Puzzle Answers
Patch’s Problem 8–9 Giggle in the Middle 10 Piratix Competition 11 Colouring Corner 12–13 KA! World 14–15 Your Space
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16 Patch’s Pals Naughty Norman
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EDITOR Cara Mott
DEPUTY EDITOR AND KA! JAM CO-ORDINATOR Ibukun Baku
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Jacob Adams
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Philippa Martin
PROOFREADER Chris Horne
CONTACT US Phone Of!ce – 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
INTERNATIONAL LEADERS General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham
TERRITORIAL LEADERS Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Major Julian Watchorn
Published weekly by The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory. 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. 3 Gladiators and Ed’s Bit 4–5 KA! JAM 6 Bumper Bible Breakdown
ave you heard of gladiators before? Gladiators were top-notch warriors in the Roman Empire, entertaining audiences with their incredible abilities. In 2024, the world was introduced to 16 new Gladiators and this year we’ll meet two more!
Some of these Gladiators, such as Diamond, Legend and Viper, used to be bodybuilders. Quite a few of the Gladiators took part in competitions around the world for Team Great Britain (the British Olympic team). However, all of these new Gladiators have something in common – you wouldn’t want to mess with them! In fact, they’re so tough that they’d probably have Superman shivering in his boots.
This year’s series of Gladiators starts today (18 January). A new batch of male and female contenders will be taking on the Gladiators in tons of different challenges. These contenders won’t be as athletic as the Gladiators, but they’ll be trying to prove that they have what it takes to be a champion!
In an event known as The Wall, contenders will have to speed their way to the top of a climbing wall before a Gladiator grabs hold of them. Contenders will also have to make their way across a bridge in an event called Collision – but the Gladiators will be trying to knock them over! By the end of the series, you’ll see plenty of heart-stopping moments and some truly tremendous battles. Plus there’ll be a male and female contender crowned the 2025 champions in the Grand Final!
The new series of ‘Gladiators’ starts tonight (18 January) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 5.50pm
Legend, Dynamite, Fire – Gladiator names are epic! What would your Gladiator name be? Maybe I’d choose something like Solar – the Sun is pretty powerful and I think it sounds cool! All the Gladiators are talented, but they also all have different strengths and weaknesses. Some are taller, others are faster. Some climb well, others tackle brilliantly. But the thing they all have in common is that they’re part of a team. They work together to beat the contenders, using their different strengths. We all have different strengths too, and God wants us to use those strengths as part of his team. In Romans 12:6–8 we’re told that God has given us all gifts so that we can help those around us. These gifts might be preaching, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading or something else entirely. When we use our strengths and come together as God’s team we can do wonderful things for him.
Waiting For Jesus
John the Baptist
Check out your Bible – Luke 1:5–17; Matthew 3:13–17
Do It the Right Way
There was a trend where parents or carers placed a big bowl of sweets in front of their children and told them not to eat any until they came back. Some children couldn’t wait and ate the sweets! But some children did wait. The children that waited showed good self-control and were able to enjoy the sweets when their parents returned.
In this week’s Bible cartoon, John was an example of someone with great self-control. Before John was even born, God chose him for the special task of getting people ready to receive God’s love and follow Jesus. John was !lled with the Holy Spirit who helped him to follow God’s rules, preach about God’s Kingdom and baptise people who wanted to follow Jesus.
However, John didn’t think he was good enough to baptise Jesus and tried to say no. But Jesus told him to do it because it was the right thing to do. John listened and obeyed and got to experience something incredible. He heard God’s voice speak from Heaven and saw the Holy Spirit rest on Jesus.
Choosing to obey God and having self-control aren’t always easy. It’s often easier to do what makes you feel happier in the moment – like the children who ate the sweets straight away instead of waiting. But when we choose to trust Jesus and do things his way, it always works out better in the end.
So if you !nd yourself in a tricky situation, ask the Holy Spirit for help and he’ll give you the strength to do things the right way.
Self-Control Showdown
The Bible is full of stories about people who showed good self-control and others who didn’t. Put a tick next to the characters who did and a cross next to the ones who didn’t.
says Ibukun Baku Read the comment on the right about having self-control 1.
Bumper Bible Breakdown
Did you know the Bible isn’t one big book? It’s actually 66 books put together to tell one big story of God’s great love. Join us as we look at each Bible book and discover why God made the world, what went wrong and how in the end God saved the world through his son, Jesus.
A Message of Hope
Before the people of Judah were taken into exile by the Babylonians, they were terrible at following God. Although they had a couple of good kings, they had even more dreadful ones.
During that time there was a prophet called Isaiah. God gave Isaiah a message to tell his people. The kingdom of Judah was going to be punished for not following him. Isaiah also told the people that lots of other nations around the world would be in trouble too!
