"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread" Sunday School Crafts

A portion of "The Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-13) reads, "Give us this day our daily bread." The verse is often used in Sunday school and vacation Bible school lessons to emphasis prayer, asking and receiving, and gratitude toward God for supplying daily, basic needs, such as food. This verse can be emphasised with children through easy-to-make crafts that can be incorporated into the Sunday school lesson.

Craft foam is a lightweight craft material available at craft and discount stores. Use an illustration of a slice of bread as a pattern. Cut one piece of brown craft foam in the shape of the pattern. Trace the centre "white" part of the bread slice onto white craft foam and cut it out. Glue the white foam onto the brown foam using craft foam glue and allow the glue to dry. The Sunday schoolteacher can have pre-cut card stock rectangles containing the printed verse from Matthew, "Give us this day our daily bread..." for students to glue onto the front centre of the slice of bread. Cut two adhesive magnet strips to fit the width of the bread slice. Press the magnet strips to the back top and bottom of the slice of bread.

Working with salt dough will allow young students to practice fine motor skill development while reinforcing the scripture verse, "Give us this day our daily bread." Mix 2 or 3 cups flour, 1 cup salt, and about 1 cup of water in a mixing bowl, adding the water a little at a time while you use your hands to knead the ingredients into a dough. Show the students how to form a little rectangle, about 1-inch wide by 2-inches long from the dough to form miniature loaves of bread. Allow the salt dough to dry for at least two days, or bake the miniature loaves in the oven at 93.3 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes or until hard. Allow the students to paint the miniature bread loaves with acrylic paint. Glue a magnet strip to the bottom of the loaf with super-strength clear glue. Sunday school teachers can make the salt dough ahead of time if the dough is kept refrigerated (lasts for up to one month).

Plain, flour sack or muslin tea towels or dishtowels can be purchased at discount, grocery, dollar and craft stores for use in crafts. Trace a colouring page of a bread loaf illustration using transfer paper and a skewer or stylus on to the towel. Allow the students to use squeezable fabric paints to outline the traced illustration. Allow the fabric paint to dry.

A notepad craft allows Sunday school teachers to recycle scrap paper from the class or church. Use a slice of bread illustration as a pattern. Cut the bread slice from paper and trace around it on to two pieces of brown card stock or construction paper. Trace around one centre "white" bread section on to white or tan construction paper or card stock. Center and glue the white piece on to one of the brown pieces. Trace the bread slice on to about 20 pieces of paper and cut out the slices. Place the paper slices between the brown "covers" with the white/brown bread slice on top. Staple the notepad together at the top.