Category: Arts and Crafts

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Captives in Babylon

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Prayer Chain Activity

I just finished participating in a 3 day holiday programme where we had 3 different lessons from the book of Daniel.

In the first day we studied Daniel chapter 1 and talked about how Daniel and his friends were taken into captivity by the Babylonians.

Then we covered the story of Daniel and the King’s Food and talked about how Daniel and his friends respected God and respected themselves enough to eat the healthy food God allowed instead of what the Babylonian King offered from his table.

Here are some of the activities we did…

Prayer Chains: 

During the prayer time we talked about how God was with Daniel and his friends even when they were chained and forced to leave their homes and families.  God heard Daniel’s prayers and he hears us when we pray.  We wrote prayer requests on slips of paper and put them together into chains.  Then we took turns choosing links of the chain and praying the requests.  In the end everyone joined their chains together to make one very long chain.

Prayer Chains

 

Healthy Food Place-mats:

Daniel and his friends refused to eat the food that King Nebuchadnezzar offered because it was food that God did not allow his people to eat.  Instead they chose the healthy food that was approved by God.  We pre-cut place-mats from burlap (hessian) fabric and then provided fabric glue and fabric pictures of healthy food so the children could decorate the place-mats.

Healthy Food Place-mats

 

Taste-Testing Food:

The children loved this one!  We placed small amounts of food in cups and then blind-folded one child at a time so they could taste the food and guess what it was.  Each child tasted one food item  The other children got to watch the facial expressions of the one testing the food.

Our aim was a variety of tastes including sour, sweet, bitter and salty.  So we chose lemon juice, chocolate sauce, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, honey and fish sauce.

taste testing cups

Crayon Resist- Using Art for Teaching

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Surprises Are Fun!

You will prepare a white paper before class by drawing or writing something on it with a white crayon.  Nothing is visible to the children at first but your drawing will begin to appear when you apply paint to the white paper.

This is a simple idea for teaching or artwork and it can be adapted to any lesson or subject.

Watch the video instructions here.

Supplies you will need:

  • White paper
  • White crayon (or a white candle will work too).
  • Paint (Water based paint.  I like using tempera paint with children because it is washable but any water-based paint like acrylic will do.)
  • Paint brush or sponge to apply the paint.

Instructions:

  1. Plan the picture or writing.
  2. Use the white crayon or candle to draw a picture or words on the white paper.  Because this is white crayon on white paper the paper will appear to be blank.
  3. Use the paint brush or sponge to apply the paint to the white paper.
  4. The paint will soak into the paper but not into the parts covered in wax.  Whatever you have drawn with the white crayon will “appear” as you apply the paint.

Helpful Hints:

  • You can use a black pen to do the writing or drawing first and then place the blank white paper over it and trace it.
  • Prepare this in sunlight or near a lamp so the wax will reflect and you can more easily see what you have drawn.
  • Apply the paint to some blank areas before you reveal the picture.  Kids love surprises so draw out the suspense a little.
  • Experiment beforehand with the consistency of the paint so it won’t be too thick or too thin.

Applications:

  • Use this idea to tell the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and Valuable Pearl.  Use brown paint to depict the treasure being found when the man was digging in the dirt.  On another paper draw lots of little pearls and one huge one.
  • Write a memory verse or important word from a story and let the children guess what it is before you apply the paint.
  • Use a black pen to draw part of a picture but leave parts blank.  The missing parts will appear as you tell the story.
  • Guide the children in creating their own hidden picture.

Widow’s Mite: Coin Magnet Craft

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I haven’t covered the story of the Widow’s Mite on my website yet but I came up with this craft for a recent class and wanted to share it.

Click here for printable instructions and pattern.

Supplies: 

  • Small coins:  Foreign ones are more fun.
  • Magnets:  These can be flat magnets or magnet strips.
  • Glue, double-sided tape or glue dots that are suitable for both metal and paper.
  • Pattern printed on thick coloured paper (one for each child)

Instructions:

  1. Cut out patterns.
  2. Attach magnet to back of paper with glue or other method.
  3. Attach coin to paper in the circular area in the middle.
  4. Decorate if you wish.

Note:  Depending on their metal content some coins will actually stick on the magnets with no glue at all.