Advent Labyrinth - Journey to Christmas

It's been a while since my last blog, after 6 years of running Toddler Praise Mum's and Tot's group, I had to suddenly give up. This was due to my hours at work changing but the Lord leads us on to do other things, so I guess my time was over. My husband with the help of others still runs the group but sadly without the bible crafts that I produced to go with the theme.

There is another reason I haven't blogged for a while, I downloaded Microsoft 10, which wasn't compatible with Blogger. If you are reading this then I guess those issues have now been sorted, otherwise I'm writing this to no avail.

This weekend we  had a joint service for all 8 churches in our cluster of north Scarborough churches.  The guest speakers were the wonderful couple and writers, Adrian and Bridget Plass and singer/songwriter Rob Halligan (check him out he's really good). I found myself on Sunday school duty and needing to prepare something for an unknown number of children and an unknown age range.

As it was Advent Sunday I decided to focus on advent as being a Journey to Christmas, a time of preparing our heads and hearts for the birth of Jesus. A labyrinth seemed an obvious way of presenting a journey, with different simple activities on the way and Jesus being at the centre. The activities were kept simple as they are symbolic, although the suitcase craft does take a bit of time, allowing it to be a good gathering craft, while everyone is arriving.

Station 7- Pipe cleaner 'selfs' in the nativity.

Labyrinth

With the nativity at the centre, the labyrinth is set up as a spiral around the room with stations of prayer or craft along the route.

The nativity is at the centre of the room because throughout advent we are preparing for Jesus, it is our focus. The labyrinth is a spiral because day by day in all that we do we are getting closer. The labyrinth needs a distinct path, made in any way, chairs, rope, fairy lights, chalk etc…

Station 1 - My journey

Advent is a time of preparation for the birth of Jesus, preparing our hearts to let Jesus in. It can be considered as a journey, although not a physical one but a journey for our heads and hearts.

Make a person out of pipe cleaners to represent yourself on a Journey to Christmas, carry it with you as you go around the labyrinth.

Station 1 - Make a pipe cleaner 'self'

Station 2 - Preparations for a Journey

Before we go on a journey we need to prepare: where shall we go, what shall we take with us, what are we going to eat, have we got tickets, passports, filled the car with petrol, whose going to look after the pets, are the bills paid, plants watered. So many things to consider. Mary and Joseph also had to prepare for their long journey, what would they be able to carry on their long journey to Bethlehem and what would they need for the baby who was going to be born.

Draw and cut out things we need when we go on a journey and things Mary and Joseph would have needed. On one side of the suitcase (box) stick what we need and on the other, what Mary and Joseph would have needed.

We were given wooden cigar boxes, which we used as suitcases, any box could be used or draw an open suitcase onto A4 paper.

Station 2 - Pack a suitcase for a journey

Station 3 - Prayer Chain

Israel was under occupation by Romans soldiers, all citizens had be called back to their birth towns for the census. The roads were very busy with people travelling and Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem with them.

Prayer paper chain - pray for countries affected by war and natural disasters and all people displaced by them. Write on a strip of paper a situation in the world you want to pray for, then attach it to the chain.

Ready gummed paper chains.

Station 3 - A prayer paper chain

Station 4 - The Journey

It was a journey of 70 miles to Bethlehem from Nazareth, walking all the way, they possibly had a donkey but the bible doesn't mention it. Mary and Joseph would have had to face many obstacles on their journey, mountains to climb, rivers to cross, roadside robbers to avoid, wild animals, where would they sleep. All the time Mary was heavily pregnant.

We have obstacles to negotiate before we arrive at the stable too. Many things we have to do before Christmas arrives; school, work, presents to buy, cards to write, concerts and nativity plays, homework to complete, people to visit.

Continue on your journey through the Labyrinth by negotiating the obstacles.

Build an obstacle course out of whatever you have to hand, chairs, tables, slides, tunnels, anything as long as it's safe.

Station 5 - The Shepherds

The Angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem and proclaimed the good news of Jesus birth. The Shepherds left their sheep in the fields and journeyed into Bethlehem to see the new King, the Good Shepherd who had been born.

Make a little sheep and on it write the name of someone you want to thank God for, someone who has shepherd you, led you, taught you, loved you, shown you the way to go.

Station 5 - Sheep prayers

Station 6 - The Magi

The Magi were star gazers, interpreting the future in the stars. They witnessed the birth of a new star, which heralded the birth of the King of the Jews. The Magi followed the star to Bethlehem, where they found Jesus, they bowed down and worshiped him and gave him gifts worthy of a king; Gold Frankincense and Myrrh.

Decorate a star as a Christmas decoration, a reminder throughout advent and Christmas of Jesus the King of all.

Station 6 - Follow the star to Bethlehem

Station 7 - Baby Jesus

See the tiny baby at the centre of the Nativity, a helpless baby born to be king of all people. Spend a few moments thinking about this remarkable baby.

