Saul's Conversion Blacklight Story

Saul's Conversion

Acts 9:1-19

I drew this picture  on 1/2 of an off white sheet.  I used a coloring page for a pattern and blew it up on an overhead projector.  I just traced the outlines with a fabric pen then painted over the lines that I wanted to glow with glow in the dark paint (from the local craft store).  I heat set it in the dryer. It can be used as a glow in the dark picture or used with a blacklight.  

After telling the story, I let the children make the "Saul's Conversion Take Home" (Click on the word Saul on the index at the right to find this craft.)  The children then have their own version of this picture so they can go and tell others the story in a unique way.

Altoid Tin Fishing Game

Altoid Tins make great crafts.  I took this one and spray painted it blue. This is a game for older children as the pieces can be pretty small.

I cut out some small fish from fun foam and hot glued magnets on the back of each one.  I made a small fishing pole with a string attached (and a magnet on the end of the string).  I have used this game when teaching about Tax Money in a Fish (Matthew 17:24-27).  I glue a small paper coin on the back of one fish and they have to find it.  I have also used this game for Jesus Calling His Disciples or  "Fishers of Men".  I wrote the names of the apostles on each fish and they had to fish out each one and put them in the order in which they were called. 

Night Night Peek-a-boo Book

The children really enjoy this little Peek-a-boo book.  They love looking under each flap to see what is there (even though they were the ones who put the stickers there).  This is a small sampling of the book.  For a full page with photos of how the completed book is done, click here.
I die cut some pieces for the children to tape on to become the flaps.  (I have used the Cricket machine for this as well.) The pieces are flowers, trees, waves, rocks, etc.  The children then put the animal stickers under the flaps and fold the flaps closed.  Then they put star stickers on the top of each page to make a starry night.
The words are "Night night little ______ God loves you.  He watches over you all night through."  This is a song to the tune of "Baa, Baa Black Sheep." (The song was adapted from "Good Night Little ___" from See and Know Bible Songs by Lois Whitaker at www.seeandknow.com. Used with permission.)
When the book is complete, we sing each page.  The kids are thrilled to see what is under each flap!

Goliath Game

David and Goliath

I Samuel 17

Whack Goliath in the head!  Here's how to make it:

1. Gather materials (Styrofoam or other small cup, a sturdy picture of Goliath (from a coloring page), a string, a cotton ball, and some tape.)
2. Tape the Goliath picure to the cup.
3. Tape one end of the string to the bottom of the cup.
4. Tape the other end of the string to the cotton ball. (I wrapped the tape all the way around the cotton ball.)
5. Play the game by picking up the cup and swinging the cotton ball on the string until it hits Goliath on the head.

Isaac Gets a Wife PowerPoint

Genesis 24

A friend and I made this PowerPoint to tell the story of Isaac getting a wife. We intentionally left off the words.  The story is from the NIV. 

Sometimes I print out the pictures to make small books for younger children.  I type up a paraphrased story that would be easy for them to read (or be read to).  For older children, I print out the pictures, make a booklet, and have the kids write the words to the story.  

When I don't have access to a laptop for Bible class, I print the pictures and make a flipchart.

Isaac Gets a Wife PowerPoint

Ways to Make Gold Jewelry

There are many ways to make gold jewelry for stories about Egypt, the Golden Calf, the Building of the Tabernacle, Esther, etc.  Pictured above is wired Christmas ribbon folded in half and stitched together at the ends.

These are loose leaf O rings with pony beads on them all spray painted gold.  These fit around a child's ear pretty easily.

 This bracelet is made from gold elastic string with glittery gold beads.

This necklace is made from a juice can lid spray painted gold with a hole punched in it.  The "jewels" are little girl's stick on earrings.  The string is just plain gold string.  I made a larger necklace like this using those clear CD's that come at the top of a package of blank CD's or DVD's.  I spray painted it gold and hot glued larger "jewels" (beads with flat backs purchased at the craft store).  I strung the string through the hole in the middle of the CD.  I like to use that one with Pharoah or Egyptian women.

