PRAYER  

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 9th January 2016. Have a look and try a few!

Calendar

Make a calendar.  Decorate it with daubers.  Stick a piece of ribbon on to hang it.  Also stick on the card that says 24/7, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year God is there to hear our prayers

What good things happened for you last year?

What are you hoping for this year?

You could pray

Dear Jesus, Thankyou for your care

It’s good to know you’re always there

I bring to you the year ahead

And ask that I will by you be led

Book of Prayers

Take a thick piece of card for the back cover

Take a thin piece of card for the front and decorate it.  You could put your name on it if you want to.

Take some pages to go in the middle

Thread a ribbon through them all to tie them together

Then choose some prayers or colouring that you would like to go in your book.  You can add your own as well.

Father God

You made me,

You love me,

You look after me,

Thank you God

Prayer Hand

Find bits in the newspapers that you would like to pray about.  Cut them out and stick them to the prayer hands.  On one side put the things to thank God for, and on the other the things to pray for.

You could pray

Father, I am sad that some people have such hard things to live with.

I ask that you will bring peace and help to them.

Amen

Glass decorating
Decorate the glass with the pens.  It will need to be heated at home to set the decoration – pick up a leaflet.

When you drink from the glass you could thank God

Thank you for each morning

I wake to a new day

Thankyou for my family

For friends and fun and play

Candle Moulding

The wax can be moulded around a wick to make a candle

When you light the candle you could pray

          Father God,

          Thank you for your light

          that shows us the way to live

         Thankyou that as we are kind to others

          they can see that light too

Prayer tree
Choose a twig.  Put some clay in a pot and stick the twig in.  Then put on it the names or pictures of people you know who are ill

This can remind you to pray for them

       Dear Jesus,

       you made people better when they were ill

       Please make ......... better today.

       Thankyou

Leather Bracelet

Take three strands of leather of different colours.  Plait them together and tie the ends to make a bracelet.

The colours can remind you to pray for different things.  Take a sheet to explain.

Bread hands

Put your hand on a piece of bread and cut round it with a knife.

Put Chocolate Spread in the centre of the hand. Everything is on God’s hands and we can trust him

Put jam on the fingers and thank God for people who help us with their hands, making meals for us, helping us at home and at school

    Father, I place into Your hands
    my friends and family.
    Father, I place into Your hands
    the things that trouble me.
    Father, I place into Your hands
    the person I would be,
    for I know I always can trust You.

Playdoh prayers

Think of something you would like to tell God about.

Do you want to thank him, say sorry or ask him for something.

Make it out of playdoh

As you make it you could tell God what you are making

    Thankyou God

Prayer dice

Write on the different sides of the wooden cube

When you throw it you can say the prayer for the side that is on top.

You could use it at the same time each day, maybe before a meal or when you go to bed

Footprint prayer

Colour in the footprint.  Then stick on this special prayer which tells us how God is with us even when we are sad and lonely

You could pray

 I’m feeling lonely God

 Please help me to feel happy again.

Washing mess away
Make a cloth Messy.  We do wrong things and make a mess

Wash the cloth in the water.  When we are sorry God forgives us and makes us clean

A prayer you could say

Father God, sometimes I get grumpy and cross

I’m sorry

Sometimes I don’t want to share

I’m sorry

Sometimes I am unkind to my friends

I’m sorry

Sometimes I won’t do as I’m asked

I’m sorry

Thankyou that you love me

Please help me to start again

Mobile phone

Choose a back for your phone and stick it on.  Stick the icons onto the front.

Prayer is talking with God

God always loves us and loves it when we talk to him

You can pray

Jesus

You know me

You know what I’m doing

You know how I’m feeling

You care about me

All the time

Prayer Cross

Take a piece of paper and write on it or draw a picture of anything you would like us to pray for you.

