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Showing posts with label Pentecost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pentecost. Show all posts
Wednesday 31 May 2017
Pentecost: A Round up of 8 Ideas
For all of us celebrating Pentecost on Sunday here's a selection of tried and tested (and fun!) ideas...
Saturday 14 May 2016
Pentecost pass the parcel all age talk
Here is a last minute Pentecost talk idea. We will be using it tomorrow in our cafe church service! This works best before you read or tell the story.
You will need:
On top of the dove layer, put the 'welcome' picture and a reward lolly!
You will need:
- A bag of sweets (enough to share with everyone)
- Lollipops for each layer
- Pictures of: a dove, a windsock, fire, the word 'welcome' in various languages. To download a sheet with these pictures on click here.
- Newspaper
- sellotape
The bag of sweets and the picture of the dove will be your central layer. Wrap them in the newspaper.
On top of the dove layer, put the 'welcome' picture and a reward lolly!
For the next layer, put the fire picture and a lolly and the top layer will be the windsock (the closest I could get to a wind picture!!)
Talk about Pentecost being the birth of the church where, in one day 3000 people came to know Jesus. We all got an amazing birthday gift that day- the Holy Spirit.
At birthday parties you normally play games so we are now going to play pass the parcel. Pass the parcel round and play the game. As the top three layers are taken off, the pictures will tell the order of the story- first the sound of a great wind, then tongues of fire above heads, then speaking in different languages.
The bottom layer will reveal the dove and sweets to share with everyone. People who had removed the first three layers of paper all got a personal reward in the shape of a lolly and no-one else got one, but the Holy Spirit gives power to spread the joy of the gospel not just to one person but to everyone. Share the sweets out and pray that everyone will know the power of the Spirit at work within them!
Labels:
All age,
Assemblies,
Holy Spirit,
Pentecost,
schools
Wednesday 8 April 2015
Pentecost Flames: Painting with Forks!
I know it's a bit early to be thinking of Pentecost, but I like to be ahead of the game and there are so many stories where flames are useful!
This is a really great idea for all ages. We ended up working on the kitchen floor and even the adults decided to join in. Some of the children got incredibly creative...
It's quite a reflective activity and lends itself to silence if that's an option for you. Have fun!
You will need: yellow, red and orange paint, foil (for easy clean-up afterwards!), plastic forks, card or paper (we used black for a great effect).
Encourage colour mixing as the flames flicker together...
Talk about: The power of fire reflecting the power of the Holy Spirit.
What is fire like? What can it do?
How might the disciples have felt seeing tongues of fire above their heads? How would you have felt?
What do you know about the power of fire? What about the Holy Spirit?
Get children to share their reflections on the story and their own experiences of the Holy Spirit
Pray: Create a group flame painting. As you paint the flames pray for other people and for each other to be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sunday 22 March 2015
Holy Spirit Crayon Melting Craft and Prayer Activity
This is a really exciting way to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit!
You will need: wax crayons (wrappers off works best) strong glue (eg. from a glue gun or superglue), a canvas (this really doesn't work on paper!), a protective sheet, a hairdryer.
We did this outside with an extension cable for the hairdryer because there is a certain amount of splatter!
Glue the crayons to the top of the canvas and let the glue set firm.
Set the hairdryer to the highest level and start blowing it across the bottom ends of the crayons. It takes a while but they eventually start to melt. Set the dryer down a heat notch and continue to melt the crayons.
Watch as the colour is released! We did this with children aged 5-9 and, as long as there was adult supervision they were brilliant at taking turns with the hairdryer and had loads of suggestions about where to aim it to make certain colours run in different directions.
When you have finished, the wax will dry quite quickly and you will have a group masterpiece!
Talk about: God, through the Holy Spirit has given us each gifts to help make the world a better, brighter place. The power of the Holy Spirit releases those gifts within us so that we can share them with the world (like the power of the heat from the hairdryer released the colour in the crayons). Speak about the gifts of the spirit and ask children which gifts they think that God might have given to them.
Prayer idea 1: ask children to think of a colour that represents the gifts they think God has given them or they would like to have. Ask them to gather round and put their finger on that colour somewhere on the picture. Say a thank you prayer and ask God to release those gifts in them.
Prayer idea 2: Set up a new canvas and get children to take it in turns to melt the crayons. As they pray, ask God to release the gifts in them.
