Rocky S Plaice U5s Material

Rocky’s Plaice under-5s material

Day 1

Ascension

Acts 1: 1–11

Story

Jesus goes to heaven

What you need

•One coloured balloon for each child

• Two white balloons (angels) all inflated and with string attached

• One helium-filled balloon (Jesus)

• Adhesive stickers

• Helper to introduce the angels during the story

What you do

Show the children how they can put stickers on their balloons to make faces. Say that their balloons are going to be the ‘friends of Jesus’ in your story. You may be able to go outside to tell the story but make sure you have tied the string loosely to each child’s wrist or a buttonhole. Don’t release the balloons on purpose: it may upset the children to lose them and is also a pollution hazard.

Now tell the story:

It was time for Jesus to go to heaven.

Jesus and his friends went for a walk up a hill. (Invite the children to bring their balloon characters with them and walk round the room or on the spot.) When they got to the top of the hill, Jesus spoke to his friends. ‘Tell everyone about me,’ he said. ‘Everywhere you go, tell people about me.’ Then he promised them that one day soon, he would send his Holy Spirit to help them. It was time for Jesus to go to heaven to be with his Father God.

Jesus said goodbye to his friends. (Let your Jesus-balloon say goodbye to all the others.)

They looked. And watched. And they saw Jesus go up into the sky. (Loosen but don’t fully let go of your string.) Not by plane or rocket or helicopter. Not even by balloon. God took him into the sky and he was hidden by the clouds.

(Have an assistant produce the two white balloons and say that two men dressed in white suddenly appeared.) They were angels. They asked Jesus’ friends, ‘Why are you all looking up into the sky?’ (In your own words, have the balloon-angels explain that Jesus has gone back to heaven and that one day he will come back the same way.) Now, the friends of Jesus are to do the important job that Jesus asked them to do: tell everyone about Jesus! (While the children are distracted by the angels, hide the Jesus balloon from sight so that he has ‘disappeared’ when they look again.)

Say that the friends of Jesus did tell other people about him – and they told other people – and that’s how we can know about Jesus today.

Craft

Make a flag

What you need

• Copy of picture of Jesus for each child (see Day 1 resource page)

• Short stick about 40cm (eg garden cane, dowel, stiff artstraw)

• Crayons

• Sparkly scraps (eg shiny wrapping paper cut into small shapes)

• PVA glue and spreaders

• Sticky tape

What you do

Show the children the picture of Jesus and explain that he is in heaven.Explain that we don’t know what heaven looks like, but we do know that it is a wonderful place.

Encourage the children to colour the picture of Jesus and then decorate with the sparkly scraps.

Attach the picture to a stick to make a flag using sticky tape.

Encourage the children to wave the flag and think about Jesus going to heaven.You might like to use the flags during a worship time.

Painting praise

What you need

• Bright paints

• Brushes

• Large sheets of paper (at least A3)

• PVA glue

• Glitter

• Painting aprons or old shirts

• Clean-up and cover-up materials

What you do

Mix your paint with a small amount of PVA glue and some glitter.(The glue helps the glitter to stick when the paintings dry.)

Say to the children that heaven must be a beautiful place because Jesus is there. Tell them that they are going to make a picture of what heaven might be like.Allow the children to paint their paper using the colours in any way they like. Admire the pictures, as they make them.

Display the finished pictures around the room. Suggest the children stand in front of different ones while you say together each time: ‘Thank you, Jesus, that you are alive in heaven.’

Activity

Bubble blowing

What you need

• Bubble solution

• Bubble wands

What you do

Explain that, after Jesus had died, he came alive again. His friends saw him move, heard him speak, felt his body and watched him eat. He was definitely alive. But, after a while, it was time for Jesus to go back to his father, God, in heaven.

Go outside and blow some bubbles. Watch them floating up into the sky. Comment on how beautiful the bubbles look, shining and reflecting the light. Watch as the bubbles disappear from sight. If the bubbles pop, comment on how Jesus suddenly vanished from sight!

Encourage the children to blow bubbles. Helpthem think about Jesus going up to heaven by asking some questions, such as ‘How do you think Jesus’ friends felt when he said he was leaving?’ and‘How do you think they felt when they watched him go to heaven?’

Make your own bubble mixture

What you need

• Concentrated washing-up or baby-bath liquid

• Glycerine

• Warm water

• Bucket or bowl

• Bubble wands (anything circular to make bubbles with)

• Clean water (to rinse the bubble wands and clean down the area, if outside)

• Paper towels

What you do

This recipe makes a generous quantity of bubble mixture, ideal for groups of children to play with outdoors.

Put warm water into a bowl or bucket. Gently stir in about a quarter of a bottle of concentrated washing-up liquid and add a good dash of glycerine. Try not to froth it up. There are many variables when making bubble mixture so it’s best to experiment to find the best combination. You may need to add more washing-up liquid.

Glycerine from a pharmacy is cheaper than buying tiny bottles used for cake icing. It is not essential but it gives more shimmer and better surface tension to the bubbles.

You can buy all shapes and sizes of bubble wands and gadgets but here are some cheaper alternatives:

• Show children how to make a circle by touching the tip of one index finger to the tip of their thumb. Get everyone to dip their hand in bubble mixture and bring it out slowly. See the film of mixture across the circle. Blow gently at the film and see the bubbles fly.

• Use the plastic circles from multi-packs of cans to blow large and small bubbles at the same time.

• Dip one end of a drinking straw in the mixture and blow from the other end to make tiny bubbles. (Make sure the children blow and don’t suck!

Prayer and praise

Action prayer

What you do

Remind the children that Jesus went back to heaven and that we can talk to him there.

Teach the following refrain and actions:

(Crouch down low.)

Thank you, Jesus, that you are alive (jump up) in heaven.

(Stretch up high.)

Ask the children to crouch down low as they listen to each phrase of the prayer below. After each sentence, all say the refrain ‘Thank you, Jesus, that you are alive and in heaven’ and do the actions.

Jesus, you went up into heaven.