DECEMBER IDEAS 2015 ANGELS

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1 DECEMBER IDEAS 2015 ANGELS Can you believe we are looking at Christmas already? There are so many fun activities to do this time of year. The kids are excited and the teachers are probably feeling a bit stressed trying to fit everything in, both with their classrooms and their personal lives. Take a deep breath and greet each day with new anticipation. We talk about angels to the children often. Angels play a very important role in the Christmas story. Who and what are angels and what does the bible say about angels? According to christiananswers.net, here is some information you may find interesting to share with the children. I have listed just a few, but there is a lot to be written about angels. Angels are not glorified human beings. They do not marry or reproduce. Matthew 22:30 The word angel comes from a Greek word which means messenger. There is more than one kind of angel and they have different tasks. A few are cherubim, seraphim, archangel, and guardian - and, yes, there are also fallen angels. There are only 3 angels named in the bible, Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer. Gabriel was the angel that visited Mary and brought the special message to her. The scripture speaks about the creation of angels. The time of their creation is never definitely specified, but it is most probable that it occurred in connection with the creation of the heavens. Job , Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 148:2,5 NIV Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. Angels are spirits and do not have physical bodies like humans, however angels can take on the appearance of man when the occasion demands. Hebrews 13:2 Angels carry out the will of God. How did Mary know she was going to have a baby who would be called Jesus? In Luke 1: you will find the story of when the angel Gabriel came to visit Mary. 30 But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. Read Luke 1: The angel gives Mary a lot of information and many instructions. Ask the children to tell you what all Mary learned from Gabriel s message. God found favor with Mary (what does that mean), she is going to have a baby, the baby will be a son, she will name him Jesus, etc. Ask the children how they think their moms would feel if an angel came to her and said she would have a baby? How do they think Mary felt? 1

2 (An angel also appears to Joseph in a dream with instructions. Matthew 1:20) The Angel Gabriel For this project you will need a butterfly cookie cutter, or a butterfly stencil. How big you want to make your stencil will depend on how big you want your angel to be. The stencil I cut was 5 long and 5 at the widest point. You will also need a popsicle stick, a 12 piece of tulle (I used the kind off the spool so it was 6 wide), or light weight material, thread, small white water bottle caps, gold or silver pipe cleaners. First have the children trace around the cookie cutter or your stencil. You can choose to use a patterned paper, gold or silver paper, or just plain white. Heavier paper will work better than the light weight wrapping paper as it will tend to curl. Cut the butterfly out. Now glue the Popsicle stick to the middle of the butterfly. You will want the stick to stick up above the center of the wings about 1 1/2. Have the children gather up the top end of the tulle/material with their fingers. Have them hold it toward the top of the Popsicle stick while you take a piece of thread and tie it around the Popsicle stick. This will create a lacy little collar for your angel. Now have them glue a white water bottle lid to the top of the stick. This will be the angel head. Glue a piece of gold or silver pipe cleaner to the top of the angel head. If you would like a more extended Gabriel project, you can use baker s clay and let the children roll out a ball of dough, and use the butterfly cookie cutter to make the wings of the angel. Bake the dough till hard. (Remember, if you want to make this into an ornament, be sure to put a hole in the butterfly for hanging) The children can now paint the wings whatever color they choose. Now follow the steps as you would for the paper angel beginning where you glue the Popsicle stick on. These really turn out cute and the children can do most of the steps with the exception of when you need to tie the tulle to the stick. Baker s Clay 2 cups flour 1 cup salt 1 cup water Mix with your hands. If it feels too dry, add a little more water. You can bake in slowly in a 250 degree oven. Just bake it until it is completely dried, but not brown. An Angel Appears to the Shepherds Another Angel story to share with the children was when the angel appeared to the shepherds. You will find this story in Luke 2: An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 2