This would be a great activity for Pentecost and would also work really well as a group project at Messy Church!
Labels:
gifts of the Spirit,
Holy Spirit,
Messy Church,
Pentecost
Saturday 26 April 2014
Pentecost Play Dough Mat
Here is a play dough mat to help children explore the story of Pentecost.
Click here to print out the mat, laminate and let the children use play dough to make tongues of fire coming from the heads of the disciples.
Think about:
Click here to print out the mat, laminate and let the children use play dough to make tongues of fire coming from the heads of the disciples.
Think about:
- How would you have felt if you had been a disciple on that day?
- What might the other people, who saw and heard the disciples have been thinking and feeling?
- Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit?
- How did the Holy Spirit help Peter?
- How could you ask the Holy Spirit to help you?
Pray:
- Pray that we will come to know the Holy Spirit working in our lives and helping us.
- Pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to speak to other people about who Jesus is.
Thursday 24 April 2014
Pentecost Flames Salad Spinner Art and Prayer Ideas
I found a cheap salad spinner (£4 in IKEA!) and was finally able to try out some spinner art! It's brilliant: quick, clean (because the spinner sits in its own bowl) and each piece is unique! The process of making the art really lends itself to Pentecost themes so here's an idea to help celebrate the occasion...
You will need: A salad spinner; red, yellow and orange paint, small paper plates, a tub of hair gel (optional)
Put a plate on the bottom of the inside of the spinner and blob some paint in. Put the lid on and spin!
It only takes a few seconds of enthusiastic spinning and this is what you get... I think that trying to get the plate balanced across the bottom of the spinner would have helped this one (above) to be a little less lop-sided!
Some sites recommend adding a blob of hair gel and it does make the paint a little more runny. Experiment and see what works best for you.
You will need: A salad spinner; red, yellow and orange paint, small paper plates, a tub of hair gel (optional)
Put a plate on the bottom of the inside of the spinner and blob some paint in. Put the lid on and spin!
It only takes a few seconds of enthusiastic spinning and this is what you get... I think that trying to get the plate balanced across the bottom of the spinner would have helped this one (above) to be a little less lop-sided!
Some sites recommend adding a blob of hair gel and it does make the paint a little more runny. Experiment and see what works best for you.
I love it! I tried it out yesterday with some 2 year olds and they loved it too. All ages pleased in one go.
Thinking and praying ideas:
- The noise and the spinning as you make the pictures is a strong reminder of the sound of the powerful wind that came upon the disciples at Pentecost and the 'flames' are obvious reminders of the tongues of fire. It's a great visual and kinesthetic aid to tell the Pentecost story!
- Ask children to think about people that they would like to be touched by the Holy Spirit (including themselves!) and, as each picture is finished, write that person's name on the plate. Display somewhere in the house as a reminder to pray for that person.
Sunday 19 May 2013
Exploring the gifts of the Spirit with 5-11s!
As today is Pentecost we decided not to beat around the bush but to go straight ahead and tell the children about the gifts of the Spirit!
It can be quite hard, even for adults, to get your head round all the gifts so I decided to limit our explanation to 10 of the gifts I thought were easiest to explain. You may or may not agree with my selection or explanations but it was a great introduction to a huge topic!
I made a sheet, detailing 10 Spiritual gifts:
Then I photocopied the sheet times the number of children we expected and cut out the individual labels. That made a lot of labels! Next I mixed the labels up and distributed them around the room.
After telling the children the Pentecost story, we asked the children to go and find all 10 different labels and come back. When everyone had collected all they can we explained each one and gave short specific testimonies about healing, apostles, tongues and miracles. The children had lots of questions!
We then prayed and asked God to speak to the children about the gifts He wanted to give them. The children then chose two or three of the gifts they'd like to pray for and we made gift bags.
The bags were simply made by sticking together an envelope, cutting off the top to make an opening and fixing a ribbon to the opening to make a handle.
Children stuck on the labels for the gifts they were praying for and then made some more decorations...
It was great that they didn't copy each other in choosing gifts! The younger children needed a bit of support but were well able to choose :-)
Finally we put all of the gift bags in the centre, gave each child a lit birthday cake candle (symbolising the Pentecost flames) and asked The Holy Spirit to fill us with these gifts and help us to do the things we couldn't do by ourselves.
