You will need: Modelling clay, e.g. Crayola Model MagicTM (see Further resources) or PlasticineTM; clue cards (borrow from Junior PictionaryTM game, or make your own with the names of simple objects on); a timer.
- Divide the group into two teams, giving each team a lump of modelling clay.
- A member of one team takes a card and has to model the object written on the card. The team should guess what it is. Give a time limit of 60 or 90 seconds per card. Members of the other team must not answer.
- Award the team two points if they get it right. If they don't before the time ends, give the other team the chance to answer. They get one point for an immediate correct answer.
- Then play goes to the second team. Make sure everyone gets a chance to model. To make it harder, wrong answers/passes could mean you remove a small amount of clay!
Think together
Cheating (C+YP 10 mins)
Discuss and brainstorm with the group about their experiences of cheating and emotional responses
You will need: a big sheet of paper and pens.
- Ask the children if they have ever experienced cheating and when it can happen. Write down their responses.
- Talk about a sport that is appropriate for your group, for example football – ask the group; Why do we need a referee? What would it be like without a referee? How do managers/players/fans feel when they think someone is cheating or they think the ref is being unfair to one team?
- Ask them how it feels when someone else cheats (without encouraging naming and shaming or recriminations!). You could draw cartoon faces to express these emotions on the white board, or equivalent.
- Ask: Are there things in the world that make us say ‘That's not fair!’? How should we react?
Worship
Fire and the Spirit (C 5 mins)
Using a candle to focus a short time of worship and prayer
You will need: a candle.
- Make the room as dark as possible and light the candle.
- Read verse 16, ‘Jesus will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’ Explain that fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the candle reminds us that he is with us now.
- Pray for any situations of injustice in the world, or in the lives of your group this week.
Make
Lava shakers (C+YP 10 mins)
Making lava lamps, using shaking instead of heat to create the visual change
You will need: jars with tightly sealing lids e.g. little spice jars; water, food colouring (two contrasting colours) and vegetable oil. The group could also add shiny extras like glitter or sequins.
- Mix one food colour with enough water to half fill a jar. Put this aside in a jug.
- To make the shaker, half fill another jar with oil and add a contrasting food colour. Shake this vigorously to mix.
- Pour the coloured water to the oil mix in the second jar. Add glitter or sequins, and seal tightly with the lid.
- At first, the oil and water will not mix, but will instead create two separate coloured layers.
- But when the jar is shaken thoroughly, the colours will mix, to make a third colour. For example, if you have used blue and yellow, it will mix to create green. When left to stand, the colours in the jar will separate out again.
- Reinforce the point about John the Baptist shaking things up with his challenge to the powerful people in the story – the tax collectors and the soldiers.
Make
Advent baubles (C+YP 10 mins)
An ongoing craft activity
You will need: reflective paper and fabrics; baubles from previous weeks.
- Each bauble will show ideas from the four weeks of Advent. You might have prepared the first and second segments in previous Advent weeks, or you can do these now.
- First, the youngsters should mark out their bauble into four quarters, segmented from top to bottom.
- First segment: fix the sun and moon and stars images. Add glitter to the segment .
- Second segment: glue on the coloured pipe cleaners to show the wiggly path and a straight path.
- Third segment: glue on the reflective papers to make the bauble really shine.
- Concludes next week.