Place your pipe cleaner self in the nativity as a symbol that you want Jesus at the centre of your Christmas and your life. You can collect your pipe cleaner self after the service if you wish to keep it, maybe put it in your own nativity scene at home.

Water Wall

Evangelism - passing on the love of God to others

My sons with their newly created water wall.

It's been a few weeks since I last posted a blog, due to there being no Toddler Praise because of the school summer break. However I did promise to post something during this time. We all need ideas of how to keep our children entertained, especially when there is seven weeks to entertain them for. Here is a fun and cheap activity that uses those plastic bottles we all end up with tons of and it will keep the kids entertained for the afternoon. This is clearly not something a pre-schooler can make, my nine year old struggled cutting some of the bottles but it would make a fun water play area at a nursery or pre-school. It doesn't have to be made out of plastic bottles either, anything that will allow water to flow through it will work. I got this idea from Pinterest, search for water wall or kids water chutes and allsorts of ideas that maybe more appropriate will come up.

Materials required:

·       An old trellis or something similar

·       Plastic bottles

·       Scissors and craft knife

·       String

·       Garden wire

Instructions:

1.    Cut holes in the plastic bottles, either down the side or cut the bottom off.

2.    Arrange on trellis and fix in place with garden wire or string; wire is best

3.    Check the bottles are positioned right before completing, by pouring water through the bottles.

4.    Attach to wall or hedge or anything else where it can stand up right.

As can be seen from the picture, our water wall pours into a length of guttering and then into the sandpit lid.

There is no particular biblical intention to this activity but if you require one, here's a tenuous connection.

We all come in different shapes and size like the bottles but each of us is required to pass the good news of God's love for us and what Jesus did for us, from one to another. Occasionally the creator may need to reposition us, so we carry on pouring the love of God onto others more efficiently.

There you go, have you ever considered pouring bottles to be symbolic of evangelism before. No, me neither, not before this afternoon.

Have fun

The Lost Sheep - Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:1-7

Sheep Biscuits

Jazzy Sheep biscuits

Busy table of decorators

Today was the last Toddler Praise of the academic year, now for 7 weeks off before we start again in September. It's always a sad day, as we have to say goodbye to children who have given so much to our group, we will miss them. At this time of year I always worry, will we get new toddlers and babies next term/year. We are not a big group, afternoons are such a difficult time for tots, as they often sleep then but it's the time we can give. We just have to trust that God will provide in the new term.

This may be the last blog for seven weeks about our weekly crafts but I may well blog during the summer break.

The younger ones having a go

Because it is the last week I wanted to do a great craft to end on and nothing proves more popular than a food craft. We don't have any means of cooking in our church hall, so I pre-baked the biscuits before the day, for the children to decorate them. The recipe made over 40 biscuits, meaning the children could decorate a few each. It's such an easy recipe to do. This does require having a sheep biscuit cutter, I have two, if you don't have one I do recommend getting one if you can because they are very useful, I've baked so many sheep biscuits over the years. Other cutters useful to have when you are doing bible related stories are a fish, an angels and a star, they also appear a lot too.

The story

Jack's sheep

The parable of the lost sheep must be one of the most well known of Jesus' parables. There is no shortage of children's story books based on it. It is such a lovely story of hope, that no one who strays from God is ever forgotten, God will seek them out and will rejoice when they return to him.



Jesus was associating with sinners and the dreaded tax collectors, this caused the Pharisees to mutter, they did not approve of Jesus eating and drink with such unholy people. Jesus told them a parable. A shepherd looked after 100 sheep but one went astray. Making sure the ninety nine sheep were safe, he went out looking for his lost sheep; checking hills and dales, rivers and rock faces, caves and forests, he went all over looking for his sheep. When he found it, he flung it over his shoulders and returned home. He called out to his neighbours, saying "Rejoice with me I have found my lost sheep." Jesus told the Pharisee's that there is more rejoicing in heaven over a sinner who returns to the father, than over those who do not go astray.

Eli's happy with his biscuits

Jesus told many similar parables giving hope to sinners and they flocked to him. At last they were welcome in kingdom of heaven, even if they were not welcome in the synagogue. God loves everyone, no matter what they have done or who they are, all are welcome.

 

Basic biscuit recipe - makes approx 40

40+ sheep ready to go

100g/4oz/ half cup butter or margarine,

100g/4oz/ half cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 egg beaten

5 ml/1tsp vanilla extract

225g/8oz/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour

 

·         Wisk together the butter/margarine and the sugar until light and fluffy.

·         Gradually beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

Cut and place on baking tray

·         Fold in the flour and knead into a dough.

·         Wrap in cling film (plastic food wrap) and chill for a hour.

·         Roll out dough fairly thinly and cut with cutter of choice.

·         Place on greased baking try and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200^oC/ 400^oF/ or gas mark 6 for 10 mins.

Decorations ready

We used chocolate sauce, jam and icing to decorate, topped with sprinkles, smarties and rainbow buttons. Decorate them anyway you wish.

For more photo's of our craft check out our Facebook page, follow the link below.

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

 

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