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