It can be quite hard, even for adults, to get your head round all the gifts so I decided to limit our explanation to 10 of the gifts I thought were easiest to explain. You may or may not agree with my selection or explanations but it was a great introduction to a huge topic!
I made a sheet, detailing 10 Spiritual gifts:
To print the sheet, click here
After telling the children the Pentecost story, we asked the children to go and find all 10 different labels and come back. When everyone had collected all they can we explained each one and gave short specific testimonies about healing, apostles, tongues and miracles. The children had lots of questions!
We then prayed and asked God to speak to the children about the gifts He wanted to give them. The children then chose two or three of the gifts they'd like to pray for and we made gift bags.
The bags were simply made by sticking together an envelope, cutting off the top to make an opening and fixing a ribbon to the opening to make a handle.
Children stuck on the labels for the gifts they were praying for and then made some more decorations...
It was great that they didn't copy each other in choosing gifts! The younger children needed a bit of support but were well able to choose :-)
Finally we put all of the gift bags in the centre, gave each child a lit birthday cake candle (symbolising the Pentecost flames) and asked The Holy Spirit to fill us with these gifts and help us to do the things we couldn't do by ourselves.
Sunday 12 May 2013
Messy Pentecost talk and prayer: The Holy Spirit helps us
It only seems fitting to use fire at Pentecost so how could we not?!
After we had told the Pentecost story, our talk at Messy Church was about the Holy Spirit helping us to do things we might not be able to do by ourselves. Here's a copy of the talk and prayer response with pictures. You will need a dove pan to do this. It might seem quite expensive but the amazement of the congregation when you use it (adults and children alike) is well worth it! I've used mine about 10 times already in assemblies etc.
Photos by David Duncan :-)
Photos by David Duncan :-)
Talk
On the day of Pentecost 3000 people became Christians. It was like the church’s birthday! The Holy Spirit came to the disciples with
wind and fire and helped them to do things they’d never been able to do before
like speak other languages and have the courage to speak in front of crowds of
people!
Sometimes we feel like we can’t do things or we’d like to
change but it’s really hard and we can’t do it ourselves. God sends the Holy Spirit to help us!
(Show empty dove pan)
God can use us to do things we never
thought we could do, if we trust him to help us.
When we make a cake we need ingredients: sprinkle some flour
and salt in the pan.
We then need to
cook the cake and make it into something really special! The cake can’t cook itself- it needs some
help!
(Set fire and open pan to reveal
cake)
God can use us to do something really special too. We have the ingredients inside us that He can
use, we just need to let him use His power to help us!
Prayer response:
Here are some birthday cake candles. Take a candle and come and put it on the
cake. (When all the candles are on the cake, move the children back and light
the candles). Let’s remember the day of
Pentecost and think of something we’d like The Holy Spirit to help us to
do. (Give a moment) Let’s say a big
‘Amen’ and then everybody blow as hard as you can from where you’re
sitting. (Say amen and blow out the
candles).
Saturday 11 May 2013
Pentecost Messy Church Crafts
We had a brilliant morning at our Pentecost Messy church. There was lots of fun and even some fire!
Have a look at the crafts we did on the Pentecost theme. All have a fire or wind related element...
Flame headresses: ribbon, tissue paper, gold card, shiny red paper. Kylé also has some fire streamers tucked into the ribbon for extra effect!
Flame biscuits: digestives, white water icing and fondant flames.
Bubble and hoops that make noises when you move them (sounds a bit like a rattling wind!)
Birthday cards for the Church's birthday!
Pentecost spinners! Click here to print off.
Paint blowing pictures.
Windchimes: Cups, beads, bells, buttons and pipecleaners.
Holy Spirit suncatchers. Click here for instructions.
Have a look at the crafts we did on the Pentecost theme. All have a fire or wind related element...
Flame headresses: ribbon, tissue paper, gold card, shiny red paper. Kylé also has some fire streamers tucked into the ribbon for extra effect!
Fire streamers made from crepe paper, lolly sticks and elastic bands.
Birthday cards for the Church's birthday!
Pentecost spinners! Click here to print off.
Paint blowing pictures.
Windchimes: Cups, beads, bells, buttons and pipecleaners.
Holy Spirit suncatchers. Click here for instructions.
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