You will need: popcorn and the means to cook it, using a pan with a glass lid and a heat source.

• Show the group some popcorn kernels in a large bowl, notice how very small they are and that they don’t fill the bowl.
• Heat the popcorn kernels, and let the group watch how they grow and pop and begin to fill the pan. Take care doing this because it gets very hot.
• Talk about how the kernels get ‘excited’ by the heat, and grow and fill up the bowl. Then eat the popcorn!

Play

Unstoppable? (C+YP 5 mins)

Try to stop the balls overflowing

You will need: a parachute; a selection of small balls.

• Divide the group into two teams.
• One team holds the parachute and aims to shake the balls off; the other team aims to get the balls back on. At the end of a given time, judge which team has won by whether there are more balls on or off the parachute.

Discover

How did we get here? (C+YP 15 mins)

Fill in the back story of today’s passage

You will need: Bibles.

• If you have enough people, divide the group into four subgroups. Give one of the following passages to each subgroup and ask them all to create a tableau to show what is happening in the verses. If you have a small group, look at each section in turn.
  • Acts 5.12-16;
  • Acts 5.17-18;
  • Acts 5.19-21a;
  • Acts 5.21b-26.
• Talk about what happened in the time leading up to the verses in today’s reading.

Make

Angel decorations (C+YP 10 mins)

Make ‘angel cakes‘ and talk about the disciples being freed

You will need: small cakes or biscuits; icing; sweets to decorate.

• Allow the group to decorate their cakes or biscuits to make ‘angels’.
• While they work, talk to the youngsters about how Peter and the apostles felt when they were in prison, and how they felt when they were released by the angel. They had been locked up, but God’s movement, God’s message, couldn’t be stopped even by the chains they were bound with.
• Peter had been amazed and confused on Easter Day, but now he is confident in the message he has to share. Sometimes we can feel trapped but, like Peter, we can be confident to share the message God has given us.

Think

Who do you believe? (C+YP 10 mins)

Think about how we decide who to listen to and believe

You will need: coloured tape or a skipping rope.

• Use the tape or rope to make a line on the floor. This line represents absolute confidence. When you read out one of the statements below, and any others you want to add to the list, the group must decide how confident they are that you are right, and stand as close to or as far away from the line on the floor as they want.

Air is all around us
The sky is blue
Monday follows Sunday
There is life elsewhere in the universe
Pigs can fly
Every four years there is an extra day in February.

• Talk about how we know what to believe and what we can put our confidence in.

Pray

In chains (C+YP 10 mins)

Pray for those who feel trapped

You will need: dark-coloured paper strips for making paper chains, sticky tape, pens.

• Get the youngsters to make paper chains, and talk about people who feel trapped. There might be particular stories in the news you could talk about. Write the names of some of the people you have been talking about, on the links in the chains. This activity might follow on from the Bible studyExplore option if you used it.
• Ask the group to pray quietly for some of these people, while they hold their chains. If possible, display the chains somewhere. You will have the chance to use them again later in this series. Otherwise, encourage the group to take their chains home and continue to pray over the coming week for those who are trapped.