UPDATE: I've done the Acts 16 story of Paul in Jail in two different churches.

Photos from Neil MacQueen. Below are some of the details of how we did each.

Neil also has also posted his lesson here at rotation.org.

How We Built Our Jails

Materials:  painter's reinforced paper dropcloths, lots of duct tape, large pins, black pvc for the bars, black lamp swag chain, one large dropcloth for the floor, some straw for the floor effect, one of those inexpensive Roman soldier costumes.

The First Jail

We lined the walls of a small room with brown paper drop cloth found at a paint supply store. The paper was taped or tacked to the wall.

We hung dropcloth all around but at one end we hung it away from the wall a bit and put a red lamp behind it to give them room a dark glow (turning off the main lights).

We put a little bit of straw (not hay) over the top of canvas drop cloths that were placed on the floor.

We took the door off the hinges and substituted a stiff cardboard door we painted to look like a jail door. Cardboard bars and duct tape that looked like metal. Added someblack swag chain.

The BEST thing we did was have a Senior High dress as Timothy and another dress as a Roman guard. The guard was very brusque and we had him CHAIN all the kids together at their ankles and march them into prison. We used black cheap decorated swag-lamp chain. It makes a great clinking sound. After Paul "converted" the guard, the guard opened the chain links between the ankles --leaving the chain loop around each ankle as a reminder. The kids couldn't wait to show it around church.

Paul taught them about the dangers of being a follower. He taught them the secret symbol of the fish. He had each of them scratch out a message with charcoal to their families as a "letter from jail." The paper was made from crumpled torn pieces of grocery bags which looks really "old" and supple when you roll it a few times.

The guard caught one of the kids writing a subversive message and threatened him (gently so). It was quite memorable.

After the earthquake, the guard rushed in and was baptized. The kids helped. Then we ate grapes and talked about being willing to risk your freedom for God's Word. What risks do we take as Christians? etc.

For our Second Jail

A few years later in a different church we didn't have a small room to convert, so we used the corner two walls of fellowship hall, and made the other two walls out of TABLES we stood on their ends and covered with the paper drop cloths.

This time we also made the door out of black PVC.  Lots of duct-tape later it looked great.

Note: The guard has to tone it down for the little kids. They believe he was a little too real.

Two advantages to our makeshift jail in Fellowship Hall:

1. The tables moved really easy to make the earthquake (which was done by two teens on the outside).

2. The Jail was highly visible to all the adults who loved it.

Though the makeshift jail in fellowship hall wasn't as cool as the one we made in the small room years earlier, the kids didn't care. The guard really makes the whole thing, --chaining the kids together, being gruff, trumping up "charges" against the kids.

<>< Neil