Children’s liturgy is the perfect place for the youth of your religious congregation to gather together and learn about the teachings of the Bible. But coming up with exciting and interesting Sunday school ideas can be a difficult task. Here are two Sunday school crafts to share with your class.

Finger Painting Bible Craft

This Sunday school idea is perfect for your Sunday school curriculum. You’ll need the following:

*Plastic pots of diluted finger pants
*Large sheets of paper for each student
*Plastic table covers
*Paint smocks

After explaining to the children’s liturgy that God gives us many things to enjoy, make sure that their clothing is protected with a smock. Now hand out the paper and instruct the children to draw, with their fingers, the things that they are thankful for. These could include flowers, their family and friends, books, favorite toys, etc.

Set aside the sheets of paper to allow them to dry. Then display the art to the class, noting how many things there are to thank God for. Make sure the students’ hands are thoroughly cleaned, and send them back to share their Bible craft drawings with their families.

Growing Seeds Sunday School Craft

This Bible craft is great for helping your class memorize Bible verses. You’ll need the following for each student:

*Styrofoam cup
*Potting soil
*Craft sticks
*Quick germinating seeds (corn, beans, peas or maize)
*Felt-tipped pen

Help your children’s liturgy fill the cups up about three-quarters with the soil. Then help them plant three or four seeds at a depth of about 20 mm. Water the soil, and then have your class write their names on one end of their craft stick. On the other side of the stick, write “Your word is like a seed” and insert it into the soil. By the following week, the seeds should have germinated, and the kids will be able to take their plant home.

The lesson of this Sunday school idea is that the Bible says we must keep God’s Word in our heart. This is why we memorize verses. By memorizing Bible verses, God’s Word grows like a seed in our hearts.

Children’s liturgy sets up the perfect atmosphere for the young people of your congregation to learn about Christianity and the teachings of the Bible. When you choose fun and interesting Sunday school activities to incorporate in your Sunday school curriculum, you’ll be sure to get your students’ attention-and keep it.

Swirling Milk Bible Craft

For this Bible activity, you’ll need the following:

*A flat, glass dish at least 2 cm deep and about 15 cm in diameter
*Warm skim milk
*Food coloring
*Toothpicks
*A film canister filled with dishwashing liquid

First, cover the bottom of the glass dish with the milk until it’s about 1 cm deep. Now place the dish onto a table until it becomes completely still, with the milk not moving at all. Now add two drops of each food coloring color at different points around the edge of the dish, being careful not to bump the table or the dish.

Next, dip the end of your toothpick into the dishwashing liquid and touch it lightly to the middle of the milk. Hold the toothpick there for about 30 seconds before lifting it out. This is how the Sunday school activity experiment is performed.

The Lesson Behind the Swirling Milk Bible Activity

Perform the Sunday school activity experiment with the food coloring and milk for your children’s liturgy students. Point out how the different colors swirl in different patterns across the milk’s surface. Emphasize the face that each color stays separate-just like all of us are different individuals.

Now it’s time for the point of the Bible craft. Explain to your children’s liturgy students that if we love each other in the same way that Jesus loves us, then we’ll be like one of the swirling colors that we saw during the Sunday school activity – attractive to others. And other people will then be attracted to Jesus and accept him into their hearts.

This Bible activity is perfect to incorporate in your Sunday school curriculum. It doesn’t take a very long time to perform, and it will pass along an important message to your children’s liturgy students.

One Decade Bracelets

By Sirena Van Schaik

Faith, it is an important part of life whether you practice a religion or not. We all have faith in some element or other, whether it is faith in ourselves, faith in God or faith in those around us. We use the word, interchanging it with so many thoughts, feelings and circumstances but one thing is the same in all of them; we believe.

Throughout the years, I have found that children believe more than we do as adults. There are very few doubts and even in children who are not raised with any “formal” religion will state facts relating to God as though they are without a doubt that he exists.

The Rosary, for many, is an important part of their faith. They pray the rosary on every day and many keep the rosary with them at all times. I have found that children love rosaries and my own children will often sit with mine in hand and run the beads between their small fingers. They love the weight, the feel and the explanation behind my rosaries and will often talk to me about it.

For this reason, I was delighted when my oldest child had the opportunity to make his own decade. It was an excellent way to teach about our faith and also to provide him with his own special rosary.

Making a rosary is fairly simple and can be done by children as young as five. They are small, fit perfectly in a child’s hand and also make an excellent rosary for adults to carry in their pockets.

What you need:

• Beading String: You can purchase this at most beading stores. It is a clear plastic string, almost like fishing line but much thicker and it has a bit of elasticity to it.
• 10 beads of one color: These are the beads where you will recite “Hail Mary” when you pray the rosary. It is important to choose a color that you love and has a special meaning to you. The rosary featured in the photograph was made by my son when he was six and the color (although not a favorite color) made him feel happy so he chose it.
• 12 spacer beads: These are really small beads that are only there to provide a spacer between all of the other beads. In the photograph, the beads are silver but you can use any color, although I would suggest matching the color with the color of the crucifix or cross that you use.
• 1 round bead: It doesn’t have to be round but it should be a different color than the other beads and possibly a different size. This is the bead that you recite “Our Father” on and is the start of each decade.
• Crucifix or Cross: In the photograph example, a cross was used but you can use a crucifix as well.
  Virgin Mary Medal: Match the medal to the color you use for the crucifix so if you use silver for the crucifix, use silver for the cross.

Directions:

1. Take a long length of string, about 3 or 4 inches longer than your decade will be, and knot the one end, this will keep the beads from slipping off.
2. Slide a spacer bead onto the string and push it against the knot.
3. Slide on the medal and then slide on the first “Hail Mary” bead.
4. Add a spacer bead, and then a “Hail Mary” bead. Repeat the process until you have no more beads and only two spacer beads left. You will finish with a spacer bead at the end of the pattern.
5. Slide the round bead onto the string and place it against the spacer bead.
6. Add another spacer bead after the round bead and then slide the crucifix onto the string.
7. Finish with a spacer bead.
8. At this point, you will want to slide the beads up the string away from your starting knot.
9. Once you have a bit of room, tie both ends of the string together, make sure the knot is secure and then cut the string so there is very little overhang. This will remove the first knot that you created when you started the project.

And then your rosary decade is finished and you can enjoy the beauty of both the rosary and of creating something so wonderful.

Abraham and Sarah Bible craft: desert tent. Click for larger version.

This is a great project for teaching the Bible story of Abraham and Sarah to a Sunday School class: Tents in the Desert.

When Abraham and Sarah were visited by the Lord in the desert, they were living in tents (story of Abraham and Sarah); in this project you can teach children to make their own desert tent.

What you will need:

1. Cardboard
2. Sand
3. Play dough
4. Glue
5. Coffee
6. Straws
7. Paper Towels

Instructions:

1. Make four small balls with the play dough and then press them into the cardboard to make the four corners of the tent.
2. Place a straw into each of the play dough mounds so that the four straws are sticking straight up.
3. Put glue around the tent and then place sand on top of the glue (as shown in the picture).
4. While you are waiting for that to dry, have a cup of coffee ready and a cup of glue/water mixture ready (the glue/water mixture should be approximately 1 part glue and 2 parts water and mixed well).
5. Have the children take a paper towel and dip it into the coffee for color.
6. Next have the children dip the paper towel into glue (for sturdiness and shape).
7. Finally, have the children lay the paper towel over the four straw corners to form a tent.
8. Keep the tent in a safe place until it is dry (may take over a day).