Sunday, March 24, 2013

Clothesline Storytelling


The Miraculous Catch of Fish and Breakfast on the Beach
John 21:1-14

The children act out the story by standing behind the clothes that belong to their character in the story.  As I tell the story, they say their lines (prompted by me) and act by moving their hands or picking up props.  The children thoroughly enjoy this type of storytelling activity because they don't actually have to put the clothes on.  They just stand behind them.  I started with these simple "clothes" made simply by draping fabric over the clothesline - no sewing at all.  I started out with just a few props such as the net and some homemade fish. 

I created clothesline poles to hold my clothesline rope.  (Make sure these poles can hold a little weight without tipping over.)  Then I hung a rope between the two poles low enough for the children to see over.  For these "clothes", I just draped striped and solid fabric over the rope and made a small belt from the same fabric. (Just a strip of fabric - no sewing.)

For Jesus, since he was standing alone, I just draped the fabric over a chair and draped a small piece of blue fabric on top.
After doing this story, I went to garage sales and picked up some cute dress-up clothes such as a Belle costume (from Beauty and the Beast) that I use clothespins and pin on the line for Esther, some king costumes as well as many others that work for other Bible stories. The ideas are endless! I found some crowns they can wear as well as some cute beards (on sale right after Halloween) that I glued onto card stock and put a tongue depressor on the bottom as a handle.  The children can hold this in front of their face like a handheld mask. 

I got the idea for this from a book entitled Crazy Clothesline Characters by Carol Mader (available at Amazon). 


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Rich Young Ruler Application


Rich Young Ruler
Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30
These Frixion pens are like magic!  The eraser on the end causes heat (or friction) which makes the ink disappear. The concept is totally different than any other erasable pen.  If heat is what makes the ink disappear, just imagine the possibilities

Watch the video below to see a unique and "magical" application when telling the story of the Rich Young Ruler.  

I found these pens at Staples and Walgreens.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Fabric Tent


Fabric Tent

I made this easy fabric tent so that all the children in my class (22-25) could fit inside while I tell the Bible story. I bought the fabric on a clearance aisle at Wal-Mart.  I have used this for many stories about Moses, Abraham and Sarah, Paul, etc.

It takes about 5- 10 minutes to set up and take down and stores very easily.  For instructions (with photos), click here.

I used approximately 7 yards of fabric that was 60 inches wide.


Monday, March 4, 2013

Children of the World Pop-Up Book




Jesus and the Children

I recently found some really cute border for a bulletin board that had these precious children of the world on it.  I cut out the children and made this pop-up book.  The words on each page are the words to the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children".  I made the pop-up part of each page where there is white space on the page but you can be creative and put it together however you see fit.  For the cover, I glued one page from a cute notepad to the front. Then I cut the rest of the book to match the shape of the cover. The cover can be done any way you like.
If you would like instructions for how to make a pop-up book, click here.
For the pages, click on names listed below: