Jesus, Light of the World Hands On Activities Supplies & Directions

Decide how many kits you are going to create. Think big. For ideas on how to share these with your community, look here. Encourage the families in your faith community to take a kit to give to a friend or neighbor. We are praying that you will sow extravagantly and that these kits will shine the light of Jesus into your community.

The Hands on Activity for Week 4 is creating paper bag luminaries and each kit will have enough supplies to create 5 luminaries. You might want to consider lighting up your church property on Christmas Eve using luminaries either by providing supplies to create extra bags to be used at the church or by asking families to bring their luminaries from home.

Recommended Supplies

We thoroughly test all of our projects and we realize creating these kits for your community is a big investment so we are always trying to find the most economical way to provide these projects to large groups of people.

  • UV Color Changing and Sun Reactive Beads – you need 75 beads per kit. Order on Amazon.
  • Tea light candles – You need 5 candles per kit. If you already have tea lights, use those. Order on Amazon.
  • Mini Flashlight – you need 1 per kit. Order on Amazon.
  • Crystal Ball Prism – you need 1 per kit. Order on Amazon.
  • White Paper Lunch bags – you need 5 bags per kit. If you already have brown lunch bags, use it! Order on Amazon.
  • Foil Baking Cups – you need 3 per kit. Order on Amazon.
  • Sandwich or snack size ziplock bags – you need 1 per kit to put the beads in.
  • Parchment paper – You need 1 small square (5 inch square would be plenty) per kit.
  • Sand – We recommend going to a home improvement store and purchasing a bag of play sand. You need 3 cups of sand per kit.
  • Gallon size ziplock bags – you need 1 per kit to put the sand in.
  • Decide what you will be putting your Advent supplies in. We have for years recommended pizza boxes because they are stackable, fun and relatively inexpensive (free if you can partner with a local pizza place). However, be creative and select whatever works best for your community and how many boxes you are making. Order pizza boxes on Amazon. If you are assembling more than 100 boxes, you will be able to find a better price for boxes from a restaurant supply company.
    • If you decide to put your supplies in a box that can be sealed shut we highly recommend, sealing it closed with one of our Do Not Open stickers. Exaggerate the fact that these boxes are sealed and CANNOT be opened until the first day of Advent! This will create excitement and make people curious about what is in the boxes!
    • We can also help you create a personalized gift sticker with your church’s name and logo on it. If you are interested, email cheryl@familyministrytools.org. Here is an example sticker and here is a sticker you could customize yourself.
  • If you are using boxes and plan on using the Do Not Open stickers and/or the personalized gift stickers, you need Avery 8164 Labels (3 by 1 3/4). Order on Amazon.

Printing your Documents

  • On regular paper, print 1 copy of the 1 Jesus, Light of the World Welcome.pdf for each packet
  • On regular paper, print 1 copy each of 2 Week 1.pdf, 3 Week 2.pdf, 4 Week 3.pdf and 5 Week 4.pdf. Each individual week will need to be cut in half.
  • On white cardstock, print 1 copy per kit of 6 Stars Template.pdf
  • If using stickers, on your Avery Labels, print 1 copy of Avery 8164 Labels Do Not Open.pdf and/or gift sticker.pdf for every 6 kits.
  • On regular paper, print 1 copy per kit of the Reverse Advent or Hospitality challenge.pdf if your church decides to use one of these. These will need cut in half.

Assemble your kits

  • Create your bead bags. Put 75 beads and a small square of parchment paper in a ziplock bag.
  • Put 3 cups of sand in gallon sized ziplock bags.

In each kit you need:

  • 1 bag of beads
  • 5 tea lights
  • 1 mini flashlight
  • 1 prism
  • 5 lunch bags
  • 3 foil baking cups
  • Star Template page
  • Welcome sheet
  • 4 Scripture sheets
  • 4 Hands on Activity pages
  • 1 Shine your Light Challenge
  • 1 copy of the Reverse Advent or Hospitality Challenge.pdf if your church decides to do one of these.
  • If there is church information you want to add to your kits. This is a great way to be invitational by adding a flyers inviting people to the special events at your church during the Christmas season. Half sheet flyers will fit best.

Distribute your kits

We recommend having them ready to pass out a couple of weekends before Advent so everyone has a chance to get their kit. Place the kits in an easy to access location and encourage everyone to get their kit (1 per family) before or after worship. You can also encourage families to take a kit to give to a friend or neighbor.