Kids Alive! – formerly The Young Soldier – Issue No 7531
19 September 2026
The world's longest-running publication for children!
salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
50P/60c
this week...
Jesus and the Pharisees
tyle and caring and an active lifes Living a healthy mental and spiritual well-being. l, for your physica
this week...
BBC/Ray Burmiston
Fairtrade Fortnight
WIN!
Kids Alive! is available online – go to salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive KA - p1 - 19 September.indd 1
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What’s Inside?
Puzzle Answers Turn this page upside down to read the answers FIVE X FIVE ACROSS: 1 Staff. 2 Label. 3 Nurse. DOWN: 1 Salon. 2 Amber. 3 False. DOWN: 1 Envelope. 2 Fix. 3 Font. 4 Ember. 5 Eggshell. 9 Night. 11 Asia. 14 Ice. CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Elf. 3 Flea. 6 Vixen. 7 Big. 8 Long. 10 Iris. 12 Pig. 13 Smile. 15 Etna. 16 Eel. GIGGLE IN THE MIDDLE THERE’S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR! Shirley Ballas. PATCH’S PROBLEM: Page 3.
Go to salvationist.org.uk/radio to get your morning started with half an hour of music, prayer, a thought and lots of giggles. Or listen any time you like with the podcast, which is available on our website and all major audio platforms.
e Availabl online!
salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
6
Proverbially Speaking
7
World Wonder
8–9
Giggle in the Middle
10
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Competition
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Kids Alive! – formerly The Young Soldier – Issue No 7531
19 September 2026
The world's longest-running publication for children!
salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
50P/60c
this week...
Jesus and the Pharisees
this week...
and caring and an active lifestyle Living a healthy mental and spiritual well-being. for your physical,
BBC/Ray Burmiston
Love our comic? Check out Morning Praise with Kids Alive! on Salvationist Radio every Saturday and Monday at 7.30–8am and every Sunday at 9–9.30am.
4–5
Strictly Come Dancing and Ed’s Bit KA! JAM
3
Fairtrade Fortnight
Christmas Card Competition
12–13 KA! World 14–15 Your Space 16
Patch’s Pals Percy the Penguin
Subscribe* to
WIN!
Kids Alive! is available online – go to salvationist.org.uk/kidsalive
for £4.33 a month
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 Elliott PROOFREADER Chris Horne CONTACT US Phone Office – 020 7367 4910 Territorial Headquarters Switchboard – 0845 634 0101 Email kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk Post 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ FOUNDERS Catherine and William Booth INTERNATIONAL LEADERS General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham TERRITORIAL LEADERS Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Major Andrew Stone 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.
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W
You can watch the first pre-recorded episode of this series of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ on Saturday 19 September at 7.25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
BBC/Guy Levy
hat do an Olympic skeleton racer, an actress from a television show about dragons and an ex-footballer all have in common? They’ll be slipping on their best dancing shoes and showing off their top moves as contestants in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing! This stunning series begins on Saturday 19 September, and it will see 15 celebrities pair up with professional dancers to put on their own magnificent performances. Whether they’re gracefully waltzing around the dance floor or jiving to a fast-paced song, these celebs will need to give every performance their absolute all – or risk being sent home! At the end of the series, one celebrity will be named the winning dancer – having proved that they really are the best of the best! Will this year’s winner be a famous dog trainer called Graeme Hall? Or will it be a Paralympian called Sarah Storey? You’ll have to tune in to find out! As well as introducing 15 celebrity dancers, this series will also have 3 brand-new hosts – presenter Emma Willis, a professional dancer called Johannes Radebe and comedian Josh Widdicombe. This really will be a historic year for Strictly Come Dancing, so there’s no better time to start watching than right now!
My favourite thing about Strictly Come Dancing is watching celebrities that have never danced before get better every week. On week one they have no idea what they’re doing, but after weeks of practice and lots of hard work, they end up performing some truly spectacular (and sequin-covered) routines! Of course, the key to the celebrities getting better is learning from the pro dancers. They need to listen to them and trust them enough to follow their lead. And that reminds me of one of my favourite bits of Bible advice. In Proverbs 3:5-6 it tells us to trust God with all our heart and let him lead us rather than trying to work it all out ourselves. Think of it like the partnerships on Strictly – if we trust in God and allow him to show us what steps we need to make, it will make our lives so much more fab-u-lous!
