Pentecost

Activities for the Whole Family:

Throw a party! After all, Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, and also the last day of Sunday School! Here are some ideas for party games.

Make party hats! Make paper flames with whatever you have on hand, and tape them to hats (if you have some) or to paper bands that fit your heads.

• Play Pin the Tongue of Fire Over The Apostle’s Head! Draw an apostle with a tongue of fire above his head. Have each player make a paper tongue of fire, and write their name on it. Affix a tape donut to the back of each tongue. While blindfolded, each player should take a turn to try to “pin” their construction paper flame above the head of the apostle. The player whose flame lands closest to the one drawn on the paper wins.

• Play “Guess the Item: Pentecost Version” by gathering items related to Pentecost, and put them in an opaque bag. Divide into two teams. Players take turns reaching into the bag, feeling an item, guessing what it is, and then pulling it out to see if they are correct. There are two points they might win: one for guessing the item correctly, and one for associating the item with Pentecost. Here are some ideas to fill your bag: LEGO stairsteps (upper room), clock or watch (the apostles were passing time/waiting), cardboard praying hands (the apostles were praying), hand-held fan (the mighty wind), plastic or stuffed bird (the Holy Spirit), cardboard flames or a candle or matches (tongues of fire), pocket translator book (they spoke in tongues), Bible (they shared the good news of Jesus with the people around them), a map (they journeyed around the world to tell everyone about Jesus).

• Finish the party with a treasure hunt leading to a hidden cake or cupcakes (or other treat)!

Bake a cake together to celebrate the birthday of the church! Top this “Lightning Cake” with whipped topping and sliced strawberry tongues of fire to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles at Pentecost.

• 1 cup flour

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tsp baking power

• 2 Tbsp butter

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Heat milk and add butter. Beat eggs until thick. Add vanilla. Add sugar a little at a time, beating until fluffy and smooth. Stir in the flour mixture. Slowly add the hot milk. Stir just enough to blend. Pour into a prepared 8” square cake pan, and bake at 375° for about 25 minutes, until the cake shrinks back slightly from the edge and doesn’t show any mark when you touch it. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, or covered in frosting, jam, jelly, or whipped topping and fruit. (For Pentecost, decorate with strawberry slices that look like tongues of fire!)

Decorate LED tealights to remind you of the tongues of fire that came down upon the heads of the apostles at Pentecost. Cut small flames from yellow, orange, and red tissue paper. Use tacky glue to glue the flames to the sides of LED tealights. When the glue is dry and it is dark, you can turn the tealight on to see your tongues of fire light up! (And these “tongues of fire” are safe to try to balance on your head, if you want to see what it could have looked like for the apostles to have them on their heads!) Store your decorated tealights in your prayer corner, and when you gather to pray, you can turn them on, and ask the Holy Spirit to come and illuminate your hearts.