Two Valentine chain patterns for Sunday School children: one with arrows and hearts and the other with children and hearts. The patterns below should not be redistributed from alternative websites, but these are free for classrooms and home use.
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| Examples of what the paper chains should look like. |
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| Two chain patterns, cut on the dotted lines after folding the paper like an accordion or screen. |
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| Click to enlarge and download the largest available size. |
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face
to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully
known." 1 Corinthians 13:12
Many folks have included a craft similar to this one in their Bible craft lessons online. Mine uses acrylic paints instead of soft pastels. I also have cut one of two paper plates into a silhouette and have painted it black. However, some parents may find that it is easier to cut black construction paper instead.
This craft is often made during Lent or Easter. Children often display it on a cupboard or at a table during the formal meal of Easter Sunday along with their died Easter eggs.
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| Finished three crosses silhouette craft. |
Supply List:
Step-by-Step Instructions:
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| Left, the silhouette of three crosses drawn on the back side of one plate. Center, I used foil to protect my surfaces and keep things clean. Right, I painted the silhouette black. |
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| Left, the painted silhouette of three crosses symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus along with two thieves, one repentant and the other a fool. Right, is the second paper plate shown just after it's paint has dried. |
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| Left, a close up of the sunrise view of three crosses is actually traditionally practiced to honor the Easter Sunrise Services that take place all over the United States the Sunday after Good Friday. In the real history of crucifixion, Jesus' cross was taken down on Good Friday, shortly after his death. It is the tradition of believers to show Jesus' cross at the largest one in the center. Right, the two paper plates are stapled together. |
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| Two handy monkeys. |
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| Two handy giraffes. |
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| Two handy pigs. |
The web is full of these popular hand crafts in every animal imaginable. Include some of these along with my versions to expand your classroom menagerie:
“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry." Isaiah 55:10
This fun little Christmas scene may be partially assembled prior to painting if you want to use it in a larger Sunday school class. Children from four to nine will enjoy painting their pine cone fir trees on the first Sunday. Let it the paint dry for a week so that on a second Sunday, students may decorate their trees with snowy cotton, glitter, and sculpt a cute, snow-white, woodland critter to sit beside each pine cone tree on top of the wooden base.
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| Finished snow scene. |
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| Left, a tin basket full of pine cones and a mounted pine cone that has been painted green. Right, is the cone with added white cotton and a toothpick that has been mounted into the wooden block. This step is optional, it will merely secure the snow bunny in place. I will glue my beaded bunny parts through it after these have dried. |
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| Above you can see the little shapes that students will need to make for a snow bunny. There are holes through the bottom two pieces to secure these over the wooden toothpick. |
"And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" Luke 23:42
Gather just a few craft supplies for this project: yarns, wooden crafts sticks, scissors, and white school glue. Cut two of the four craft sticks approximately 1 1/2" shorter. Round off the ends to match all of the others similarly. Glue these four tongue depressors together to shape a frame. Let this little wooden frame dry completely before wrapping the yarn cross across it's sides.
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| Left, the cross is wrapped across the frame sides. Right the completed yarn frame and cross finished. |
Tie and secure the beginning of the yarn around one end of the frame and then wrap one side of the cross four or five times and secure the end with a knot or glue. Do the same for the other sides of the frame to shape a cross in the center of the wooden frame. Now wrap the sides of the frame and squeeze a bit of glue onto the surfaces as you go. Twist a accent of yarn around the center of the cross.
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| Left the sides of the frame are cut. Center, the ends are shaped to match. Right, the frame is allowed to dry completely after gluing the ends together in the pictured shape. |
A hand-crafted peacock may be made either by dipping a younger child's hand in paint and printing the wings of the peacock or by drawing around an older child's hands and cutting these from construction papers or by coloring in a hand tracing instead. Use glitter, sequins or additional papers to further exaggerate the peacock feathers. Cut out a simple body shape for the bird's torso, a yellow or orange triangle for it's beak and tiny white eyeballs can be cut with a hole-puncher. Glue on a feather to the peacock's head and draw it's black feet. I've included a printable page below of Matthew 6:26 so that Sunday school teachers may print out multiple copies of the verse for larger numbers of children. Their students may then craft a peacock between the lines of verse, just like the example shown above.
