Church Visits

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In the few weeks we have had Year 1 visits to two of our churches. Both Griffe and Wren Park children brought dolls to act out a baptism. The doll fro Griffe, Molly, was 'baptised' at The Haven; Rosie, from Wren Park was brought to LMC for her 'baptism'!

                                                               







Last year we were lucky enough to have the whole of Year 4 from St Peter's School in St Peter's Church for the day. We were learning about prayer and we had lots of 'stations' set up so the children could experience prayer for themselves if they chose to. We also had whole group discussions and craft activities but the stations were the most popular part of the day. The children's favourite stations were:

Prayer Tent, where the children were asked to think about homelessness and those who had no home. If they chose to they could write a short prayer on the tent, or they could just sit inside it and think.

Bubble Room, where the children could sit and relax looking at our fantastic bubble lamp. If they wanted to they could write a prayer for themselves and stick it on the lamp.

Labyrinth, we set up a labyrinth for the children to walk round. At different points they could drop a stone in water to let go of worries, sit and listen to some music or write down and throw away anything that had hurt them.


We had a fantastic day discussing prayer and trying out different activities! It was so much fun that we're doing it again this November! Check back in December for photos.





We also set up something similar for Gayton's Year 5 children last year. See the photos below to see how they got on.


                           


                        








                                                                                   

                       


These photos show some of the 'stations' that the children could engage with if they chose to. The friendship bracelet station was popular and we used it to think about community, friendship, care and how important these things are in church. We made the bracelets round the font as that's where we baptise babies and welcome them into God's family and the church community. On one of the pictures you can see our much loved bubble tube before anyone has posted prayers on it - see below for the after shot! In one of the pictures you can see some of the boys using stones to release their worries into the water, this was one of the activities on the labyrinth path. We set out a labyrinth to remind the children that Christians believe their lives are a journey with God. The bread and blackcurrant juice were at the centre of the labyrinth along with the sheet explaining what Communion means to Christians - the seat in front of the table faced the window depicting the last supper so that the children could reflect on why Christians would take Communion.

Below are some close up pictures of the children's work on the activities - there are some really beautiful questions.


                        


                       


                       


                       


                       


                       


Check back soon for more photos.