A Man who Finds Treasure - 12 October 2013

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 12 October 2013. Have a look and try a few!

Spade
Design your own spade out of junk.  Then see if you can lift some sand with it to get a prize.

The man dug his treasure out of the ground

How big a hole do you think he had to dig?

Hidden things
Can you find something hidden using your hands only?

The treasure in today’s story was hidden

What did you find?

Shaving foam


Can you find anything in the shaving foam?

The treasure in today’s story was hidden

Did you find anything in the foam?

Glass beads
Paint the glass beads and then thread them on a string

When the man found the finest pearl he had ever seen he paid everything he had to get it

Which of your beads do you like best?


Threading beads
Make a bracelet out of the paper beads

When the man found the finest pearl he had ever seen he paid everything he had to get it

Which of your beads do you like best?



Clay treasure box

Make a treasure box out of clay.  Leave it to stand to set hard.

The man dug the treasure box up in a field

What would you like to put in your box?

Folded treasure box

Colour in your treasure box.  Then fold it into a box and glue it down.  Put a jewel inside.

The man dug the treasure box up in a field

Where will you keep your treasure box?

Treasure map

Make a treasure map

The man who found treasure hid it so no-one else could find it.

How do you remember where you have put things?

Picture frame


Stick paper onto the card to decorate the frame.  Then put a sheet with a bible verse inside.

The man gave everything he had to get the pearl

How much would you spend to get a pearl?

Special mobile

Make a mobile with coat hangers and then hang things that are special to you on it

The man gave everything he had to get the pearl

What is special about the things you have put on the mobile?

Hidden things

You can have one go at each of these
Lift a lolly and see if you can find a special one
Feel in the sand and see if you can find a penny
Feel in the sawdust and see if you find a chocolate coin

When the man found the treasure he buried it again so that other people wouldn't find it.

Where would you hide something you don’t want other people to find?

Wafer treasure chest

Make a treasure chest out of wafers and fill it with chocolate and treasure

The man spent everything to buy the field so that he could get the treasure

If you had a lot of money what would you buy?

God rules

Use paint, glitter and jewels to colour in ‘God rules’. Then add some pictures of places God rules over like home, school, shops, world

The kingdom of heaven is the place where God rules.  Jesus told this story about the kingdom of heaven.

What does this story tell us about God?

Pinata

Hit the bag with a stick and see if a sweet comes out.  Only one go.

The man who found the pearl was very pleased.  He went to a lot of trouble to get to the pearl.

Was it easy or hard to get a sweet?






Prayer Prompts

How are you today?

Choose something from the box that fits with the way you are

Talk to God about it

The Story of a Man Sowing Seeds - 14 September 2013

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on 14 September 2013. Have a look and try a few!

Match up

Match up the seeds with the leaves.  Then decide which tree picture you think they belong to.
Seeds need the right conditions to grow and bear fruit

Have you grown any seeds?  How did you care for them?



Clay coasters

Roll out the clay and cut a circle or a square.  Press some seeds in a pattern to decorate it.

The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.
Do you get birds in your garden?  Can you tell what kind they are?

Bird beaks

Make a bird’s beak.

The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.

What kind of birds do you think ate the seeds?






Bird wings

Cut the plastic bag to make two wings and add feathers to it.

The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.

What do you think it would be like to fly like a bird?

Bird cake

Mix all the ingredients to make some bird cake. Hang it outside when you get home and watch the birds enjoy it.

The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.

Do you put out seeds to feed birds?

Scarecrow

Take the scarecrows coat and stuff it with straw. Put canes through and add a head and hat on the top. 
The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.

A scarecrow is put out to scare the birds away.  Sometimes we want to get rid of scary things in our lives, can you think of any?


Grass heads

Put some seeds and then some soil in the stocking.

The seed that was planted in good soil grew well

Take it home and water the seed.  Wait for it to grow.








Plant care

Plant a daffodil bulb in a pot.  Follow the instructions to care for it. You can decorate the pot too.

The seeds that were planted in good soil grew well

What is your favourite flower?

Large collage

Make a picture of the four parts of the story – a plant growing on a path, a plant growing in rocks, a plant growing with weeds and a plant growing on good ground

Jesus told the story about the man sowing seed to show people that it was important to listen to him

Why do you think it is important to listen to Jesus?

Story cakes

Decorate the cake with the different kinds of ground that the seed was sown in

The story talks about different things that get in the way of listening to God

Can you tell the story by looking at the cake?






Toffee

Break off a bit of the toffee.

The seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds.  They didn’t grow.

The toffee is very hard isn’t it, like a path.  How could a seed grow in something hard like that?






Shallow ground

Can you get a straw to stand up in the sand.  How much sand do you need?

There is only a little soil amongst the rocks.  The seed starts to grow but then the roots can’t grow any further.  When the sun shines the plant dies.

Do you like it when the sun is hot or do you prefer the shade?

Tangled wool

Try to untangle some of the wool.

The roots of the weeds and  plants were tangled up together

In the story this was like the way we get busy and don’t have time for important things we want to do.  What important things do you want to do?

Playdoh fruit

Make different fruit out of the playdohPlants grow well in the good soil.  

Nothing gets in the way and they have a lot of fruit.

What are some good things about knowing Jesus?



Plant a seed

Plant a seed in the good soil

In the story the seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.