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| Jesus said, "...they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? |
"Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:27
Children can assemble and decorate fun and easy crosses to hang in their bedrooms or classrooms using just a few simple materials: tongue depressors or Popsicle sticks, acrylic paints, yarn, and white school glue.
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| Left, two tongue depressors cut and glued together in the shape of a Passion cross. Right, decorated wooden crosses made from yarn, paint and and tongue depressors. |
Young ones will delight in making a thee dimensional picture of baby Moses hidden among the paper reeds. Craft the reeds in the swamp the first Sunday and then the baby on a second Sunday. I recommend that adults cut the egg carton parts in advance for their little ones. They also need to attach the basket to the paper reeds with hot glue for the children.
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| Baby Moses hidden in the reeds from Pharaoh's servants and soldiers. Read this story in Exodus 2:3. |
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| Left, cut fringes in paper but leave 1" uncut at the bottom. Center, curl som of the fringe with edge of scissors. Right, glue rows of fringe along the length of construction paper, staggering these to make them look like reeds in a marshy area of the sea. |
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| Left, cut oval from cardboard and cover one side with yarn. Braid a length of the yarn to glue on the sides of the "basket" so that it has walls. Talk about what it might have been like for Jochebed, Moses's birth mother to make such a basket to hide him. Right, hot glue the basket in and among the paper "reeds." |
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| Left, cut away two pockets of a paper egg carton to shape a baby Moses. Center, wrap the bunting using a bit of cotton batting and glue around the lower paper egg cup. Then cover this with cream colored yarn if you want to. Right, cover the upper egg cup with brown paper and glue to be baby Moses' head. Trim with facial features. |
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| Baby Moses was hidden among the reeds in the marshes of the sea to keep him safe from Pharaoh's soldiers/servants. His sister, Miriam, watched over him night and day until he was discovered, rescued and adopted by the very daughter (princess) of the man who was trying to kill all Hebrew male babies! |
Learn to draw and cut a crown of thorns for Easter or Good Friday. We used alphabet stickers to finish this sample project. The initialism INRI represents the Latin inscription (in John 19:19), which in English translates to "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews", and John 19:20 states that this was written in three languages—Hebrew, Latin, and Greek—during the crucifixion of Jesus.
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| A finished layered paper, crown of thorns. |
Directions:
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| Left is our template cut from typing paper. Center, is the white lead tracing to transfer the crown of thorns to black construction paper. Right, I layered all three colors of paper and stapled these together so that I would only need to cut the thorny crowns once. |
This yarn painting of a dove may be used as a Bible craft for a wide variety of lessons. The dove symbol is popular throughout the scriptures so it could be applied to lessons about Noah and the ark, sacrifices in the Synagogue, or the symbolic depiction of the Holy Spirit at the Baptism of Christ. This dove image is simple enough for a child in first through third grade to complete, although, older students may enjoy making it just as much.
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| Finished yarn painting of a dove. |
Step-by-Step Instructions:
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| Left, the pattern has been printed on a home computer. Center, the dove's wing is cut out from the body of the bird so that it may be traced around as well, Right, there are three layers of cardboard glued together to make the construction for our dove yarn painting. |
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| Details of the yarns used and the button eye. |
This yarn painting would be an appropriate "love" themed craft for any Bible lesson about love. The theme is based upon a very popular folk aesthetic often incorporated into the arts and crafts of young students. I would recommend this particular project for 4th or 5th graders. It takes time and patience to complete it, several hours at least. If you are working with students in a Sunday school class to complete a project like this, allow for several Sundays to finish it properly.
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| Finished yarn painting of heart in hand. |
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| Left, cardboard cut-out of hands. The negative space between fingers forms the heart. Center, the cardboard hand cut-out is glued on top of a second sheet of cardboard to add strength and make it easier for young students to glue yarn to its' surface. Right, here you can see that the center "heart" space was filled first with glue and the yarn pressed inside it. |
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| Left, up-close detail of bracelet wrapped in foil tape. Right, up-close details of finger nails. |
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| Click to enlarge, print and color. |
