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.

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