Christian crafts for kids: ideas for Sunday school, vacation Bible school, CCD classes and home school.
When I was a young mama trying to lose my pregnancy pounds, I enrolled in a Christian aerobics class at a church across town. Do you gals remember Christian aerobics? I’m really dating myself, huh. But the six years I participated in that aerobics class were some of the most pivotal in my life as...
These Helping Hands Accordions were requested. I created these accordions for Dorcas using shirts. These have the same questions and graphics, but have the hands for the main shape.
When we first started Emotional Resilience – Living with the Fruit of the Spirit classes we called it SOZO. However, there was another popular program out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA that…
Tracksmith is an independent running brand. We honor the Amateur Spirit upon which the sport was founded and champion the Running Class – the non-professional yet competitive runners dedicated to the pursuit of personal excellence. We offer well-considered and authentic products for training, racing and recovery. In everything we do, we aim to celebrate, support and add to running’s distinct culture.
Bring some science into your kids play with this shamrock themed science experiment. Kids will love the 'explosion' this experiment creates.
If you are planning on throwing a great prom, homecoming, class reunion, or even senior's ball, you need one of the best dance themes from my list!
This experiment with skittles is colourful, easy and makes a great statement about what we are asking God to do when we pray. In essence, prayers are a way of joining with God and asking him to have an effect on the world and situations around us. We pray because we believe that our prayers, through God's power, will make a difference to the world. In this activity, colour is released from the sweets into the surrounding water, creating a colourful picture, symbolic of how the prayers we raise to God are a way of us joining with Him to release the kingdom here on earth and have an impact. You will need: A bag of skittles, a plate, hot water (not hot enough to scald, but hot enough to make the colour run!) Arrange the skittles in the plate Pour some hot water onto the plate to cover its surface. Pour it carefully so that the skittles stay in place. Wait and the skittles will gradually release their colour Try an alternative... Cover the surface of the plate with water and ask children to pick up a skittle, pray for a person or situation and place the skittle on the plate.
My Promises to God Craft - a simple rainbow craft for kids that incorporates promises they make to God.
This 20 Sunday School Craft Ideas for Fall post provides great ideas for any children’s church program. These ideas can also be done at home with your own kids. Seasonal Bible lessons helps children see God’s face in each part of creation throughout the year. Whether you are a Christian focusing on harvest, autumn or Thanksgiving,...Read More
I love bulletin boards. Have I mentioned that? I love making my bulletin boards art. I love putting art on my bulletin boards. Heck...I'll put almost anything on my boards! Here are a few ideas for quick and funky borders using some non-traditional items that you may have laying around your house. Poker Chips I use poker chips for several different things in my classroom, so I have quite a few on hand. They make a great border, don't they? If you have a metal edged board, you can use a glue gun to attach them. If you are working with a board with a wooden frame, the hot glue may damage it. Use glue dots. I like to layer them for more visual appeal. This bulletin board is a free download which feature the old national music standards. Poker chips hold spray paint well. I've spray painted them gold to use for the gold at the end of a St. Patrick's Day rainbow before and was pleased with the result. Boxes I did a movie theme in my room once upon a time. It was so fun to find new ways to use popcorn boxes and bags. They are inexpensive to purchase (I got mine on Amazon.) and could be reused. Popcorn boxes would be great for movie themed bulletin boards, popcorn words, etc... I have plans to do something similar with small Chinese takeout boxes with my Instruments of China board. Cards It seems that it is completely impossible to keep a full deck of cards at my house. Any kind of cards! That's okay, because they look GREAT as borders for bulletin boards. Uno, Phase 10 and regular playing cards work great for math bulletin boards, rhythm or time signature bulletin boards or maybe even a great trim for a bulletin board that showcases your daily schedule. This set is from a Go Fish set of cards I picked up at the dollar store. Love that they work so well with an ocean or beach theme. Kids love to stop and look for matches even when they are displayed on a bulletin board. Cupcake Papers This is one of my go to looks for making a display really pop. There are so many