Kids Alive! 26 November 2022

Matilda Wormwood is a little girl with bundles of curiosity, a sharp mind and a vivid imagination. Unfortunately she also has the worst parents in the world! While her parents sit around watching trashy TV or coming up with dodgy money-making schemes, Matilda loses herself in the pages of her beloved books. She also thinks up small cheeky acts of rebellion and revenge! Well, sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty, eh? When Matilda meets her inspirational teacher, Miss Honey, she is encouraged to start creating her own fantastical tales. She can’t wait to attend Crunchem Hall. However she soon discovers the school is a scary and cruel place because of the horrid headteacher Miss Trunchbull. She even throws a child after spinning her around by her pigtails – yikes! Matilda isn’t the kind of girl to sit back and let Miss Trunchbull treat her friends this way though. She makes a stand for what is right and teaches Miss Trunchbull a lesson she won’t forget! After all, no matter how little they are, children can do extraordinary things.

Based on Roald Dahl’s book and the musical stage show, ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical’ is out in UK and Ireland cinemas now! The film is rated PG, which stands for parental guidance. Parents or carers can read more about this rating at bbfc.co.uk before deciding if it’s suitable for their family.

What would you do if you were given special powers like Matilda? Would you make yourself rich and more powerful? Or would you use them to help others?

love. It says that love is patient and kind, and that it always protects, trusts, hopes and keeps going. It also lists a few

© 2022 Sony Pictures U.K. & Tristar Pictures

Make Space for God

The temple that King Solomon built was so amazing it became famous – perhaps as famous as Westminster Abbey in London or Notre Dame in Paris. The Queen of Sheba travelled thousands of miles to see it. It was made with expensive wood and lots of silver and gold. The temple was somewhere the Israelites could gather to worship God. Unfortunately, the Israelites became very proud of the temple. They began to think they were OK with God, even though they weren’t living the way God wanted them to. They forgot that the temple was there to help them connect with God and get their hearts sorted out. Although the building was important, it wasn’t the most important thing.

says Melita Day-Lewis

Here’s another way to look at it. Is wearing cool gear or having a kind heart more important? Wearing cool gear can make us feel special. However, an unkind or rude person isn’t cool at all – no matter what they’re wearing! What’s inside our hearts is much more important than what we look like.

The Bible tells us that when we choose to follow Jesus, we become the temple of God (check out 1 Corinthians 3:16). God lives in our hearts, not in church buildings. Isn’t that awesome? That means we can worship him and pray anywhere, any time! It also means that we need to keep making space for God in our lives by being kind and good. Jesus loves to make his home in a pure heart!

Picture Puzzle

Using the pictures from the Bible cartoon as clues, fill in the grid with the correct words to discover a new word in the shaded area. We’ve given you some letters to get you started. Clue: It’s where God comes to live when we choose to follow him.

READ THE COMMENT BELOW ABOUT MAKING ROOM IN YOUR LIFE FOR GOD

Name:

A d ve n t Re f l e c t i

During Advent, we look forward to the arrival of Jesus at Christmas. In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. This Advent season let’s welcome God’s peace into our hearts.

Stop! Be still...

Psalm 46:1–10 and Luke 2:1–5

When Jesus was born, the world around him was far from peaceful. It was ruled by the Roman Empire. In Luke 2:1–5, the Bible says that Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken. This was to make sure everyone was registered to pay taxes. The taxes were very expensive making it hard for people to provide for themselves and their families.

Today, many people are nding life to be more challenging due to increased living costs, effects of climate change, the war in Ukraine and other worrying issues. Psalm 46 reminds us that no matter what’s going on in the world, God is still in control. Each challenge is an opportunity for him to show us just how amazing he is. So, if we take a moment to ‘be still’ and remember that God is with us, our hearts will be lled with the peace of Jesus.

P ra y e r

Dear Jesus, Thank you for the peace you give to me. Whatever happens around me, help me to nd time to be still and focus on you. Amen.

KA! JAM is the coolest Bible activity club around. As a member you’ll go on amazing adventures through the Bible learning about Jesus. Each activity sheet is filled with lots of great stuff about being a Christian. You’ll also receive our mini-mag, Chatterbox, which is filled with jokes, games and much more. And to top it off, there are loads of awesome prizes to be won!

To join KA! JAM and complete the Bible activity courses online, go to salvationist.org.uk/kajam.

