With this little pop up box, one moment Bartimaeus is blind and the next he can see! This is one of those really simple and yet really effective crafts for groups that like to be a bit clever and can cut, fold and glue in a straight line. The result is a little hand held box that is addictively fun to press again and again.
Want to turn this into a prayer activity : cover the rest of the box with prayer needs and have the kids pray for something on the box every time they press it down. Talk about how we often close our eyes when we pray but for Bartimaeus, meeting Jesus meant opening his eyes to see God.
Bartimaeus has 4 main elements to his story and this little flipbook tries to reveal 3 of them, sadly it can’t shout. His blindness is healed, he leaves his cloak and goes with Jesus. It’s a great craft for mid to older groups that like fast results with minimum work and makes a fun take home keepsake.
This Magi craft is probably about as simple as they get, take your characters for a walk and journey across tables, floor, walls and anywhere else you may walk them in search of a king!
This Magi craft uses the iconic idea of the star and the journey. It’s a craft ideal for the slightly older groups as it needs pretty accurate cutting and careful assembly, though it is really quite simple to do. This is a craft best printed in colour because the details are relatively small – the finished piece is 15cm (6 inches) wide.
This is the second part of the JWL little nativity scene. It comes with the disclaimer that while it’s not robust enough to store from one year to the next it is rather darling, and it’s based on the more traditional viewpoint hence the camels and three male magi.
The Apostle Philip’s gift of invitation (or to use the technical word – Evangelism) is a lovely link to paper chain people. The Christian faith has always been passed from individual to individual as people have discovered the excitement of a relationship with Jesus and wanted to tell their friends all about it.
While you could take the idea and simply cover your room with traditional paper chain men, this craft has a more inclusive fixed circle and uses the hero image from the JWL lesson for Philip. If printing is an issue for your group this works well simply drawing round a circle and sketching your own character.
The Apostle Philip really has got the gift of evangelism, but for simplicity sake we call it the gift of inviting. Invitations link nicely into cards and this pop-up version could easily be used for a churches special event, or as part of an outreach project.
This first craft of Philip’s is perfect for groups who love paper construction but the cutting time is the biggest factor.
James and John have 2 main crafts and this little extra. This is an extension of the worksheet activity where the children trace the correct items onto the pictures of James and John – here they assemble the items like you would a paper dolls clothes.
I would recommend this craft for younger groups, and those not using the worksheet.
The kids will probably want to try all the different combinations which makes this is a good discussion launching activity.
