"Jesus Loves the Little Children" Preschool Crafts

Preschool children love to sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children." Learning to build a personal relationship with Jesus is an integral part of a child's Christian experience. Hands-on activities help preschool children understand that they are "...precious in his sight" because of Jesus' immeasurable love for children. Include one of these crafts in your next Sunday school lesson.

Preschool children use imagination, paint and cut-outs to create a mural. The mural depicts Jesus welcoming children from culturally diverse backgrounds. Print and cut out the pictures of Jesus and children (see Resources). Attach a 10-foot length of poster paper or gift wrap to a wall with tacks. Provide poster paints, brushes and glue sticks to the children. Ask the children to imagine running down a beautiful pathway to meet Jesus. Let the children paint the flowers, grass and trees that they imagined on the paper. Add the cut-outs of Jesus and the children with the glue sticks.

Show your preschool children how to make a collage as a reminder that Jesus loves children. Provide magazines that feature pictures of children, 9 x 12-inch construction paper, glue sticks and safety scissors. Ask the children to cut out pictures of children from the magazines. Let the children glue the pictures on the construction paper to make a collage.

Demonstrate how to make a picture frame with wooden craft sticks. Assist the children in gluing the craft sticks into a square frame. Or provide ready-made foam frames for younger children. Write "I Belong to Jesus" at the top of each frame. Let the children use markers, stickers, foam cut-outs and glitter glue to decorate the frames. Add a self-adhesive magnet to the back of each frame. Tell the children to ask a parent to put their picture in the frame and place the frame on the refrigerator. Remind the children to think about how much Jesus loves them each time they see the frame.

Show the children how to make thumbprint bumblebees as reminders that every child is "thumb-body" special to Jesus. Explain to the children that Jesus always listens to their prayers and watches their activities. Write "I Can Bee Thumb-Body With Jesus" on white construction paper for the children. Cut out small ovals from yellow construction paper to provide several pairs of wings for each child. Let the children use an ink pad to make several thumbprints on the white paper. Show the children how to glue the wings to their thumbprints. The children can use markers to draw eyes, antennae, stripes and a stinger for the bees.