Children's responses


How do children respond to biblical and worship materials in the home?

Advent



I made a cross out of the purple ribbons which were in a basket by our Advent wreath. Then I thought about what symbols would show what Advent meant.

I put a golden disc with a celtic pattern in the middle to show the mystery of God.

I put a candle in one corner, to show that the light of the world was coming, to shine out in the darkness.



Next I put a crown to show that we are waiting for a king to come. But He is not a normal kind of king, so I put a lamb beside it to show that the one who is coming is also the lamb of God.

I put a cross in the last corner, to show that the lamb would be sacrificed for us.

The cross is carved on something that looks like a rock. I think it looks like the stone which was rolled away when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning.

Christmas is only the beginning of the story, which starts in heaven and goes back to heaven. Jesus comes to earth to show us the way to heaven.

Edmund (aged 9)

Christmas: Holly and Ivy



Every year we decorate the playroom with holly and ivy for Christmas.

Last year we were singing the hymn the holly and the ivy as we did it. "The holly bears a berry as red as any blood... the holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn."

We draped holly and ivy around figures of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the manger.



When I came into the room later I found that my eight year old son had taken baby Jesus out of the manger and put a carved head of Christ wearing a crown of thorns in its place.

The head had been covered with some holly with tiny leaves.

A bit later I saw that he had moved a cross there, then a cross with the risen Christ painted on it.


After that, angels gradually appeared. Finally he asked me to come and light the candles two of the angels were holding.

Easter



A five year old spent each day in Holy Week, constructing a 'set' for the passion narrative.

It started with a scene used with a Junior church group on Palm Sunday, using yoghurt pots and margarine tubs placed under a green cloth to create the hills, a silk scarf as a road, playmobil figures (including Jesus and a donkey), paper palm leaves, little cloaks and coats cut out of felt, and Jerusalem built out of duplo.


She re-built it in the spare room when she got home (out of reach of rampaging 2 year-old brother!). Each day she read the next bit of the story in each of her collection of Easter stories, and added a scene.

These included the money-lenders and stall-keepers being thrown out of the temple and Judas being offered 30 pieces of silver.



Later in the week she added the Last Supper and Jesus washing the disciples feet; the garden of Gethsemane and the arrest; Pilot washing his hands; the crucifixion; the harrowing of hell (remembered from an adult sermon the previous year).

Finally she added the resurrection, and breakfast on the beach with the disciples.