Boy Jesus at the Temple

Where is Jesus?Luke 2:41-52

Children have fun looking for Jesus in this precious little flip book.  After telling the story of Jesus as a boy staying behind in Jerusalem and his parents looking everywhere for him, the preschoolers can make this little flip book to help them retell the story.  They will be looking everywhere for Jesus.  Is Jesus in the tent? No.  Is he in the tree?  No.  Is he hiding behind a rock? No.  Where can Jesus be?

Materials Needed:

1. 3 pieces of construction paper 
2. Various items that Jesus could have been behind cut out from paper.  (I used a tree, tent, rock, camel, and finally a small temple die cut)
3. Tape
4. Stapler
5. Sticker of boy Jesus or a printed out picture of Him

Instructions:  

1. Lay the construction paper down on a table portrait style. Cut the three pieces of construction paper in half.  This will make two books.
2. Get 3 of the smaller pages. Fold them in half to make a book.  Put two staples in the spine of the book to hold it together.
3. Print out the title or write the title on the first page.  Title and Words
4. Let the children glue on the title and tape the pieces on each page as follows:
1. Glue the title on the cover page of the book.
2. On the first page, tape the tent to the page.  Put tape at the top of the tent. Only put one small piece of tape at the top so the children can lift up the tent and see if Jesus is there.

3.  On the second page, tape the tree to the page.  Put one piece at the top of the tree so children can lift it up to see if Jesus is there.

4. On the third page, tape the rock to the page.  This time, have the children put tape at the bottom or the side of the rock (just to add enjoyment and variation).

 5. On the fourth page, tape the camel.  Put the tape in a different spot so the camel will be lifted a different way.

 6. On the last page, put a sticker or glue a printed out boy Jesus in the middle of the page. Tape the temple cutout where it can be lifted and the children can find Jesus.

7. If desired, have the children glue the words to the top or bottom of each page. On the back of the book, have the children glue the Bible story.

8.  Go back through the book and have the children practice "reading" it to you so they can tell others this story.  

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Angel Gabriel Tells Mary about Jesus

Luke 1:26-38

Angel Appears to Joseph

Matthew 1-18-25

Make the house from a brown paper bag (mine happens to be a gift sack so the kids can carry it home a little easier.  Start by opening the bag.  Cut a hole only in the front of the sack in the shape seen above.  

The characters are made with the Cricut machine using the Noah's ABC Animals because this cartridge had 3D characters.

When telling this story, use the pieces according to the Bible Story.  I made a set for each child and let them retell both stories before taking it home.

I have made 3D people for years using a pattern like the one pictured below. Click on the picture below to print the pattern. When I found the Cricut cartridge that would add few details, I chose to use it instead.

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Esther Blacklight Story

Esther

One way to tell a story is by using blacklight.  A super easy way to make a blacklight story is to simply cut out pieces using flourescent paper. I used flourescent poster board so the pieces would be sturdier.  You can use copy weight paper and glue it onto black paper for a similar result. (I like to test my paper under the blacklight before cutting out my pieces as I have found some papers react to the blacklight differently than I thought they would.)

I cut out these pieces using patterns from a book entitled Shadows of Imaginality by Beverly Scott and Jana Smith.  (The book is no longer in print so they graciously gave me permission to put the patterns on the blog.  A huge THANK YOU goes out to them as I use these patterns for many things!)

I enlarged the patterns for the people to make them larger.  I did not have a table pattern so just free-handed a table with items on it. 

The children love the fact they they can move them and tell the retell the story using these pieces and a blacklight.  The people can be flipped over to be facing a different direction too.

Use these patterns for the scene.

Another option for this story is to print out the patterns as they are.  Cut around them.  Place the black pieces on an overhead projector and have the life size images showing on the wall.

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Adam and Eve Craft

Adam and Eve

Genesis 2

For this craft, we purchased these die cut people purchased at a teacher's supply store such as Mardel's; though you could easily find a gingerbread man type of pattern on the internet.  The kids cut Eve's clothes out of animal print tissue paper and glued them on using a glue stick.  For Adam's clothes, they used a leaf stamp. When they were finished, the children drew hair or glued yarn hair on each one (not pictured here).

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Moses Climbs Mt. Sinai

Moses Climbs Mt. Sinai

Exodus 19 - 20

Moses gets to climb Mt. Sinai (with the help of a few strings).  Watch the video to see the full effect.

Instructions:

1. Print and cut out the Moses in color or in black and white.  Then Ten Commandments are not connected.  This is on purpose so that when you begin telling the story (when Moses is at the bottom of the mountain), he does not have the Ten Commandments. When he reaches the top, tape the Ten Commandments onto his hands and help him "climb" down.
2. Cut two pieces of a straw about 2 inches long.
3. Tape the straw to the back of Moses at a slant.  Make sure the widest part of the slant is at the bottom. See picture below.

1. Cut two pieces of string around 22 inches long.
2. Slide one piece of string through one straw.
3. Tie a bead on the end of the string so it won't go back through the straw.
4. Repeat those steps for the other string.
5. Tie the other end of the strings to a popsicle type stick that has grooves in it so it won't slide on the stick.  (See picture below.  These sticks were found at Hobby Lobby.)

1. Cut another piece of string about 12 inches long. 
2. Tie it around the center of the stick but tie the string in one large loop like a necklace or bracelet.  Since there is no groove on the stick to hold it in place, tape it in place.
3. This string can be hung on a doorknob and Moses can climb there (without the mountain).  This is what I do when I allow the children to make one of these to take home.  They don't make a mountain.
4. To make Moses climb, pull on each string alternately like in the video.  
5. To let Moses come back down from Mt. Sinai, just let the natural weight of Moses slide down the string by letting the string go.

The Moses pattern was made with clip art from the book Bible Story Clip and Copy Patterns by Corbin Hillam.  This is one of my favorite books to use as patterns for many, many things!  This precious book is no longer in print, so Mr. Hillam has graciously allowed me to give you the pattern for free.  He has produced a CD with the art from this book.  The drawings are fantastic!  If you would like to purchase a CD for $15, you can contact him at corbinhillam@yahoo.com.  It is well worth the money!  Other items by him can be seen at www.corbinhillamdesign.weebly.com.

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Cake Decorations as King's Palace

We used cake decorating steps and cake decorating pedestals to make a storytelling prop for telling stories that include king's or queens.  This could be used for the story of Esther, Hezekiah's Illness, or many other stories with kings and queens. Pin It

Aaron's' Staff Turns to Snake Storytelling

Aaron's Staff Turns to a Snake

Exodus 7:8-13

I found these large plastic snakes in the toy section of Dollar Tree.  (I found some similar ones that are much, much smaller in the birthday party favor section.) When telling the story, I give each of the children one of the small ones.  They hold it so that you can only see the blank yellow side.  This is the "staff" or "rod".  

I use the larger snake. Actually, I purchased two of them, disconnected the head from one of them, and joined the two snakes to make one really long one. I hold the head in my hand and let the rest fall straight down by my side showing the blank side.  This is Aaron's rod.

When I throw down my "rod", I make sure to turn it so that it falls with the snake skin showing.  My rod turned into a snake.

Then Pharoah's magicians did the same thing.  So the children toss theirs down and all of theirs become snakes as well. 

I let the children take the little snakes home so they can retell the story.

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