varieties of cupcake papers available that you can find any color and any theme that you may need. Flatten them out and staple them to your board. I've found that buying complimentary patterns and layering them can really be beautiful. When working with my rock star theme I wanted something metallic that would be a little flashy. It turns out that there is a cupcake paper for that! These little baking cups are so cute at the corners of my rock star alphabet display. I added some glittery foam stickers to embellish them a little. (Classroom teachers see the rock star theme HERE. Music teachers see it HERE.) Duct Tape It doesn't get any easier than this! Look at what a great job duct tape does to cover this older bulletin board. Check out your local discount store for tons of duct tape options. The bulletin board above is from my Number Posters - Rock Star Theme. This is another example of the versatility of duct tape. This is a light blue glittery duct tape. It is displayed on my Soar Into Music board. Legos This is SUCH an eye-catching display! The bulletin board is Minecraft inspired and the Legos (or are these Duplos?) go with the building theme. I used Scotch tape to attach them to my board. For some of the pieces I just laid them on top of one piece and then taped the next block on it so that not every block is taped. This may work better on a board that students can't easily touch. (Classroom teachers take a closer look at the board HERE. Music teachers HERE.) Pool Noodles Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I have a great love for re-purposing pool noodles. I've made ponies, steady beat swords and even workstations. I also just cut them up to make great bulletin board borders! For this fishy bulletin board I wanted them to imitate bubbles. I've attached them with glue dots. You could also use a low-temp hot glue gun to attach them. This bulletin board is called Making Music Together. Notepads They aren't just for note taking! I often use these little gems to add content to bulletin boards. They also make a great (and inexpensive) border. The iPod pad shown above came from Wal-Mart and the composer bulletin board can be found HERE. Paint Chips Paint chips are free and are a perfect way to add visual interest to any bulletin board. On the border above I chose to use two different kinds of paint chips and to create a pattern with them. Paint chips look just as great mixed up and stapled in any order. Staple them so they hang over the edge of the board and overlap. You can learn more about the Let's Talk bulletin board HERE. Plates Even more than I love pool noodles in the classroom, I love plates! When I packed up my room this year I marveled at my collection. I have Zoo Pals (photo above), baseball plates, basketball plates, beach ball plates, watermelon plates, heart plates, square plates, Santa plates and more. I also have colored plates in 3 different sizes and every color you can imagine. I use them for movement and composition activities, but LOVE using them on bulletin boards. I pick them up at discount stores, dollar stores and party supply places. Here are a few examples. The What's Cooking in Music board can be downloaded HERE. The watermelon plates are so fun! This year I found them in a larger, oval size. This bulletin board is part of my Music Burger writing display. Puzzle Pieces Shhh! Don't tell my daughter but sometimes I swipe her old puzzles for school projects! In this instance, it was a jumbo Barney puzzle that had several missing pieces. For the display below I just attached them to the board with glue dots. You might be able to use Scotch tape too. I have painted them before to match a bulletin board. Tissue Paper Like many teachers I have created flowers and pom poms to decorate bulletin boards. They have a huge visual punch and are relatively inexpensive to make. It's very easy to just scrunch it up together and staple it around your board. Creating enough tissue paper flowers to use around the edge of a bulletin board is also pretty, but time consuming. Braiding long strips of tissue papers creates an interesting look and lets you coordinate your border with whatever colors you may need. Song Bugs Bulletin Board Odds and Ends Really, I'll put anything on a bulletin board. I've used socks, fishing poles, candy, lights, my son's overalls and more. For this movie themed bulletin board I used a few View Master reels to accent the corners. Wrapping Paper In my bulletin board kits I often talk about using wrapping paper as a background for your bulletin boards. It can be found in many themes and patterns and often stays bright and colorful without fading for several months. Reversible wrapping paper can also be used to create borders. As you are stapling the paper in place, leave about two inches overlap on each side. Fold this down to reveal the back side of the paper and staple into place. What unusual things have you put on your bulletin boards? I'd love to hear about them or see a picture!
Our very first Zion Kids project was to do craft with the children. The story of the day of David Goliath and we did a google search and found an idea to make 5 stones and bag!! How cool is that!!!!
Teaching Children's Church or Sunday School can sometimes be difficult due to difficult behaviors in church. Here are some tips to help you deal with the behaviors so that you can get back to teaching about Jesus!
I believe God designed us to learn self-control during early childhood but for a number of reasons, this doesn't always happen. Let's be honest--some Bible Object Lessons for Kids Object Lessons About Self Control
In The Book of Mormon, Alma the Younger was the son of the convert Alma. He rebelled against his father’s Christian teachings and sought to destroy the Church.
Lesson: Jesus calls us to follow Him 1. Story: Tell the story of Jesus calling the fishermen to be His disciples from Luke 5:1-11. One day, Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee. People crowded around Him and listened to the word of God. There were two fishing boats at the shore, one belonging to a fisherman named Simon. Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to put the boat a bit further from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat. After he taught the people, he told Simon, “Go to the deep water and put down the nets for a catch.” Simon wasn’t so sure. After all, he was the fisherman. “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.” Simon was tired from being out all night. He didn’t want to try to catch fish again. Yet, somehow, this strange man Jesus seemed to know something he didn’t. So Peter said, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” So Peter and his friends cast the net into the water. And guess what happened?! Suddenly the whole net was full of fishes! There were so many, that the nets began to break! So they called their partners, James and John, to help them! And both boats were soooo full that they began to sink! Suddenly Simon fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will fish for people.” So Simon, James and John pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed Jesus. Act it out: Props: Long table, 2 badminton nets, many cutout card fishes (can be reused for craft) Set up a long table on its sides on the stage to resemble the side of the boat. Pin the cutout card fishes to one of the nets; fill up the net if possible. Hide this net between the table and the wall. (You may want to stick one edge of the net to the back of the table for easy access). Place the other empty net on the stage, visible to the kids. Teacher sits on chair on the stage, as if in a boat, while telling the story. When it comes to putting down the nets, take the empty net and cast it behind the table. Then do a “switch” and pull up the “full” net, slowly, as if it’s very heavy. Call 2 boys to come on stage to help you pull the nets too. When the “full” net is on the stage, let the boys sit down and continue with the rest of the story and lesson. 2. Lesson: Good news for today! When we do things on our own effort, sometimes we get little or no results. Like the fishermen who worked long and hard, through the night. But when Jesus tells you where to go and what to do, the result is more than you can ask for or imagine. Like Simon, we have to realise that no matter how good or clever we are, we cannot be good enough to meet God’s standards. But the good news is, Jesus is good enough! And when we trust in Him, He makes us good enough too. Isn’t that good news? Don’t you want to tell other people how good Jesus is? Once you know how good Jesus is to you, you will be like the fishermen — you will leave everything (your own efforts, your achievements, your strengths) because Jesus is better than whatever we have. And we will want to share His love and grace to all your friends too! 3. Activity Ideas: a. Song: I will make you fishers of man b. Activity Sheet: Fish Maze c. Fishing Memory Verse Prepare 3 sets of 9 fish cutouts (total 27); write on each one:| From | now | on | you | will | fish | for | people | Luke 5:10b | Divide kids into 3 groups. Pass each group a set of jumbled up fish cutouts and let them arrange them to form the verse. d. Craft: Fish Card Each kid gets a cutout card fish (can use the same ones used in the story telling). Have them write the memory verse on one side of the fish. On the other side, let them write the name of a friend that they’d like to share the good news of Jesus with. Lead them to pray for the friends who do not yet know Jesus’ love and goodness. ***** Youth Bible Study Leader's Guide Jesus calls us to follow Him Read Luke 5:1-8 Jesus' Life: Jesus calls us to follow Him Read Luke 5:1-8 1. Where was Jesus in this story? By the Lake of Gennesaret (or the Sea of Galilee) 2. Where did Jesus preach from? Simon’s fishing boat. 3. What did Jesus tell Simon to do after he finished speaking? To put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. 