From time to time we have been moved to construct or acquire various items which we have found useful in our family services. This is a list of some of them. ( It is intended to be a list of all of them in due course, but we give no guarantee of completeness. )
Well, that was the original idea. In the light of experience we've stretched it a bit to include several family service features which have turned up in different family services, but which aren't necessarily things or specific to family services. But the idea is the same.
| Badges | Slightly adhesive paper badges which stick to clothing without damage ( so far as we know .... ). |
| Bricks | Large polystyrene bricks. |
| Bogie | A child's trolley. We didn't build it; it belonged to one of our members' children, and we used it because it worked. |
| Building | Really more like a shallow cave, but we've usually used it as a house, or as the stable in Christmas services. |
| Calvary | A representation of the three crosses of Calvary, mounted on a hill. |
| Camp fire | An electric camp fire, useful in sketches. |
| Candy stick | A confection, with a connected story. |
| "Christingle" | A large model of the Christingle which features ( reasonably enough ) in the Christingle services. |
| "Christmas card bells" | Small decorative "bells" made from Christmas cards. |
| Crack | A means of producing a loud "crack", as of a breaking stick or cracking whip. |
| Cross | A large but light cross. |
| Die ( or "Dice" ) | A large die about 30cms cube. It is slightly rubbery, so it bounces a bit, with the numbers written ( as numerals, not dots ) large and clear.
GRAMMATICAL NOTE : Strictly speaking, one of them is a "die" and the plural is "dice" - so more than one are dice. "Throwing dice" is general, and can refer to any number. This note is here to pacify one of our team, who thinks it's important. |
| Display board | A board to which light items for display can easily be attached. |
| Eggs | Large papier-maché eggshells, hollow and openable. |
| Folding tree | A very large "tree" painted on cloth which can be raised from essentially nothing to its full height during the service. |
| Frame | An easily manoeuvrable frame to support a large picture, so that it is visible from both sides. |
| Gifts | Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. |
| Holy Family models | Model figures representing Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus. |
| Manger | A manger - probably not historically accurate, but traditionally acceptable. |
| Palm Cross | Palm crosses, traditionally made and distributed on Palm Sunday. |
| Paper door | A full-sized door made largely of paper ( for lightness ) in a wooden frame. |
| Praying hands | "Praying hands" on card, with prayers printed thereon - intended as a hand-out after a service. |
| Shop sign | A collapsible sign resembling the name banner above a shopfront. |
| Sparklers | Happy things to wave in procession, etc.. |
| Stocks | Light portable stocks. |
| Stop-and-go sign | A hand-held sign resembling the New Zealand STOP road sign, with a corresponding green GO sign on the other side. |
| Streamers | Supports to hold a horizontal pole parallel to a wall at some distance away therefrom. |
| Tripod | Tripod, intended to support a cooking pot over the camp fire. |
| Whip | A softish "cat-o'-nine-tails". |
| Windows | Simulated "stained glass" windows, depicting various Christmassy themes. |
| Wings | Plastic wings, for angels etc. |
2009 December