Moses and the Burning Bush

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will paint a burning bush and add the words "I am with you".

Key Scripture Verses:
Exodus 3:2-4: There an angel of the Lord appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. “This is strange!” he said to himself. “I’ll go over and see why the bush isn’t burning up.” When the Lord saw Moses coming near the bush he called him by name and Moses answered, “Here I am.” (Contemporary English Version)

Concepts:

• God is with us always.
• God can call us anywhere, anytime, for any reason.
• We don’t have to be perfect to do God’s work.

Lesson Objectives:

• Students will learn that God had to use some drama to attract Moses’ attention.
• Students will think about and discuss how Moses must have felt when he realized that God was giving him instructions from the burning bush.
• The children will create a stencil painting of a burning bush.

Teacher preparation in advance:

• Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Workshop.
• Purchase materials and check the art room to see what supplies exist. Make a sample.
• Prepare all the materials you will need for the creation process. Have the materials ready to go. There will be limited time for the creation process, so do everything you can to conserve time.
• Decide how you want to close the lesson. Prepare a prayer or use one of the group suggestions above.

Materials List:

• 5” x 7” file cards or other heavy paper
• 9” x 12 ” construction paper
• Scissors
• Pencils
• Paint brushes
• Red, Yellow and Orange Tempera paint
• Small pans or dishes for paint
• Word stencils - Moderator Notes: please see comment regarding stencils at bottom of page - idea had to be modified as this did not work

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Welcome the children and introduce yourself.

Start the “lesson time” with prayer. Ask for volunteers, but plan on praying yourself. A short prayer thanking God for being a part of our lives would be appropriate. Ask God to help us to be aware of his presence so that we may do good things as Jesus has taught us.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Bible Story:
1. Spend a short amount of time on the scripture passage referenced above. Have the children use their Bibles to locate the story. Focus on verses 2 through 4, in which God speaks to Moses from the burning bush.

Moses was in the desert near Mt. Sinai, watching sheep and goats that belonged to his father-in-law. God appears as an angel in a burning bush and calls Moses to do God’s work. Although the bush burns, it does not burn to ashes and disappear. Moses thinks this is very strange and goes to investigate. God speaks to Moses and gives him instructions for leading the Jewish people who are God’s followers out of Egypt. God has chosen Moses to help the Jewish people escape their lives as slaves in Egypt but Moses does not think that he is perfect enough to do God’s work. God tells Moses “I will be with you.” Moses then understood that God had a plan and the power to make it work through the leadership of Moses.

2. Explain to the children that the burning bush in this story is a mystery. We do not know how God spoke from the burning bush or how a bush could be burning but not burnt up. Moses was a prophet of God, and like many prophets, he had visions through which he was able to understand what it is God wanted him or the Israelites to do. The important thing for us to remember is that God is always with us and God still speaks to us in many different ways:

a) Scripture
b) Preaching
c) Worship
d) Hymns, anthems, music in worship
e) Faith Quest
f) Retreats
g) Sacraments: baptism and communion
h) Prayer
i) Dreams
j) Visions
k) Conscience (the “still small voice within us")

2. Take a minute to talk to the children about the creation they are going to be doing in this workshop. Remind them that the cutting and paint dabbing may seem a little difficult at first, but it will be fun to have a picture and verse to remind them that God is with us always.

Application:
1. Create! It would be a good idea to have children put on smocks. Pass out materials. Every child will receive a piece of heavy paper or 5” x 7” card, a pencil and some scissors.

2. Show the children samples or some bush shapes and a sample of the finished product. Tell them that they will be making their own stencils for the bushes, but may use a supplied stencil for the words. The bushes will be painted as a shadow print with the outline revealing the bush, while the words will be filled in from the stencils.

3. Tell the children to quickly sketch and cut out a bush shape from the card. It is important that they express their own ideas as to what a bush might look like. When finished, they should turn in the scissors and dispose of the scraps.

4. Pass out a sheet of 9” x 12” construction paper (do not use red, orange or yellow) and a brush to each child. Red, orange and yellow tempera paint in small dishes and word stencils will be available to share. Have them write their names on the back of the construction paper.

