Kids Alive! 27 April 2024

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Hey there, readers! We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this issue of Kids Alive! If you would like to get your own copy of Kids Alive! delivered to your home every week, why not ask your parents or carers 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.

*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 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 Offce – 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 LEADERS Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Major

Published

Scotland

Have you got a story stored up in your head that you’d just love to write? Maybe you’ve always wanted to draw your own comic book, or maybe you’re a bit of a poet and you want to show it. If that sounds like you, then this May is the perfect time for you to get creative because it’s National Share-a-Story Month!

That’s exactly what it sounds like – a whole month all about celebrating storytelling and getting excited about sharing stories with others. This year’s theme is ‘A Feast of Stories’. So many amazing stories are all about food! There’s Turkish delight in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, mouldy cheese in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and… well, a whole chocolate factory in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

This year’s National Share-a-Story Month challenges you to write your own foody story – whether it’s about something as delicious as a big bar of chocolate or something as downright gross as mouldy cheese. To get started on your story, turn to page 11 of this very issue of Kids Alive! If you like colouring, there’s also the opportunity to join a crazy competition with The Federation of Children’s Book Groups –designing your very own potion! Check out the website below to fnd out how to enter.

National Share-a-Story Month is organised by The Federation of Children’s Book Groups and runs for the whole of May. For your opportunity to get involved in this year’s competition, visit fcbg.org.uk/nssm.

I’m excited to take part in National Share-a-Story Month, because reading stories is one of my favourite things to do. I also love sharing my book recommendations with family or friends and hearing what they’ve enjoyed too. Although it does mean my ‘to read’ pile is getting bigger all the time!

One of my favourite story-sharing times is at bedtime with my daughters. They get to pick a book every night for us to read together. We’ve recently got a new kids story Bible and we’ve had a lovely time exploring some well-known (and not so well-known) Bible stories as a family.

This week’s Kids Alive! is also full of story-sharing opportunities. After reading pages 4 and 5, why not share the Bible cartoon with a friend? Or get creative, write your own story using page 11 and share it with us by emailing kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. We’d love to read it!

Who’s The King Now?

This week’s Bible story looked like it was going to be action-packed! King Saul was leading an army of 3,000 men to hunt down David. When I frst read the story, it seemed like there was only one way it could end. David and Saul would have a sword fght. David would win, of course. Then he’d press his sword against Saul’s chest and say something cool. Something like, ‘Who’s the king now, huh?’

That’s how most action stories would end. Instead, this action story actually ended with a trip to the toilet! Saul stopped to go to the loo and just happened to choose the cave that David was hiding in.

If you’re anything like me, reading this story probably made you giggle – but Saul was actually in a pretty helpless situation. David could have done anything he wanted to Saul. Instead, David chose to be gentle. All he did was cut off a corner of Saul’s robe and he even regretted doing that!

God loves it when we choose to be gentle. You could go marching into every situation with all the gentleness of a tornado, but that’s not what David did. That’s not what God does either!

God is the king of everything and he could do anything he wants to us. We do wrong things all the time and we should be in trouble with him. Instead, God sent Jesus to die for us. Now we can know God and join his family. He shows us gentleness that we don’t deserve, so we should show gentleness to others too.

by Jacob Adams

Robe Repairs

Read the comment on the left about choosing to be gentle

We thought it would be a great idea to write a really important verse linked to this week’s Bible story on Saul’s robe, but it’s been cut into loads of pieces!

Put

Answer on Page 2

the pieces of Saul’s robe into the correct order. Check out Psalm 145:8 (International Children’s Bible) if you need a hint.

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.

Living With a Holy God

God had chosen the Israelites to be his special family. He wanted to live with them but there was one issue. God was holy and the people weren’t. So God gave Moses a long list of rules and laws for the Israelites to follow. The aim of the rules was to help the Israelites become clean and pure so that they could live in God’s holy presence.

God also gave them a list of festivals to celebrate. This would help remind them of their special relationship with God and how he’d rescued them from Egypt.

One of the most important festivals was the Day of Atonement. On this day, the priest would offer a sacrifce on behalf of the whole nation, making a way for God to forgive everyone for their sins.

Name:

Address:

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 fll in the application form and send it – along with two frst-class stamps – to: KA! JAM, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Applicants must be between 7 and 17 years old to join.

Date of birth:

Boy or girl:

Postcode:

Do you attend a church, and if so, which one?

I, (signature) PLEASE USE

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!

Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday t to You!