The prayers in here will be passed on to a team of people who pray every month for Messy Church

Roll your paper up and put it in one of the tubes in the cross

Messy Thanks

Think of something you want to thank God for and either paint or write it on the sheet

You could pray

Thank you God for

all the good things you give me

Prayer tree

Take a sticky note and write or draw on it anything you would like to thank God for.  You could just draw a smiley face to tell him that he is amazing

Stick it to the prayer tree

You could pray

Lord, you know all about me

I praise you because you made me

In an amazing and wonderful way

Crisp Tasting

Try tasting the different crisps.  Can you tell what flavour each one is?  There is a prize for the person who guesses the most

Which tastes do you like?  Which ones don’t you like?

You can pray

God is great

God is good

And we thank him

For our food

Colouring pictures

Colour in one of these pictures of people praying

You can say this prayer if you want to

Dear God,  Thankyou for crayons and for all the lovely colours. I’m glad you don’t mind if I make a mess.

Jesus is Born

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 12th December 2015. Have a look and try a few!

Sock Baby Jesus

Take a sock and fill it with stuffing beyond the heal.  Poke your finger to the side, fill it with a little ball of stuffing and put a rubber band over it to make an arm.  Then do the same on the other side.  Put a rubber band round the neck fill the head and then another rubber band above it.  Turn the top down to make a hat.

Wrap it in cloth and place it in a tray with hay.

Jesus is also called ‘Christ’ which means chosen one

Have you a baby in your family?  What are they like?

Advent candle

Stick the peel off numbers 12 to 24 on to the candle with 12 at the top and 24 at the bottom. 

Jesus was given different names which meant special things.  They showed who he was

The sheet on the table tells you some of these names.  Take the sheet home with you too and look at it each time you light the candle.

Names of Jesus mobile

Tie pieces of ribbon around the card loop and then thread them through the hole punched different names of Jesus.

Jesus was given different names which meant special things.  They showed who he was

How many names have you got?

Lollystick crib

Glue the lolly sticks together with glue dots to make a stable.  Colour in the cut sticks to make them into people and stick them on.  Add a bit of straw.  Tie some string on the top so you can hang it up.

Jesus is called the ‘prince of peace’.  This is because he would bring peace with God

What do you find peaceful?

Envelope crib

Cut the yellow sheet along the lines to look like straw.  Decorate the envelope.  Stick the star to the top point of the envelope.  Then slot in the straw and the baby.

Jesus was born on earth, but he had been since the very beginning of the world

That is very hard to imagine isn’t it.  What is the oldest thing you can think of?

CD Nativity scene

Decorate the CD with nativity stickers to make a nativity scene.  Slide it into the wooden block so that it can stand up.

Jesus calls God his father

Do you have anyone with you here from your family?

Mosaic Jesus

Roll out some clay and use cutters to make the name Jesus.  Then stick on tiles to make the name stand out.  This will make the word JESUS look very special

Mary treasured Jesus and all the things that happened when he was born

Can you think of some things that are very special to you?

Nativity painting

Paint the nativity scene.  Use the stamps if you like to

Jesus was called ‘Emmanuel’ which means God with us

What would it have been like to go and see Jesus when he was born?

Gingerbread stars

Ice the gingerbread stars to decorate them

The special star showed the wise men the way to Jesus

If you go out in the dark, how do you find your way?

Tile nativity

Make a footprint on a tile in brown paint for a crib.  Paint on to it some straw and a baby

The name ‘Jesus’ means God saves

This was a popular name for Jewish boys to have.  What popular names can you think of?

Blackboard Sorry

tick the black sheet in the middle of the board.  Decorate it round the edge.  Thread some raffia through the hole and tie it to some chalk.

Jesus came to put right the wrong things we do

We mess things up when we do the wrong thing.  Perhaps we say something to hurt someone, we don’t do what we are told, or we say something that isn’t true.

Write on the blackboard something you are sorry for.  Then rub it off because Jesus forgives us when we say we are sorry.

Nativity set

Can you tell the story of Christmas with this nativity set?

Which is your favourite part of the story?  

Why do you like it?

Are there any parts you can’t remember?

Scratch nativity scene

Scratch a pattern into this nativity scene

The pattern is bright in the dark background.  

Jesus brought brightness in the darkness too, but a different sort of darkness.  It was dark because people had forgotten about God

What do you like best about your pattern?

Foam star nativity

Stick two stars together.  Add some raffia for straw then add a baby.