5. Now they should use the brushes to paint around the outside of their bush shape (it is best to dab the paint for this part so it will look more like flames), and they should paint inside the stencil letters. Point out that colors dabbed side by side look more like fire.

6. Since there are not enough word stencils for each child, some children should start by painting with those stencils and pass them on. The open spaces in the o and the capital A may be connected manually.

7. There is no particular placement for the words or the bushes. Either can be top or bottom and the paper can be placed in either direction. “I am with you” can be set as one or more lines.

Reflection Time:
Shepherds will pass out the journals and pencils/markers. The children should spend a few minutes reflecting upon the morning’s lesson – God is always with us and he gives us the ability to do God’s work.

Closing:
1. Encourage the children to share ideas about how God comes to us and speaks to us. We can do God’s work because “God is with us always.”
2. Say the Memory Verse together (see above). You may want to have this verse printed on a banner and hung in the room, write it on the white board in the room, or have it on slips of paper that each child can take home with them.

3. Pray! Ask the kids if they have any prayer requests. Thank God for being with us.

Exchange Volunteer notes:
While cleaning up this forum we accidentily removed a further post made after they did the lesson...from memory (and if original poster sees this please correct me if I'm wrong).

The stencil idea - it DID NOT work (words were unreadable), teacher who did this first time said she had them write on the words, above or below there bush with a coloured pencil crayon - in a colour other than orange/yellow/red (or it might have been with markers).

A lesson written by Catherine from: Kirk of Kildaire
Cary, NC

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

Moses: Bulrushes to the Burning Bush

Art Workshop 

Summary of Lesson Activities:
Use a variation of the ancient Jewish art form of micrography to create a burning bush scene. Focus on the burning bush portion of the Moses story and God’s call on our lives. (Micrography uses very small writing to create shapes and designs. Or, call it “Word Art."  

Scripture Reference:
Exodus 1:1 – 4:15

Key Verse:
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you.” Exodus 3:11-12a (NIV)

Workshop Objectives — After completing this Rotation, participants will be able to:

• Name that the story is found in the Old Testament.
• For 3rd grade and up: Locate the story in Exodus. Identify Exodus as a book of “Law.”
• Retell the story in his/her own words.
• Recognize God at work in the lives of story characters.
• Examine God’s presence intersecting in their life. Implement a watch to see where God is at work with plans for them.
• Discover that we don’t have to be perfect to do God’s work; God gives us the abilities we need and God is always with us.

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture for this lesson.
• Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
• Gather the materials
• Take a look at the examples of micrography. Plan how you will demonstrate the process.
• Write the Key Bible Verse on the easel. (For younger students just use: "And God said, 'I will be with you.'”

Supplies List:

• Bibles (for 3rd grade and up); For 1st and 2nd grades: Young Reader’s Bible
• Classroom Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Bible tab making kit – tabs & fine-line Sharpie marker
• Easel with paper, pencil, black marker
• Calligraphy paper (at least 1 sheet per student) – sand color is probably best choice
• Fine-tipped Sharpies, colored pencils, gel pens, regular pencils, white erasers
• Examples of micrography printed from Internet (see resource list at end of lesson)
• Magnifying glass

Presentation 

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the Art Workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.
Say: Let’s begin with prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. A suggestion: “Amazing and Wonderful God, Thank you for gathering all of us here today to hear your word. Thank you for the Bible so we may learn about you. Guide us to be still, and hear your voice calling to us. Amen” 

Dig- Main Content and Reflection: 

Say: Today we are going to learn about a man named Moses who talked to God in an unusual way.
Ask: Thinking about Bible stories you have learned, what are ways God has spoken to people? (burning bush: Moses, dreams: Joseph (both OT & NT), angels: shepherds, etc)
How do you suppose you would feel if God spoke to you in one of these ways? (accept all answers)
Say: Today we will talk more about how God spoke to Moses and we’ll talk about God speaking to us.

