The Armor of God

The last two months on Wednesday nights at church Emily and I have been teaching a kids class on the Armor of God. We have had a lot of fun with stories, activities, snacks and of course CRAFTS! For crafts we thought the kids would probably really enjoy making their own armor that would go along with the lesson.

Often with kid's classes whether it be at church, pre-school, wherever, a lot of money will go into buying papers, crafts supplies and then the kids will make a craft that they often could care less about and it will go home to be in a short time thrown away. I know, I am a mother of 4 kids and even though my kids don't go to a lot of various activities will still end up with more stuff then I know what to do with at times. It is my goal when I teach (and I have been very thank-ful to find others doing this as well.) to stay away from coloring papers and other store bought kits as much as possible and instead find ways to recycle stuff we have for craft supplies. We had a lot of fun doing this with our Armor of God class.

This is what we made: (We were attempting to recreate a Roman Soldier look)

• The Belt of Truth: We used some old denim pants in various colors and the kids cut out a strip for the belt section (which we then fastened with a button) and then also cut out pieces to hang down. We put them together using a glue gun. (Emily has posted the outline of this class with more pictures)
• Breastplate of Righteousness: From my large Old t-shirt supply we got one for each child. We also saved like crazy juice lids and other tin can lids (that come of neatly with my can opener that leaves no sharp edges) and old canning jar lids. We cut the t-shirts sides and sleeves off and made the neckline a little bigger and then the kids got to arrange the lids on and they liked and we hot glued them in place.
• Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace: This was a fun (though slightly complicated craft) where we cut foot shapes out of cardboard (two for each foot) and then I cut leather straps out of an old leather jacket I had and the kids criss crossed them however they liked and then we glued them in place on the underside of one cardboard piece and then when all the straps were glued on we glued the other cardboard piece over the loose ends.
• Shield of Faith: We used old pizza rounds that were at the church building and the kids painted them as they wanted them. (though later Jonathan covered his with tin-foil.) We also glued a handle (made from cardboard) on the back.
• Helmet of Salvation: We used old milk jugs for this. We cut off two sides and the top which left the bottom to be the top of the hat with the other two sides coming down for the back. We then sprayed them with silver spray paint and then added old personal pot pie pans on top with feathers sticking out. We also glued on leather straps to tie them on. (Emily has a much better helmet picture and a class outline here.)
• Sword of the Spirit: We used old cardboard and then covered the blade with aluminum foil.

We have had a lot of fun making our armor and the kids have really enjoyed playing with it too. I am pleased whenever I think about the fact that all that fun came from some old recycled stuff and didn't cost us hardly anything. (I did have to buy glue sticks, spray paint and aluminum foil.)

For more Thrifty Green Thursday posts visit Green Baby Guide.

If you have any questions about the armor feel free to comment and I will try to answer. I would love to hear how you like to re-use old stuff too!