To see your name and birthday printed in a future issue of KA! email your full name, address and date of birth to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to type ‘Happy Birthday to You!’ in the email’s subject box.

27 April

Hannah Ryan – age 12

Ben Symons – age 11

Isla Foster – age 10

30 April

28 April

29 April

Olivia Redman – age 7

Abigail Greenhalgh – age 12

2 May

Lily Atkinson – age 11

Archie Holloway – age 9

Katie-Ann Webb – age 7 1 May

Charlotte Kinsey – age 8

3 May

Timothy Nyaga – age 12

Pick Out Patch

I’ve got my pencil and paper ready to write my first ever story! See if you can spot this version of me on another PAGE IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE.

Optical illusions use colour, light or patterns to confuse our brains – that means the illusions look different to what is actually there.

This cube is interesting because it can be interpreted in different ways. Sometimes your brain makes it look like one side of the cube is closer, but sometimes it can make the other side seem closer. Try switching between the two options.

Hehe,hehe!

Ho ho, ha ha, he he!

He he, he he!

SHARE-A-STORY WORDSEARCH

The theme for National Share-a-Story Month is ‘A Feast of Stories’. Find the story-related words and food-themed titles and characters listed below in the grid.

stories pictures poetry

no more peas food fight

P s S A E P e r o m o n

u t e s e r i p m a j k m o r x y z a o b n o i p r u j s q p e v c y n

k i t h l i q t d k x g i e c u e t m r x j m c

queen munch sweet pizza

Hoho,hoho!

jampires queen nibble pumpkin soup supertato king cupcake

Haha,haha,haha!

What did the fruit say to its love?

Hoho,hoho!

‘I love you from my head to-ma-toes!’

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta!

Why was the dinosaur afraid to go to the library?

Hehe,hehe!

Its books were 65 million years overdue!

What’s a pretzel’s favourite dance?

The twist!

Hoho,haha,hehe!

Hehe,hehe!

What vegetables do librarians like? Quiet peas!

Hoho,haha,hehe!

n s i g k f v y w r z u s u p e r t a t o f l p o h c n u m n e e u q c u a z z i p t e e w s a p f o o d f i g h t m k e l b b i n n e e u q e

Why did the vegetable call the plumber?

It had a leek!

I’m a fctional character by a popular British author. I lived with my parents and grandparents. We didn’t have a lot of money so we ate loads of cabbage soup. Things changed when I found a golden ticket in a chocolate bar. After taking an unusual tour around a chocolate factory the owner handed it over to me.

Can you guess who I am?

What’s a cow’s favourite galaxy? The Milky Way!

Hoho,haha,hehe!

JCOMPETITION WIN!

igsaw puzzles have been around for ages and ages. They’re older than your parents or carers and they’re even older than the frst ever light bulb! In fact, it’s believed that the frst jigsaw was created around the year 1760. After all this time, jigsaw puzzles are still bucketloads of fun –but this week’s prize takes puzzles to the next level! Unlike any ordinary jigsaw puzzle, the SLIDA Classic is 3D! If you put all the pieces in the right places, you’ll end up with a ball. That might sound a bit simple at frst but the SLIDA Classic is trickier than it looks. You’ll have to get really creative to fgure out how to solve it. So if you’ve got great detective skills and you’re looking for a challenge, this is defnitely the competition for you! For your opportunity to win a SLIDA Classic, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to put ‘SLIDA Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 24 May when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by flling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: SLIDA Competition, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ.

Name:

Address:

1560

1760

1960

When was the first jigsaw puzzle created?

WRITE A STORY

It’s almost National Share-a-Story Month, so we thought it would be a fantastic idea to give you the opportunity to write a story of your own! Since this year’s theme is ‘A Feast of Stories’, you could write your own foody fairy tale. Or you could write about pirate penguins, rusty robots, giant teddy bears or monsters made entirely out of water balloons! It’s completely up to you! Write your story in the space below and if you’d like to share it with other readers, email your story to: kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Make sure you write ‘Write A Story’ in the subject box and give us your full name, age and address. Alternatively you can post your story to: Your Space, Kids Alive!

1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. One last reminder, if you’re sending by post remember to fll in the details below so we know who you are. We send a gift to everyone whose story we publish, so don’t miss out!

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

International Day of Children and Young People

Has anyone ever asked you what you’d like to be when you grow up? Perhaps you’d like to be a pilot, a doctor or an actor. It’s great to think about what you’d like to do when you’re older, but International Day of Children and Young People is all about reminding you of what you can do now!