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Following Jesus
Kids Alive! follows the Salvation Army Children and Youth’s Explore it! resource – go to salvationist.org.uk/resources/discipleship/explore-it
Jesus and the Pharisees
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Check out your Bible – Matthew 15:1-11; 12:1-8
Read the comment below about how we can show kindness to others
Steve English
11/09/2026 09:48
Read the comment below about what’s really important to God
H
What’s Most Important?
ave you ever been told off for breaking a rule iand thought, ‘But why is that a rule anyway?’ Maybe you’ve been reminded not to run in the corridors at school, shout out in class or leave your shoes in the middle of the floor. Rules can seem annoying, but most of them are there for a good reason. In this week’s Bible cartoon, the Pharisees (who were religious leaders at the time Jesus was on Earth) were angry with Jesus for breaking too many of their religious rules. However, Jesus wanted people to know that rules aren’t the most important thing to care about. Jesus was challenging the Pharisees’ priorities and trying to make sure that they knew what mattered
asks Cara Mott
most. For the Pharisees, the most important things were traditions, rituals and rules – that’s how they believed they’d get closer to God. But unfortunately, despite following the rules, the Pharisees didn’t always behave in a way that God would be happy with. So Jesus told them that God cares more that we use kind words, care for people and treat others with love. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t follow any rules, because many rules are very important. What Jesus meant was that God cares more about what’s in our hearts than things like eating on the Sabbath. So take a moment to be still and think about what’s in your heart – hopefully it’s full of the kindness and love that Jesus was talking about!
Listen to Your Heart Use the template on the right to draw a picture of yourself. Then write or draw things around your portrait that you can do to show love and kindness to others.
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Proverbially Speaking top tips from proverbs
Top Tip 20from
u will eat Live right, and yo e. And if you act the life-giving tre follow. wisely, others will Proverbs 11:30 glish Version) (Contemporary En
. .. n i Jo
STEVE ENGLISH
Knowing the right thing to do is often a lot easier than actually doing it. That’s why King Solomon wrote the Bible book of Proverbs. It’s filled with hundreds of tips on how to live a godly life. So if you would like to live your life Jesus’ way, see if you can put this week’s top tip into action.
Action!
When someone do es something out of the ordinary, it gets no ticed. When you liv e your life Jesus’ way, pe ople will notice th at too. Hopefully, this will inspire them to be come friends with Jesus and live their lives his way. This week, look ba ck over all the Top Tips and try your best to pu t them into action.
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 fill in the application form and send it – along with two first-class stamps – to: KA! JAM, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Applicants must be between 7 and 17 years old to join.
Name:
Date of birth:
Address: Postcode: Boy or girl: I, (signature)
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Do you attend a church, and if so, which one? 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. 11/09/2026 10:11
?
To n g u e Tw is t e r s
Patch’s ? Problem... ?
See if you can say this terrifically tough tongue twister 10 times!
Sheena leads, Sheila needs
? ?
?
HELLO, READERS, I’VE LOST A VERY IMPORTANT OBJECT SOMEWHERE IN THE ISSUE. WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME FIND IT? I HAVE A CLUE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE HERE.
?
r e d n o W d l r o W
the globe there are magnificent things Our world is pretty awesome! All around jet and travel the world with us! to see. So jump in our imaginary jumbo
Mount Everest Standing on the summit of Mount Everest is really being on top of the world, because this mega mountain is the highest mountain on Earth! At 8,848 metres tall it’s not surprising – that’s about the same height as 28 versions of the Shard stacked on top of each other! Everest is also known by different names – Tibetans call it Chomolungma and for the Nepalese it’s Sagarmatha. There have been plenty of people trying to climb to the summit, but low oxygen levels, powerful winds and extremely cold temperatures mean it’s incredibly difficult. Although it’s mostly grown-ups that take on the climb, in 2010, 13-year-old Jordan Romero became the youngest person to stand atop Everest.
