This simple and easy preschool craft uses craft foam and cotton balls to make cute little sheep that hang in a mobile with hearts and crosses. Perfect for Lent, Easter, spring time, Lamb of God, or Christian Passover lessons. Easy enough for toddlers, but interesting enough for elementary school.
The next day John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, - Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" - John 1:29 NLT
I like sheep and lambs. I think they're cute, and they're synonymous with spring, which has been sorely lacking in my part of the world this year (until this week, that is).
Having seen lots of cute lamb and sheep crafts on Pinterest recently, I came up with a little lamb project for my girls to do.
I had intended to write Lamb of God on their pink hearts and to talk about how perfect lambs were used as a sacrifice to cleanse sin and how Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice meant to atone for all humanity, but we didn't get to that what with all the glitter and glue flying around. I have these mobiles hung over our dining room table, so the discussion will come some day soon.
Lamb of God - Sheep Craft Materials
- Craft foam in white or black, purple, and pink (I went with white for the whole perfectly pure Lamb of God thing, but I think black sheep with white wool would probably be cuter. Also, I intentionally used purple for the cross to remind the girls of the purple robe that Jesus was dressed in before his crucifixion.)
- Cotton balls
- String
- Elmer's Glue
- Scissors
- A pencil
- A black marker
- A hanger or embroidery hoop for each mobile
- A heavy duty hole punch (I used my Crop-A-Dile
.) - Glitter (not pictured), optional
- Washi Tape (not pictured), optional
.)Instructions
1. Make a little sheepy template and trace it a bunch of times on your white craft foam. I made my template by drawing a puffy cloud and then giving him legs and a head.
I traced 3 sheep for each mobile. That was a perfect number for a wire coat hanger.
2. Do the same for the heart and cross. For these, I folded a piece of paper in half, drew half of my heart or cross, and then cut along the lines to make a symmetrical shape. I drew a fancy cross like the one in my tattoo, but you can draw a more square one. Do what you can.
3. Cut out all the pieces.
4. Apply copious amounts of Elmer's Glue to the sheep. Tear cotton balls apart and stick the cotton in the glue.
Allie, who is four, stuck whole cotton balls on her sheep. They're still cute.
But Grace, who is almost eight, tore her cotton balls apart, and her sheep are cuter.
5. I was not anticipating this step. Remember, I was going to write Lamb of God on the hearts, right?
The kids were in a gluing state of mind. Grace glued glitter to her heart, and Allie glued glitter to her cross.
They both also used sparkly washi tape
to decorate with.
6. Use the marker to make faces on your sheep. Sheep are cuter with little eyeballs.
See how nice Grace's sheep turned out? I think that's adorable.
Here are Allie's finished pieces while the glue was drying.
Here are Grace's finished pieces while the glue was drying.
7. Punch holes in each of the shapes and tie them to the coat hanger. I tied sheep, cross, sheep, heart, sheep and hung them at different levels to make the mobile more interesting.
Here are both of the mobiles sort of mishmashed together.
And here is just Allie's. Grace's is more even, with the cross and heart hung at the same level, a little below the three sheep, which are also around the same level. They're both nice, just different.
For more kids' crafts, see the craft index.
