Leader Guide
Craft
- Nicodemus Tender Heart Craft—one per child, plus extras
- Cardstock—one per child, plus extras
- Child-safe, fast-drying glue or glue sticks
- Gray crayons, washable markers, or colored pencils
- Children’s scissors—one pair per child
- Washable markers to share (for tracing hearts)
- Roll or sheets of small (3/16”) or medium (5/16”) clear or pink transparent bubble wrap—about 6” x 6” per child, plus extra
Make one copy of the Heart Page on cardstock for each child, plus extras.
Cut each 12" x 12" bubble wrap sheet into four 6" x 6" sheets. Each child receives a 6” x 6” piece.
Make a model craft to display in class.
Give each child a Heart Page, a 6” x 6” square of bubble wrap, a pair of scissors, and glue.
Distribute crayons, markers, and colored pencils to share.
Tender and Responsive: Make a craft based on Ezekiel 36:26.
God’s message to Ezekiel was that He would replace the people’s hard, stony, stubborn hearts with new, soft hearts. These hearts would be tender and responsive toward God. That is what this craft is all about. You are going to make a new heart!
Show the model craft. Be ready to assist children who need help with any step. Have children carefully cut out the two hearts on their pages. Have children color their “Old Heart” gray outside the text border.
Children will now glue the backs of their hearts together to form one heart. Double-check that the writing is visible on both sides before they glue! Demonstrate how to use the heart to trace a heart on the piece of bubble wrap with a marker. Hint: If you place the heart underneath the bubble wrap and then trace, you will not get any marker on the heart!
Children will now carefully cut out the heart on the bubble wrap. Have the children apply glue (sparingly) to the “New Heart” (uncolored). They should try not to glue over the text. It works well to just apply dots of glue rather than long lines of glue. Show how to position the bubble wrap over the heart with the glue and carefully press it into place.
Great job! You now have a new heart! Why do you think we colored the old heart side gray? Here’s a hint—remember the verse we read before we started to make our crafts. Reread it if necessary.
It represents a heart of stone or a stony heart. Stones are gray. Gently press on the bubble wrap side of the model heart. You can press gently on your new heart, too. Is it hard like rock or stone, like the old heart was? No, it is soft and tender—responsive.
God can change any heart from a stony, stubborn heart that doesn’t respond to His touch to a new and tender heart that responds to Him.
Conclusion: As we follow Christ, we will make mistakes and sin. When this happens, we can always return to God and ask Him to forgive us and make our hearts new again. We should never try to hide our sins from God. Just like you can see through this bubble wrap, God can see our hearts!
When David messed up and sinned in the Bible, this was His prayer in Psalm 51:10 (NKJV): Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Remember, Jesus is always faithful to forgive and cleanse us! Use your heart to show others what Jesus does for you!