Naaman and Elisha - 2 Kings 5

Washable Naaman

Naaman washes seven times in the river Jordan

Busy colouring Naaman

This week's simple craft is going to be mostly appreciated by those who are keen on recycling and re-using useful things, that many would just throw away. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm a hoarder, I can't throw out things I know that could be used for something else at a later stage. So, fellow hoarders and recyclers, you are going to like this craft.



This week at Toddler Praise we learnt about Naaman, who is told to wash in the River Jordan. I wanted to make a washable Naaman but this was a problem, waterproof materials that can be washed aren't cheap and the other ideas I came across didn't really fit. How could I make a simple toddler craft that was cheap to produce and allowed the children to wash Naaman clean?

Red paint for skin disease

Pinterest, as ever was a saviour, what can't be found on that site. I put waterproof material into the search box and discovered the most amazing way of making strong, waterproof material, made using only plastic carrier bags. And this material can be used to make all sorts of things like bags and purses, it's easily cut with scissors and sewn with a sewing machine, but is strong. It was perfect for the leprous skin of Naaman. However, though the material is easy to make, this craft does require quite a bit of preparation but it is fun to do.

The story

Doesn't matter what colour they are.

Naaman was a great warrior, he was not from Israel but Damascus in Syria, he was in the Army of King Aram, who were often at war with Israel. Despite being a great warrior, Naaman had a problem, he had a horrid skin disease that could not be cured. Naaman's wife had a servant girl who was from Israel, the girl told the wife that there was a prophet in Israel called Elisha, who could heal Naaman. Naaman asked King Aram if he could visit the prophet, the King wrote a letter to the king of Israel asking him to heal Naaman.

The king of Israel thought King Aram was trying to start a war, he said, "How can I heal this warrior, I'm not God, he is just trying to pick a quarrel with me." The king of Israel tore his robes at the request. Elisha heard of this and said, "Why don't you send him to me, I can heal him."

Wash away the skin disease

Naaman went to see Elisha, Elisha's servant came out and told Naaman to wash in the river Jordan seven times. Naaman was angry, he expected better treatment from Elisha, who had not come out himself to tell Naaman. He did not want to wash in the a dirty river, when there were so many lovely rivers back in Syria that he prefered to wash in.  Naaman's servant said to him, what harm could it do, to do as the prophet had said. If Elisha had told him to do a great heroic act, Naaman would have done so, why not do something so simple. Humbled, Naaman dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, on the seventh time he came out and was completely healed of his skin disease.

Naaman tired to give Elisha great wealth in payment but Elisha was not interested, for he was only doing what God asked of him. Elisha asked Naaman to only worship the true God from now on.

Materials at the ready

Materials required

·         Plastic carrier bags (as plain as possible)

·         Baking paper

·         Iron

·         Person template

·         Biro/pen

·         Sharp scissors

·         Permanent markers (various colours)

·         Red water based paint, palette and brush

·         Water

Preparations before session

Making the waterproof material is very simple and only takes a few minutes. Make sure the bags are clean and empty and as plain as possible. Colour doesn't really matter.

1.    Flatten carrier bag and cut off the seam at the bottom and the handles. If there is a picture or writing on the bag, turn them inside out.

2.    Lay four bags on top of each other (that makes 8 layers of plastic), as flattened as possible.

3.    Put a layer on baking paper under the bags and another layer on top, to cover the plastic completely.

4.    Turn the iron to the hottest setting and iron over the baking paper, take care not to iron any plastic. The plastic bags will shrink and fuse together.

5.    Turnover and iron the other side.

6.    Leave to cool a moment before peeling off the baking paper.

Naaman drawn out on the plastic material

When you have made enough, use a person template, biro/pen and scissors to draw and the cut out as many Naaman's as required. If you haven't got a person template, then check out my blog for Pentecost, posted May 10th 2015, it gives instructions on how best to make a person template. The surface of the plastic material is rough and uneven but so was Naaman skin, so it is perfect. Don't worry if you haven't got white plastic bags, as you can see some of ours were orange, colour doesn't really matter.

Colour in and add red paint for spots

Instructions

1.    Using permanent markers, colour in Naaman.

2.    Put blobs of red paint on Naaman to make skin sores.

3.    Wash Naaman in water; a brush or fingers might be required to wash the paint off. We used paper towels to finish the last bits off.

