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Gift card
You will need : Sheets of A4 card, strips of bright paper, squares cut from coloured card, thin ribbon, glue sticks, sticky tape, felt tips and scissors
Fold the A4 card in half. Ask the children to write ‘Happy Christmas’ at the top. Alternatively, if your group is very young, print the words on a computer and cut out enough strips for each child to stick one on. Cut a strip of bright paper, or ideally wrapping paper, about 4cm by 15cm long. Glue along one long side and both short sides but leave the other long side unglued. Stick the paper onto the card about two-thirds of the way down, with the unglued side at the top. This is the pocket for the gift. To make the gift, cut a square from coloured card (old Christmas cards work, but make sure the reverse side is blank). Invite the children to write ‘Jesus’ on the back of the square. Stick two pieces of ribbon across the front of the square in a cross shape. Make a small loop of ribbon and tape it to the reverse so that it can be hung on a Christmas tree. (The pesky ribbons that are sewn into many items of clothing to stop them falling off the hanger are ideal.) Pop the gift into the pocket. The children may like to decorate their cards as well.
Follow that star!
You will need : Sheets of A4 card, a template of a wise man and of a child to colour in, scissors, crayons or felt tips, sticky tape, strips of card about 1cm wide and sparkly pipe cleaners (optional)
These sliding figures aim to remind the children that, like the wise men, Jesus wants us to follow him.
With your card in the ‘landscape’ position, draw a line along the length of the card, about 4cm from the top, and leaving a margin of about 3cm at either end. Draw another line the same length about 6cm below. Cut along these lines but don’t cut right to the edge of the card (younger children will need some help with this). Colour in the figures or, if you have time, use brightly patterned cloth to make a robe for the wise man, or decorate his robe with sequins. Fold two strips of card so that there is a flap to tape to the back of each figure. Slide the longer part of the strip through the bottom slit in the card. Your figures will be able to slide back and forth. Twist a pipe cleaner into a star shape, leaving a small part of the pipe cleaner sticking out at the back. Poke this through the top slit in the card, so that you can move the star back and forth. For a simplified version of this craft, just cut one slit and draw a star onto the top of the card.
Thank you
You will need : Craft sticks, scissors, PVA glue and glue spreaders or brushes, items for decorating such as pompoms, sequins or foam shapes, and ribbon or thread for hanging. You will also need newspaper to protect your table and wipes for the sticky hands!
This decoration helps us to remember to thank God for Jesus. It could be hung on the Christmas tree, on a door handle or on a window.
Stick the craft sticks together to form the letters T and Y for ‘Thank You’. The shorter arm of the Y is a stick cut in half (this is best done by an adult). Use PVA glue to do this as glue sticks don’t work very well. Put a stick along the bottom to strengthen the decoration. The decoration will need a couple of minutes to set but will become very stable. Put a thread or ribbon on the end once it’s stable before decorating the letters.