However, Isaiah also told the people something amazing. Even though Isaiah lived 700 years before the !rst ever Christmas, he knew about Jesus. Isaiah wrote about Jesus’ birth. Isaiah even knew that Jesus would die to save us from our sins. Isaiah had a message of hope – hope that through what Jesus was going to do, we could get to be with God for ever! Do you share that hope too?
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.
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To join KA! JAM just !ll in the application form and send it – along with two KA! JAM, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Applicants must be between 7 and 17 years old to join.
Date of birth:
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Boy or girl: Do you attend a church, and if so, which one?
I, (signature)
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!
PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS.
There are 195 countries in the world. We’re going to explore 26 of them, using the alphabet to decide where to go to next!
C for Canada
Canada is a huge country in North America. In fact, it’s so big that parts of it are in the Arctic region (which is where polar bears live). Not only is Canada home to polar bears, but it also has the largest moose population in the world. Its ag features a maple leaf, which has been Canada’s national symbol since 1868!
How long do you think that a tortoise can live for? Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise, has been alive for about 192 years! It’s believed that Jonathan hatched in December 1832, which makes Jonathan the oldest land animal on the planet. Jonathan lives on St Helena, where he’s enjoying his retirement and having lots of naps!
Problem...
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Hello, readers, i’M PATCH AND I’VE GOT A PROBLEM I THINK YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HELP ME WITH. i’VE LOST A VERY IMPORTANT OBJECT SOMEWHERE IN THIS ISSUE. WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME FIND IT? i HAVE A CLUE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE HERE.
You might know the date that Valentine’s Day is on or the name of the current king of the United Kingdom. However, there are also plenty of strange facts we reckon you haven’t got stored in your noggin! So here are a couple of random facts that you de!nitely (and by de!nitely, we mean don’t really) need to know.
Running, swimming and boxing – these are all sports that are included in the Olympic Games! However, from 1912 to 1948 there was another competition included in the Olympics that was very different to all the rest – art! Competitors had to create art inspired by sports to try to win a medal.
How do pirates know that they’re pirates? They think, therefore they arrr!
What do you call a frozen droid? An ice-borg!
he, he he!
Crossword Clues
by Neil Locker
across:
Crossword Clues
1 A large and densely-populated urban area. 3 Egg shape. 7 Sandy seashore. 8 Centre of the solar system. 9 Kings and queens, for example. 13 Frozen water. 14 The Thames, for example. 16 County in south-east England. 17 Wintry weather.
down:
1 Shape of a dice, for example. 2 Hot beverage. 4 Go to see and spend time with someone. 5 Country road. 6 Place where plays are staged. 10 The Atlantic, for example. 11 Dairy product. 12 Black bird. 15 Delivery vehicle.
How do you talk to a giant?
Use big words!
What’s a light’s favourite song lyric? ‘Shine bright like a diamond!’
What do planets like to read? Comet books!
Knock, knock! Who’s there?
Radio! Radio who?
Radio not, here I come!
Knock, knock! Who’s there?
Onion!
He he, he he!
Onion who?
Onion marks, get set, go! Ho
What did the astronaut say when they crashed into the moon? ‘I apollo-gise!’
ho, ha ha, he he!
Ho ho, ho ho!
Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha!
Ho ho, ha ha, he he!
Ho ho, ho ho!
He he, he he!
by Neil Locker
There are plenty of cool animals that live in the ocean, but are there any animals that are cooler than sharks? Some sharks, such as mako sharks, are ridiculously fast. Other sharks, such as great white sharks, are such !erce hunters that they can launch themselves out of the water! They’re basically the kings and queens of the ocean!
With this new Piratix toy, you can now own a shark that actually is the king of the ocean –he’s even wearing a crown! King Shark comes with a pirate crab called Captain Hermitt. Together they rule the seas. You’d better watch out for Captain Hermitt and King Shark, me maties. That’s because King Shark comes with a jail in his belly, perfect for capturing other pirates! For your opportunity to win your own Piratix King Shark, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
Remember to put ‘Piratix Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 14 February when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by !lling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: Piratix Competition, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ.
Which of the following is a shark that can launch themselves out of the water?
Awesome Silver Giant Orange Great White
Name:
Address: Postcode:
BLUE MONDAY COLOURING
How are you !nding 2025 so far? You might be feeling a bit sad that Christmas is over! This Monday (20 January) has a special name – Blue Monday. That’s because some people feel that the third Monday in January is the saddest day of the year. So if you’re feeling blue, why not add a splash of colour to the design below? Colouring can be fantastic for your mental health and might help to make you feel a bit less blue! If you’d like to share your artwork with other readers, email your colouring to: kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
Make sure you write ‘Blue Monday Colouring’ in the subject box and give us your full name, age and address. Alternatively you can post your colouring to: Your Space, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. One last reminder, if you’re sending by post remember to !ll 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:
Living a healthy and an active lifestyle and caring for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Penguin Awareness Day
Did you know that there are 18 known species of penguins, or that penguins lay their eggs on land? Penguins are brilliant birds, but you might not know too much about them!
