Explore and respond
Activities marked with an asterisk 
next to the activity title are in addition to the resources in the Ready to go sessions. Suggested timings for these activities are also shown. NB The inclusion of additional activities varies from week to week.
VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
Faith walk
Play and think about the cost of sharing our faith
Create a rough and smooth barefoot walk with patches of dry leaves, sand, stones, fluffy blankets and cotton wool. As the children walk along the path, say: Telling others about God can sometimes be easy and sometimes hard.
Crunch paper colouring
Make a symbol of God being with us when we tell others
- Ask everyone to screw up a piece of white paper as you say: Sometimes it’s hard telling others about God.
- Open the paper out, give everyone a colour crayon to rub over the creases.
- Repeat with a different colour.
Remind the children that God is always with them.
FOR CHILDREN
Risk it for a biscuit E
A game exploring what is worth the risk?
You will need: a variety of biscuits and challenge items, examples given below.
Put the children into two teams and see if they can win biscuits for their team. Have some age-appropriate challenges ready for your group. Thingslike: recite the alphabet backwards, recite your 12 times tables, stand on one leg for 30 seconds, put your hand in a bowl of jelly, have a hopping race with someone else, stack a tower with 15 bricks, draw a dog, recite a tongue twister with no mistakes.
- Explain that they can choose to accept a challenge and ‘risk it for a biscuit’. Start with simple challenges and plain biscuits but then raise the stakes and excitement with some more exciting biscuits.
- Have a conversation about what biscuits are worth taking the risk for - you might find people are passionate about their favourite type of biscuit!
Bird finger puppet 15 mins E
Make a chatterbox to help children think about what they can share about their faith this week.
You will need: instructions, squares of paper (cut from A4), scissors, crayons.
- Make a bird finger puppet. Practise beforehand, so you can demonstrate to the group how to make the folds. Take each step slowly. The example provided is a toucan; you could make your birds into sparrows if desired.
- Invite the children to talk to the bird about God.
Sing
Preview song(s), then buy online and download.
Find more suggestions on the Hymns, songs & music page.
0-5s
Our God is a great big God
5-11s
Have you heard the good news?
Stand, O stand firm (Cameroon traditional, WGWG, Many & Great) (Lyrics; Soundtrack sample)
Don’t be afraid (Sing with the world, WGWG)
12+
No matter what, Kerrie Roberts on No matter what
Talk together and talk to God
Use these questions to discuss the Bible passage and then bring your thoughts together by praying to God.
Talk together
- Have you ever spoken out about your faith? What happened?
- What do you think about God when you hear that even the hairs on your head are counted?
- When might we be able to find opportunities to share our faith this week?
Talk to God: Are we busting to tell? W E
Pray about sharing faith
- Talk about what you would want to say about God to your family and friends this week. Play a game of ‘telephone’, in which children take turns to share what they want to say by whispering along the line. The final person calls out the message. Check that they got it right. If not, ask the first person to repeat it. All say ‘Amen’.
- Finish by praying that there will be opportunities to have conversations about faith this week.
What's the cost? 10 mins W A
Share real-life examples of people who have taken risks for their faith
You will need: Marcus Rashford article or a volunteer from your congregation.
- Invite a volunteer, or use the article and talk about what Marcus Rashford risks by sharing his faith.
- Ask the visitor to tell you about how they share their faith in school or at work. How do they feel when they do that? What do they think are the risks to sharing their faith?
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Tell it without words 10 mins S
Communicate news that begs to be told
You will need: pre-selected Bible passages, Bibles.
- Choose as many inspirational verses from the Bible as there are young people. Randomly distribute them and ask each person to mime their verse to the group.
As they mime, play ‘The cost’, Rend Collective Experiment on Homemade Worship by Handmade People.- Ask: Are there some words or ideas that we just have to say aloud? What is the difference between having a message delivered by a person and reading it in a book?
Refugee Week logo 10 mins W S
How people endure periods of suffering
You will need: Refugee Week logo.
- Explain that Refugee Week celebrates the resilience and creativity of refugees and ask how the logo might reflect that. What might the different colours represent? Is the shape of the logo significant?
- Can the young people give any examples of their own creativity and resilience when they have faced hardship? What might a logo for persecuted Christians look like?
Pray for Christians globally 10 mins
Share and pray faith stories W E
You will need: internet access to visit the Operation World prayer calendar.
- Look at the prayer calendar together. Talk about the prayer needs of the country assigned for prayer today. Is telling the Christian story significantly different there? Use the information as a basis for your prayers today.
Check-in: Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues
Stained-glass windows 10 mins E S
When we tell our stories, God illuminates them
You will need: black card, coloured crepe paper, scissors, glue.
- Encourage everyone to design and make a stained-glass window that either tells their faith story or the message of Jesus.
- As they make their art, discuss: What is your experience of speaking about faith in your everyday life? What does God do when we share with others?
Dramas should be linked to here