Or if you would like to receive the postal version, simply fill in the coupon below.

To join KA! JAM just ll in the application form and send it – along with two rst-class stamps – to: KA! JAM, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Applicants must be between 7 and 17 years old to join.

Date of birth: Address:

Postcode: Boy or girl: Do you attend a church, and if so, which one? apply for membership of Kids Alive! Jesus And Me. I understand that joining KA! JAM doesn’t mean I have joined The Salvation Army and that it is not a free subscription to Kids Alive!

I, (signature) PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS.

Lucy: Our headteacher is a peach.

Leon: Do you mean she’s really nice?

Starting from the outer segments and working towards the middle, write the answers to the clues so they all end with the same letter. Some letters have been included to help you. If answered correctly the outer segments will spell out a new word. Clue: Kitchen appliance.

Ho ho, ha ha, he he! He he, he he!

Ho ho, ho ho!

Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha!

A

Why did the teacher wear sunglasses to class? Because her students were so bright! 6 I R E

T I

What’s the worst thing you’re likely to find in a school’s dining hall? The food! How do you get straight As? By using a ruler!

He he, he he!

What happened when the teacher tied all the children’s shoelaces together? They had a class trip!

Ho ho, ho ho!

Ho ho, ha ha, he he!

Student: Miss, will you punish me for something I haven’t done?

Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha! Ho ho, ha ha, he he!

He he, he he!

Teacher: Of course not! Student: Great, because I haven’t done my homework!

Why did the music teacher go up a ladder during a lesson? To reach the high notes!

Teacher: What would you get if you had 13 apples, 12 grapes and three strawberries?

Student: A delicious fruit salad!

by Neil Locker

you can create your own distinctive Squeeze Balls with the amazing Squeeze Ball Creator! Simply mix, ll, lock and squeeze – it’s easy squeezy!

The Squeeze Ball Creator comes with 21 super-cool reusable emoji icons that you can add into your Squeeze Ball to create awesome designs. You can also use your own llings, such as slime, pompoms or sequins. The possibilities are endless.

The Squeeze Ball Creator is super sensory fun and kids who are fans of dget toys will love being able to squish and stretch their creations. The Squeeze Ball Creator is also reusable, so children can create amazing Squeeze Balls repeatedly. Just rinse out your Squeeze Balls, save the icons and start again. The fun never ends!

For your opportunity to win a Squeeze Ball Creator, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to put ‘The Squeeze Ball Creator Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 23 December when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by lling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: The Squeeze Ball Creator Competition, Kids Alive! 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN.

Are you counting down to Christmas yet? Here at Kids Alive! we’re getting excited about the approaching festive season. As part of our early celebrations, we’re supporting a Christmas e-card competition run by The Salvation Army.

Design your own Christmas card and send it to the address below for your opportunity to win a £100 Entertainer toy shop voucher! Not only that, we will feature the winning design on the cover of the 17 December issue of Kids Alive! and add it to The Salvation Army’s card collection on the Don’t Send Me A Card e-card website. How cool is that?

Sending e-cards is an environmentally friendly way to send a Christmas greeting, and – if you pay the optional donation to The Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal when you enter the competition – you’ll be helping to raise money for food and Christmas presents for children in need.

The different age categories for the competition are: under-7s, 7 to 9-year-olds, 10 to 12-year-olds and over-12s. The prizes up for grabs are…

What are you waiting for? Let your imagination run wild and get designing today! The more creative you are the better. You can use glitter or sequins too, but please stick to an A4-size piece of paper.

For your opportunity to win vouchers for The Entertainer, send your design, full name, age, address and your parent’s or carer’s email address to Freepost RTLT-UCTS-ZAKJ, Donor Services, 3rd Floor, The Salvation Army, UK Territorial Headquarters, 99-101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. You can use your own postage stamps if you'd like to save The Salvation Army money. The competition closes on Monday 28 November. Please don’t fold your design and make sure you send it in an A4 envelope.

Living a healthy and an active lifestyle and caring for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

National Tree Week

National Tree Week is the United Kingdom’s largest annual tree celebration and it’s taking place this week (26 November to 4 December). It’s run by The Tree Council and it’s an opportunity for tree lovers to get together and plant thousands of trees to mark the start of the annual tree-planting season.

We Trees

Aren’t trees fantastic? Apart from looking beautiful, they are so important for human life, wildlife and the environment.

