Mozi Esmé: Mission Sunday: Telling the World

As I mentioned last week, Naaman has been the hot topic of Esmé’s class lately. One week, the focus was on mission; the fact that the young maid was far from home and witnessed for her God there. We talked about what a missionary is, how old you need to be to be a missionary, and how you can be a missionary at various places right near home. We also talked about the different nations of the world where people work as missionaries.

For a craft, I wanted to focus on the children of the world, and here is the colorful world we came up with.

Materials used:

Construction paper in rainbow colors (with paper cutter to make strip cutting easier)
Cardstock to print the children and the earth (with printer and scissors)
Pencils (to wrap paper strips around) – unsharpened works best!
White glue (poured onto paper plates)
Colored markers and scissors (if you want to work on the children during class time)

Prep steps:

Print circular globe (or just a circle) on cardstock for each child. I used this white and black globe, printed on aqua cardstock. You may want to cut it out.
Print children of the world on white cardstock for each child. I used this free children around the world printable; you can pick your favorite out of a fair amount of freebies online.
Cut construction paper into strips about 1/4 or 1/3 inch wide. Use a variety of colors, and cut the length of the paper (not the width). One sheet each of 10 colors should be enough for 10 kids or so; we had lots left over. Group the strips into an assortment of colors you can place around the table for easy access.
Curl strips for the younger ones by wrapping around a pencil. I had 4- to 6-year-olds, and most of them couldn’t get the hang of it; we were blessed with enough parents to help. Esmé did okay, but it didn’t keep her attention very long.
Just before class, pour glue onto paper plates. You’ll want at least a plate between every two children.

Do the craft:

Pass out cardstock globes and pencils. Place paper strips and glue-filled plates around the table in easy reach of all kids.
Demonstrate how to wrap paper strips around pencil.
Demonstrate how to dip a curled paper strip into the glue and then place onto the globe.
Let them have at it! Encourage use of multiple colors. Talk about the many colors of God’s world and His love of variety.
If you have time during class, bring out the children of the world coloring pages and markers. Due to lack of time, I just sent these home with the children. Esmé did a great job coloring a couple of hers; then I cut them out for her.

Remind them to be missionaries in their own homes, and to pray for children around the world as well!

For those in the northern hemisphere, I hope your summers are ending well! We’re planning to enjoy this Seize the Last of Summer printable list over the next week!

And a quick reminder that the back-to-school sales will be ending soon, and this is the perfect time to stock up for shoeboxes! Samaritan’s Purse is offering free materials for this shoebox season – “labels, posters, flyers, packing party guidelines, inspirational videos, and more…”

Last but not least, it’s been a hard season at work, I’ve been feeling a letdown that the summer is almost over without our doing much, and school registration holds many decisions for our little girl that are wearing me down… This Selah video is a reminder: there are far harder choices we could be facing, and no matter what, we will keep pressing on!