Sunday school teachers can use pine cones as the basis of many crafts for their lessons. Pine cones lend themselves to lessons centered on Christmas and Easter, the two major events in the Christian calendar. Teachers can also build a lesson around a religious theme, such as light, and have children make candle holders. Pine cones, with their link to nature and trees, are ideal for Sunday school lessons about the changing seasons and the fall harvest.

Christmas theme
Christmas is the time when Sunday schools celebrate the birth of Jesus through arts and crafts, storytelling and nativity plays. Sunday school teachers can use pine cones to make a variety of Christmas-themed crafts, such as decorative angels and Christmas trees. Children can paint the cones green and sprinkle them with glitter for a realistic effect. An alternative option is to use pine cones to decorate a wreath. Teachers can explain the Christian symbolism of the pine cone in terms of life and resurrection, with the emphasis on Jesus' life.

Harvest
Mark harvest time with a discussion of the changing seasons. Get children to make a Harvest cross. Sunday school teachers can help children make a cardboard cross then glue small pine cones to the base, preferably using a glue gun. Children can decorate it with dried leaves, tie a ribbon to it and make a hanger from wire. Teachers can use the Harvest cross as a starting point for a group discussion about how the seasons change and how people change over time.

Nature
Sunday school teachers can focus on nature and spring by making simple bird feeders out of pine cones. Children take pine cones and spread peanut butter onto the cone. They push bird seed into the peanut butter and then use strong yarn or ribbon to make a hanger for the feeder. Teachers can also refer to the bible to discuss the fact that God provides for the birds, even though they do not plant or harvest.

Candles
A Sunday school lesson based on light could involve the children making candle holders. Have the children wrap some cardboard round the candle and stick it onto a cardboard base. They then glue pine cones onto the cardboard to make a round, decorative arrangement. Teachers can use this as a basis of a lesson about the importance of light and discuss the religious significance of light.