Say a prayer for someone you know

Prayer stones

Plant a seed amongst the stonesThere is only a little soil amongst the rocks.  The seed starts to grow but then the roots can’t grow any further.  When the sun shines the plant dies.

Things that are difficult can get in the way of us living in the way Jesus wants, like the rocks.

Say sorry to God for things that get in the way of living for him

Prayer Box

Think of something you would like people to pray for

Then write on the paper– someone’s name– Or a sentence describing what needs to be prayed for– Or write a prayer yourself Put it in the box

Between now and the next Messy Church, a few people from St Helen’s will pray for this

Good Friday 2013 - Messy Church

Welcome to Messy Church @ St. Helen's Stapleford!

This page takes you through the various activities we had at Messy Church on Good Friday. Have a look and try a few!

Theme: Easter

1. Prayer crosses

Write a prayer or the name of someone on a cross and hang it on one of the branches

Jesus prayed before he was arrested because he was very worried about what was going to happen

God loves us to talk to him and tell him what we are concerned about.





2. Mosaic crosses


Colour in each section of the cross with different colours using glass paints.  You can use this cross as a window decoration.

Jesus know he was going to die and he told his friends about it so they wouldn’t be surprised

Have you ever had to tell someone something difficult?  How did you do it?



3. Palm Trees


Decorate the tube with brown paper for bark and add green leaves to make a palm tree

People waved leaves from palm trees around when Jesus cam into Jerusalem

There were lots of palms trees around.  Do you know any kinds of trees?






4. Easter story spinners


Colour in the pictures of the Easter story on the card.  Put one circle on top of the other and connect them with a split pin

A lot happened in this week of Jesus life

Can you tell the Easter story by looking at the pictures?



5. Cross necklaces


Thread a cross on the elastic and add some beads.  Tie the ends together to make a necklace.

Jesus dying was very sad, but it was very important.  It was the way Jesus planned to make us his friends

What is it like having friends?  What do you enjoy doing with them?  Do you know Jesus wants to be your friend?

6. Easter story display


Use the different materials you have to make a model of the Easter story

We know what happened to Jesus because it was written down by people who remembered it.

Can you remember what order the different parts of the story happened in?

7. Pin tail on donkey


You will be blindfolded.  Then see whether you can pin the tail in the right place on the donkey.

Jesus rode on a donkey when he came into Jerusalem

Important people rode on horses, only very ordinary people rode on donkeys.  Have you ever ridden a donkey?

8. Decorate hard boiled egg


Decorate a hard boiled egg and then see how far you can roll it

The stone that was put in front of Jesus tomb was rolled away.  It would have been very heavy so the people who found it were surprised

We don’t know how it was rolled away, except that God must have done it when noone was looking

9. Easter gardens


Put compost in a container, then add crosses and a cave for the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Jesus was buried in a garden.  The cave belonged to someone wealthy who asked if he could  do this.  People had to be brave to admit to knowing Jesus.

Can you think of some things you have to be brave to do?

10. Paint crosses on nails


Would you like to have your nails painted.

The people who knew Jesus were very sad that he died, but very happy when he came back to life.  They never forgot it.

When you see the cross on your nails remember that Jesus died and then rose again

11. Glass paint picture


See the words He is Risen on the glass sheet.  Help to fill them in with glass paint.

Jesus travelled round when he came back to life.  He met his friends so that they would be sure he was alive.  He ate with them and talked with them.

Do you think it was easy for his friends to believe he was alive?  Or do you think they might have been puzzled?

12. Money bag

Thread a lace through the holes of the piece of material.  Pull them tight and add a toggle.  Then put some money in the money bag.

Judas was paid 30 silver coins to show the people who hated Jesus how to find him.

If you carry money around what do you put it in?

13. Sponge painting

Paint the picture of crosses on the hill using the sponges

When Jesus died, two other people who had done something wrong were also put on crosses with him

Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong, but he was punished anyway

14. He is alive banners

Choose one of the pictures and trace through it onto a sheet.  Then colour it in and add plastic strips to make it into a banner.

After three days Jesus came back to life and never died again.  He is alive now but in a different way from us as we can’t see him.

Even though we can’t see him he sees us and knows all about us

15. Hearts

Decorate a heart biscuit with icing

God loves us very much.  He even died because he cared about us so much.

God knows us very well and cares for us.  Would you like to say thank you to him?

16. Easter bracelets

Thread each of the shapes onto a thread to make a bracelet.  Take a sheet that tells the Easter story using these beads

Some parts of the story are happy and other parts are sad

Which part of the story do you like best?

17. Plastic egg

Cut some shapes out of foam for different parts of the Easter story.  Put them in an egg and decorate it.

Jesus started the week being cheered by the crowds.  But the people turned against him and he was killed.  At the end of the week he came back to life again.

Can you tell the story using the shapes you have cut out?

18. Pop up Jesus

Decorate a cone.  Attach a person to a stick and put the stick through the hole in the cone.  You can push the person out of the cone, just as Jesus came out of the cave he was in.

Jesus was buried in a cave.  But when his friends came to visit it he wasn’t there.  They saw him alive again and he talked to them

Do you talk to Jesus?

19. Handprint cross

Fill in the cross with handprints

Jesus died for us because he loves us

Our handprints show he loves each one of us