CRAFT
I'm teaching tonight. i've not finished the tutorial so i cant show you the finished product. But here is the first test... yes it's blowing bubbles, and it's intricate, but the kids ones are Damascus road linked and simpler!

GAME - extended

Board games can be great, but board games can be boring. younger children expecially like to move for their game, and many games rely on asking masses of questions of the children. However board games that make the children the pieces are much more popular. I've seen suggestions for painting sheets, made tarpaulins into giant twister variations, even seen inactive floors using screens and/or projectors. they are all fantastic, but also a huge amount of preparation and need storage.

This is a floor size board game, it only has 20 squares, it gets kids to move, there are no questions, there is a place to add silly suggestions, it's quick to prepare, simple to modify to your needs and it still ties into the teaching - Paul was on a journey, he had challenges to face.

You need :

to print the PDF on card, some pages need to be multiplied! 
to find a die or make a spinner (last page of PDF template + skewer)
a large flat space, and some time to lay out the game before they arrive
sticky tack / velcro hook tape

First print the pieces and cut out the shapes. Put a small amount of sticky tack or adhesive Velcro hook tape onto the shapes depending on your flooring. Lay out the pieces, forming a stepping stone pathway.  Just like most games you throw the die and move about. All the places have an arrow pointing to the next place so be generous with the spacing. Make sure there is enough room round each piece for extra children to stand. The basic game has 20 squares so will take more than 4 rolls of a standard die, add more squares if you want a longer game.

there are a few 'Special places' in the game...
X2 shapes: land here and you can jump forward or back 2 places according to the arrows
it's good to place an action shape where they will eventually land, i like to place this piece on the 6th place so anyone who gets the top roll first time is moved back.

Action shapes when you land here you have to imitate the action position until your next turn. that may be in a stationary position or by hopping or dancing. there is one special action shape....

question mark, here the player can set the action pose but everyone has to copy them....including the adults! OR you can make up your own rule for this shape

Adding more question mark spots is the simplest way to make the game longer. If you want to add questions about the teaching then again add more question marks and use them for questions! If you want to save on paper then just print the action spots, other spaces can be marked with beanbags, hula hoops, blank sheets, chalk marks, or anything you have available.

LINKED RESOURCES

I must admit I didn't find a huge amount for this one....

I lifted the story from the 'Gracelink Sabbath School' material. It's Seventh Day Adventist material so if you are not of that denomination then you need to heavily edit some of the material. However, the same bible stories remain bible stories and it's well produced. I used the primary material, 2008, week 5. The image  is linked to specific story i used, click here for main site.

Paper dolls are such a simple idea. These ones are very child friendly and come in black and white as well as colour. The child can make one, or seven for each of the deacons in the story. Image linked to site.

There is an interesting little object talk in the free part of 'Kids Sunday School Place' about using a ball point pen, if you have older children. The material there is nice but most is only available on subscription! image linked.

CRAFT : YOUNGER / MIDDLE

This craft comes in two parts. you can chose to use both, or just one of them dependant on your time.

The passage talks about the apostles serving food, it's an process even the youngest child can help with. This craft makes a tray for serving, this part of the craft can be, if needed, short on time and resources. The tray is then filled with food made from sculpting dough, this part of the craft is slightly time intensive to set up and for the youngsters to complete. 

I chose to complete the blank trays in advance, using thin card, and to give my youngsters the sculpting, with the option to colour the trays if time allowed. 

YOUNGER
(apologies for being a day late)

Linking in with the story I wanted the children to have something to take home to use with eggs. This is probably the simplest egg holder ever! 

The template for the shape to fold is below to downlaod. We used the colouring pictures from 'my little house' to print on the back but in heindsight they were a little too involved and most of the kids didn't get round to folding the egg holder itself. Sadly it's the only pictures I got of them.

Worksheet - OLDER

It's always important to get the older children to read the original text, in the spirit of that, the worksheets links the 5 objects from the story to specific bible verses. The instuctions - copy or draw - allow the youngster to chose what best suits their interpretation of the verse.

As English is not always the working language i have two files, one in English and one blank for you to write in the questions in the native language. I've left it as an image so the best way to insert the text is to print and photocopy or add it to your favourite image or publicity program.

The classic coloring page is a thing of great enjoyment for many, and it's often that we find great resources with amazing images online that just seem to fit the bill - the only problem, they are already coloured. (Equally - sometimes we simply don't always have the ink!)

A simple solution is found in many image manipulation programs that involve as little as 30 seconds work. Lets take for example the wonderful paper creations of Paper Thin Persona's, all offered free, all with licence to copy one per child for classroom use. Occasionally the website owner will give us a rendition in black and white but it's a lot of extra work for her. Admittedly our solution may be a touch less elegant than her black and white offerings, but still suitable for our use. This image is one i wanted to use when talking about Jesus' miracles, Jesus as our superhero. Admittedly it's a girl craft but it works for our example. Besides is a photograph of me tracing something, as a comparison piece.

LINKED RESOURCES

The idea of using fabric to make the mat the man was on seems lovely. This site uses 2 drinking straws with the straps passed through, and had a pipe-cleaner man. Though there are no photo's the instructions are clear.

OLDER
The bible house is much trickier to fold than it seems at first. Those under 10 will have trouble and may choose to cut out the steps rather than folding them. However once you get the hang of it you can make them very very quickly. As the sign is supposed to say 'Who can I bring to Jesus' the PDF is editable and will let you enter the message in the language of your choice. (Note: you may not be able to save the edited version.)

Print the PDF - there are 2 options, one outline only.
Cut out the shapes, every red line is a cut, every dotted line is a fold.
I used a craft knife to pre-cut the inside lines for the youngsters.

YOUNGER
Dancing men are designed for very young, preschool, children but can be used as a craft with slightly older children as practice of independent work, as they are so simple to complete.
I took the face image and the hand images from Clker.com and so they
have no copy write on them. The pdf page will give you four men. Each child also needs 2/3 of a sheet of paper of thin card for the body and limbs.

Cut out the heads, the hands and feet circles from the PDF.
The link for the PDF is at the bottom of this page!