4. How did Simon Peter respond? How do you think he felt? “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Simon was tired from being out all night. He didn’t want to try to catch fish again. After all, he was the fisherman, the “expert”. Yet, somehow, this strange man Jesus seemed to know something he didn’t, so he obeyed. 5. What happened next? They caught a large number of fish until their nets began to break. Then they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and both boats were so full until they began to sink. 6. What was Simon’s response to this miracle? He fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 7. What did Jesus say? And how did the fishermen respond? “Don’t be afraid; from now on, you will fish for people.” Then Simon, James and John pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed Jesus. · Lesson: o When we do things on our own effort, sometimes we get little or no results. Like the fishermen who worked long and hard, through the night. But when Jesus tells you where to go and what to do, the result is more than you can ask for or imagine. o Like Simon, we have to realise that no matter how good or clever we are, we cannot be good enough to meet God’s standards. o But the good news is, Jesus is good enough! And when we trust in Him, He makes us good enough too. Isn’t that good news? Don’t you want to tell other people how good Jesus is? o Once you know how good Jesus is to you, you will be like the fishermen — you will leave everything (your own efforts, your achievements, your strengths) because Jesus is better than whatever we have. And we will want to share His love and grace to all your friends too! 8. Who is one person whom you would like to tell about Jesus? _________________________________________________________________
Description: The bowl represents us as an individual, we are vessels that hold many things. But sometimes we break and need to be put back together. Our brokenness changes us, makes us who we are. …
Use these Bible crafts to help children understand the meaning of forgiveness and mercy. They are perfect learning activities for any Sunday School Bible lesson about forgiving others. Download the PDF printable craft directions, watch our demonstration video, and gather your project supplies.
I had this photo printed at Costco, and on the back I put President Monson's 3 R's of Choice. I went with an Alice and Wonderland Theme. I was reading through Pres. Monson's talk titled the 3 R's of Choice and he referenced the movie Alice and Wonderland when she meets the Cheshire cat on the pathway and asks which way to go. I found the clip on you tube (only 3 min long), downloaded it and showed it to the class. After we watched the clip, I asked them if they ever felt like Alice did, not knowing which direction to take. I then made this relation and put it on the board: Alice=You Cheshire Cat=Influences Path=Consequences Conscience/Moral Compass= Our Values I have a print out of these at the end of this post. It was nice to put them on the board as a Visual Reminder to the girls. After we had talked about all of this, I then made a quiz for the girls to fill out. I wanted to teach them that when we understand our values, we can understand what choices to make. We actually went through the quiz together. I stopped on every question, added my thoughts and asked for experiences and feedback. It turned out incredibly wonderful! I also used some of the talk by President Monson, when appropriate. As a hand out, I bought some Little Debbie cakes and wrote on them with Frosting: "Eat Me", just to go with the Alice and Wonderland theme. I wrapped them in cellophane and added this vintage Alice tag. If you want any of the printables, you can find them listed below: Alice and Wonderland Visual Aid for board Who am I Values Quiz 3 R's of Choice for back of picture Vintage Alice Tag Alice and Wonderland Video from You Tube- (to dowload the video, click on the url address and type in the word "kiss" in front of the "you" in youtube. It takes you to another site that will let you download it. Click "run" and select the quality. So simple and it works!!!) Alice and Cheshire Cat Picture with Quote- You should be able to right click and save to your computer. And if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment! My lesson was so successful and I presented it in memorable way using characters that were familiar to them.
The four corners icebreaker game is one of my favorites! It's quick and easy. It will get people up and moving. Read the full directions here.