Fruit Tree

This could be used to celebrate the delicious fruit we eat in the summer, harvest or for a session about the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians Chapter 5.

You will need :

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Bendy drinking straws, adhesive tape, pictures of fruit or fruit shapes and adhesive squares. For the base: oasis, polystyrene or modelling dough

Tape a bundle of drinking straws together at the bottom and just below the bendy part. If you are using this to talk about the fruits of the Spirit you may want to use nine straws per bundle. Then bend the shorter part of the straw down so that it forms a branch for the tree. To make the fruit, stick pictures cut from magazines or garden catalogues to card and then cut them out. Alternatively, the children could draw their own fruit or cut shapes from coloured card or foam sheets. Stick a double-sided adhesive square to each piece of fruit and stick it onto the end of the straw as in the picture. Use oasis, polystyrene or modelling dough as a base for the tree.

Why not also provide some real fruit as a healthy treat to eat while you are being creative together? (Think about allergies – especially to strawberries and kiwi fruit).

Jesus Rock

This craft is a bit of light hearted fun on a holiday theme.

You will need :

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A4 sheets of thin brightly coloured card – cut in half lengthways, sticky tape, scissors, fine-tipped red markers and paper circles

Roll the card lengthways into a tube. Thin card is best as it is more manageable. Tape it around the middle first and then at each end. For each stick of rock you will need two white paper circles. Invite the children to write their rock message inside the inner circle. It could be a Bible reference to God being our rock (e.g. Psalm 71:3). Cut from the outside edge of the circle into the inner circle (follow the dotted lines on the template). Bend the cut sections back, away from the writing, and then insert one circle into each end of the tube, pushing the folded back pieces in first. The circle should stay in place without glue.

Food Frieze

Jesus helped his disciples to catch enormous numbers of fish in their nets. See Luke 5: 1-11.

You will need :

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Background paper (the example shown uses paper from a craft roll but lining paper works as well); lots of pictures of different kinds of food; scissors; glue or glue sticks

The heading on the frieze is made from letters printed off the computer (font size 475). Stick these on first, then draw on the letters of the word FOOD. Invite the children to cut out pictures of food and drink from magazines and catalogues and stick them onto the frieze to fill in the outline letters. Warning: you will need a lot of pictures so if you don’t have a stockpile of magazines, ask your church and friends to start collecting now.