Craft: Jesus walks on water

Unsinkable oil bottles

You will need: empty bottles with lids, water, food colouring, vegetable oil or baby oil

Use this craft as both a reflective tool and to help emphasise the concept of ‘not sinking’. Fill two-thirds of a bottle with water and mix some food colouring into it. Fill the rest of the bottle with oil. Put the lid on firmly and shake the bottle. Watch as the oil and water mix and then let the liquids settle out again. The oil will always settle on top of the coloured water. You are essentially making a lava lamp, but even adults can play with and watch these bottles for ages!

Stepping out feet painting

You will need: lining paper, paint, bubble-wrap, a washing-up bowl of warm water, towels, feet!

This is a piece of art that a whole group can contribute to together and touches on the theme of stepping out in faith, as Peter tries to do in the story. It’s suitable for under-fives. Go outside or make sure you do this on a surface that can be easily cleaned!

Stretch out and fasten down the lining paper to make a stretch of ‘water’. Squirt blobs of paint onto the paper – blue, green and white if you want to keep with the ‘watery’ theme. (Make sure that the blobs of paint are small because big blobs can be very slippery in bare feet.) Take off shoes and socks and walk in the paint to mix it and spread it across the paper. Tape bubble-wrap around your feet as ‘shoes’ to make different textures. Use the washing-up bowl of water and towels to wash and dry feet when the artwork is finished. Beware that this is very messy, but lots of fun!

Focus finger labyrinths

You will need: printed labyrinth sheets, glue (such as PVA), paperclips, stones, foam shapes, buttons, straws, pipe cleaners, foam sheets, scissors

One of the themes that comes out of this story is that of focusing on Jesus. When Peter was walking towards Jesus, he could walk on the water. When he took too much notice of the waves and the wind around him, he began to sink. Labyrinths are great ways of concentrating attention and finger labyrinths, especially, are very touchy- touchy-feely. The idea is to follow the path and let your concentration focus on Jesus.

Print out one of the finger labyrinths here. Choose collage resources to stick along the pathway so that a tactile path is created. This is where the children can get really creative by experimenting with colour and texture. When the glue is dry, encourage children to imagine Jesus and to follow the path with their fingers as an aid to concentration.

Moving on water

You will need: stones; marker pens; recyclable materials such as cardboard, plastic pots, tubes, plastic lids; scissors; glue; sticky tape; balloons; straws; a tray of water

This craft is a construction challenge! Get children to construct a way, using recyclable rubbish, of moving a stone (which would naturally sink) across the water. The stone needs to stay afloat and it needs to move! This helps to reflect the idea in the story that Peter could not walk on the water in his own strength.

There are no rights and wrongs with this craft: only imagination! It is probably best to give the children a time limit and to keep reminding them of what time they have left. Some will prefer to work with a partner and some by themselves.