Sunday School Crafts for Preschool

Cup of Life

by Len

The children will learn about how much Jesus loves them while they make a cup full of tasty treats to take home.

Materials:
Ice cream cone for each child
Medium size box of raisins
Bag of small marshmallows
Bag of large marshmallows
Colorful candies (M&Ms® )
Bag of red licorice (Twizzlers®)
Plastic wrap (optional)

Duration:
Approximately 15 minutes

Topics:
Celebration, God's Love, Love, Jesus, Valentine's Day

Target Audience:
Ages 4-6

Click here for illustrations of craft construction

Note: If possible, let parents know about the ingredients needed for this craft in advance to determine if any child may be diabetic or have any food allergies.

What you will do:
Create a sample "Cup of Life" craft before class to show to the children. Be sure to keep it hidden until it is time for the children to fill their own cup.

During class, arrange portions of the ingredients on a piece of white paper. After explaining to the children what each one represents (see what you will say below), show them your sample. Then, give each child their own ice cream cone, sheet of white paper, and portions of each of the ingredients.

Fill the cone as follows:
In the bottom, place the one large marshmallow
Next, add a level of colorful M&M's
Next, add a level of small marshmallows
Next, add a level of raisins
Top with red string licorice made into the shape of a heart

Once finished, you may want to wrap each craft in clear plastic wrap for the children to take home.

What you will say:
Soon it will be Valentine's Day. We like to celebrate this special day by giving cards or special gifts to people we love, and to people who love us. Do you know that we can also celebrate the love of Jesus?

Your parents do this in the church service during what we call "communion." One of the things they do during communion is drink from a small cup. This helps them remember how much Jesus loves them. Today we will fill a cup with goodies to help us remember just how much Jesus loves us too.

Pretend this ice cream cone is the "Cup of Life" that Jesus gave us.
These raisins help us remember the bad things we do to make God sad.
The red licorice that we can shape into a heart helps us remember that Jesus loves us so much; He even died for us on the cross.
These marshmallows help us remember that Jesus forgives our sins, and washes them away so we are as white as snow.
These colorful candies represent all the blessings Jesus gives us when we follow Him.

So on Valentine's Day, let's also remember our Lord Jesus, who loves us very much.