Ask: Would the story of Moses be found in the Old Testament or the New Testament?
Say: This story took place around 3,500 years ago. It is a story Jesus would have learned when he was your age. We find this old, old story in the Old Testament. Even though it’s an old story it’s still important to us today. 

For 1st and 2nd grade:

Say: We find our story in the second book of the Old Testament – the book of Exodus. Let’s review the story. Let me show you the pictures in this story Bible. You tell me what you know about the story of Moses. If this age group visits this workshop later in the rotation – chances are they’ve heard the story at least once.

Using The Young Reader’s Bible, show pages 74 to 85. As you show each picture, briefly review the story by asking questions like: o page 75 - What’s happening here? (review Moses’ birth, why hid, why basket)

• page 76-77 - Then what happened? (Moses saved, got to be with his mother)
• page 78 - What happened when Moses was older? (lived w/ Pharaoh’s daughter)
• page 80 - What’s happening here? (Moses’ people are slaves)

Say: Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince but he didn’t forget that he was Hebrew.

Ask: How do you suppose Moses felt about what was happing to his people?
Did he try to do something about it? (killed an Egyptian)
Did that do any good? (no, Moses had to run away to Midian)
What job did Moses do in Midian? (shepherd)

Say: Moses was a shepherd in Midian for forty years.

• page 81 - Ask: Then one day, what exciting event happened?

Tell me about what happened at the burning bush?

Allow students to tell you the burning bush part of the story.
If necessary, read pages 82-85 showing the pictures as you read.

For 3rd grade and up:

Distribute Bibles.

Ask: Which book in the Old Testament contains the story of Moses? (Exodus)
Who can name the first five books of the Old Testament?
Say: The first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are called the “books of Law” because they are based on the commandments or laws God revealed to Moses.

Show the classroom Bible with tabs.
Say: If you have your own Bible today and you need tabs, we can work on that after we get started on our art project.

Have everyone find the Exodus 1:1. Tell everyone this is where the story begins.

Note: In this workshop we’ll focus on the burning bush portion of the story. Briefly review chapters 1 and 2 of Exodus by asking questions, filling in any portion of the story that’s not known. Use wording like:
Ask: What can you tell me about Moses’ birth? (placed in basket in Nile)
Who found Moses? (Pharaoh’s daughter)
Then what happened (adopted, raised in Pharaoh’s palace)
When Moses was older he left Egypt. Where did he go? (Midian desert)
Then what did he do? (was a shepherd)
Say: After living in the Midian desert for 40 years, one day something exciting happened. This is the part of the story we will focus on so let’s find Exodus chapter 3.

Have a student read Exodus 3:1-4.

Ask: At the burning bush, what was the first thing God asked Moses to do? → If necessary read (or ask a student to read) Exodus 3:5
Say: Moses was in the presence of God. When God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Ask: Why was God calling Moses? → If necessary read (or ask a student to read) Exodus 3:10
Say: God said he had seen the misery of his people in Egypt. He had heard their cries and was concerned about their suffering. God wanted Moses to go rescue them.

For all students: 

Say: Let’s get started on our art project and we can talk more about the story as we work. 

Introduce the art project:

Pass around the two examples: “Table & chairs” and the “hand.”

Say: I am passing around a couple examples that represent the type of art we are going to be making. Look carefully at the examples and tell me what you notice.

Ask: What do you notice about these examples? (drawings are made up of words)

Say: The shapes on the drawings are created using words. These drawings are based on an art form called micrography (pronounced mī-krog'ru-fē ). These pictures aren’t actually micrography because micrography, as its name would suggest, uses very small letters written out, to create a design. Micrography is a Jewish art form that has been practiced for over 1,000 years. Very small Hebrew letters were written out to create a design. I have an example of a “real” micrography, though it was done recently.

Pass around the “Crossing of the Red Sea” example.

Say: The words in this picture showing the crossing of the Red Sea are the text of the entire book of Exodus. Crossing the Red Sea is another adventure that Moses undertakes.

Allow everyone to see the Red Sea example. Offer a magnifying glass.

