Fun art projects -- we've enjoyed so many over the years. Here are a few that we especially enjoyed:
Alcohol ink tiles for the Creation Story. Loved this medium and how unique and beautiful each tile was! Will have to look through old files for a picture, but you can see beautiful samples by googling Alcohol inks.
Melted crayon art for creating the furnace for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The kids loved this. The photo doesn't show it, but they also added a key word from the story that was especially meaningful to them -- faith, courage, strength, brave, etc.
Torn fabric (and tulle) Baptism Banner - this is one of my all-time favorite activities. Kids and their parents helped (we even had toddlers helping). I tore the strips beforehand (different shades of blue cotton) and cut lengths of tulle and sheer and glittery ribbon. We sorted them and set them out in piles. Kids just looped the strips over a curtain rod (could also use a large dowel or closet rod) and pulled through making a simple knot. We added baptism symbols made of card stock covered in white satin. This is displayed in the sanctuary/worship space when we have a baptism at church.
Prayer Beads - we have made prayer beads for several different stories/occasions (general prayer, to sell for missions) but these were special for Psalm 23. Each bead represented a key part of the prayer and we encouraged kids to use them to help them memorize the psalm.
Mosaics - mosaics have been mentioned here already. But here are some different ways to use them. We've made mosaic stepping stones, flower pots, concrete benches and this photo which is a bird bath (made with a plant saucer glued to an upside down flower pot). One of our most popular activities was to made several as joint projects and then sell to raise $$ for missions. We've also found that using the little flat marbles instead of actual broken glass pieces is easier for kids and turns out really well! This bird bath sits in a special garden alcove near our church entrance.
Weaving - a fun but challenging project as a culmination of our summer long study of David's life. We did individual weavings (using paper plate looms that were pre-warped before class!) and also a large group weaving. I loved the kids' creativity -- they chose materials that represented the different parts of David's life to create the weaving. The large weaving was done on a hula hoop using torn t-shirt strips as the warp. They also added some charms that reflected his life -- a cross to point to the promise of the Messiah, musical note, etc.
