Armor of God Crafts and Activities

 

Crafts and Activities:

1. Be Spiritually Dressed - I had more fun the past few weeks. After being frustrated with my second grade Sunday School Class just not getting the need for the full ARMOR of GOD to be in place at all times, I showed up for Sunday School in my long robe, shower cap with fiery darts attacking, tripping over my shield of faith, with my helmet of salvation hanging off my back side, my sword which has two sides appearing to be stuck in my side, etc. My shower cap had captions of verbal and mental attacks and I had one sock on and barefoot on one foot.  Needless to say, I got the kids attention. I was fully ready for the world and dressed neatly under the robe but not Spiritually dressed. Sent in by Sue Karber

2. Armor of God Costume - Roman Soldier Armor - Patterns and directions to make a complete armor with easy to find materials including a Roman helmet, sword, shield with coat of arms, belt, tunic, sword. Sent in by Sue Karber

 

Armor of God Helmet

What you will need: newspapers, silver/gold poster board, brass brads, silver paint, and tape.

What to do:

1. Cut out a visor from silver poster board as shown in the picture. A pattern for the visor is available to members of Danielle's Place and The Resource Room. Cut out the slats in the middle. Use the pattern to trace the shape onto silver poster board. The silver poster board is actually silver and gold. One side is silver and one is gold. Poke a hole at each end of the visor.

2. To make the hat part of the helmet place two or three pieces of newspaper on top of each other and fold them in half on the natural fold with the fold on your left. Fold the top half down over the bottom half. The new fold should be at the top. Fold the top two corners in so that they meet in the middle. See diagram # 1.

3. Fold up the bottom edge so that it meets the bottom edge of the triangles you just made. But only fold up 4 layers of newspaper. The other layers will be folded up on the back. See diagram # 2.

4. Fold up the bottom edge of the newspaper again so that it is folded at the bottom edge of the triangles. See diagram # 3.

5. Turn the hat over and do the same thing to the other side.

6. Fold the points that stick out back and over each other. Punch a hole in the folded-over triangles. This is where you will attach the visor. Tape it down.

7. Put your hand up inside the triangle and spread it out.

8. Paint the hat silver or a metal color.

9. Attach the visor to the hat with brads so that it can be lifted up and down.

Comment about this craft:

I used the instructions for the newspaper hats, but used heavy duty aluminum foil instead. I used the wide foil. The face guard was cut from silver poster board using the pattern on the website and attached with paper brads. Elaine

Armor of God Breastplate

What you will need: Paper grocery bags, silver poster board or silver paint, tape or glue, and scissors.

1. Cut a 5" hole in the middle bottom of a grocery bag. Cut a line from the hole up the middle of one of the longer sides of the grocery bag to the top of the bag. Cut 5" armholes at the bottom side of each bag.

2. Cut 3" x 4" rectangles from the silver poster board. Round off one of the 3" sides. This will be the bottom of the pieces.

3. Tape the pieces onto the front and back of the grocery bag starting at the bottom. Tape or glue a row all the way across overlapping as you go. Tape another row on top of that one over lapping the bottom row. Keep adding rows until the back and front are covered. You may want to paint the top and side to match the front and back.

 

Armor of God Belt

What you will need: Card stock, metallic crayons, glue or tape, brown construction paper, 1 1/2" silver sequins or other circles cut from shiny paper, and scissors.

What to do:

1. Draw a belt onto card stock and cut it out. A belt pattern as shown in the picture is available to members and cut it out. Glue the pieces together. You may have to cut off some squares depending on how big you want the belt. If you want to make the belt fit over the breastplate you will have to make it extra big. You may have to print out the pattern more than once and piece it together.

2. Cut one of the slits open at the end of the belt depending on how big you need the belt.

3. Color the belt with metallic crayons (Crayola).

4. To make the apron, cut brown construction paper into 2" stripes. Glue sequins down the lengths of the strips. Glue the strips to the front of the belt.

Comments about this craft:

For ease of construction, I printed the belt pattern on regular copier paper then had the children color, cut, and glue them to sentence strips purchased at the teacher supply store. I punched a hole in each end of the strip and attached yarn to each end to tie around the children’s waists. They used metallic crayons to decorate the waistband and apron strips. I gave them one gold seal sticker to go in the middle front of the waistband. Elaine

"The Belt of Truth Game" - (For Older Children)

Children try to match up the "Truth" Bible verses to the lies that are written on the belt. Some of the Bible verses may work with more than one lie, so they may have to switch some around so all the Bible verses match one of the lies.

