Warm Hearts

Play and Activity Ideas

Download the activity sheet and print in colour onto card. If you don’t have a printer you could design your own version. Cut them into individual cards. To play the game, place all the cards face down on the floor. The first child turns over two cards and if they match they get to keep them. If not, they must turn them face down again. Play then passes to the next child. The game is over when all the cards have been won. Count up and see who has the most pairs.
Download the sheet here: GAP Monday 1st June – Heart_Pairs.pdf
Provide lots of different objects to be picked up and explored. You want to be thinking along a warm and cold theme, so some objects need to be warm and some cold. For warm, you might have a furry cushion, a hot water bottle, a hand warmer, a fluffy scarf. For cold you might choose a first aid ice pack, a metal tin, a bottle of water. Be as creative as you like. Let the children explore the objects and talk with them about whether they are warm or cold. You could make two piles for them to categorise the object.
Water play – using a bowl of warm water and a bowl of cold water.
Ice cube play – maybe they could drop the ice-cubes in the water.

Craft Ideas

Make a handprint on a piece of card or paper (alternatively draw round the hand). When the paint is dry, they can decorate each finger like their five most favourite people. Chat to them about these 5 people.
Turn a toilet roll into a heart shaped stamp. Dip in paint and stamp away.

Song Time

Good morning song
If your happy and you know it (try also changing the words to if your loved and you know it)
Tommy Thumb
Twinkle Twinkle
This little piggy went to market
I’ve got the joy joy joy joy

Wiggle Song

Story Time

Sorry no video this week!

Instead remind the children of the last video from two weeks ago with Ruth and her teddies (or watch it again). It was all about when the Holy Spirit came. It came to be the disciples and friends to be their helper.

Another role of the Holy Spirit is to warm people’s hearts. To help them feel loved by God and to give them joy.

Talk to the children about who their favourite people are (you may have also done this in craft, if so, use the pictures for this next bit). Let them tell you their stories. Say that God doesn’t have favourites – we are all his favourite! Some people choose to know God and some people don’t but God loves them all the same. He really wants everyone to know Him and to know how much he loves them.

Today we are going to use our fingers to pray – that’s talk to God – and ask him to help people to understand how much he loves them. This is something that the Bible says that the Holy Spirit whispers into the deepest part of us. (Romans 8:16) We can pray this for ourselves and also for other people.

Ask everyone to hold their hand in front of them with the fingers pointing up. Ask them to look at their thumb and imagine one of their favourite people. Ask them to imagine how that person would look and feel if they really knew how much God loves them. Do this – think about that person, then ask God to help them know how much he loves them. Do the same with the other four fingers. Don’t forget to end praying that for ourselves too!