Say: Traditionally micrography is done in black and white but we can use colors. Let’s make a burning bush scene! You may wish to start your drawing by lightly sketching the outlines of a shape, or you may not need an outline to follow – you decide. (Note: See suggestions for younger students at the end of the lesson).

Ask: What words do you suppose we could use to create a micrography of the burning bush story?

Accept all suggestions – Older students could write Exodus chapter 3, or could write words that tell the story - “one day Moses saw a bush on fire but it wasn’t burning up,” or could repeat certain words or phrases – “God called Moses with a burning bush.” Younger students should be encouraged to write whatever they'd like, not worrying about spelling.

Say: Since most of us don’t know Hebrew, let’s make our words in ______ (fill in with your native language).

Using a black marker, demonstrate how to write along the shape of a bush. (You may wish to first demonstrate drawing a light outline of a bush with a pencil.) Write a phrase, curving along a branch of the “bush.” Create a ripple of sandy desert along the bottom of the page, writing: “Where we meet God is Holy ground.” (or just "Holy ground" for younger students.)

Say: I’m using a marker just so you can see what I’m doing. I would suggest you use pens or colored pencils to do your creation. I am also writing large but for your drawing, create the size lettering that you think is best.

Distribute supplies and help everyone get started. Then turn to discussion, directing the Shepherd to help students so that your focus is on discussion. Perhaps you can sit down and work on creating your own art! (But keep the discussion going!)

Discussion: (while the students are working)
Ask: Was Moses expecting to be called by God? (no)
Say: God’s call to Moses was unexpected and surprising – God calling from a burning bush that was not burning up!? Sometimes God gets our attention in unexpected and unusual ways.
Ask: Has God ever surprised you? (accept all answers)
Do you suppose God still calls people today?

Say: God is with us today, just as he was for Moses. He still speaks today!
Ask: What are some ways that God might speak to us today? (allow all answers; suggestions - the Bible, devotional books, worship, Sunday’s school, music, prayer, sermons, youth retreats, Communion, friends or family, conscience - the “still small voice within us."

Do:  Share a time in your life when God gave you a message or got your attention.

Ask: How do we listen for God’s call in our lives? (accept all replies)

Discuss ways to listen for God: being quiet, contemplating nature, repeating a phrase such as “Come Holy Spirit, come.”

Say: We need to be open to chances when God may be trying to speak to us. Just as Moses made the decision to go and look at this bush that was on fire but wasn’t burning, we too need to pay attention. It can be difficult to tell when God is “calling” – even for adults!

Ask: How do you suppose you could set up a way to notice God at work in your life? (leave space to allow all answers) 

Say: One way to notice God at work in our lives is to keep a list of things that we are thankful to God for; noticing just three a day will result in over one thousand in a year!

Ask: How did Moses respond to God’s call? Was he ready to run right down to Egypt?
Say: Moses was very reluctant to take on the job of freeing his people.
Ask: What excuses did Moses give to God – excuses why God shouldn’t pick him? (allow a few replies) Earlier in the Rotation older kids aren’t likely to know because this workshop didn’t read that portion of story.

Say: The first excuse that Moses gave God is in our key Bible verse for this Rotation.
Refer to the key Bible verse. Read it to the students.

Ask: Do you suppose you will always feel ready to accept the work God has for you? (allow a few replies)
Say: When God calls us to do something, he gives us the abilities we need to do his work. If God calls us to be peacemakers but we are afraid to standup to the bully, God will be with us – helping us figure out the words to say or the adult to talk to. Just as God was with Moses, God will help us with what we need!

If time allows: share info on the other excuses of Moses.
Say: Moses tried four different times to tell God that he couldn’t do the job. He didn’t feel adequate to speak to Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But God had a plan for Moses. God was going to make his plan work! God told Moses that he would be with Moses.

Remember to help any student who wants a “Law” tab for their Bible – or ask Shepherd to do this. If they want a whole set of tabs that’s fine. (Refer to classroom  Bible as to how it’s done.)

Closing: 

Say: God called to Moses from a burning bush. Moses was sure that he couldn’t do what God was asking him to do. We have talked about God calling us today. When God calls we might also be unsure about whether we are up to God’s task. Our Key Bible verse for this Rotation reminds us that no matter what, God is with us. He will never leave us.