 

Armor of God Sword

1. Cardboard Sword

What you will need: Foam core board (You can find this in the same place you buy poster board.) or card board, Exacto knife, ruler, pencil, scissors, heavy duty aluminum foil, tape, brown, gold, and other colors of paint.

What to do:

1. Cut out the blade shape from the foam core board. I made mine 20" long. It is 3 inches across at the bottom and 1" at the top. Round off the top point.

2. Cut out a handle from foam core board using an Exacto knife and use it to cut two more handle shapes from the foam core board. Glue one handle shape to one side the blade at the bottom. Glue the other to the other side. Cut the third shape apart so that you can slide the pieces in between the other two handle pieces glued to the sword. (A pattern for the handle is available to members only subscribers.) Place glue on each side of the pieces and insert them between the two pieces you glued onto the blade. Use sand paper if you would like to make the edges smooth.

3. Paint the handle brown like wood and add some decorations.

4. Wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the blade and tape it on.

2. Books-of-the-Bible Sword Bookmark Craft

The pattern for this craft is available on The Resource Room

 

Armor of God Shield

Cut a shield shape from half a sheet of foam core board or cardboard. Paint the shield with child-safe paint. Add a coat of arms if you would like. Cut a strip of cardboard and glue to the back for a handle. You can buy precut cardboard shields from Oriental Trading Company, $9.95 per dozen. Go to Oriental Trading Company and type in 57/6220 in the search box at the top of the page.

I purchased 14” cardboard cake rounds and the children painted them with metallic paint for shields. The children wrote “Shield of Faith” on the front when they were dry. The cake boards were inexpensive and a lot less prep time for me. I used duct tape for the handle by pressing the flat ends of the tape to the board then pressing the middle part of the tape together. Elaine

 

Armor of God Shoes of Peace

Direction for the shoes are available to members of The Resource Room.

Tunic and Cape - The tunic and cape were made from a piece of stretchy red material that cost $1.00 a yard at WalMart. I used one yard for the tunic and one for the cape. To make the cape I just cut a square piece of material and tied two corners together around the neck. To make the tunic I just folded a rectangle piece in half and cut a neck hole in the middle of the folded end. Put it over the child's head and use a length of material to tie it around the child's waist.

Comments about this craft:

I cut the shoes from fun foam and used curling ribbon for the laces. It was precious to see the children wearing their shoes as they left church. Elaine

 

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Songs for the Armor of God Theme

March to a Military Chant - Start by counting one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, etc. until all the children are marching at the same pace. Act like a drill sergeant. Tell them to stand tall, face forward, lift their feet up high, and look proud to be in the Lord's army. Then tell them to repeat after you the following lines. Once they get the rhythm and words, you can have them march in a circle.

We Are Christians
Written by Carolyn Warvel

We are Christians passing by. (We are Christians passing by.)
We will hold our heads up high. (We will hold our heads up high.)
We don't steal and we don't lie. (We don't steal and we don't lie.)
"Stand for the truth" is our cry. (Stand for truth is our cry.)
God is God of earth and sky. (God is God of earth and sky.)
On God's words we can rely. (On God's words we can rely.)
For our sins, we know he died. (For our sins, we know he died.)
We'll stick with him by and by. (We'll stick with him by and by.)

© Copyright 2005, Carolyn Warvel

This chant comes from The Resource Room from the Armor of God Lessons.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts, songs, and activities on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, or home use only. It is illegal to copy this material and publish it on another web site, news group, forum, etc. even if you include the copyright notice. You must have permission to copy the material. To request permission to copy this material for any other use contact me by email.

"Camp Agape, and the Army of God"
by Tammy Butcher

This past Sunday, I decorated my classroom with a small army pup tent, I put treats and stickers, etc. inside of the tent. I put up paper on the wall for the kids to draw pictures of "CAMP AGAPE" it was cool!  They drew trees and tents. The kids did great work!!!

The children and I sat in a circle, we began by talking about our soldiers in the army.  We compared a soldiers life with a Christians life.

1. I gave out prizes to those who were sharing ways to help others. We did an army chant, but CHRISTIANIZED!  They loved it!!!!

