Finger-painted fire
You will need: paper; red and yellow paint; washing-up bowl with water; towel
This craft is a way of getting messy with the fire theme and is especially suitable for younger children. Scatter dots of red and yellow paint across the paper. Use your fingers to push the paint upwards and outwards to make ‘flames’. The paint colours will combine as you do this to add orange to the flames. Add extra dots of paint into the mix to help add layers to the flames. Have water and towels close at hand because this gets very messy!
Story rocks
You will need: one large stone per child; glue; scissors; paper; collage materials (eg feathers and sequins)
Elijah takes twelve stones and rebuilds the altar of God before praying for fire. Stones are part of the story but also represent the strength and reliability of God. Ask children to decorate their stone with a picture that reminds them of the story. It might be their favourite part, something that has struck them the most or something entirely different - they are likely to come up with some ingenious ideas! Leave time for the children to share and discuss what they have done. Keep the stones as a reminder of God’s power and presence throughout the whole of the story and his power and presence in our lives.
Foil painting worship
You will need: roll of tin foil; paint; paint brushes
At the heart of this story is the recognition of who God is and what his power is like. The people see the fire and fall down in worship. This craft is a way of helping children to explore and express their own sense of worship of God. The foil makes an interesting canvas to paint on and its shininess really adds to the feeling of celebrating God.
Roll out the tin foil until you have a strip long enough for the whole group to work on together (alternatively, give each person their own sheet of foil to use). Ask everyone to use colours, shapes and words to paint their worship of God onto the foil. You might want to use the time the children are painting to discuss their ideas about who God is and why he is special.
Shaving foam rainstorm
You will need: shaving foam; a tall glass; water; food colouring in two or three colours; small dishes; teaspoons or droppers
At the end of the story, God sends a heavy rainstorm and water returns to the land. This craft helps children to make their own rainstorm in a glass. Pour a couple of tablespoons of water into each small dish. Colour each dish of water with a different food colouring. Don’t water the colouring down too much - the more intense the colouring, the better the rainstorm effect! Fill the glass halfway with water and squirt shaving foam to make a ‘cloud’ in the glass above it (this will probably fill the rest of the glass). Use a teaspoon or dropper to pour a small amount of coloured water on top of the shaving foam cloud. The colouring will slowly seep down through the spaces between the foam and the glass, and ‘rain’ down into the water. Repeat with other colours and watch the effect of the colourful rain storm. This activity gives a chance to open up conversation about the life-giving properties of water and God’s power to bring life in hard places.
