New Year isn’t necessarily a particularly family event especially for younger children. My youngest, currently four, has put in a request to stay up late this near year, and watch The Beegees, which is what she considers to be ‘New Year’. (Just to clarify, last year we DID watch a documentary about the Beegees with … Read more
Have fun by dressing up as the characters from the Nativity story. Visit some charity shops to look for bits and pieces that could be used in different ways. Scarves and dressing gowns for example. You could make tunics out of pillowcases and headdresses with tea towels and a ring of elastic. You could download … Read more
This is a simple way to make a gingerbread nativity scene by creating a manger scene in a stable (or house depending on your theology of the nativity!). I know homemade gingerbread tastes fab, but the bought stuff is easier to build with and gets us straight to the fun bit which is of course … Read more
In our family, we celebrate Shabbat each week and Passover each year so I wanted to look at the Jewish ‘High Holy Days’ as they are known, to find some rituals we could use to enrich our faith at home. I’m not going to give an exhaustive overview here, (because you have google too!) but … Read more
Have fun moving about and playing this game as you pray. If you’re not familiar with the traditional game of Twister, it’s quite simple: you spin the spinner until it lands on a colour and one body part (left or right hand or foot). You then place that part of your body on a spot … Read more
Most families have some dried pasta in the house, so here’s a few ways to use it to explore Bible stories together. While 1 type of pasta works fine, it’s fun to have a few different types. In this picture we used lasagne sheets, spaghetti and twirls (what are they called?). You could read the … Read more
One of the things I like doing when reading the Bible is considering the crowd. Who are the non-speaking people in this story? Which people from other Bible stories might have also been in this one as part of ‘the crowd’. This is especially interesting when looking at stories about Jesus as the Bible often … Read more
This is a simple activity which can be used as an exploration of any Bible story. I use it at home and also in our church as part of our intergenerational service at Easter. The idea is to have lots of abstract shapes for people to create their own pictures with. The pictures could be … Read more
Title: Mosaic – Celebrations Author: Scripture Union Useful for: anyone wanting materials for a small group with a wide age range (e.g. a family!) Best bit: loads of creative activity pages and flexible, accessible ways to explore the Bible story including great artwork Worst bit: maybe too many colouring pages, although my children did love them! Price: RRP £11.99. This … Read more
I wonder what part of the Easter story you like best? Which part have you particularly noticed this year? I wonder what you might make out of these shapes? I love open-ended activities. We have creative materials out all the time for my daughters to create something whenever the mood takes them. And they do! Often … Read more
Quite a few people have asked me to share about the Family Activity Workshops I’ve been doing, so here we are! I’ve been doing workshops for families for a number of years, and have developed a model which I’ve found help inspire and encourage families as well as giving them activity ideas to do faith at … Read more
Title: Treasure Box Author: Becky and Adam May Useful for:Â parents of children aged 3-10 wanting to do faith together at home Best bit:Â the lovely Bible storybook and ready-to-go craft activities – my 5-year-old especially loved the weaving loom Worst bit: the wooden door included in the box was lovely, but the prayer ideas didn’t actually use it Price: RRP … Read more