Rocky Railway VBS: Prayer Box Train Craft

This prayer box train craft is double duty – it’s an adorable train, plus it’s a tool that equips kids to feel more comfortable and confident praying!

Supplies:

Small wooden boxes – I got the boxes pictured from Group, but they’re sold out. You can get similar boxes on Amazon or these from Oriental Trading.
Buttons (this is a great thing to ask your congregation for – people likely have buttons at home they don’t need!)
Tacky glue (note: that page currently says you get a 3 pack for $1.97. I think it’s probably just a typo and you get 1 bottle for that price)
Disposable plates or bowls
Q tips
Permanent markers – I’d suggest getting both fine tip and ultra fine tip (if you’re only getting one, get the ultra fine tip)
Colored cardstock paper
Paper cutter or scissors
Optional: paint or other decorating supplies

Instructions:

Before VBS: Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut the cardstock paper into small squares of paper that will fit into your boxes. I’d cut enough squares for each student to have about 10.

As students are decorating their boxes (or before they begin), take the time to explain that God wants us to talk to him just like we talk to our friends! We can share anything we would tell a friend (or more!)… things we’re worried (or scared or frustrated or excited) about, things we are hoping for in the future, situations we need help with, you name it! We can especially lift up prayers for other people facing difficult situations.

Optional: If you want this to be a multi-day craft, you could let the kids paint their wooden box on day 1. I’d give each student a small sheet of wax paper (write their name on it with a permanent marker, then sit their box on the wax paper to dry overnight).

Let students decorate their boxes using permanent markers. You can decide whether to add bible verses, an encouraging message about prayer, daily bible points, etc (or have signs with all the options on the wall and let the students write whatever they want). I used fine tip permanent markers, but they were kind of hard to read. The ultra fine tip markers would be easier if they’re writing very many words on the box.

Let students choose 4 buttons each, then attach them to their wooden box (train) using tacky glue. 2 buttons should go on each long side of the box as wheels. (Tip: The easiest way I’ve found for kids to use tacky glue is for an adult to squirt it on a disposable plate, then kids can apply using q-tips.

Give students 10ish pieces of small cardstock paper. Encourage them to take the paper and prayer boxes home. When they think of a person or situation they want to pray about, they can write it on a piece of paper and keep it in their prayer box. When they pray, they can take the papers out to remember the things to pray about.

PRESCHOOL VERSION: For young kids (toddler/preschool), you can write words on the box beforehand. Kids can choose which buttons they like and glue them on with adult assistance, then they can color the box with regular (not permanent) markers.

This craft is useful, but even more important is the fact that it equips students with the practical life lesson to PRAY for people and situations!

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