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Darkest valley: reflection bottle
This craft is a visual way to help children reflect on the idea that God will help us and bring us through difficult times.
Fill two-thirds of the drinks bottles with water. Get the children to add drops of different food colouring to the water until it becomes murky, reflecting some of the difficulties we go through in our lives. Fill the other third of the bottle with vegetable oil and then securely screw on the lid.
Allow the children to experiment with shaking the bottles, seeing how the oil mixes with the murky water and then, when left to settle, separates out. The separated oil is brought out of the dark water, just as God can bring us through hard times.
God guides us: marble maze
This craft is a helpful way of exploring the theme of God’s guidance in Psalm 23. Fold small pieces of card in half so that you can tape a ‘bottom’ to the floor of the cardboard box and have the other part of the fold standing up as a ‘wall’ as shown. Arrange the folded pieces of card to make a maze pathway for the marble to roll along (be sure to include some dead ends to make it more interesting). Write ‘S’ where the marble should start its journey and ‘E’ where the maze should end.
Let the children test out their mazes and see what reflections they might have linking the maze and the words of the Psalm. Expect them to make some interesting connections.
Overflowing cup
Verse five speaks about the overflowing cup that God gives and this craft is a way of exploring and thanking God for his gifts.
Let each child decorate strips of paper with words, pictures or items that represent things that they would like to thank God for. This might include people, places, natural objects or possessions - let their imaginations run free. Glue or tape one end of each paper strip to the inside of the cup and let the strip ‘overflow’ out of the cup.
Comfort collage (for 0-5s)
You will need: ‘soft’ collage items, such as cotton wool, mini pompoms, chenille pipe-cleaners, tissue paper, wool, ribbon scraps, feathers, glue, paper
This craft focuses on the feeling of peace and comfort that God the shepherd brings. Let the children explore the softness of the items and then encourage them to make a collage with them. There is no directed result for this craft, just an open-ended chance for the children to create their own artwork. Use the time to chat to the children about the comfort of soft things and explore their ideas about the comforting nature of God.
