| With this little pop up box, one moment Bartimaeus is blind and the next he can see! This is one of those really simple and yet really effective crafts for groups that like to be a bit clever and can cut, fold and glue in a straight line. The result is a little hand held box that is addictively fun to press again and again. Want to turn this into a prayer activity : cover the rest of the box with prayer needs and have the kids pray for something on the box every time they press it down. Talk about how we often close our eyes when we pray but for Bartimaeus, meeting Jesus meant opening his eyes to see God. |
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This is a one page printout craft, though I’ve included a version without colour for those of you who have issues with colour printers. Grab the PDF file here and don’t forget you’ll need scissors and glue too! |
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Want to be that hyper prepared teacher – or just have a group with younger kids? then use a craft knife to cut out the window opening in advance! |
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Add any extra decoration, prayer requests or colours first then… Cut the three shapes out – including the window! |
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Fold everything, for the box top and tube the folds all go with the ink on the outside. there is no need to score first or be hyper accurate, however, as these pieces slide inside one another bad folds could hinder the mechanism. |
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The mechanism looks like this when folded, the two end tabs being folded so the ink is on the inside! |
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Start by making up the tube, this is glued with the tab on the INSIDE. |
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Then make up the clever bit, this starts with attaching the mechanism. Put glue on the small strip in the middle of the mechanism. Try not to get too much glue on the rest of the piece. |
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This is then glued to the ‘top’ of the box (behind the writing). ideally this is placed in the middle and straight! |
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Now add a little glue to the backside of all the tabs and start constructing the box. The tabs go on the OUTSIDE not the inside. |
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Slide the tube inside the box so the mechanism comes through the middle. the tube is a little smaller than the box so this should be simple. add a little glue to the end tabs and glue them onto the OUTSIDE of the tube. You may need to pull the tube further down so push it further up to so this. |
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Give it a second to dry before testing then give it a push! Disclaimer – this is not a perfect spring, it will work but has a bit of a knack to it and can be stiff at first!   |
