Catch Jonah With The Whale Game

(Jonah 1 & 2)

I have seen many versions of this craft/game over the years, but they always seemed to leave me wanting something... I don't know... more colorful, I guess. After a long search for the perfect materials, this is what I ended up with and I couldn't be more pleased. It works really well, is bright and cheery, and the kids have a blast with it. It is easy to alter the craft to fit whatever time span and age group you happen to have. For vacation Bible school, when longer activities may be needed, allow the children to do some of the "Beforehand Preparation" steps below themselves. For Sunday school, when time is shorter, put most of the project together at home and have the children only do the coloring, and maybe the glueing of the whales. Likewise, older children can do more of the actual construction, and younger children will need to stick to the coloring steps. You know your class and your time limits, so I'll just say, read through all steps carefully, then pick and choose which steps will work best as beforehand prep. and in-class construction for your situation. I've listed it below as I do it for a thirty minute project time.

Materials:

Blue paper party hats (cone shaped, no decorations)

Yarn (any color)

Cotton cloth or burlap (solid, neutral color)

Any dried beans (I like Lentils best)

Hot glue gun & glue sticks (for ADULT use only)

Scissors (not pictured)

One large eye sewing needle (optional, not pictured)

Small bore funnel (optional, not pictured)
White card stock (not pictured)

Whale template: 
        Color (download here) or

        Black & White (download here)
Jonah template (download here)

Printable t-shirt transfer sheets

Skinny sharpie pens in variety of colors


Beforehand Preparation:

1) Print the Jonah template onto the printable t-shirt transfer sheets. One Jonah is needed for each child.

2) Cut around each Jonah in a circular fashion smaller than the bean bag desired.

3) Transfer each Jonah onto the cotton cloth per the transfer sheet instructions.

4) Cut around each Jonah leaving a good margin for the glue. Each one should be the actual size you want the bean bag to be. Don't go too big because if he is too heavy he will be difficult to catch with the whale.

5) Cut a matching piece of plain cotton cloth for the backside of the Jonah bean bag.

6) Cut yarn in approximately 24" lengths. One for each child. I have found this to be a good length for most ages. The longer the yarn, the more difficult it is to catch Jonah in the whale. For teenagers 36" works well.

7) Put together the Jonah bean bag:

        a) Hot glue the front and back of the Jonah pieces
            together leaving an opening at the top.
        b) Fill with beans.
        c) Stuff one end of the yarn into the opening.
        d) Hot glue the bean bag closed making sure the yarn is secure.

8) Print the whales on white card stock. One sheet (or 2 whales) are needed for each child. Use the black and white template if the children will be coloring their own whales. Use the color template if time will not allow them to color their own.

9) Since I am always running close on time in my class, I either let them use the color template and they get to cut the whales out OR I cut the black and white template whales out and they get to color them. We never have time for them to do both the cutting and the coloring during the Sunday school hour. 

10) Remove the elastic chin straps from the hats.


In-class Instructions:

1) Give each child a hat, a Jonah bean bag with yarn attached, a left and right whale, and sharpies.

2) Ask the children to color their Jonah (& the whale if applicable) with the sharpies. The whale can be colored with anything, but the cloth Jonah does better with sharpies.

3) When they have completed the coloring, they should take the hat and the whales to the teacher for glueing. Using the hot glue gun, glue the whales to each side of the hat with the mouth of the whale facing the large opening of the hat. I do not recommend using Elmer's or other similar glues because the children will want to play with the game immediately and that type of glue does not dry fast enough. Using hot glue allows game play to begin within seconds.

4) Lastly, have the children thread the free end of the yarn through the top of the hat. Tie a large knot in the end of the yarn to secure. Look closely at the picture below. See the hat seam? This seam makes it easy to thread the yarn without a needle. If your hats are constructed differently, a large eye yarn needle can be used. Just make sure it has a blunt tip if the children will be using it.

Hold the hat at the narrow end and let the swinging begin!




NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

                  

Joseph's Dreams

(Genesis 37 & 40)

There are numerous places in the bible where dreams are mentioned. The stories we see in Sunday school are usually associated with Joseph. First, Joseph has two dreams that we learn foretell his own future. Then later, he interprets dreams for others.

An easy craft for any lesson involving dreams is, of course, a dream catcher.

Materials:

Wooden embroidery hoops (any size)

Any object that can be used in the center. See * below.

Yarn

Popsicle sticks

Scissors

* I found these glittery heart cutouts at Michaels after Valentine's Day on sale for $1.00 for a package of 4 (or was it 5?). Although the shape and size was perfect, the glitter was a mistake. I rubbed as much as possible off, but what remained was annoying. It worked fine; I just didn't care for the glitter. Any rigid cutout shape will work.

Instructions:

1) Remove the outer ring. We will only be working with the inner ring. The outer ring can be used, but I chose to only use the inner ring so as not to have any hardware on the dream catcher. I'm sure the outside ring will come in handy one day for different project.

2) Using a different color than is desired for the finished product, tie the cutout at two opposite points inside the ring to hold it into place. I liked the off-center look, but anywhere is fine.

3) Cut a piece of yarn about a yard long. More or less may be used depending on how thick the weaving is desired. If multiple colors are used, thread each color individually for be results.

4) Tie one end of the yarn to a popsicle stick. Wind the yarn around the stick. This is to make it easier to manage the yarn while threading it around the ring.

5) Tie the loose end to the ring at any position keeping the knot in the back.

6) Wrap the yarn through the center of the cutout and around the outside edges of the ring moving all the way around the ring. When all the yarn has been wrapped, remove the popsicle stick and tie that end to the back of the ring. Optional: Repeat with other colors.

7) Remove the stabilizing pieces of yarn added in step 2 above.

8) Tie another piece of yarn to the top and hang. 


Click here for original craft source.






NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!

Pray

(Luke 11 1-13)

This week’s lesson was about the importance of prayer. Hmmmm. Not your typical children’s bible story filled with colorful visuals and rich details from which to develop a game or craft. How does one add a Wow! factor to a discussion-oriented lesson for children? Well, believe it or not, it is possible. In fact, there are loads of fun, Memorable activities that are easily adapted to almost any lesson. One such craft is this one. I found it on Pinterest, of course. Here's the original source in case you'd like to check that out, too.

TIPS:

*  Smaller kids may find the whole word (Pray) too large, and therefore overwhelming. For first and second grades, it may be better to go with a single letter (P) instead. I'd use two pipe cleaners for each capital P. Third and fourth graders will have no trouble tackling the complete word.

*  It may be helpful to tie shorter pieces of yarn together beforehand to make one long strand for younger kids. Alternatively, use only one color. 

Materials:

Yarn
Scissors
Pipe cleaners (any size, any color)











Instructions:

1) Twist four pipe cleaners together (more if making large letters or only two if making a single P).

2) Bend pipe cleaners to form the desired word or letter.

3) Tie the yarn to the pipe cleaner with a knot at the bottom of the P. Begin wrapping yarn around the pipe cleaner, moving up the P, then around each letter, until reaching the end of the Y. Tie off again with a knot. Multiple layers may be applied if desired.

See another idea for this lesson here.

NOTE:  All images, text and printables contained herein are copyright protected. This material is for your personal use only. I encourage you to print or pin from this site whenever you would like as long as it is credited and linked back to EasyBreezySundaySchool.blogspot.com. Failure to link back and credit my site constitutes a copyright violation.  Thanks so much!