Bible Crafts for Children on Friendship

Friendship is a common Bible theme. Bible crafts about friendship, compassion, love and forgiveness can help all ages of children to learn a Bible lesson or focus on a theme. Crafts in which children work together help foster cooperation and sharing, while crafts that focus on loving one another promote friendships. Children can also create crafts about Jesus as their friend and the need for sharing Jesus with others.

For the Love One Another cooperative craft project, provide two pieces of 8- by 10-inch cardboard. Cut the center from one piece, leaving about 2 inches around the edge for the frame. Cover the frame with brown paper from a grocery bag. Write at the top of the frame, "Love One Another."

Have the children press their thumbs into an ink pad, then onto the frame. The kids will use markers to decorate their own thumbprint, creating a picture of themselves. They should also write their names under their pictures. Take a digital picture of the entire group and print it. Tape the group picture behind the frame piece so the picture shows from the front. Glue or tape the whole cardboard piece onto the back of the picture for stability.

Children can put a bead onto a birthday bracelet to represent the birth month of each classmate as a way to identify each friend. Write the colors for each birth month on the classroom whiteboard or chalkboard. Provide plastic beads and leather strips for the children to create their bracelets. Each child should put beads that represent his classmates' birth months on his bracelet. Encourage the children to pray each day for everyone represented on his bracelet.

For the friends Bible verse personal bulletin board, provide a 12-by-12 inch cork square for each child. Have children use paint or permanent marker to print on the cork square, the verse from Proverbs 17:17 - " A friend loves at all times". Children may use markers or paints to decorate the remainder of the cork surface as they wish. Use hot glue to fasten a picture hanger or metal pop tab to the back of the cork board to be able to hang it up. The craft can be adapted to young children by covering a piece of cardboard with white adhesive paper. Children may decorate the board as desired, then use markers or crayons for a wipe-off memo board.

To make the "forgive others" magnet, cut a 2-by-8 inch strip of craft foam for each child. Have the kids use stick-on craft letters to spell out the words, "forgive others," and stick the letters onto the foam. Glue one or two magnet strips to the back of the craft to make a refrigerator magnet.

For a Jesus is my friend diary, have each child cover a spiral bound notebook with paper from a brown grocery bag. The children may decorate the notebook cover as they wish, including adding sticker pictures of Jesus onto the cover. Encourage kids to write or draw in the diary about times they know Jesus is their friend.