Joseph's Coat

Joseph's Coat

Genesis 37

Cut the shape of a robe out of a coffee filter. Lay a paper towel or paper sack under the robe.  Let the children color on it with WASHABLE markers.  Let the children use a squirt bottle and generously spray the robe with water.  Watch the colors run!  Let dry.

Lost Coin Flashlight Book

 Parable of the Lost Coin

Luke 15:8-10

When telling the story of the lost coin, I make a small booklet like this for each child. One page has a bedroom scene, one a living room scene, etc. In each picture, there is a hidden coin.  Children are to use their paper flashlight to look for the lost coin.  When the paper flashlight is placed between the picture (which is on a transparency) and the black paper, the picture really "pops" out.  It is a truly amazing effect.  Watch the video below to see how to make it.

Unfortunately, the camera gives away too much of the bedroom scene (as does the video camera in the video below).   The black paper behind the picture is much darker in person which makes it difficult to see the bedroom scene. You don't want the children to see too much of the scene until they use their paper flashlight to look at it.

I have remade the pages for this booklet using free clipart from the web in black and white.  

Lost Coin Flashlight Book

Moses

 

I found this "Father Christmas" character at a garage sale.  I changed his clothes and he became Moses.  The neat thing about him is that is arms move up and down.  I like to put a staff in his hands to tell the story of the Israelites defeating the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16).  When Moses' arms were holding the rod up, the Israelites were winning.  When the rod was down, the Amalekites were winning.  This character can be used for any other story with Moses as well.

Cardboard Sheep

A really sweet friend showed me how to make these sheep.  I made several and used them in lessons on David, the Shepherd and Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

• Cut out a sheep shape from cardboard.  You can get a very simple coloring page and blow it up to be a pattern.  We made ours in various sizes.  (We cut out some patterns and put them on the table on the right of the picture.)
• Spray paint the cardboard white. Let it dry.  Spray paint the other side of the cardboard.  Let it dry.
• Cut PVC pipe to make 4 legs per sheep.  The length depends on the size of the sheep.  
• Put black duct tape around the bottom of the PVC pipes to be the hooves.
• Hot glue the top 1/4 to 1/2 of each PVC pipe leg to the white cardboard.  Make sure the legs are all glued at the same height so the sheep will stand up.
• Get some quilt batting.  Cut out the same sheep shape but also cut out a small place for the face. (Cut out two pieces per sheep.)
• Using spray adhesive, glue the batting to the cardboard on both sides of the cardboard sheep.
• Draw eyes with a permanent marker.

Zacchaeus Book from a PowerPoint

I have used many PowerPoints in my Bible Classes.  Then I decided to use the PowerPoint pictures in a different way.  I decided to make books for the kids to take home using those PowerPoint pictures. I found amazing PowerPoints (including this one on Zacchaeus) on a website called www.sermons4kids.com.  The art is by Henry Martin.  The pictures are just beautiful! I use this PowerPoint to tell the story then make books for the kids.

I printed out the pictures and put them into a book form.  The top picture is the cover page.  The next few pages have the PowerPoint pictures and words glued on them like a normal book.  However, I made a few of the pages unique and interactive (well, sort of).  The following page is the page where Zacchaeus is too short.  I made the page a pop up page (see instructions for pop up pages under Jesus' Miracles on the side of this blog - it's called Jesus Walks on Water Pop Up).  I used the same concept to make this page.  I put the crowd and the words in the front.

 

I put Zacchaeus on a smaller tab in the back.

 This is what it looks like from the top.

 Another page that I created differently was the page with Zacchaeus climbing the tree.  In the PowerPoint, he moves up the tree.  So in the book, he has to move up the tree too!  I made this page to fold up.  I cut out Zacchaeus and taped him onto the bottom of a piece of clear lamination film leftover from laminating something. He is not attached to the page. I cut a slit in the top of the page (at the top of the tree) with an exacto knife and slid the lamination through from front to back. 

 If I pull on the lamination, Zacchaeus climbs up the tree.

 The rest of the pages are simple like the one below.  Just having a few pages that are interactive is enough to make it exciting.