Naaman can be reused many times as he is waterproof. This was a popular craft, the children really enjoyed washing away Naamans sore skin disease and then went on to play with them later, and in some cases chew them.

We have more photo's of the craft on our Facebook page, do check it out.

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

Have fun

 

Samson - Judges 13-16

Samson grass heads

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.

 

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



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.



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.

A week later they look like this!

Do visit the Toddler Praise facebook page and 'like' us and don't forget to share this page on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ by clicking on the icons below.

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

Have fun

 

 

Joshua and the Defeat of Jericho

Joshua 1- 6

Edible walls of Jericho

George wouldn't let me take a photo before he ate it

At Toddler Praise we don't do food crafts all that often, which is a shame because they are so popular. The hall kitchen is not set up for cooking in, as there is no oven. When I do prepare a food craft, it has to be a non-cooking one. In fact this is only the second food craft this year because of the limitations of our hall and the time we have to do it in.

The walls of Jericho gave us the perfect opportunity to use food like a craft material. What better material is there for building walls than bread cut into cubes. The children have the fun of building up walls as tall as they can, until they fall or get knocked over. Oh, how small children love to knock bricks over. And what's more they get to eat it afterwards, what could be better! Our kids spent more time eating than playing today, tidy up time was so easy. But, I must give a sticky warning.

STICKY WARNING! STICKY WARNING! STICKY WARNING! STICKY WARNING!

However, very tasty fingers to lick afterwards!

 

Eli's impressive construction of Jericho

After Moses and the people of Israel left Egypt, they wandered around the desert for 40 years. Not because they were lost but because they didn't trust the Lord, as a result, all those who had left Egypt were not allowed to enter the promised land, all except Joshua. When Moses died, Joshua led the people into the promised land of Canaan. The Lord told Joshua that he was with him and he was giving them the land that he had promised to their forefathers. They would be successful in this land as long as they keep God's laws.

Israelites outside the walls of Jericho

Joshua sent two men to look over the promised land, especially Jericho. The people of Jericho had heard of the Israelites and that their God had parted the Red Sea and defeated their foes. The people of Jericho were scared. When the two men entered Jericho, they entered the house of a woman named Rahab. People in the city heard of two Israelite men, so they went to the house of Rahab. Rahab protected the men and hid them, she told the men of the city that the Israelite men had already left Jericho. The men of the city went searching for them along the road. Meanwhile Rahab helped the men escape, provided they protect her and her family when Israel attacked. She lowered them down the city walls from a window in her house. The men told her to tie a red cord to the window, then they would know which house not to attack.

Israelites march around the walls seven times

The Lord told Joshua that he would deliver the city into their hands. They had to march around the city once a day for 6 days, with all the armed men. Carry the Ark of the Covenant, ahead of it seven priest should blow rams horns. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times in silence. Then give a long horn blast and all the people should shout as loud as possible. This will cause the walls to collapse. Joshua and the people did just as the Lord said and the city of Jericho fell. The Israelites took over the city and dedicated it to the Lord. Rahab and her family were kept safe, as the two men had promised her.

 Materials required:

·         Brown Bread

·         Jam/chocolate sauce/honey

·         Large container

·         Paper plates

·         Knifes and spoons

·         Bowls

·         Bread knife

Preparations

·         Cut crusts off the bread and cut into brick shaped pieces.

Brandon adding a layer of chocolate sauce

·         Put jam and sauces into bowls

Instructions

1.    Build a wall on a paper plate by sticking the bread together using the jam and sauces as cement.

2.    Then knock it down with a loud shout and eat.

 

In the words of 4 year old Brandon, "The chocolate sauce tastes nicer but the jam sticks the bricks better."

We have more photo's of this activity on our facebook page, just follow the link.

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

Have fun

Moses - burning bush, plagues and the Red sea (in a nut shell)

Exodus 2-14

Pillars of fire sensory bottles

Eli with his Pillar of Fire

This week's simple craft is such an easy one and we had so much fun making them at Toddler Praise today. You do need to plan ahead in order to have enough bottles for each child. I was able to put a request on our Facebook page and between us we had more than enough bottles for all. The kids loved them so much that a few of them made a second bottle to take home to their siblings.

This is a great craft to do with toddlers and also with children with autism and sensory disorders. Both toddlers and children with autism are very sensory, they like things that stimulate their senses and often find them calming or exciting. Children love these sensory bottles; shaking them and watching the glitter swirl around the bottle, in fact some parents were mesmerised by them too. It's possible, if you swirl them well enough and have the right shaped bottle, to make a tornado or maelstrom. These bottles will entertain the children for quite some time, repeatedly shaking them again and again. I work with children with autism, a few weeks ago a colleague prepared these for the children to make in class to illustrate tornados. I thought these would be a great craft to do with our toddlers.

The sensory bottles represent the pillar of fire with which the Lord safely guided the Israelites to the Red Sea. Today's story is covering so much that it was hard to choose which part to make a craft for. Ten plagues are hard to make into a simple craft, so many elements to consider. Making a burning bush is always a good craft to do but I wanted to do something different and I knew the kids would get so much pleasure out of these bottles.

 Today's story

Moses was brought up in the Egyptian palace as the adopted son of the Princess, even though he was a Jew. The Jews were persecuted and enslaved by the Egyptians. When he was a young man, Moses witnessed an Egyptian beating a Jew, this angered Moses so much that he killed the Egyptian. Pharaoh tried to kill Moses, so he fled from Egypt to the land of Midian. Moses lived in Midian for many years, looking after his father-in-laws sheep. Meanwhile the people of Israel were crying out to God, for they were being badly treat by their Egyptian slave masters. One day whilst looking after the sheep, Moses saw a bush on fire but it did not burn, he went over to look, God spoke to Moses saying "I am the God of your forefathers, I have heard my peoples cry and I want you to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery." Moses doubted he could do it and that the people would believe him but God showed Moses a taste of his power by turning a stick into a snake and then back into a stick. God showed Moses many wonders he could perform before the Israelites and Pharaoh to convince them that God was indeed with the Israelites and Moses.

Moses went before Pharaoh with his brother Aaron and they tried to persuade Pharaoh to let God's people go but Pharaoh refused. Then God told Moses to tell Pharaoh that he would turn the river Nile to blood, so all the fishes would die and no one could drink the water. Aaron put his staff over the river Nile and it turned to blood but Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. Then God sent a plague of Frogs but Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. Then God sent a plague of maggots and still Pharaoh would not let them go. Next came a plague of flies and still he would not let then go. After that God killed the livestock: cows, sheep, donkeys, horses, camels… but Pharaoh remained stubborn and would not let the Jewish people go. God caused a plague of boils to affect people and animals but still Pharaoh would not let them go. Next it hailed with hail like no one had ever seen before with great thunder storms. The hail destroyed the crops and plants. Pharaoh agreed to let God's people go but then he changed his mind. Next came the plague of locust that destroyed anything that was left, that the hail hadn't destroyed and again Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go but then he changed his mind. Next the land was covered in darkness and the sun was concealed but still Pharaoh would not release the people. Finally God killed all the firstborns; people and animals in the whole of Egypt except the Israelites. The Angel of death did not pass over the Israelite houses, whose doors were painted with lambs blood. Finally Pharaoh let the Israelite people go.

The Israelites set off for the land promised to them by God. God led them by the desert road towards the Red Sea, he guided them with a pillar of clouds by day and fire by night, always going before them. Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after them. Moses raised his staff over the waters of the Red Sea and they divided, creating a dry path through the waters. The people of Israel passed safely across the Red Sea to the other side but when the army tried to cross after them, the water returned and washed them away. The people of Israel were finally free.

Phew, that was a long one and highly paraphrased.

Materials at the ready

Materials required:

·         Clear plastic bottles, 500ml or 1 litre

·         Red and gold glitter

·         Washing up liquid

·         Water

·         Funnel
 

Instructions:

Noah's bottle ready for water

1.    Pour glitter the into the bottle through a funnel, be generous for a better affect.

2.    Squirt in some washing up liquid but not too much.

3.    Fill with water.

4.    Shake .

 

Give those bottles a good shake

 

Do visit Toddler Praise's Facebook page and post us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Google+ by following the link and icons below.

 

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

 

 

 Now to end on a silly poem:

Moses supposes his toesies are roses,

But Moses supposes erroneously,

Because nobodies toesies are posies of roses,

As Moses supposes his toesies to be.

