In the summer many of our members are away on the weekends traveling to visit family or retreating to cottage country. To help maintain community and provide another opportunity to worship together, we began a Mid-week Worship service twice a month in the summer. For our first service we needed an activity for the children and I thought up these flowerpots painted with chalkboard paint.
The flowerpots were leftover from an altar arrangement I had created for Pentecost and just needed a little scrubbing to get them ready for their transformation. I then painted them ahead of time with blue chalkboard paint which you can find at any arts and crafts store, online, or in hardware stores. Some directions recommend a spray primer ahead of time, I didn’t find this necessary but I was pretty sure these pots would be indoor only.
If you are brave, or have multiple sessions to complete this project, you could let the older kids paint the pots. Just watch for drips and try to keep the surface smooth for writing. Painters tape on the inside rim of the pot will help keep things neat.
At the Mid-Week worship service the kids and I talked about sharing God’s love with those around us through kind words and actions. We talked about examples of kinds words and Bible verses that tell us about God’s love. To decorate our flowerpots we decided we would write and draw encouraging words and pictures.
To make the chalk on the chalkboard painted pots stand out and remain crisp, wet the pots slightly with a damp sponge before drawing on them.
Again, if you have additional time and some extra hands to help, potting the plants with the children would be ideal. A great sensory opportunity and another opportunity to talk about God’s love, caring for creation and caring for one another. We were limited on both time and helpers, so I potted the flowers myself and then brought them to church that Sunday. The flowers themselves were a simple flat of garden flowers I found on sale at the garden store.
Todd encouraged members of the congregation to take a potted flower home to share with someone in their community. Those who did returned with wonderful stories of delivering the flowers to shut ins and one member gave the flowerpot to a cashier at her local grocery store who always brightened her day and was going through a hard time.
This was a really fun activity that would work well for youth, a women’s group, or as part of a church and community clean up day.
