a word document, altered to the adequate size and then repeatedly pasted for however many that are required. Whenever I need a character for a craft; should it be Jesus, Zaccheus up a tree, Jonah praying or a variety of animals for an Ark, I search for them on the internet. They do of course need cutting out and this can be time consuming, especially if you need them on card and like me, the printer does not take card.

We also needed boxes, small shoe boxes are perfect for this craft but I only had a small number. I had to put a message on our Facebook page to ask parents and carers to bring in any spare boxes they had. We had so many bring them, I now have enough for another craft. Of course if you are more organised than me and know what you're doing weeks in advanced, rather than 2 days before the session, you'll have plenty of time to ask parents and carers to bring in supplies.

Materials required

·         Small shoe boxes or suitable alternative

·         Pointy skewer

·         Watered down blue ready mix paint

·         Paint pot and brushes

·         Thread/ string/ wool

·         Images of Jesus on card

·         Scissors

·         Cellotape

·         PVA glue

·         White card

·         Cotton wool

·         Children's sewing needle

 

Instructions

Preparations prior to session:

1.    Prepare each shoe box; with the shoe box on its side, punch two holes in the top of the box, in the centre with a skewer.

2.    Print out images of Jesus on card and cut out.

Paint inside of box blue

3.    Measure out a length of thread for each box, that is over twice the width of the box.

4.    On white card, cut out cloud shapes that fit the length of the boxes, these need a flap down the length (they shall be glued to the top of the box). Shoe boxes vary in size, a variety of cloud lengths maybe required.

How to make:

1.    Paint the inside of the box blue.

2.     Thread the sewing needle with the wool/ thread. Sew the wool/ thread through one hole in the top of the box and back through the other.

Knot the wool/ thread

3.    Knot the wool/ thread.

4.    With a short length of cellotape, stick Jesus to the other end of the wool/ thread. Make sure he faces outward. If the wool/ thread is too long, re-knot to make it shorter.

5.    Using PVA glue, stick cotton wool onto the white card cloud.

6.    Spread glue onto the flap of the cloud and stick to the top of the box, so the cloud hangs down the front of the box. This means the cloud can move and therefore descend.

Imogen proudly showing her creation

If you have more time you could paint the outside of the box, although if the boxes have a glossy surface you will need acrylic paint, the ready mix will not stick. This craft does have Jesus lifting up into the cloud rather than the clouds surrounding him. If you prefer the clouds surrounding him, then make the cloud bigger, however the glue will need to dry before Jesus can be seen to have ascended.

By Noah, Brandon, Eli, Jack and me

This craft can also be used for other bible stories, like Elijah ascending to heaven on a chariot, Jacobs ladder or the transfiguration with Moses and Elijah descending.

Have fun.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toddler-Praise-St-Lukes-Church-Scarborough/791165617571028

Hi there! Welcome to my first blog.

Thanks to the suggestion of others I have started blogging. It's somewhat scary, it's like letting people see through a window into my creative mind, my own private ideas available for all to read. However I feel ideas should be shared and if my crafts can be useful to others, then please use them.

As the blog title suggests, my toddler crafts are mostly related to biblical stories. My husband (an Anglican minister) and I run Toddler Praise, a toddler service and Mum's and Tot's playgroup, at one of his churches; St Luke's Scarborough. Find us on Facebook at Toddler Praise, St Luke's church Scarborough. This we have been doing for over 5 years. In that time I have produce many craft activities for the children but only recently making them in relation to the days story.

I try to make the crafts as simple as possible. They need to be suitable for 4 year olds to do independently, while 1 year olds can have a go with adult help. I also make them simple as they need to be completed within a short period. Our toddler group has a small budget, meaning our crafts need to be as cheap as possible. Crafts materials can be very expensive but I am a firm believer in recycling and using whatever is available. We do buy in more expensive materials for special occasions when we are making gifts or needing stickers for Christmas or Easter scenes.

So this is a blog about cheap, simple crafts that are suitable for ages 1 to 4 years and are largely related (but not exclusively) to a biblical story.

This first craft is very simple indeed but our toddlers parents were very impressed with it. The story is one of Jesus' post resurrection appearances to the disciples. This week we heard about Peter and the disciples going fishing at night but not managing to catch a single fish. As the sun begins to rise over the surrounding hills, they spot a figure on the beach. This person tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. The disciples do so and immediately the net fills with fish. Realising it is Jesus, Peter being his impatient, impetuous self,  jumps out of the boat and swims ashore, the boat of disciples following. They all have a breakfast of fish, then Jesus takes Peter aside and gives him the chance to make amends for his denial on the night Jesus was arrested, by asking Peter three times if he loves him.

For this story I wanted a craft that was as impressive to the children, as the disciples would have found their nets suddenly filling with fish. I looked at my various craft books for a magic trick that could be adapted but found this craft in the Usborne  book of 'Science Things to Make and Do.' I thought that trying replicate the fish filling the disciples net would be a fun activity for the toddlers to do.

Fish swimming to the net

 

Swimming Fish

Materials required:

1.    Thin card for fish

2.    Thicker card for fish template

3.    Scissors and pencil

4.    Wax crayons

5.    Washing up liquid or other liquid soap

6.    Cotton bud

7.    Large tray with water

8.    Watering can/bucket to fill tray with water.

9.    Fishing net

 

Making card fish
 

 

Instructions

·         Draw half a fish from head to tail onto card and cut it out.

·         Make a symmetrical fish template, by drawing around the half fish then flipping it over and drawing around it again to make a whole fish.

·         Use this template to draw and cut out many fish on thin card.

·         The children should colour only one side of the fish with wax crayons. Do not use felt tips as these will run in the water.

·         On the underside of the fish, at the junction of the tail fins put a blob of washing up liquid with a cotton bud. The bigger the blob of washing up liquid the faster the fish will move, but don't put too much on.

·         The fish need to be put in the water next to each other and at the same time, aiming towards the fishing net.

Here comes the science bit; the washing up liquid breaks the water tension on the surface of the water, propelling the fish forwards. Any fish behind another fish will not move far due to the fish ahead having broken the water tension. If a second run of fish is needed, then replace the water otherwise it will not work.

It's unlikely all the fish will end up in the net but this is a fun activity to do with toddlers or older children and the parents really enjoy it too.

For the full video clip  of our swimming fish see our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toddler-Praise-St-Lukes-Church-Scarborough/791165617571028