2. At the end we talked about soldiers who go AWOL - how they go to prison, are cast away from others, and how they can no longer serve. We talked about how a person can go AWOL, ( Away with Our life!)  If they die without knowing Jesus, they will be cast out and will not enter heaven.

I ended with the sinners prayer. The kids had lots of hugs for me after service. It was a great lesson! Boot Camp will continue Next Week!  Hope you share the fun! Tammy Butcher

You can buy all kinds of camouflage items from Oriental Trading Company: dog tags, hats, bandanas, bracelets, sunglasses, helmets, ducks, pens, marshmallow shooters, curtain, balls, compasses, etc. Just go to Oriental Trading Company's web site and type in "camouflage" in the search box at the top of the page.

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Super Bowl Sunday School Theme - God's Team -- the Winning Team
The following ideas were sent in by Brenda Darnell

On Super Bowl Sunday use the football theme to teach about the importance of the Armor or God.

Emphasize that every team member is critical, even the water boy who encourages, refreshes, and exhorts. Cheerleaders are the intercessors and exhorters. The fans in the stadium are like the host of Heaven. God gave us the game plan (the Bible), etc.

Have your children come up with a cheer using a Bible verse.

Cover a PVC pipe hoop with paper, have your children paint a logo on the paper, and then line up and run through the hoop like football players at the beginning of the game.

Football Armor/Armor of God - Protects your body.

Football Helmet - is your lifesaver. It covers your brain, your thoughts, and keeps you reminded of your job. The Helmet of Salvation - I will keep my mind stayed on Thee!

Football Cleats for better traction - dig in and fight!  Be ready to run when the LORD calls you out onto the field!  Gospel Shoes - guide our steps, and help us walk in the right path.

Shoulder pads and Jersey - identity and protection.  In Isaiah God speaks about kings and queens returning our kidnapped children on their shoulders. Our children are our treasure from the LORD.  Matthew says, “Wherever your treasure shall be, there shall your heart be also”.  The things that are precious and useful to us need to be protected!  They need to be 'covered' and seen as belonging to God Himself. Righteous breastplate - to guard your heart from Satan and to have your identity in Christ

Hip pads and sweat towel - keep you dry and somewhat cleaned off. Belt of Truth - keeps you clean from lies.  When you are wrapped in Truth, the enemy cannot win at trying to embarrass or humiliate you.  Even when you get knocked down, you're protected!

Wristband - keeps your hands dry so you don’t lose the football. The wristband is not as big or as impressive as a shield, but it helps you use the strength of your arms more effectively.  It's a little something that can make a big difference.

Shield of Faith – is reliable and protects the word of God.  When you stand up and proclaim the works of the LORD, you're holding up a shield of faith in Him. You're telling the world that you know Him, trust Him and follow Him. 

Football - can be compared to God’s words.  The key to winning is keeping the ball on your side while passing it to your teammates, and be willing to let them make the play, too.  Your job is to see that the football makes it to the goal line - Heaven! Bible - pass the word to teammates and keep it on your side to win. Don't be a glory hog, share, share, share!  We are all winners when we share the Good News of Jesus!

Other Activities: Find a story of a Famous Christian football player. Read his testimony to the kids in a condensed fun version. Show them pictures of different football players (cartoons, real life, doesn't matter).
Then read Eph 6:11-18 and talk to the kids about why God wants us to be protected. Tell about the attacks of the enemy and how, if they wear their armor and play on Gods team, they will be protected and God will help them win.

Craft: Make a Team Poster – Divide your children into teams.  Give each team a piece of large poster board. Let them come up with a name for their team and design a poster to represent their team.

Make Arm Bands - The kids favorite part was getting two arm bands of their team colors and decorating them; this helps to identify at all times whose team they're on.

Memory Game - divide the kids up into two teams. Each team as a helper -  a teen assistant for their coach.  Each team repeats the memory verse after their coach.  The loudest team wins.
Have each team say it at least 3 times. This is a great way to introduce teamwork and teach the kids to work together to WIN FOR JESUS!

Game 2 – Three kids stand side-by-side with three kids facing them on the opposite side.
The child at the end of the line gets the football (light weight or foam footballs are best). The kids say the verse "Ephesians 6 :11" and pass the football to each other. (Tell them to toss, not THROW the football.).
If you don't have enough kids to put three or more on a side have the teams join in ONE big circle together and the WHOLE class work together to say the verse passage and then pass the football/bible.