Like the star Jesus gives light so that people can see the way to go

Do you ever look at the stars?  Do you know any of their names?

Card competition

If you have brought a card for the competition leave it here with your name, age and phone number.  Three prizes will be given out over the meal.

Also if you like you can still make a card.  It must include something about the Christmas story.

Stable

Go and have a look in the stable.  What can you see from the Christmas story?

The angels, the shepherds and the wise men all worshipped Jesus. 

Take one of the cut out babies.  Think of something you can say to praise God.  There are some examples on the sheet.  Write or draw on the baby what you would like to say to Jesus and place it in the manger.

Cardboard stable

Work with the group to make the stable out of cardboard

The Garden of Eden

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 14th November 2015. Have a look and try a few!

Playdoh People

Make some people out of the playdoh

God made people to live in the world

What is the most amazing thing about you?  Thank God for making you.

Breath Prayer

Decorate a fan with a picture of the Garden of Eden or of anything else you want to

God breathed life into people

As you fan yourself, feel the air move over your face and body.  Thank God for giving you life.

 Edible Garden of Eden

Cover a wafer biscuit with green cream cheese.  Stand on it 2 jelly babies for Adam and Eve and a cheese string for a tree

God made the world to be a beautiful place

What do you think is the best thing about the world that God has made?

Colouring pictures

Colour in one of these pictures of the Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden was a beautiful place.

What is the most beautiful place you have been to?

Name the animal

Guess which is the right name for this knitted hippo from the list.  The answer will be revealed at the end.  The person with the right name will win the hippo.

God told people to give names to the animals

What is your favourite animal?

Name the animal quiz

Can you name these different animals from the pictures of their eyes?  Their is a list to help you if you get stuck.

God told people to give names to the animals

What is your favourite animal?

Tie Snakes

Attach eyes to the tie.  Then stuff the tie to make a snake.  Fasten the end to keep the stuffing in.

The snake tricked Eve to do the wrong thing, to eat the fruit that God had said not to take

Do you ever do something, even though you have been told not to do it?

Clay snakes

Make a snake out of clay.  Leave it to dry hard.

The snake tricked Eve to do the wrong thing, to eat the fruit that God had said not to take

Why do you think Eve did what the snake said?

The Tree of Knowledge

DO NOT TOUCH

YOU MUST LEAVE THESE BAGS OF SWEETS ON THE TREE

God  told Adam and Eve not to touch the fruit on the tree of knowledge

Are you feeling tempted to take one? 

Fruit tasting

Can you tell what the different fruit are by tasting them?

Eve ate the fruit from the tree that God had told them not to touch

What fruit do you like to eat?

Fruit printing

Use the fruit to make a stamp.  Put paint on it to stamp it on the paper.

Eve ate the fruit from the tree that God had told them not to touch

Which fruit makes the best stamp?

Adam and Eve

Put leather tunics on the wooden people, add a face and some wool hair. Make a snake out of pipe cleaners around a lolly stick. All 3 can then be put in a ball of clay to keep them in place.

Adam and Eve didn’t wear clothes until they disobeyed God.  Once things had gone wrong they knew they were naked.  God made clothes for them out of animal skins.

If you had to make clothes for yourself, what would you use?

Messed up world

This is a picture of the world.  Put something on it to mess it up

When people disobeyed God they messed up the world

Can you think of a way in which the world is messed up?

Plant Bulbs

Plant a bulb in a pot

Because they had disobeyed him God said that people would have to work hard to be able to live

Take the bulb home with you and keep it until it grows and flowers

Shoebox

If you have brought a shoebox or gifts for Operation Christmas Child you can leave them here

Help to wrap a shoebox to be filled with gifts

Girls hairband

Wrap ribbon around the hairband with a few glue dots to keep it in place. You can also stick sequins on.

The hairband will go in a shoebox.  These are given to children around the world who don’t get any other Christmas presents.

Joseph in Egypt

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 10th October 2015. Have a look and try a few!

Fat cows and thin cows

Take a tube and attach legs, a head and a tail to make a cow.  You can make a fat cow and a thin cow.

Pharaoh had a strange dream about fat cows and thin cows.  The thin cows ate the fat cows. 

