Stained Sugar Glass
Age level: 10 to 12
Scripture: Psalm 29:2
Materials: Water, sugar, light corn syrup, food coloring, flavor
extracts, wooden cooking spoons, a saucepan with a lid, access to a
stovetop, an aluminum pie tin for each child, small bowls, cooking
oil, paper towels, glass or ceramic liquid measuring cups, hot
pads, toothpicks, and a large work area.
Alert: Have an adult cook the recipe and then distribute
the liquid candy. Adult supervision is necessary for this activity,
so consider recruiting extra volunteers to help kids.
Kids can create edible stained glass with this activity.
You'll need the following ingredients (makes enough candy for five
pie tins).
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
cooking oil
food coloring
flavor extracts
While an adult cooks the candy mixture, have kids oil the inside
of their pie tins using a paper towel and cooking oil.
Have an adult bring the water to a boil. Add the sugar and syrup
and return the mixture to a boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid,
and allow it to boil for two minutes. Then remove the lid. Allow
the mixture to continue boiling for about 10 to 15 minutes without
stirring. While the mixture is boiling, fill a small bowl with cold
water and set it near the stove. Test the mixture for the "hard
crack" stage by dribbling a small amount of the mixture into the
cold water. If the mixture makes long threads that crack in the
water (test this with your fingers in the water), the candy has
reached hard crack stage. Once the candy has reached this stage,
remove it from the heat immediately.
Distribute the candy mixture into the glass or ceramic measuring
cups. Add food coloring to each batch of candy until the desired
color is reached. Add 1/4 teaspoon of the desired flavor extract to
each batch, and stir until the color and flavor are thoroughly
mixed. Have adults pour equal amounts of each color of candy into
one part of kids' pie tins. The goal is to keep the colors as
separate as possible (the candy will cool and will become much
thicker). Once all the colors have been added to the pie tins, the
candy thickness should be no more than 1/4-inch.
Have kids use toothpicks to blend and swirl the colors. Allow the
candy to cool completely before kids take their stained-glass
creations home. Kids can break the candy into shards or leave it as
a complete work of candy art.
As the candy cools, read aloud the Scripture. Ask, "Where do we see
lots of stained glass? Why do you think many churches have stained
glass in their worship areas? Why do you think we like to make the
places where we worship beautiful? What does 'splendor' mean in
this verse? How do you think God wants us to worship him?"
Musicals
Age level: 6 to 12
Scripture: Psalm 98:4-6
Materials: Paper plates, soft drink bottle tops, heavy thread,
various sizes of empty tin cans with plastic lids, 12-inch wooden
dowels, various sizes of empty glass jars, empty paper towel rolls,
metal jar lids, waxed paper, rubber bands, staplers, masking tape,
ice pick (for adult use only), water, large pompoms, 1/4-inch
elastic, glue, hole punch, scissors, dried rice or beans, and large
beads.
Create a joyful noise with these exciting musical instruments
kids will have a blast making and playing as they celebrate their
Savior's birth.
1. Noise Shaker-Have kids seal one end of an empty
paper towel roll using a 4x4-inch piece of waxed paper and a rubber
band. Fill the tube with 1/4 cup dried rice or beans, and then seal
the open end of the tube with another 4x4-inch piece of waxed paper
and rubber band. Cover each end with masking tape.
2. Twirling Drums-Have kids staple two facing
paper plates together around the edges. Punch two holes along the
edges on opposite sides of the plates. Tie a large bead to an
8-inch section of heavy duty thread, and tie the other end through
one hole on each plate. Repeat this for the second hole. Tape a
wooden dowel on the center edge of the plates below the two holes.
Once the dowel is attached, kids will roll the dowel between their
hands to twirl the drum and create a unique beat.
3. Crystal Bells-Fill various size glass jars with
different amounts of water and line up the jars according to size.
Have kids use wooden dowels to tap the jars and test their sounds.
Adjust the sounds by adding or subtracting water from the
jars.
4. Tambourines-Have kids staple two facing paper
plates together around the edges. Using a hole punch, punch eight
evenly spaced holes around the edges of the plates. Have an adult
punch a hole in the center of 16 bottle tops using an ice pick.
Kids can string two bottle tops on 3-inch pieces of heavy duty
thread and then tie the thread through the holes in the edges of
the plates. Keep the bottle tops on the same side of the plate, and
tie them so that when the tambourine is shaken, the bottle tops
will clang together.
5. Bongo Drums-Seal tin cans with their plastic
lids. Have kids glue pompoms to the ends of wooden dowels and set
them aside to dry. Once dry, kids can tap on the lid tops to create
a great beat. Remember, bigger cans will make deeper sounds, while
smaller cans will create higher sounds.
6. Castanets-Have an adult punch two holes in
metal jar lids using an ice pick. Each child will need four lids to
make a set of castanets. Have kids tie 3-inch sections of 1/4-inch
elastic through the holes and cut off any extra. Kids will wear one
castanet on each thumb and the other on their forefingers or middle
fingers. Once the music starts, kids can click their fingers
together to create the rat-a-tat-tat beat of the castanet.
Once kids have made their instruments of choice, have everyone
practice playing them. You can recruit one child to "conduct," or
just have kids march around the room playing their instruments as
they praise God for his Son, Jesus.
