Kids Alive! – formerly The Young Soldier – Issue No 7390
16 DeCEMBER 2023
The world's longest-running publication for children!
salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
50P/60c
May you be filled with joy and peace this Christmas
HAPPY CHRISTMAS Kids Alive! is available online – go to salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive KA - p1 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 11:10
What’s Inside?
Puzzle Answers Turn this page upside down to read the answers DOWN: 1 Calendar. 2 Bar. 3 Rest. 4 Adore. 5 Pear tree. 9 Earth. 11 Open. 14 Pie.
3
CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Cub. 3 Road. 6 Lords. 7 One. 8 Noel. 10 Year. 12 Air. 13 Paper. 15 Shin. 16 Eve.
Joy and Peace this Christmas and Ed’s Bit
4–5
KA! JAM
6
Advent Prayers
7
Happy Birthday to You!
8–9
Giggle in the Middle
10
Buster Books Bundle Competition
11
Colouring Corner
12–13
KA! World
14–15
Your Space
16
Patch’s Pals Eric the Electric Eel
BIG MYSTERY: Christmas stocking. GIGGLE IN THE MIDDLE TRICKY TREE: 1 An. 2 Can. 3 Cane or acne. 4 Crane. 5 Dancer. CHRISTMAS BIBLE BRAINTEASERS 1A. 2C. 3B. PICK OUT PATCH: Page 14.
Love our comic? Check out Morning Praise with Kids Alive! on Salvationist Radio every Sunday at 9–9.30am
Subscribe* to
for £4.33 a month
Hey there, readers! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this issue of Kids Alive! If you would like to get your own copy delivered to your home every week, why not add a Kids Alive! to your Christmas list and ask your parents or guardians to take out a subscription* for you? Every week, Kids Alive! includes a cartoon Bible story, a competition, puzzles, jokes, comic strips and topical activities and articles for you to enjoy. Ask your parents or carers to go to sps-shop.com/kids-alive, call 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email subscriptions@satcol.org to set up a subscription.
Go to salvationist.org.uk/radio to get your Sunday started with half an hour of music, prayer, a thought and lots of giggles
*A subscription costs just £4.33 a month (or a one-off payment of £52). This subscription offer applies in the UK and Republic of Ireland, with 51 copies delivered over 12 months. Please note that different prices apply to Europe and international orders.
EDITOR Justin Reeves
e Availabl online!
DEPUTY EDITOR Cara Mott GRAPHIC DESIGNER Philippa Martin KA! JAM CO-ORDINATOR Ibukun Baku PROOFREADER Chris Horne CONTACT US Phone Office – 020 7367 4910 Territorial Headquarters Switchboard – 0845 634 0101 Email kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk Post 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ FOUNDERS William and Catherine Booth GENERAL Lyndon Buckingham TERRITORIAL COMMANDER Commissioner Anthony Cotterill EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Major Julian Watchorn Published weekly by The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory.
salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. ISSN 1363-5662.
2 KA - p2 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 12:11
May you be filled with joy and peace this Christmas T
he cover of this week’s Kids Alive! is extra special, because it shows the winning design of the Christmas Card Competition. It was created by five-year-old Hadrian and he’s done a fantastic job of creating something bright, bold and fabulously festive. We especially love the elves holding hands! He’s also added a message – ‘May there be peace in the world and a joyful Christmas’. Unfortunately, not everyone in our world is living peacefully or joyfully. There are wars and conflicts and the people affected by these situations really need prayers. In many homes in the United Kingdom, the run up to Christmas is not a particularly peaceful time of year either. When you throw together excited children, presents to buy and wrap, school or church concerts to practise for and delicious food to prepare, there’s probably quite a bit of stress and mess! With all that stuff going on, it can be hard to find some peace during the festive season. The decorations, the gifts, the food, the music, the plays … they’re all awesome, but it’s important to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas – Jesus’ birth. By focusing on the wonderful gift of Jesus, which God gave us that very first Christmas, we can find peace and joy among the other festivities. We hope all our readers are filled with joy and peace this Christmas. Turn to pages 14 and 15 to see the fab designs by our runners-up and age category winners
If you’ve ever watched a football match, you’ve probably heard football fans sing, ‘He’s one of our own! He’s one of our own! Bukayo Saka (for example) – he’s one of our own!’ It’s a song fans sing about any player (not just Bukayo Saka) who started with their club’s youth team and made it to their first team. We could sing a similar song about the cover of this week’s issue, because it was inspired by one of our own – five-year-old Hadrian. When Jesus was born, he became one of us. Even though he’s God, he knows what it’s like to be a person – to struggle with tough stuff and celebrate good times, and everything in between. Because of that, we know we can talk to him about anything and he’ll understand. ‘He’s one of our own! He’s one of our own! Baby Jesus – he’s one of our own!’