 

Toesies are toes.

Have fun.

Moses as a baby

Exodus 1, 2: 1-10

Craft - Moses in a floating basket



Moses in his basket

 

At Toddler Praise we have changed our topic; having gone through Jesus life, death and resurrection and then onto Pentecost and the early disciples, we are now going back to the old testament, looking at Moses for the next few weeks.

This week's simple craft requires beads, only a few but beads are not a cheap craft material like most my crafts use. I only buy expensive materials for special occasions, these beads were bought for making Mothers Day gifts last year. Beads are great for threading and kids love them, as well as developing their fine motor skills. At the time, we made key-rings with heart charms but today we are making baby Moses with them. When I buy more expensive materials, I tend to buy them from online shops. I plan ahead to see what's coming up and what I might need to top up on, as well as buying for Sunday school activities. Then I'm only paying postage once or not at all if they have an offer for purchasing more than a certain amount. The site I favour is www.yellowmoon.org.uk (also known as Baker Ross), I find their craft materials to be good quality and good value. They also sell religious craft materials too, which is really useful when you require foam nativity or Easter stickers or need some small crosses. Of course if you are not from Britain, you will need to find a different company. If you know of any other companies, feel free to leave a link in the comments below for others to use and say which country they are in.

The book of Exodus in the old testament is the story of Moses and how he led the Jewish people out of Egypt, to God's promised land of Israel. Saving them from the tyranny of Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt. We are looking at this story for next few weeks, starting today with Moses birth. The Jewish people had grown in number since Joseph and his brothers had settled in Egypt. This frightened the Pharaoh, he was scared that they would rise up against him and fight for his enemies. He decided to make them slaves, he oppressed them and forced them to build great structures and farm the land. The Egyptian slave masters worked them hard and were ruthless. But the Jews grew more in number, the king decided that all boys must be killed at birth but the midwives would not do it. He then ordered that newborn boys should be thrown in the river Nile. Moses was born at this time, his mother hid him for 3 months but he was too noisy. So she made a basket out of papyrus and coated it in tar to make it waterproof. She hid Moses in amongst the reeds on the river Nile. Pharaoh's daughter was walking along the bank of the Nile, when she heard the baby crying. She knew it was a Jewish baby but she took pity on it. Moses sister was keeping a eye on him, she asked Pharaoh's daughter if his mother could be his wet nurse. The princess agreed and when Moses was old enough he went to live in the palace and was brought up as her son.

 

Materials required:

·         Plastic cups (brown would be preferable but any will do)

·         Cotton wool

·         Beads with large holes (2 sizes optional)

·         Pipe cleaners

·         Scrap material

·         Scissors

·         Bowl of water

Prepare before session:

Cut off bottom of the cup

1.    Cut the bottom off the plastic cups, by cutting down the cup from the top until about 2cm from the bottom. Then cut around the cup, take care as the cup easily splits.

2.    Cut pipe cleaners to roughly 2 inch or 5cm lengths.

3.    Cut scrap material down to size to make little blankets.

Instructions:

Thread a larger bead onto the pipe cleaner

1.    Choose a big bead for the head of Moses and thread onto the pipe cleaner. Fold over end of pipe cleaner to secure head. If you only have one size of bead, choose a different colour to the body beads.

2.    Choose 4 smaller beads for Moses body. Fold over the other end of the pipe cleaner to secure body.



3.    With a permanent marker draw eyes and mouth on the head bead. An adult may wish to do this.

4.    Put a ball of cotton wool in the bottom of the cup for soft bedding, place Moses in the middle.

Place Moses on soft bedding

5.    Place blanket over baby Moses, we don't want him to get cold!

6.    When everyone has finished, try floating them all in a bowl of water, or even make a little stream to float down.

A line of Moses' in baskets being washed down a pipe

 

My son had great fun making Moses in his basket with the leftovers from Toddler Praise. He spent a good half hour sliding them down a gutter half pipe, by pouring water down the pipe with a watering can. Lots of fun to be had, especially on a sunny day.

You can visit the Toddler Praise Facebook page by following the link below:

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

If you like this idea don't forget to 'Pin' it on Pinterest, tweet on twitter, share on Facebook, Google+ or email it with the links at the bottom.

Have fun