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Painted praise toast
One of the key themes in the story of Daniel is that of praising God; both through Daniel’s own prayers and, at the end of the story, in the decision of the king to worship Daniel’s God. Here is a craft to help children express praise though colour and taste.
Divide the milk into dishes and mix each dishful with a different food colouring to make ‘paint’. Encourage the children to paint the bread with the brushes or cotton buds, using colour to express praise for the things God has done or given them, or for who God is. They might want to paint pictures of things they are thankful for, or just make bright and colourful decorations. When they have finished painting, toast the bread very lightly. The colours will intensify when the bread is toasted. Say grace to thank God for the food and eat!
‘God is close’ bracelets
God comes very close to Daniel when he is in the lions’ den, even shutting the mouths of the lions to keep him safe. This craft helps children to remember that God is always close to them.
Discuss the closeness of God and times when children might have felt close to God themselves. Let the children use their imaginations to thread beads and sequins onto the pipe cleaners and weave wool around them. Ask them to choose colours that reflect what they think God is like and colours they like themselves. Bend the pipe cleaners round their wrists to make bracelets. Wear the bracelets as a reminder of how close God is to you as you go through everyday life.
Matchstick pictures
You will need: matchsticks, lots of space
This craft is very open ended and allows children to really respond to the story through imagination. There are no limitations unless you run out of matchsticks!
Tell the story of Daniel and then ask the children to think about their response. What was their favourite part or character in the story? What is the part of the story that stays with them most? Why? How did it make them feel? Let the children know that there are no wrong answers to any of these questions! Encourage children to use matchsticks to make words or pictures that reflect their response. Leave time at the end for children to share and discuss their responses.
Under-5s | Masking tape ‘protection’ pictures
This craft is easy but very effective and helps children to see very visually the idea of being ‘protected’, just as Daniel is protected from the lions in the story.
Stick masking tape onto paper plates in the shape that the child would like, or let the children stick some masking tape on themselves however they want to. All that matters is that the masking tape covers part of the plate. Encourage the children to colour the paper plate with crayons, pens or even paint. It really doesn’t matter if they go over the masking tape, in fact this helps! When they have finished colouring, carefully peel off the masking tape and see the spaces that have been protected underneath. This is a great starting point to speak about how Daniel wasn’t touched by the lions, just as parts of the plate were protected from the colouring.
