by Lorene Troyer

Created on: October 23, 2009

One of the challenges faced by Sunday school teachers is, "How can I implement a craft project into my lesson- preferably one that is relevant and is not too complex or messy?" One solution is to simply embellish or decorate a coloring page that pertains to the subject you are teaching about.

Some ideas:

*A picture of a queen or king could be embellished by adding your own crown. Cut it out of yellow construction paper and add sequins or small fake jewels. Another option is to cut it out of heavy aluminum foil.

*Trees in the picture can be embellished by gluing small leaves on the branches, either silk ones or die cuts from a craft store. During the summer, another option may be to find a bush or tree with little leaves on it. Flatten the leaves by putting them inside a big phone book overnight.

*For clouds- pull apart some cotton balls and glue them on.

*Embellish a night sky with gold star stickers.

*Put craft wiggle eyes on your animals. These come in various sizes.

*For fences or a building, use wooden popsicle sticks.

*For the bars of a jail cell, cut strips of construction paper.

*Create bulrushes to put along a river or pond by cutting pointed strips of green construction paper.

*A sash could be covered with a small piece of craft ribbon.

*For dimension, color water with blue finger paint.

*If you have a seashore or ocean bottom in your picture, brush on some glue and pour sand on it. You could also tack on a few little seashells.

Some helpful tips:

Do the project early in the day so it can dry before it's time for the kids to go home.

If you are doing something that's messy (such as finger paint), make sure to protect the children's clothes.

If your children are small, you will want to avoid using items that could be a potential choking hazard.

Use a thicker paper for these projects, especially if you are doing finger painting.

By using your imagination, you can supplement your lesson with a craft project that's easy and fun. Usually you can find free coloring pages to coordinate with your lesson on the Internet. Get ideas for your next project by walking through the craft section of your local dollar store, or by looking at some of the many craft project ideas found on the Web.

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