It’s Penguin Awareness Day on Monday (20 January), so there’s no better time to improve your penguin knowledge than right now! Over the next two pages, we’re going to teach you lots of fab facts about penguins. We’re also going to tell you about how you can help to protect them!
Penguin Facts
The smallest type of penguin is the blue penguin, which is only 16 inches tall. The tallest penguin species is the emperor penguin. Emperor penguins can grow to be four feet tall!
Penguins are birds, but they can’t actually !y! They swim instead. They have webbed feet and a streamlined shape, which means they can swim underwater for up to 20 minutes!
Most penguins have white bellies and black bodies for a good reason! It’s so that they can hide from predators that might want to gobble them up, such as orcas and seals.
Not every penguin likes to spend time in the cold! The Galapagos penguin lives in the Galapagos Islands, which are near South America. We reckon they’d nd the Antarctic a little bit chilly!
Climate Change
Lots of penguins live in very cold places. For example, emperor and Adélie penguins live in the Antarctic!
Climate change is having a massive effect on our planet, but it’s particularly damaging to some of the coldest places in the world.
It might not sound like much to us, but a temperature change of just two degrees in the Antarctic could be devastating for penguins. This would cause lots of ice to melt, destroying the habitat of emperor and Adélie penguins!
Not just penguin homes are at risk! Penguins mostly eat tiny krill. With sea ice melting, there is less krill for penguins to eat – so penguins have less food to choose from!
Penguin Protectors
Thankfully, there are lots of people around the world who care about protecting penguins. The Global Penguin Society is an organisation that wants to make changes so that penguin habitats aren’t destroyed. They’re working with governments and communities to put rules in place that will help penguins to survive.
The Global Penguin Society also knows that learning more about the science of penguins can help us to look after them. They’re studying all that there is to know about these wonderful birds and then they’re sharing their knowledge with others!
Your Turn!
Penguin Awareness Day is a day for learning more about penguins. However, it’s also a day to learn about how you can help to protect them! It’s not just up to the Global Penguin Society to help to ght climate change. You can do that too!
Small changes in your own life can make a big difference. So…
Switch off lights when you’re not using them! That will mean that you’re not using more energy than you need to.
Turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth, and try not to use too much water! It takes lots of energy to get water to come out of your tap.
Ask to walk to school if possible instead of asking a parent or carer to drive you there! Walking is so much better for the planet.
Find Out More
If you’d like to nd out more about penguins and how you can help them, you could…
Watch a documentary! Penguins: Meet the Family is a new documentary on BBC iPlayer, all about meeting every species of penguin.
Visit a local zoo to see some penguins in person!
Ask your parents or carers to adopt a penguin with the WWF, or to donate money to the Global Penguin Society.
Help to protect penguins
this Penguin Awareness Day!
Cool Colourings
Christmas might feel like a long time ago now, but here are some fabulously festive creations that we’ve received from our readers!
Emilia, Age 8
Arjun, Age 6
Ashwin, Age 9
Litia, Age 10
7
To see your name and birthday printed in a future issue of KA! email your full name and date of birth to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk
18 January
Endijs Lacis – age 10
Solomon Still – age 6
George Riordan – age 5
20 January
Emma Budz – age 13
24 January
Billy Durdey – age 13
Benji, Age 5
Leo, Age
New Junior Soldiers
A junior soldier is a young member of The Salvation Army Archie, Siyanda, Tamiah, Birmingham Citadel; Isabel, Sittingbourne; Freddie, Stockton.
If you’d like to star in our reader pro!le section we’d love to hear from you! Get a grown-up to send us an email using the address in the purple box below. Then we’ll send you the forms to complete.
Natalka
Age?
Favourite colour? Light blue. Favourite food? Fish and chips and roast dinner.
Favourite sport? Football.
Favourite bit of Kids Alive! All of it.
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! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ
Favourite Bible story and why? The Easter story, because it’s close to my birthday.
Favourite TV programme? Paddington Bear.
What do you want to be when you’re older? Teacher.
Pets? If I could have a pet it would be a fish.
Hobbies? Football, swimming and Nintendo.
Tell us a joke. Why couldn’t the pizza cross the road? Because it was too cheesy! What special skill or talent do you have? I can swim in cold water. Tell us something interesting about yourself. I like to swim in the paddling pool whatever the weather!
Is there anything else you would like to tell us? I visited Penrith Salvation Army and met the officers that were at my local Salvation Army.
FOR EXAMPLE, PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH JUNIOR IS THE SON OF PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH SENIOR. in our history lesson today we’ll be LEARNING ABOUT people who were named after their fathers.
AND KING HENRY IV WAS SUCCEEDED BY HIS SON, KING HENRY V.
WERE YOU NAMED AFTER YOUR FATHER, NORMAN?
WHAT A SILLY QUESTION, SIR!
