Children's Sunday School Crafts on Paul & Timothy

In the New Testament, the stories of Paul and Timothy can be both inspiring and exciting for children. Paul had an adventurous life which grabs children's attention, from his powerful conversion story, to his travels and times in prison after upsetting the local authorities, Timothy was Paul's trusted and loyal friend, and leader of a church, to whom Paul addresses two of his letters. There are a number of fun craft activities which give children a practical understanding of the Bible stories involving Paul and Timothy.

Paul did a great deal of traveling, accompanied by Timothy, during part of his second missionary journey. Children can draw their own map of these trips. You can also print out a map of Italy, Greece and the Middle East and draw the route of one of Paul and Timothy's missionary journeys. The children can also draw pictures showing some of the adventures Paul had on the way -- for example, his arrest in Jerusalem. Students can then use salt dough to craft their own figures of Paul to place on the map.

Another craft activity involves getting the children to draw outlines of their feet in paper, and cut out their foot shape. Each child should write the name of one of the places Paul visited, such as Rome, Ephesus or Antioch. The teacher then places the footprints on the wall to represent Paul's trips.

Both Paul and Timothy spent time in prison for practicing their beliefs, and a fun Sunday school craft involves children making their own prisons. There are various ways to do this, but a simple one is to make a jail from a shoebox. The students cut a small hole for a window in the middle and glue cocktail sticks to make the prison bars. They can then paint the box and add stand-up characters of either Paul or Timothy that they made.

Biblical accounts tell us Paul prayed and sang songs to God when he was in prison. You can get children to do the same in Sunday school.

The letters Paul wrote to his friend Timothy are warm and encouraging, offering wisdom and guidance on Christian living. Getting the children to write their own letters to a friend or family member is a practical reminder of the value of encouraging each other as both friends and Christians. The children can write a short letter, draw a picture and decorate it. The children can also write a letter to another student in the class. Some of Paul's letters were written with the help of Timothy, so you can also pair children up to write letters.

Very young children who cannot write can draw a picture of their friend or family member and put it in an envelope.

During Paul's journeys, he often had to travel by boat and was shipwrecked in Malta. Children can create their own paper boats by folding a piece of plain paper, and coloring it in, before floating it in some water. You can put a small figure of Paul in the boat. The children can then make their own storm in the water by blowing through plastic straws to create wind and splashing water to make the rain. They can shipwreck the boat and rescue Paul.