Trees are like the lungs of nature. They remove excess carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and convert it into oxygen, which humans need to breathe. Global warming is linked to increasing levels of carbon dioxide, so by removing the excess carbon dioxide trees help us ght climate change too.

This isn’t all that tremendous trees do for us. Trees can help lter pollution, making our air cleaner. Some species, such as London plane trees, are really good at ltering harmful pollutants by trapping them on their leaves and bark. That’s why London plane trees line many city streets across the world.

If all of that isn’t enough, trees can also help prevent ooding when they’re planted near rivers and streams.

Wonderful Wildlife

Trees are a crucial habitat for lots of wildlife in the UK. They provide shelter and homes. Whether it’s birds nesting in branches, small mammals making homes in the roots or bats roosting in trunks, it’s clear trees are vital. Oak trees have even been found to support more than 280 species of insect!

Even wildlife that doesn’t live in trees can bene t from them. They provide shelter in frosty winters and shade in the heat of summer.

It’s a Celebration

The rst way you can get involved with National Tree Week is by celebrating these heroes of nature. It’s the perfect time to use the information we’ve just given you to tell others how amazing trees are. So talk to your parents or carers, friends, teachers or Sunday school leaders and let them know.

You could also talk to your teachers about doing some tree-related crafts, assemblies or projects at school.

Get Planting

All of us can make a difference to climate change by planting trees. Whether it’s in a pot on your doorstep, a hedge in your garden, or in parks or school grounds, every tree will help build a greener future.

If you’re not sure where to start, visit treecouncil.org.uk/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week –they have tree-planting guides. You can also search for your nearest Tree Warden Network and see if they’re organising any planting events near you.

Orchards for Schools

Here’s another idea! Do you have space for new trees at school? Speak to your teachers and see if your class can plant a new one in the grounds as part of National Tree Week.

Anyone can donate money to The Big Give. This is The Tree Council’s fundraising project for Orchards for Schools. This project provides fruit trees and hedgerows to schools – 80,000 have been planted already! It’s fantastic way for kids to get outdoors, and plant and care for trees. Maybe your school could be next.

Cool Colourings

This cool ColourBy-Numbers was sent by Joshua, age 7. The colouring’s lovely and neat and we love the sun you’ve added in the top left corner.

Jacob, age 5, also sent us a Colour-By-Numbers. The owers look beautiful –great work, Jacob!

East Scotland Adventure Day

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol and these were the theme of the East Scotland Adventure Day. Children who attend Salvation Army activities across East Scotland got together deep in the woods of Fordell Firs to make friends and learn more about God’s great personality. They bravely asked God to help them grow his fruits in their lives as they climbed trees, ew through the air on a zipline, sledged down grassy hills and conquered the deep, dark caves. Everyone faced fears, tried new things and made great friendships as they created some amazing memories. It was fantastic fun and the leaders of the Adventure Day hope that the kids found a piece of God-shaped treasure deep in the woods of Fordell Firs.

Doesn’t Dr Maggie look amazing in this Black History Month Colouring sent by Callum, age 11? The pink background really makes the stars stand out.

Aaron, age 9, chose to send us a Commonwealth Colouring and we love it! The colours of the wheelchair are particularly cool.

G e t I n T o u c h !

The Kids Alive! team loves to hear from its readers. And guess what –other readers love reading your news! So why not get in touch?

You can email or post your own colourings, drawings and letters. Or you could ask your Sunday school, church or corps leaders to email us or write to us with any news about the fun stuff you’ve been doing at your church or corps.

Email: kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk

Post: Kids Alive! 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN

Sherwin

Age? 12.

Favourite colour? Blue.

Favourite food? Pizza.

Favourite sport? Football. Favourite bit of Kids Alive!? Quizzes.

Favourite Bible story and why? Jacob and Esau, because Esau forgave Jacob even though Jacob had made a big mistake. Favourite TV programme? Henry Danger. What do you want to be when you’re older? Doctor. Pets? None.

Hobbies? Football and playing the keyboard.

Tell us a joke. Did you hear about the guy who invented the ‘Knock, knock!’ joke? He won the no-bell prize! What special skill or talent do you have? I can play the keyboard and clarinet. I’m also learning the guitar. Tell us something interesting about yourself. I play a bunch of sports. Is there anything else you would like to tell us? No.