Materials for each child:

• Glue
• Cotton balls
• Scissors
• Markers
• Styrofoam coffee-sized cup
• Google eyes

Assist the children in cutting two holes in the side of the coffee cup near the bottom. These will be the finger holes when the craft becomes a puppet. The holes should be fairly close together so the children can put one finger in each to be the sheep’s legs.

Have the children draw a face on the bottom of the cup. Have them glue google eyes in place.

Allow the children to glue cotton balls all over their sheep.

Leave the crafts in the classroom during the church service so they can dry, and instruct the children to pick them up when church is over.

Materials

• Mini and regular size craft sticks
• Wood star cutouts
• Yellow paper
• Red string
• Glitter paints/glitter glue
• Washable paints
• Paint brushes
• Wood or school glue

Find a printer pattern that is a silhouette of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in Bethlehem. Print it, then cut it out. Cut the yellow paper into a house shape, with two square corners on the bottom and a “roof” on the top. Do the cutting ahead of time, because it will be challenging for the children.

Have the children glue the silhouette on to the yellow paper. Glue a long craft stick to the bottom, and paint it green. Glue mini craft sticks to the side and the roof, painting them red. Glue the star to the top, painting it yellow. Allow the children to decorate the design with glitter paints. Glue a ribbon loop to the top to make a Christmas ornament.

Help the children reinforce their understanding of the Beatitudes by making Beatitudes posters. These can be displayed in the classroom for others to see what the children have done.

Start with a piece of poster board, cutting it in half lengthwise and top to bottom to make four rectangular quarters. Give each child one of these quarters.

Instruct the children to fold them in half to make a card. On the front of the card, have them draw, write, or otherwise depict the first half of their favorite beatitude. If the children cannot yet write, help them write the words to the beatitude.

On the inside, let the children do the same thing, but this time illustrating the last half of the beatitude. Encourage creativity, and offer help as needed.

Give the children plenty of time to make their posters personalized. Make sure the words are clearly seen, however. Post the finished products in a hallway or on the classroom bulletin board.

Materials:

• Card stock
• Markers or crayons
• Stickers
• Blue Rick Rack
• Blue and purple ribbon (7/8 inch)
• Tape
• Staples
• Glue
• Laminator or clear contact paper

Give each child a piece of cardstock. Have them draw what they want to from the story. For small children, this could be simply water and waves. For older children, encourage them to draw the boat. Have them write the memory verse on the paper. Laminate the paper.

Cut the Rick Rack and ribbons into 1-foot lengths. Glue a piece of Rick Rack to the top and bottom edge of the paper. Then, glue or staple Rick Rack and ribbons to the bottom of the paper so that they hang down. Roll the paper into a tube and tape or staple it so it stays. Staple a small piece of ribbon in a loop to the top so that you can hang the windsock.

Mothers love receiving hand-made gifts from their children, particularly when they are something they can proudly display in their homes. This flower will be something that your students’ moms will treasure! You will need:

• Picture of each child (take this a few weeks before and have them ready)
• Sticky magnetic strips
• Colorful cardstock (single colors, not patterned paper)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pens

Make a template of a flower petal for the children to trace. Cut each picture into a circle, and cut a piece of cardstock in the same size. This will serve as the center of the flower. Have the children trace and cut several flower petals (the number will depend on the size of the template and the circle). On each petal, have the children write something about their moms that they love. Then, have the children glue the petals around the circular piece of cardstock. Glue that to the back of the picture (so the child’s image is on the front). Let it dry. When it is dry, adhere a piece of sticky magnetic strip to the back so that it can hang on the fridge. If it is heavy, use two or three pieces of magnetic strip. Tell the children to give the gift to their moms for Mother’s Day.

Materials:

Scissors
Paper (preferably thick, like cardstock)
Ribbon
Glitter glue
Printer

Directions:

Print this template. Cut out each piece, and cut the dotted line as well. Be sure to watch the children closely to make sure they do this correctly. Have extra templates on hand just in case someone cuts too far.

Choose a matching pair of stars. Glue them side by side so that both sides are colored Slide the two stars you just created together using the area where the dotted line was. This will make them overlap in the 3D design. Decorate the stars with glitter glue. Hang a loop of ribbon from the top to create an ornament.

Counting down the days until Christmas is a fun way to anticipate the joy of celebrating Jesus’ birth. This advent calendar is a fun craft to make. Adding a slip of paper with a Christmas Bible verse into each container is a great way to make it a spiritual activity. Start working on this in early November, because it will take several weeks to complete. Also, enlist the help of the children’s parents to collect the toilet paper tubes you will need.

Materials:

• 13 toilet paper rolls (per child)
• Glue
• Tape
• Construction paper (red, green, yellow)
• Black maker or crayon
• Small candy (can fit inside toilet paper roll)
• Scissors
• Christmas stickers, glitter, ribbon, other decorations

Before the activity, cut the toilet paper rolls in half. Cover each one with construction paper, making half of them green and half of them red. Keep one half out and make it yellow.

Trace the top of one of the tubes onto construction paper. Cut out these circles. You need two circles for each of the halves of the tubes. Glue the circles on top, using matching colors. Let these dry completely.

Put a piece of candy into each of these tubes/cups. Then, glue the other circle on top of the cups to create a sealed container. Write the numbers 1-25 on the containers, with number 25 being the yellow one. Alternate red/green.

Tape two pieces of construction paper end to end to create the background for the calendar. If this is too flimsy, use a piece of poster board cut to the right size.

Arrange the cups in order from 1 to 25. You can be creative with the shape. Decorate the calendar with glitter, stickers, ribbon, or other decorations.

Starting on December 1, instruct the children to open one of the containers and eat the little candy as they count down the days until Christmas.

Idea from DLTK Kids.

Help the children make their own model of Joseph and his amazing coat with this craft.

Supplies:

• Scissors
• Glue
• Children’s washable markers
• Coffee filter
• Paper plate
• Water sprayer
• Male figure coloring sheet

Give each child one figure, and have them color it. Cut out the pieces. Then, open and flatten the coffee filter on the paper plate. Color it with the markers, making it as colorful as you want. This will be the “Coat of many colors,” so the more color, the better! Use the water sprayer to spritz the coffee filter. Allow it to dry completely (use a hair dryer if you are in a hurry). Cut the dry coffee filter into the shape of a coat, and glue it to the colored figure of Joseph.

Idea from DLTK-Bible.

This adorable craft is great for Christmas or any other stories involving sheep or lambs.

Materilas:

• Black construction paper
• White crayons
• Scissors
• Glue (preferably not a glue stick)
• Cotton balls

Using black construction paper, trace each child’s hand with a white crayon. Cut out the picture, allowing older children to do the cutting themselves with safety scissors. Then, give each child a handful of cotton balls. Have them glue the cotton balls to the “palm” portion of their hand cutout. The thumb is the head of the lamb, so let each child draw eyes and a mouth on the head using a white crayon. The four fingers become the feet.

For this craft you will need:

• 11 craft sticks
• Flat wooden circle
• Glue (preferably wood or craft glue)
• Glitter or glitter paint

Step 1: Glue five craft sticks in a fan shape to create the gown. Start with two overlapping pairs, each in a fan shape, and then glue the fifth stick in the center to anchor the design.

Step 2: Make wings by gluing three craft sticks in a fan shape. Repeat with the other wing.

Step 3: Glue the wings under the gown. Top with the flat circle.

Step 4: Decorate with glitter or glitter glue.

Step 5: If this is near Christmas time, glue a thread or ribbon in a loop to the back of the angel to make an ornament.

Idea from DLTK-Bible.