Refer to the key Bible verse. Have everyone say the verse.

Say: This week maybe you’ll face the difficult task; remember that you can talk to God like Moses did and God will be with you.

If you have extra time:
Have students add detail to their work. Have them share their work with the class, explaining a bit about their choices.

Modifications for younger students
Writing "small" requires good fine motor skills. Younger kids may not be able to write small. You may wish to not refer to the word "Micrography." Call it "word art." Don't require writing small. Give them stencils to use to draw a bush shape. (Create these ahead of time using an X-Acto knife and flattened cereal boxes.)

Resources:

• Bruno, Bonnie and Carol Reinsma. The Young Reader’s Bible. Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 1998.
• G.R.E.A.T. Adventure Dream Team at State Street United Methodist Church, Bristol, VA. “Moses: From Bulrushes to Burning Bush! – Computer Workshop.” Rotation.org. 2003.  Look for this lesson in this forum in the “COMPLETE LESSON SET… State Street UMC Bristol, VA.”
• Faith Quest Lesson Sets at Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church. “Moses and the Burning Bush: Praising Puppets.” (Some discussion questions used.) Look for this lesson in this forum in the DRAMA or PUPPET Workshops…
• The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary. “Micrography: The Hebrew Word as Art.” 2005.
  
  Micrography examples:
• Table & chairs: (Moderator removed - link no longer worked).  Suggestion:  Do an internet search for "Images of Micrography" and you'll get lots to choose from.
• Hand: http://sangiev.deviantart.com/...y-214180489#/d194ivi
• Crossing of the Red Sea (link no longer works so removed).

Note: Workshops we also used in this Rotation

• Video: View the Nest Entertainment animated video, Moses, to learn story details and story sequence from Moses’ birth to his burning bush experience. See this lesson posted in the Baby to the Burning Bush forum, under the VIDEO/A-V WORKSHOPS…
• Cooking: Create edible baby Moses baskets. We used the lessons from State Street UMC from Baby Moses-Burning Bush lesson set from. Look for it in the Baby to the Burning Bush forum, under "COMPLETE LESSON SET… State Street UMC Bristol, VA."
• Games: Focus on story events. Use the life-sized game board and a game die. Also from Baby Moses-Burning Bush lesson set from State Street UMC.
• Drama: from Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church. “Moses and the Burning Bush: Apostle’s Playhouse.” Do a SEARCH for Kirk of Kildaire drama (without any quotes) in the Baby to the Burning Bush forum.

Other resources: 

Visit Carol's blog – where we encourage parents to continue the learning at home.

(Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None, Carol does not make any money from her blog. Any ads you may see there are placed by Wordpress.) 

A lesson written by Carol Hulbert from: First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI

Copyright 2011 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI.
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material. 

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert,Carol. Lesson set posted at rotation.org: Moses: Bulrushes to the Burning Bush – Art Lesson." 2011. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>. 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

Moses & the Burning Bush

Art Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:
Children will paint wooden cut-outs of Moses, the burning bush, and sheep. 

Scripture Reference:
Exodus 3:1-10 

Memory Verse:
Exodus 3:5

Teacher preparation:

1. About a month or two in advance recruit a church member to make duplicate sets of Moses, burning bush and sheep wood cuts with scroll saw.  Drill hole into each Moses wood cut.  Insert pre-cut wood dowel rod and glue with wood glue.
2. Read the Scripture passages prayerfully, asking God to show you what He has to say to you and to those He’s given you to teach.
3. Read the Biblical Explanation and Background, and think about what concepts you need to teach.
4. Prepare the necessary materials.
5. On the back of each of the Moses wood cuts print or paint “Take off your sandals…”  On the back of each of the burning bush wood cuts print or paint “…for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:5
    

Supplies List:

• Wood cut outs of Moses, burning bush, 3 sheep for each child (Available from Faith Alive Christian Resources)
• Variety of paint colors of paint and brushes
• Palettes (one per child)
• Paint smock (one per child)
• Bibles (one per child)

Presentation 

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:

Greet the children and introduce yourself. 

