Storytelling Ideas

Stand firm on the truths of the Bible... Make its words resonate with children in ways they can understand and remember. Bring out the puppets! Spread out the manna! Dress up in a Bible robe and become a character! Unleash the gift of imagination so children can come to know and love our wonderful, powerful, loving God!

Puppet Time

Engage your children's imaginations with the use of puppets. Sheets of salvaged cardboard from Costco, a few fabric scraps, and random craft supplies are all you need to engage children in fun and unique ways during Bible lesson time!

Search store recycle bins for large sheets of cardboard. Free supplies for your backdrops!

You can often find sheets of cardboard exposed and ready to be discarded on store shelves.

Noah's Ark Guessing Game

Use a sheet of your Costco cardboard to fashion an ark for your animal puppets. Cut out a window for the animals to peek through while children listen to your clues and try to guess which animal you describe. Let the animal tell about his journey to the ark and his gratitude to be out of the rain. The last puppet to come up is Noah. Noah expresses gratitude for God's good plan.

"Zacchaeus, You come down!"

Cutting and gluing the pieces into place can be a bit tedious but the end result is well worth it!

Paint a styrofoam ball and apply facial features. Glue on fur fabric for a beard!
Measure the amount of fabric needed to be the appropriate length for your puppet, with enough extra to glue onto the party hat.
Cut a small hole into the middle of the fabric.
Insert a long dowel through the hole and into the stylophone head.
Use tacky glue or hot glue to secure the head, fabric, and dowel in place. Gluing all three together results in a firm hold.(Be aware that hot glue on the styrofoam will melt into the ball. Use small amounts of hot glue and work quickly or use tacky glue and allow time for it to dry).
Lower the dowel and unfinished puppet into the upside-down party hat so that the dowel exits the small hole at the bottom.
Gather the material that hangs from the bottom of the puppet's robe and hot glue it on the outside of the party hat. Be sure to gather and glue the material in small bunches so the robe hangs loosely around the "cup".
Add a coat and a headdress from contrasting material. Glue these into place.
Use the dowel to lower puppet into the hat and slowly raise it back up. Make slow turns to make it look as if he's looking at its audience while you talk for him.

Puppetry Rule:

Always look at the puppet while giving him his voice. This ensures your audience will stay focused on the puppet and not you.

Add a tree to your Costco cardboard using paint or markers. Glue on green tissue-paper leaves to give your tree a third dimension. Use an exacto knife to cut a hole in the branches where Zacchaeus is to peek out.