Today’s thoughts are about a craft box in the worship space for Families, but it could also be of use to families that worship in a service without a Families Ministry.
A trolley or small chest of drawers would be ideal, but it may need a lock or child safety system if small swallowable items, or scissors (if you have scissors find a quality plastic scissor) are to be kept in it.
If possible try to make the materials all age suitable, which may mean not having foam sheets, as they can be bitten into and cause a swallow hazards. Or small buttons or google eyes for the same reason.
Ideally, I would caution against “messy” items in a traditional service, as the clean-up can be time consuming. But on the other hand, if you have a member of the congregation willing to cheerfully help the clean-up it can lead to bonding with the rest of the congregation! Oh Yes, and what a wonderful outcome that could be!
Items I like to put in a craft area are
Coloured and textured papers and boards, (Riot and Officeworks are a good source for these especially when found on special)
Crepe paper ribbon or paper, if possible blue, green, yellow or brown. Crepe paper readily breaks so is easy to extradite small wriggling humans from it if they get a bit wrapped up!.
Texta’s, for different age levels, ie egg crayons, Thicker texta’s to help grip and positioning for the pre-schoolers. I like Crayola, they are not made in China, they are large enough for a product recall not to be overlooked, and the thing that really wins my loyalty is they really do washoff, all surfaces. During one service, one of our youngest members decided to use herself as the surface, a wonderful expression of her spirituality and easily cleanable so she was no longer a body canvas, when her parents left for lunch with friends straight after church.
Glue sticks, no messy spills, and they stick a treat.
Icy pole sticks,
Spoon shaped timber sticks, (make great people)
Felt squares, pre-sticky felt squares or larger shapes, stiffened felt same colours as mentioned for crepe paper.
Envelopes, different sizes, and colours, including white.
Fabric craft squares Spotlight
Stickers, religious and otherwise.
Paint in sponges and large stamps (available from Riot)
Leaves (from non toxic plants)
Old fashioned timber pegs (no springs)
I don’t like
1) pipecleaners as the ends poke and hurt, and drawing blood during the service does break the worshipping mood.
2) Sticky tape can have sharp edged dispensers, and can be pulled out to great lengths (mummified little ones are also a worship stopper).
3) Bottles of Paint, same issue as for bottles of glue
The main thing is that they are safe, age appropriate materials that are not large mess makers during a traditional service the idea is to worship, not to damage or clean –up.
I remember from my Godly Play training “use quality products the children can tell the difference”
What would you add to this list?
The Cross in My Backyard 