These texts are from Sarah Douglas (Spiritual Child Network) based on Godly Play, the Lion Handbook to the Bible and the Lent notes 2011 by Bishop David Thomson (Bishop of Huntingdon).

I suggest printing out the document in colour, onto paper (card not required) – using the four-to-a-page print option. The individual texts can then be cut to size, backed with a piece of paper of matching colour (this isn’t really necessary, but I thought it a nice touch) before being laminated.

To paint names of books onto wooden book blanks:

1. Preparation is everything – sand the spines to get as smooth a surface as possible.

2. Notice that the book blanks may be different widths. Decide if you want to mix up thicker and thinner books (use the pdf documents “relativesize…pdf” to determine which books are actually bigger and smaller. Organise the books on the shelf.

2. Paint the spines to match the colour-coding in the key documents. I used acrylic – very thinly.

3. Sand again – the paint will have raised the grain, making it rough. Sanding will take some of the paint off. I didn’t worry about this – I quite liked the aged look.

4. Print the “Titles” document. This contains labels for each book. Use carbon paper and a stylus, or pencil, to transfer the printed titles onto each spine. Using a fine brush, paint in the titles using black acrylic paint.

5. Wax or varnish, as required.