Do you ever dream about cows?  Or do you dream about any other animals?

Corn sheaf

Take some straw and tie it into a sheaf of corn

Pharaoh had a dream about ears of corn.  The thin ones swallowed up the full ones.  God told Joseph what this strange dream meant.

Have you seen corn growing in a field?  Did it have thin ears or fat ones?

Barns

You need three pieces of card – two sides and a roof.  One of the sides should have a door in.  Fold them along the dotted lines.  Then stick them together to make a barn.

Joseph told Pharaoh to store up grain during the years of plenty ready to use in the years of famine

Can you think of other things that we store up to use in the future?

 

Gold chains

Cut the gold ribbon into pieces.  Tie one piece into a circle.  Loop the next piece through the circle and tie it.  Keep going ‘til it is long enough to put round your neck

Pharaoh made Joseph the governor over the whole of Egypt.  He gave him a special ring, a linen robe and a gold chain around his neck

What clothes do people wear now so that they look important?

Headdress

Cut blue and yellow strips to the right size and stick them on to the silver headdress in stripes.  Stick on a diamond.  Thread a piece of elastic through the holes so that it can go round your head.

Joseph was second in importance in Egypt only to Pharaoh

Do you have any hats?  What do you use them for?

Grain collage

Stick on different grains to fill in the picture

During the famine people came from all around to buy corn from Joseph.  Joseph’s brothers came too.

Where do you go to buy food?

Bread

Knead the bread dough and shape it into a roll.  Put it into a plastic bag and take it home to cook it.  Make sure you take some cooking instructions with you.

The brothers took corn back to their father to make flour and bake bread from it

What sort of bread do you like best?

 

Where have you come from?

Can you find on the map where you came to Messy Church from today?  Mark it on with a felt tip.  If it is not on these maps write it on a post it note and put it round the edge of the map.

Joseph’s brothers went on a long journey to find food

Have a look at where other people have come from.  Have other people come from somewhere near to you?  Who has come the furthest?

Journey

You can make a footprint without taking your socks off.  Make a fist with your hand. Use a finger from your other hand to coat the outside edge of your fist (the side with your pinky) with paint.  Then press it against the paper.  Add a big toe and 4 smaller toes with your finger tips.

Joseph’s brothers travelled from Hebron to Egypt which is about 400 km or 250 miles

What is the longest journey you have been on?  How did you travel – by foot or some other way?

Harvest gifts

If you have brought some food for harvest please leave it in this shopping trolley.  It will be given by the Stapleford Foodbank to people who need food

Egypt provided food to other people around them who did not have any

How can we help other people who have less than we do?

Clay cup

Mould a cup out of clay

Joseph’s brothers were invited to have a meal with him, but they still didn’t know who he was

What do you think they would have eaten and drunk at this special meal?

Friendship bands

Thread the ribbon through the ring pulls to make a wrist band.  You have to be careful how you do this so that the ring pulls stay firmly together

Or make a bracelet by plaiting the threads

Joseph’s brothers treated him badly when he was young.  But when he told his brothers who he was they became friends.  He hugged and kissed them.

Is there anyone you have been upset with who you need to make friends with again?

Jigsaws

Draw a picture on the jigsaw.  It could be of your family, or anything you like.  It can be a pattern but use plenty of colours

Joseph’s father, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces all moved to Egypt.  There were 70 of them.

If you take the jigsaw apart can you put it back together again?  Joseph’s family had been taken apart but it came back together again.

Tea Light

Draw stick people holding hands around the tealight holder

Joseph’s family were very happy to be friends again after being apart for a long time

Are there any people you have not seen for a while that you would like to meet?

Big painting

Paint this picture showing friends enjoying being together

Joseph and his family were very happy to be back together again

What do you enjoy doing with your friends?

Thanking God

At harvest time we thank God for the food he gives us

Draw a picture of something you want to thank God for on a leaf, or write a prayer to thank god for the good things he gives us

Attach the leaf to the tree.  You can do as many as you would like.  Can you cover the tree with thanks?

Joseph thanked God for turning the bad that had happened to him into good