Many people will be celebrating International Day of Children and Young People on Sunday 28 April. This year’s theme is ‘Grow’, and it’s all about exploring how we can grow in our love for Jesus and how God can use the smallest of things to grow his kingdom.

Your Voice Matters

Although International Day of Children and Young People is a day organised by The Salvation Army (who publish Kids Alive!), we think it’s a good idea for all churches to listen to and include kids.

The Bible makes it really clear that God cares about young people, and cares about what you have to say! It says in 1 Timothy 4:12, ‘You are young, but do not let anyone treat you as if you were not important’ (International Children’s Bible). So your hair might not have turned grey yet, but your voice defnitely matters!

What Can You Do?

Here are a few ways you could get involved in your church.

If you can play an instrument or sing, ask to join in with a band or choir. If you can’t play an instrument but would like to learn, ask around at church to see if anyone can give you lessons.

Volunteer to pray or to read that week’s Bible passage in a service.

Help out with serving refreshments after the service.

Offer to join your church’s tech and sound team.

Help your church’s ‘Welcome’ team. This involves greeting people as they arrive at church each week.

If they have them, go to your church’s youth clubs or groups!

Name Jenni

Age 10

Reader Profiles

We interviewed a few kids to fnd out what they like about their churches and how their churches get them involved!

What do you like about church? We do a lot of fun stuff like playing games, singing and dancing, and craft. There are lots of other children there.

Name Toby

Age 11

What do you like about church? Seeing my friends, as it’s nice to have Christian I also like growing in my understanding of the Bible.

How does your church include you? The leaders don’t just talk at us –they talk with us and try to work out what we would like church to be like.

Name Darcie

Age 8

What do you like about church? I get to see my friends and family. We get to learn more about Jesus and get to play games and sing songs.

How does your church include you? By putting on groups and clubs for people my age and helping us understand the Bible more easily. People talk to me and ask me how I’m doing.

Name Nyasha

Age 9

How does your church include you? I get to suggest my ideas. Sometimes we discuss what songs to sing or new things we should try like raising money. Lots of different people chat to me.

Get Involved

What do you like about church? I get to meet up with my church friends.

How does your church include you? They have work sheets and colourings and kids work too. I’m also on the tech team which is fun and also helps me feel responsible.

If you want your church to celebrate International Day of Children and Young People, it doesn’t have to be on 28 April. There are lots of resources online that your church could use whenever they’d like to! There’s even an online celebration on Saturday 27 April that you could watch! To fnd out more about the online celebration and to fnd great resources that your church could use, visit salvationarmy.org/ihq/idcy24.

We hope you have a brilliant time celebrating

International Day of Children and Young People!

Cool Colou ri ngs

Take a look at this fantastic Football Colouring from Ryan, age 10! Ryan’s footballer looks ready to score lots of goals.

What a wonderful Football Colouring from Millie, age 8!

We love the stripy football shirt. It looks like a zebra!

Meriya, age 4, has created a brilliant Children’s Mental Health Week Colouring. Check out that rainbow – isn’t it fantastic?

Check out this bold and brilliant Children’s Mental Health Week Colouring. It was sent to us by Tiana, age 10. Great work, Tiana!

We love this stunning Springtime Colouring from Myla, age 6. Great idea to add water pouring out of the watering can!

New Junior Soldiers

A junior soldier is a young member of The Salvation Army Caleb, Sophie, Yan, St Albans; Eli, Worcester.

If you’d like to star in our reader profle section we’d love to hear from you! Get a grown-up to send us an email using the address in the blue box below. Then we’ll send you the forms to complete.

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

Ishan

Age? 6.

Favourite colour? Red and green.

Favourite food? Chocolate.

Favourite sport? Running.

Favourite bit of Kids Alive!? Kiddo.

Favourite Bible story and why?

The Nativity, because I like Christmas.

Favourite TV programme? School of Roars.

What do you want to be when you’re older? A firefighter.

Pets? None, but I want some fish. Hobbies? Making storybooks.

Tell us a joke. How do you tell the difference between a bull and a cow? It’s either one or the udder!

What special skill or talent do you have? I’m good at running.

Tell us something interesting about yourself. I have 25 teeth, because a new one has come through but the old one hasn’t fallen out yet.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us? No!

Why are you looking so gloomy, Eric?

I went on a date last night but it didn’t work out.

I joined a dating agency and told them I only wanted to go out with electric eels.

But they set me up for a date with an ordinary eel.

...There was simply no spark!

That’s easy to answer, Patch…

Sorry to hear that, Eric, but how can you tell the difference?