| Though these little baubles are linked to the Herod the Great lesson they are suitable for any Christmas lesson as there are 3 different designs – The Magi & Herod, the Shepherd & Angel and Mary & Joseph. Including Herod on our Christmas decorations reminds us of the darkness that came with the joy, the strife that accompanied The Prince of Peace arriving. |  |
| This perspective image is a wonderful way of summing up the Parable of the rich fool. One direction shows the delighted farmer with his abundant harvest spilling out from the barns, the other sees the landscape unchanged but instead of a smiling character a sheet covers a shape on the ground. |  |
| The big action the Rich fool does in this parable is to build barns, and this game / creative challenge lets your youngsters do the same. Stacking up layers using these little flimsy paper barn pieces can be a real challenge. There are lots of suggestions at the end of the post to make this a little tougher for older groups, many that may make them look like a fool-ish. |  |
| When it comes to the story of the Centurion’s Faith the phrases – ‘One shall tell another’, ‘relaying messages’, and ‘domino effect’ were high on my list of ideas to ponder. The effects of all those little messages meant that though the centurion didn’t meet Jesus face to face his plea was heard and met. I couldn’t resist therefore making some dominoes using the characters. |  |
| These felt finger puppets are just adorable to play with and have so many uses. Get the older children to make their own and set up a stage to tell the story or use them as your own story props, very young groups will also appreciate them for free play time. Disclosure : I am posting this anyhow by request. Craft felt is hard to source in my location so I used a mixture of thicknesses and scraps. |
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| This paper craft of the Centurions servant being healed used a little flip to expand the scene. It shows how the centurion doesn’t leave the room and yet conveys his faith through messengers to Jesus – pictured through the window outside. It’s a perfect craft for groups who love coloring or those with really really limited time. It’s also a lovely craft for younger groups to assemble as it goes together like a 2 piece jigsaw. |  |
| While Manna is often the star of the show God also provided Quail for the people to eat meat. Quail are beautiful round bellied little birds who would have settled in their thousands to be caught and while many were roasted that first night others would have been kept for the days to come. This craft therefore has both manna on the ground and a quail strutting round. |  |
| Manna just appeared for Aaron and the Israelite’s, the sun came up not only dispelling the nights blackness but revealing a morning gift. This traditional magic window craft does a similar job of transforming the Israelite’s world with both Manna and Quail. It’s a simple craft to prep and suitable for a whole range of ages. |  |
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