3 KA - p3 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 11:38
Read the comment below about the importance of food in the Christmas story
Ready for Some Christmas Food? asks Austen Hardwick
D
o you have a favourite Christmas TV advert? There seem to be a lot with families getting together, celebrating, laughing and eating delicious chocolate desserts. I love pulling crackers and sitting around the table, wearing my paper hat, and enjoying roast turkey. But did you know that food features in the Christmas story too? At the time of the Nativity, when the Roman census meant Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, the town’s name meant house of bread. And Bethlehem was so crowded that Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger – a feeding trough for animals. When Jesus grew up, he told people he was the bread of life and fed 5,000 people using just five loaves and some fish! There seems to be a theme here, perhaps
God was cooking something up or, as we might say, the Holy Spirit was at work. All this makes me hungry for what Jesus wants to share. It’s as though when he became a baby, he wanted to feed us in a different way. Bread is good for you and can fill you up when you’re feeling empty. However, when I’m hungry for friendship, confidence or simply a better day, I can ask Jesus for help. That’s why he came to Earth to be with people. The animals in the stable would have been very surprised to find baby Jesus where they’d normally find food. But when God’s Holy Spirit is at work, we never know what he’ll serve up. If God is with us we’ll always have enough.
Twelve Foods of Christmas Find the Christmas-related food (just the words in capital letters) in the grid
CRANBERRY sauce Christmas PUDDING TURKEY POTATOES CARROTS GRAVY PARSNIPS STUFFING BREAD SAUCE pigs in BLANKETS Brussels SPROUTS Christmas CAKE
B L A N K E T S S I M S P R L Y H Y Y E K R U T S A E V V I N G P A W U E O N A D E R A Y F U F O L R C D H R R I S T F T G M A S S R T E I G I A M E S N E A I K M N N T P L I B Y H U A A I G O V P N I N G A C W D O P S A N D E R F U E D L C R H S T U O R P S U T C A R R O T S I M E P X
4 KA - p4-5 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 11:47
Advent – Getting Ready for Christmas The Holy Spirit Shows that God is With Us
Check out your Bible – Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7 Kids Alive! follows the Salvation Army Children and Youth’s Explore It! resource – go to salvationist.org.uk/resources/discipleship/explore-it Steve English
KA - p4-5 - 16 December.indd 2
5
08/12/2023 11:47
Advent Prayers ‘God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen’ is a Christmas carol that celebrates the comfort and joy that Jesus’ birth brought to the world. Each verse reminds us of God’s promise that he’s always with us. Through Jesus, God poured out his love and set the world right again. As we look forward to Christmas this Advent, let’s use this carol as a prayer and thank God for the comfort and joy he offers.
Dear God, Thank you for the gift of joy that you’ve given to us through your son, Jesus. Thank you that we can receive Jesus’ gift of forgiveness and we can live confidently knowing that you love us no matter what. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who lives in us and fills us with your hope and joy. Jesus, help us to share this good news of love and joy with our friends and family. May they experience your love in a special way this Christmas. In your name, we pray.
Amen
KA! JAM is the coolest Bible activity club around. As a member you’ll go on amazing adventures through th e Bible learning about Jesus. Each activity sh eet is filled with lots of great stuff about be ing a Christian. You’ll also receive our mini-m ag, Chatterbox, which is filled with jokes , games and much more. And to top it off, there are loads of awesome prize s 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 vers ion, simply fill in the coup on below. To join KA! JAM just fill in the application form and send it – along with KA! JAM, 1 Champion two first-class stamps Park, London SE5 8FJ. – to: Applicants must be be tween 7 and 17 years old Name: to join. Date of birth: Address:
Boy or girl: I, (signature)
6 KA - p6 - 16 December.indd 1
Postcode: 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 Salvat ion Army and that it is not free subscription to Kid a s Alive!
PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS.
08/12/2023 11:18
irthday Happy Bir to You!
Pick Out Patch
ure issue birthday printed in a fut d an me na ur yo e se To of birth me, address and date of KA! email your full na y.org.uk. Remember to type arm to kidsalive@salvation ct box. u!’ in the email’s subje Yo to ay thd Bir py ‘Hap
r 16 Decembe – age 11 Levi Brown
Christmas day isn’t far away! dO I LOOK LIKE rUDOLPH? See if you can spot this version of me on ANOTHER PAGE IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE.
17 December
Jacob Grosvenor – age 14 18 December 13 Eve Danquah – age 19 December age 12 Poppy Belle West – Evie Tingle – ag e 13 r e b m 2 1 Dece 2 2 December – age 13 Rosie Green Seth All an – ag e 12
?
? ? CHRISTMAS ? ? ? BIBLE BRAINTEASERS
?
?
?
Would you consider yourself to be a Bible buff? Do you know how many fish and loaves Jesus used to feed 5,000 people? Which teenager defeated a giant and who was swallowed by a huge fish? From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of incredible stories and interesting information. Test your Bible knowledge by having a go at the questions below.
?
1 Which relative did
Mary go to see after she had been visited by the angel?
A Elizabeth B Rebecca C Hannah
?
CLUE: Luke 1:38–40
2 What was the name of the king that the wise men visited on their way to find Jesus? A Solomon B Hezekiah C Herod
CLUE: Matthew 2:1–2
?
?
appeared to 3 Who Joseph in a dream and told him that Jesus was God’s son?
?
A His dad B An angel C A friend
CLUE: Matthew 1:20
ANSWERS ON PAGE 2
7 KA - p7 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 11:58
TRICKY TREE
He he, he he!
Ho ho, ha ha, he he!
to make a the letters from each row Starting at the top, use se ba of the tree low until you arrive at the be row the in rd wo w ne ’s reindeer will tell you one of Santa t tha rd wo r tte -le six a with
a
C H R I S TM A S WO R DS E A R C H
n c
Find the Christmas-related words in the grid
e
r d ker
il Loc
by Ne
What did the Christmas tree say to the ornaments? ‘Quit hanging around!’
What do you call a snowman’s dog? A slush puppy!
What do you call a reindeer in a bad mood? Rude-olph! How does a penguin build a house? Igloos it together!
CERD
8
Why are Christmas trees bad at sewing? Because they always drop their needles!
How do you scare a snowman? With a hairdryer!
What do you call greedy elves? Elfish!
How do you know when Santa’s around? You can always sense his presents!
bethlehem star JESUS nativity ANGELS presents family WISE MEN food GOD’S LOVE SHEPHERDS tinsel snow carols ornaments celebration y l i m a f j b x s o m v z a d p j h l k l n e S t n e s e r p t o a h h l g w j s s s i r t e e m e n i u p t w a i l p a l s c s a n a c v h h r s f n r e e t r i t e d p q b i c mm h t E R g o e f y t a e e y b d c l o n w o n s n p Z s e b g f h i r j k l m c n g o D s l o v e Z Q
He he, he he!
Ho ho, ha ha, he he!
mystery item Identify the ifying glass in the magn
ers w s An e 2 ag
on P
across: 1 Young fox. 3 Street. 6 ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ gift: _ _ _ _ _ a-leaping. 7 Smallest whole number. 8 Christmas carol: ‘The First _ _ _ _’. 10 Christmas comes but once a _ _ _ _. 12 Atmosphere. 13 Material for wrapping gifts. 15 Front part of lower leg. 16 The day before Christmas Day: Christmas _ _ _.
down:
D raw This!