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H e h e, he he!
H o h o, h a h a, h e h e!
o, Ho h , ha ha ! he he , He he ! h he e
What’s a ourite banana’s fav ? dance move The splits!
What do you call a dancing sheep? A baa-llerina!
strictly c co ome dancing WORDSEARCH Find the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’-related words in the grid
celebrities judges hosts waltz foxtrot tango quickstep glitterball dancers rumba samba turns pivots poise jive cha cha cha How many dance teachers does it take to change a light bulb? Five! Six! Seven! Eight!
What do you call dancing by the sink? Tap dancing! What did the dancer feel after a week of non-stop rehearsals? The agony of de-feet! What’s a nacho’s favourite dance? The salsa!
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Where do penguins go to dance? The snowball!
r u m b a b c d r f g c i g j s e g d u j c k e s m l n h o s t s h v l n w p i v o t s x a y e r f o x t r o t z c a b u b c d p t f g j h w r t a l m o n e i p a q i s b u g i v v r l c x t z m n a s e c t b h d i f a g h e i z j k a m e t s d a n c e r s p l s q u i c k s t e p y z l
What dance do astronauts do? The moonwalk!
I was born in Wallasey, England in 1960. I began dancing when I was seven years old. My nickname is the Queen of Latin as I won the Professional Latin title many times during my career. In 2024, I appeared in The Masked Singer UK and performed as the character Rat. I have also appeared on Dancing with the Stars. I am the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing. Can you guess who I am?
What dance will a chicken not do? The foxtrot!
Answ on P
ers
age
2
Crossword Clues
across:
1 Santa’s helper. 3 Small jumping insect. 6 Female fox. 7 Large.
8 Lengthy. 10 Coloured part of an eye. 12 Farmyard animal in a sty. 13 Happy facial expression.
15 Volcano on Sicily, Mount _ _ _ _. 16 Snake-like fish.
down: 1 Container for a letter. 2 Mend something. 3 Basin for a baptism. 4 Glowing coal. 5 Casing that a bird hatches from. 9 Period of darkness. 11 Largest continent. 14 Frozen water. by Neil Locker
The answers to the clues are made up using all the letters from the list of words below. The three highlighted letters have already been placed in the grid to help you. Solve the clues and use up all the remaining letters.
1
2
F
3
across: 1 Where teachers rest, _ _ _ _ _ room 2 Identity tag 3 Hospital carer
2
O 3
down: 1 Hairdressing studio 2 Traffic light colour 3 Untrue
S by Neil Locker
flame sat bloouse fan ears bl ears
9
G
competition
WIN!
o, go, Power Rangers! The Power Rangers are an awesome team of teenage superheroes, and the crew’s always ready to protect the world from danger! As well as having their own special abilities, each Power Ranger has their own giant robotic vehicle which they can drive into battle – known as Zords! In this week’s competition, you could win an action figure of the Zord which is piloted by the Yellow Ranger – the Griffin Thunderzord! This magnificent Zord can hurl blazing fireballs, which automatically makes it far cooler than any car we’ve ever seen before. Plus, once you’ve collected all the other Zords in this figure series, the Griffin Thunderzord can be combined with these Zords to create one giant robot – the Thunder Megazord! For the opportunity to win your own Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Griffin Thunderzord, answer the question below and email your full name, age, address and answer to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk. Remember to put ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Competition’ in the subject box. Your entry needs to reach us by Friday 16 October when the winners will be chosen. You can also enter by filling in the details on the coupon below and posting it to: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Competition, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ.
Who pilots the Griffin Thunderzord? Blue Ranger
Red Ranger
Yellow Ranger
Name: Address: ____________ Postcode:
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Age:
_
Remember, the best way to enter is to email your entry to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk 11/09/2026 10:32
CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION
CALLING ALL YOUNG ARTISTS! THE KIDS ALIVE! CHRISTMAS CARD COMPETITION IS BACK!