3 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 Glory to God in the highest heaven,and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. Ask the children what these verses tell us. There was only one angel who appeared first to the shepherds but that angel was joined later by a great company of angels, the shepherds were terrified, etc. A Great Company of Heavenly Hosts The children are each going to make a single angel which, when all of them are put together, will be A great company of Heavenly hosts. When the children have completed them, you can put them on the wall with the words Glory to God in the highest heaven. You may have done the paper plate angels before, but maybe have not connected them to the hosts of angels that came to the shepherds. For the project, each child will need a large paper plate (the cheap kind), glitter, lace, or anything they would like to decorate the angel. You will also need a 2 flesh (use some dark and some light be diverse!) colored circle of paper for the angel head. The teacher can cut out ahead of time, or you can draw on each paper plate a wedge line that would be about 1/3 of the paper plate - just like you would cut out a piece of pie - from the center out. Have the children cut on the lines you have drawn. The cut 1/3 of the plate becomes the skirt of the angel. Have the children place the plate so the cut out 2/3 is open at the top; now glue the head on the angel. The head will be where the center point of the plate is that the children have cut out. Now glue the skirt on the angel. Let the children finish decorating their angels using different materials. Pin them all together on the bulletin board or wall. More Ideas Here are a few more Christmas ideas that you may want to consider for your classroom. Set up a writing area with different writing instruments, paper, envelopes, glue and old Christmas cards the children can cut and make their own cards to take home or give to office staff, congregation members, or the school board. The more connections you continue to make with the church members, the better relationship you are cultivating between school and church. Have Christmas cards, scissors, glue, glitter, pretty paper, a hole punch and yarn for the children to use and make ornaments to hang on the tree. Make a candy cane writing salt tray. This tray, or box, is easy to put together. Pour some plain salt in a bowl, color with a little red food coloring and add a few drops or peppermint oil. Mix it all together till you have the color you want. Pour into a tray or box and have candy canes available for the children to write in the tray/box with. 3

4 Like an Etch a Sketch, just give a little shake and you have a blank screen again to write on. For the little ones, create a Christmas sensory tub. Gather up any kind of object or material that reminds you of this time of year. Tinsel, pine garland, beads, figurines, pine cones, ornaments, etc. Fill a tub with everything you have gathered that includes different shapes, textures, surfaces and even Christmas smells, fill the tub and let the children, see, touch, smell and feel all that you have. You can color some macaroni or rice to add to your tub, which the children like to have fall through their fingers. Different scents can also be added to the colored rice or macaroni. Paint a Christmas wreath with a round scrub brush. Check your local dollar store for a scrub brush that has a handle and a round brush attached. Draw a circle on a large piece of paper for the child. Provide some green paint and let the children dip the brush head in the paint and stamp around the circle that is drawn on the paper. The brush will create a pine looking print. They can continue to add red berries, or you can let the painting dry and add buttons, beads, stickers or anything you want to provide for the children to decorate their painted wreath. When you are at the dollar store looking for brushes, check to see if there is a book that tells the Christmas story. You might have to purchase two of the same book so you get all the pictures. Cut the pictures out of the book, attach them to heavier paper, laminate them and use them as props for the children to tell the Christmas story. You can put felt on the back to use on a felt board, or magnets for a magnet board, or just pin them to the bulletin board. This is one story the children should be able to put in sequence. The Crippled Lamb Max Lucado Considering my December Ideas have centered on angels, you are probably thinking the book I chose for you is about them. However, The Crippled Lamb is very near and dear to my heart. Some of you know about my little girl Lindsey, her disabilities and the very special part she played in our lives. The feature character in this book is a little lamb named Joshua who is crippled. What Joshua was feeling in this story made me wonder if Lindsey felt like this too. It has a very important lesson for the children to learn about those who are less fortunate than they are and how other children their age might feel when they are not able to join in activities. Joshua is left behind when the shepherds take all the sheep to a new meadow. He has a special friend Abigail, the cow, who tells him not to be sad because God has a special place for Joshua. As the shepherds are preparing to leave, the other lambs are laughing at poor Joshua and calling him slowpoke. The friends, Joshua and Abigail, return to the stable. That night a very amazing thing happens. Indeed God did have a special place for Joshua. As you read this book to the children, stop along the way in the story and ask them their feelings. How would they feel if others laughed at them? What would they have done? It is important to stress that some children may not be able to join in all activities because of their 4

