A is for Angel
A Door Hanger Craft with Experience God
Christmas is a great time for crafting in our home. Angels are a favorite!
This month’s Experience God Curriculum from Mother Goose Time focused on “The Birth of Jesus.” With beautifully illustrated images, Experience God offers a retelling of the story of the birth of Jesus that captivates my crew.
We celebrate the large part angels play in the birth of Jesus. Angel Gabriel announces to Mary in Nazareth that she is to have a son and name him Jesus. An angel of the Lord also comforts Joseph letting him know that Mary speaks true and marrying her and raising Jesus is all part of God’s plan. Later angels announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds and thus, to the world.
Angel Door Hanger Craft
The kids enjoy crafts that they can use to decorate the home, especially their own rooms. Door hangers are perfect, since they don’t take up any highly valuable wall space!
Supplies
- door hanger*
- paper “A”*
- handprint paper*
- glitter*
- feathers*
- scissors
- glue
- makers
*included as part of our Experience God Activity pack
Directions
- Invite the children to clap their hands and sing a favorite Christmas carol.
- Trace hands and help the children cut them out. Use these as the wings for the angel craft. Cut a circle from the remaining paper to use as a head.
- Glue the head and wings to the paper “A.” Attach the angel to the door hanger.
- Decorate the angel with glitter and feathers.
- Write “A is for Angel” on the door hanger.
Our Experience
It is reasonable to wonder why anyone with four children under the age of six would bother with a craft like this, especially one that contains enough glitter to necessitate a trip outside in very cold December weather. Well, the truth is it has nothing to do with the craft and everything to do with the eye opening conversations we have as a family. This angel craft was no exception as we tackled topics such as the true appearance of angels and whether we could become angels ourselves.
Are angels girls or boys?
As soon as the markers came out my kids wanted to know if angels were boys or girls. My daughter decided they were girls and gave her angel very feminine eyelashes guaranteed to be the envy of all earthly bound women.
We discussed that in the bible it is never stated whether angels are men or women. The masculine “He” is used to describe them, but angels are heavenly beings not humans and thus potentially not defined by gender. Possibly due to popular social examples of angels or the one topping our Christmas tree, all three kids chose to make “girl angels.” Go figure!
Do angels like their job?
I love this question. The kids and I have been chatting about being able to enjoy the moment even when you are completing chores or getting work/school work done. We’ve talked about adding music or audio stories as a way to increase enjoyment. My daughter volunteered that she thought they must enjoy their work because they were always singing. I love that! My son figured that since they were in heaven and closest to God they must be happy. I love that too. My son decided to show that they were happy by making smiley faces on his angel’s wings.
Will I get feathers when I become an angel?
My youngest crafter loved the feathers and had a wonderful time throwing them up in the air and watching them float down while I helped the older two add glue and glitter to their projects. He wanted to know if when he become an angel he would get feathers/wings too. This launched a very brief discussion about how angels aren’t human, but supernatural beings that reside in heaven. As humans when we die and go to heaven we have the opportunity to become saints. I pray he and all my children become saints. He says that if saints get to choose what they look like in heaven he would like feathers, please.
What do angels really look like?
Once it caught on that the appearance of an angel was up to interpretation, the kids got very creative. Although I told them that in most places of the bible the angels often say “Don’t Be Afraid” the kids did not think that angels look scary. They said that even Moses could not look directly at the Lord (proof they were listening to our bible stories), so angels must just be so awesome it is too hard to look directly at them too. Of course in the bible the people could see the angels, but I was so thrilled they had digested so much of the bible stories that at that point they could have created anything and I would have been OK with it.
My five year old decided that since God made bugs and bugs were awesome, but sometimes scared people, he would make his angel look like a bug. Hilarious, right? He chose a ladybug. Since ladybugs are often associated with Our Lady, I thought it an inspired choice!
My sincerest thanks to Experience God for helping this Mama have all the craft supplies she needed for this fun craft and meaningful conversation with her kids!
More about Experience God
Experience God is a Christian based program aimed at making prayer and bible study a routine practice for children.
Bible Stories
- Each pack features a new Bible story that includes story cards.
- Show children the pictures while reading the story on the back.
- Each story card includes movement and participation prompts.
Verse Memorization
- Children learn one memory verse each month.
- Display the included Bible verse poster.
- Sing along with the verse on the Truth Tunes CD.
Make Christian Crafts
- Invite children to create Christian art projects with the supplies included in the child packs.
Encourage Family Time
- Communicate and review key messages as a family.
- Complete an activity for families to do together.
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