1 Pre-Christmas card with flaps to open: Advent _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. 2 Piece of chocolate or soap. 3 Carol: ‘God _ _ _ _ You Merry, Gentlemen’. 4 ‘Oh come, let us _ _ _ _ _ him’ (‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’). 5 ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ gift: a partridge in a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (4,4). 9 What the angels told the shepherds: ‘Peace on _ _ _ _ _ , goodwill to men’. 11 Not closed. 14 Christmas treat: mince _ _ _.
D raw This! by Neil Locker
D raw This! Christmas is nearly here, so to join in with the Christmas fun, have a go at drawing this gingerbread man. To help you get started copy the gingerbread man (right) into the empty grid.
9
Buster Books Bundle Competition
I
f you check out pages 12 and 13 in this week’s issue you can learn about a really cool book-swapping Christmas Eve tradition that happens in Iceland. It’s a perfect Christmas idea for bookworms and so is this week’s competition! Am I Made of Stardust? by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock is packed with questions (and their answers!) – from whether there are rainbows on other planets to what dinner tastes like on the International Space Station! In Size Wise readers can discover some of the biggest and smallest things in the natural world. Marvel at the dinner plate-size eye of the colossal squid and see the rainforest flowers you could sit inside. Baby Unicorns is the latest book from The Magical Unicorn Society, and it’s all about these cute and magical younglings. Each story tells the tale of rare encounters with baby unicorns from the eight unicorn families that fans of the series will know and love. For your opportunity to win the three books listed above, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to put ‘Buster Books Bundle Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 2 February when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by filling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: Buster Books Bundle Competition, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ.
WIN!
What country has a book-swapping Christmas Eve tradition? Ireland
Switzerland
Iceland
Name: Address: ____________ Postcode:
10 KA - p10 - 16 December.indd 1
Age:
_
Remember, the best way to enter is to email your entry to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
08/12/2023 12:43
CAROLLERS COLOURING There’s nothing more festive than a bit of carol singing. It’s great fun and helps spread some Christmas cheer too. These carollers look a bit flat, though. They need you to add some colour to sharpen their performance. If you’d like to share your artwork with other readers, email your colourings to: kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Make sure you write ‘Carollers Colouring’ in the subject box and give us your full name, age and address. Alternatively you can post your colourings to: Your Space, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. One last reminder, if you’re sending by post remember to fill in the details below so we know who you are. We send a gift to everyone whose colouring we publish, so don’t miss out!
Name:
Age:
Address: Postcode: Go to salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive to download a printable PDF of this page
KA - p11 - 16 December.indd 1
11 08/12/2023 11:39
lifestyle and caring ve ti ac an d an y th al he Living a tual well-being. iri sp d an l ta en m , al ic ys for your ph
Top Traditions from Around the Globe What’s your favourite thing to do around Christmas? Many people like to do the same things every year as it makes the festive season seem special. Common Christmas traditions in the United Kingdom include eating roast turkey on Christmas Day, wearing Christmas jumpers and leaving out a mince pie and carrot on Christmas Eve for Father Christmas and his reindeer.
These are all lovely Christmas traditions, but there are also other wonderful traditions that happen around the world. Here are some of them. Why don’t you and your family give one a try this Christmas? Maybe they’ll become the things you love to do every Christmas.
Book Flood Picture this: it’s Christmas Eve and after receiving brand-new books from someone in the family, everyone goes to their favourite reading spot and gets stuck in. Maybe add some hot chocolate to that scene too! Does that sound lovely? It’s basically Christmas Eve in Iceland where people celebrate Jólabókaflóðið (which basically means Christmas book flood). This book-filled tradition started during the Second World War when paper was one of the few things that weren’t rationed.
Lots of Light If you start getting excited about Christmas really early, maybe you should take on some Christmas traditions from the Philippines. They start celebrating the festive season in September and some keep going until February!
SEPT
FEB
They love to decorate homes and streets with bright and colourful lights, especially parols. Parols are Filipino lanterns that are traditionally star shaped. The city of San Fernando even hosts a famous giant lantern festival where people compete to win best parol.
12 KA - p12-13 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 12:49
Delightful Dancing Love a Christmas tree? Love dancing? Love singing Christmas carols? Put them all together and you’ve got a Danish Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve in Denmark it’s traditional to dance around the Christmas tree and sing carols as you hold hands with family or friends.
