Jacob's Ladder Hidden Picture Story and Painting.

One of the key themes in the story of Jacob's ladder is that of God's presence with us, even though we can't see Him.  Jacob lies down to dream and wakes to realise that where he was, God was all along.  This activity explores that theme.

I did this to tell the story to the children.  After you have told them the story, they can make their own hidden picture paintings, exploring where God is with them in their everyday lives.

You will need: White wax crayons, white paper, watered down paint, paintbrushes, 

I used a flipchart sized piece of paper for the story telling so that all the children could clearly see what was happening ( I did this in an assembly!).  Use whatever size of paper is most suitable for your group.

 Use the wax crayons to draw a ladder and some angels on the paper.  At the top of the paper write 'God is here!'

Tell the story to the children and gradually reveal the ladder and the angels by painting over the top with the coloured paint.  The wax will resist the paint and you will see the drawings!  Reveal the writing and talk about the fact that God was there with Jacob even though he didn't realise it until he had the dream, and God is with us all of the time too- even if we can't see him (just like the drawings were there even though we couldn't see them at first).  Use this to discuss times when God was there for us unexpectedly. 

Body of Christ Cotton Bud (Q-Tip) Painting

This craft will give children the chance to creatively and visually reflect on the make up of the body of Christ- different people with different gifts but belonging to the same Christian family and working together for Jesus.  Plus it involves paint and that's always good!  This probably works best after some discussion of 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27. 

You will need: cotton buds, card or paper, paint 

Cut the card or paper into a cross shape or  faintly draw a cross shape on the page. Ask children to dip their cotton buds into the paint and make dots of colour to cover the cross shape. You will need lots of cotton buds so that colours don’t accidentally mixed together!  Children can use colours and patterns that reflect themselves and the personalities of other Christians that they know.

Think about:

How many parts of the human body can you name?  What jobs do they do?  How are they different from each other? Are there any we don't need?

Which parts of the body can't you see?  Do you know what they do?

Think about the different people in your family and the different personalities and gifts they bring even though they are one family unit.

What different things do Christians do to show they belong to Jesus and the Christian family? In church? At home? At work/ school?

What could you do to show you are part of the Christian family?  What gifts do you think that God has given you?

Pray:

Look at all the different coloured dots on your painting and thank God for all the different people who are doing different things but working together for Jesus

Jesus turns water into wine: exploring the story with under 5s

Under 5s love to explore stories through play so here are some ideas to help with the story of Jesus turning water into wine!

Use some glitter and water to make red and blue reflection bottles and play with red and blue ribbon streamers (blue for the water and red for the wine!)

Have some water play (ever popular!)

Play some party games and/or make some party hats to reflect the idea of the celebration of the wedding...

Play with pretend foods, cups, plates etc to add to the party feel.

Act out the story with bible story figures.

Secretly add some red food colouring to the bottom of a jug, then, with the children watching, pour a bottle of flavoured water into the jug.  They will see the water change colour as it goes into the jug!

Use food colouring to colour some water (make the colour quite strong). Give each child two sheets of absorbent kitchen roll (one on top of the other to make a double layer), then let them use droppers to make some 'wine and water' artwork!

Printable Baptism of Jesus Spinner

This easy-to-make spinner is a surprisingly effective way to see the dove descending on Jesus' head when he is baptised!

Click here to print out the PDF.

You will need: Colouring pencils, scissors, glue, sellotape, a straw

Cut out the picture section and colour it in.

Fold down the middle and turn over.  Sellotape a straw to the middle of one half of the sheet and glue round the edges of the other half of the sheet.  Glue the halves together, like so...

Now swizzle the straw between your hands and watch the dove appear over Jesus' head!