5 challenges, but making fun of them is cruel. Their actions and words not only affect the child, but probably the parents too. There are many other fun games in which they can be included. The lesson in this book goes way beyond the Christmas story. With all the violence and playground bullying in this world, we really all need to remember how our words and actions may affect others. As a side note: As much as I loved this book, emotionally I was never able to read The Crippled Lamb to my students. Too close to home. At the Science Table Candy Cane experiment: This is a very simple experiment to do with the children, and because of the time of year we are going to use Candy Canes. You will need 3 candy canes (You can use the very small candy canes, but the bigger ones will be easier for the children to see and the reaction time will be a little longer), 3 clear water glasses, hot water, ice water and another clear liquid you can choose like oil or vinegar. Set an unwrapped candy cane in each glass. Poor hot water in one, ice water in one and the other liquid you choose in the other. Watch what happens. Which candy cane starts to change first? How long does it take for the others to starts to change? You can begin the experiment during circle time and then move it to the science table for them to continue to watch. Make a simple chart of how many children guess in which glass will the candy cane begin to change and dissolve first. Chart how long it takes for each one. What made the difference in the reaction of the candy cane? Was it the temperature of the water or the liquid itself? You can take the experiment one more step and talk about what the candy canes are made of, which is sugar. Use 3 more glasses of the same liquid and put a teaspoon of sugar in them. Which one did the sugar dissolve in first? Spices So many yummy spices are used this time of year. Not only do they taste yummy, they smell good too. Provide ginger bread cookies for the children to taste. Tell them what spices are used to make the cookie. Most ginger bread includes ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and others, depending on the recipes. Most of these spices the children will only know as coming out of a jar, but what do they actually look like? Set them out on the science table for the children to look at, feel and smell. Rather than buying all of them, ask if a few parents can help you out. Ginger root is really an interesting looking spice. You will find it in the produce section of the store. 5

6 Cinnamon sticks just look like brown sticks, nutmeg looks like a nut and another fun one is star anise. It is actually shaped like a star. Candy Cane Goo or Oobleck Oobleck is such a fun substance for the children to get their fingers in. The interesting thing about Oobleck is it a liquid and a solid substance. You can make it into a ball, but then it will just ooze between the fingers. A basic recipe for Oobleck is: 1 1/2-2 cups of corn starch, 1 cup of water. We are making Candy Cane Oobleck, so add some red food coloring and some peppermint extract. Poor the corn starch into a 9 x 13 cake pan. Add the food coloring and peppermint to the water and then mix the liquid into the corn starch. Let the children do the mixing for you. It has such an interesting feeling. If it seems a little too stiff, add some more water. It s hard to mess this one up and fun for the kids. VOCABULARY Stable Dissolve Celebrate Shepherd Songs and Finger Plays Advent Song Tune: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" Advent is a time to wait Not quite time to celebrate Light the candles one by one Till the advent time is done Christmas day will soon be here Time for joy and time for cheer. My Peppermint Stick Oh, I took a lick of my peppermint stick and I thought it tasted yummy. It used to be on my Christmas tree but I like it better in my tummy. 10 Little Angels Tune: Ten Little Indians 1 little, 2 little, 3 little Angels, 4 little, 5 little, 6 little Angels, 7 little, 8 little, 9 little Angels, 10 little Angels in the band. Wasn t that a band on Christmas morning Wasn t that a band on Christmas morning Wasn t that a band on Christmas morning. Baby Jesus born today! A Christmas Angel Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It" Oh, I wish I was an angel on the tree. Oh, I wish I was an angel on the tree. I'd give every girl and boy Lots of Christmas peace and joy. Oh, I wish I was an angel on the tree. 6