Processions and Piñatas Las Posadas is a festival that happens in Mexico and some other countries in the run up to Christmas. It’s a time to remember the journey made by Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. Each night between 16 and 24 December, a child dressed as an angel leads a procession through the street. The procession will visit several houses and be refused a place to stay (like Mary and Joseph). At each stop Bible verses are read and carols sung. The final house lets the visitors in and there’s a party with piñata filled with sweets or toys for children to break open.
January Joy
7 JAN
In Ethiopia Christmas Day is celebrated on 7 January. This is because Ethiopia has a different calendar to the UK. There, most children receive new clothes as a gift before attending church services. After church it’s time to feast! Food served at Christmas includes doro wat and injera – a spicy stew eaten with a pancake-like bread.
Big on Bagpipes Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without … shepherds playing bagpipes! That’s right, in some parts of Italy it’s not unusual to see bagpipe-playing shepherds in piazzas.
Peace Apples Although Christmas isn’t an official celebration in China – offices and schools are open as usual – there are a few Christmas traditions. One of these is giving peace apples on Christmas Eve. The apples are packaged in a special box or wrapped in coloured tissue paper. It’s believed this started because the Chinese word for apple, pingguo, is similar to the word for Christmas Eve – pinganye.
Has this inspired you to start a new Christmas tradition this year?
13
KA - p12-13 - 16 December.indd 2
08/12/2023 12:49
d r a C s a m t s i r h C Competition The Results
We received ber we ran a Christmas Card Competition. Regular readers might remember that in Octo k you to Than excited to show you the winning entries. so many wonderful designs and now we’re all winner! to our runners-up, category winners and over ns latio ratu cong and red ente who yone ever
Category Winners
Ages 7
to 9
s
7 Under-
Shasmeen, Age 6
Ages 10 to 12
13 Plus
Beth, Age 11
14
Anna, Age 9
Fahmida, Year 9
To send an e-card this Christmas, ask your parents or carers to visit dontsendmeacard.com/ecards/charities/the-salvation-army/Christmas, select your design, write a message and make a donation. It’s an environmentally friendly way to send seasonal greetings and will help to support the work of The Salvation Army.
KA - p14-15 - 16 December.indd 1
08/12/2023 12:09
Runners-up
Je n n i
Laila, Year 10 Age? 9.
Favourite colour? Blue. Favourite food? Spaghetti Bolognese. Favourite sport? Climbing. Favourite bit of Kids Alive! ? Patch’s Pals.
Zara, Age 11
Favourite Bible story and why? The Last Supper, because I like it when Jesus uses the bread to represent his body and wine for blood. Favourite TV programme? Horrible Histories. What do you want to be when you’re older? An actress or teacher. Pets? None. Hobbies? Drama. Tell us a joke. What’s the fastest fruit in the world? A satzooomer! What special skill or talent do you have? Acting and drawing. Tell us something interesting e 7 the drums about yourself. play Finley G –Iag and in a music concert at my school I played along to the song ‘Human’.
Grace, Year 7
Is there anything else you would like to tell us? I like Harry Potter … a lot!
15 KA - p14-15 - 16 December.indd 2
08/12/2023 12:09
BRR, IT’S FREEZING OUT HERE, ERIC. AREN’T YOU COLD?
I AM, PATCH…
…BUT I’VE GOT TO FINISH DECORATING THIS CHRISTMAS TREE BEFORE I CAN GET BACK INTO THE WARM. LE!
IFF
SN
COU
GH!
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU’VE CAUGHT A COLD BEING OUT HERE, ERIC.
I’M CERTAINLY NOT FEELING VERY WELL AND I DO HAVE A BIT OF A SORE THROAT…
…BUT I THINK IT MIGHT JUST BE…
…A TOUCH OF TINSEL-ITIS! THE SALVATION ARMY – A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND REGISTERED CHARITY
LOCAL INFO LOCAL INFO LOCAL INFO
Published by The Salvation Army. © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory, 2023. Printed by CKN Print, Northampton.
KA - p16 - 16 December.indd 1
Please Recycle Me! 08/12/2023 11:06