Open with a prayer. 

Dig-Main Content and Reflection: 

Pass out the Bibles and help the kids locate the book of Exodus in them.  Help kids locate chapter 3. 

Teach about Moses and the burning bush, briefly describing the background from Exodus 1 & 2, and relating Moses’ encounter with God in Exodus 3 & 4.  Have the kids who are able to read, go around the room reading aloud Exodus 3:1-10 a verse at a time.   If it is past the first Sunday of this rotation, first ask the children to relate what they’ve already learned about Moses and the Burning Bush in other workshops. 

Repeat this month’s Memory Verse, Exodus 3:5 a couple of times together as a class. 

Ask:

1. What do you think Moses thought of when he saw the bush burning but not consumed by the flames?
2. Why do you think that God told Moses not to come any closer, and to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground?
3. Why did Moses hide his face? (He was afraid to look at God)
4. Where do you think we might find “holy ground” today?  (at church, on the lake, at the ball diamond, in the grocery store, at the hospital, etc.)
   
   Explain to the kids that all around us is “holy ground” because God’s Spirit and presence is everywhere.   Have the kids take off their shoes as a reminder that they are sitting on “holy ground” today.
   
   
5. What was the reason that God called out to Moses from the burning bush?  (He wanted him to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt)
6. How did Moses respond?  How would you respond?

Say:  Today we’re going to make a reminder of Moses’ experience on Mount Horeb when he encountered God in the burning bush. 

Have kids paint Moses, burning bush, and sheep wood cut outs as desired.  Let dry. 

Closing: 

Repeat the memory verse one more time: "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5) 

End session with prayer.

A lesson written by Rev. Ron Shifley from: Scotland United Church of Christ
Scotland, SD 

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

Hi!  Thanks for your email.  I'm happy to help.

The strawberry baskets is a much easier activity for very young children.

This fall 3D construction paper tree looks a lot like a burning bush!

How to here: http://twitchetts.com/2017/08/...ion-paper-tree.html/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...sg&feature=share

Neat idea Amy.

My mind is immediately trying to figure out how to add 3D sandals below it. I've always liked God's command to "take off your sandals, Moses, for you are standing on holy ground."  

In a former tropical church, most of our parishioners wore sandals. "Old Tom" would slip out of his sandals "like Moses" he would say, and plant his feet on the cool concrete floor during the pastoral prayer, and whenever communion was served. He was a retired  potato farmer, btw!

Sandals! Yes!! A great suggestion for an addition to the burning bush 3D artwork, Neil! (and a neat story about slipping sandals off for communion as well as prayer - great talking point and something for parents to think about with their kids in the pew, too)

One choice for something 3 dimensional to go under the bush would be to cut a simple foot shape and add a strap across it, like this (just teenier rather than actual foot-sized):

Of course, you could study this story and have the children make wearable sized sandals. Here is another sort of wearable flip-flops for inspiration (but this particular project uses too much hot glue gun to be a good project for kids):

And here is great origami sandal that could be a fun art project for this story:

Luanne adds: one year on a church girl's two night camping trip for a camp craft we purchased flip-flops at the local dollar store, in different sizes we thought would fit the girls. In advance we cut a pile of fabric strips 1" x 6" of assorted colours. The girls then chose a pair of flip-flops in their size and decorated them by taking a fabric strip, double knotting it around the strap, continuing to add a strip and knotting it, until they covered both side straps, until they met at the center. They sat on the ground on a large tarp to work.

The question would be how to tie the fabric strips into this story? Maybe storytelling based on colours/patterns of fabric they associated with parts of the story or feelings brought on in in the telling. Examples: Green and brown - bush, orange - flames, wild pattern - shock, calm pattern - praise, white or black - sheep. feelings - what fabric would be like's God's voice? Why? If God spoke to you from a burning bush,  what fabric would represent how you would feel? Why? A few to get you thinking.  Below is a couple photos I took showing some flip-flops, box of fabric strips we'd cut and one of the girls wearing her decorate flip-flops at church the next day.