This craft uses the coins imagery to reinforce the answer Jesus gave about Taxes to the Pharisees and Herodians. Some crafts have pretty outcomes, some are less aesthetically beautiful and more likely to get a ‘wow’ response – this is very much the latter! It’s a little fiddly and if you’d like a simpler craft do check out the alternative one using the links at the end of this post (coming tomorrow).
The parable of the banquet guests shows the welcoming nature of God. There is something special about images that invite you in, and giving depth is one of the simplest ways of doing so. This craft is super swift and simple to make, yet gives a fabulous result of a full table of people enjoying a feast.
Just occasionally it’s good to lean back on Classic church Sunday School crafts and for this parable of the banquet guests where ‘welcoming in’ is such a feature I’ve chosen the classic door hanger. On one side the banquet host is all alone and looking rather worried, on the other side he is surrounded with guests welcoming more in. This one is very simple and offers you a range of ways to make it, print with coloured people and decorate around them, print with a coloured background and decorate the people or print with no colour at all and go to town decorating.
The point of this parable about the bad tenants is where this craft resides. We see the rejected prophets becoming the very stones that God’s kingdom is being built upon. It ties into the idea of Jesus as the cornerstone but also that the contribution of those beaten, stoned and killed prophets gave in their service as God’s messengers.
I love acting out stories, puppets, props, crafts, they can all highlight elements of the story and breath gusts of energy into dry dusty words – these blow life quite literally as you blow them across the table. Move the servants across the table on his way to collect from the Tenants, send the vineyard owner, his son, and a servant who is returning beaten and broken. Talk about the different characters, What were they feeling on their journeys? What obstacles did they face? What would they meet at the end of their travels?
In the parable of the Vineyard owner the men collect the grapes and that’s as simple as this craft linking idea is. It’s wonderfully open ended. Fill your bunch of grapes with coins that the men will be paid, scrunch tissue paper, dab paint, use glass beads or sequins, or anything you have on hand.
In the parable of the Vineyard owner’s Two Sons the key idea is changing your mind. Visually a yes and no can be easily expressed through a thumbs up or thumbs down and that’s what this craft captures. It’s a really easy craft and you get a nice prop that the kid can use – the prototype came in quite handy for video calls!
In the parable of the Vineyard owner the men collect the grapes and that’s as simple as this craft linking idea is. It’s wonderfully open ended. Fill your bunch of grapes with coins that the men will be paid, scrunch tissue paper, dab paint, use glass beads or sequins, or anything you have on hand.