T
up his year’s competition has a brand-new prize – for grabs – £150-worth of STABILO goodies perfect for all your arty creations! The winning design will also feature on the cover of the 12 December issue of Kids Alive! and be added to The Salvation Army’s collection on the e-card website Don’t Send Me a Card. Plus, four runners-up will each win a year’s subscription to Kids Alive! Schools are welcome to submit students’ designs, but each entry must include the child’s name, age and a parent or school contact (name and email). You can send designs all together, as long as each design has the required details on the back.
! N I W
To enter this competition, send your Christm as card design, full name, age, address and pare nt’s or carer’s email address to: Christmas Card Competition, Kids Alive! 1 Champion Park, Lon don SE5 8FJ. Please don’t fold your design and make sure you send it in an A4 envelope. You can also enter by emailing your design to kidsalive@salvationarmy.org.uk, but please make sure it’s a good quality scan or pho to. The competition closes on Friday 27 Novemb er so grab your supplies and let your creativity shine! For more information on this competition, che ck out tsa.link/ka-christmas-card
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lifestyle, and caring ve ti ac d an y th al he a Living tual well-being iri sp d an l ta en m , al ic ys for your ph
Fairtrade Fortnight Have you ever had someone do something to you that wasn’t fair? Perhaps you’ve been blamed for a naughty thing that someone else did. Or maybe you’ve not been invited to a party, and that’s made you really upset.
It’s a horrible feeling to be treated unfairly, isn’t it? In this week’s KA! World, we’ll learn about a group of people who aren’t always treated fairly – and we’ll also discover how we can play a part in fixing that!
Around the World Bananas, mangoes, pineapples and mandarins – we’re not just listing the ingredients for a scrumptious fruit salad! These are just a few of the food products that are grown in countries around the world. Growing crops isn’t easy. In fact, farmers who grow products outside the UK have to do a lot of extremely hard work. However, many of these farmers aren’t treated fairly, despite all the effort they put in. Farmers are often forced to work in terrible conditions, and are paid very little for the produce they collect.
Fab Fairtrade Everyone deserves to be treated fairly, including farmers – and that’s where Fairtrade comes in! Fairtrade is a movement that works with more than 2 million farmers in around 70 countries. It works hard to improve these farmers’ lives by encouraging businesses to make sure that farmers are being treated … you guessed it, fairly!
Spectacular Stickers If you’d like to help Fairtrade to support farmers, then you should keep an eye out for stickers when you’re at your local supermarket. Not just any old stickers – look out for this one! This is a Fairtrade sticker. Products that have this sticker on them have been produced meeting Fairtrade standards. To put it simply, this means that the people who’ve made what you’re about to eat have been treated fairly!
When your parent or carer purchases a Fairtrade product, more money is given to the farming communities that helped to harvest it. This money could be used to help provide clean water, or even set up schools!
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A Fantastic Fortnight Why are we telling you about this now? Well, Fairtrade Fortnight begins on Monday 21 September and runs all the way until Sunday 4 October. This is the perfect time to begin to learn more about the important work that Fairtrade does. You can find out more about Fairtrade by visiting bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zts7h4j.
Are You Thankful? Fairtrade Fortnight is a brilliant reminder for us to be thankful for the people who grow the crops that we eat. In the UK, we’re in our harvest season. This is a time when lots of crops will be collected!
To celebrate harvest, your school might put on a special harvest assembly, or your church might organise a harvest service. If you go to a harvest festival, you’ll be reminded of how important it is to be thankful for the crops that we have to eat – for the farmers who’ve harvested them, and to God for helping them to grow!
Your Turn How can you show how thankful you are for the crops we have to eat this Fairtrade Fortnight? You can… Make sure that you’re helping farmers around the world. By encouraging your parents or carers to buy Fairtrade products, you’ll be playing a part in making sure that farmers are treated fairly. Share what you have. There are people in the UK who might not have lots of food to eat, such as people experiencing homelessness. Why not show thankfulness for what you have by donating food to a food bank or at a harvest festival?
Be thankful this Fairtrade Fortnight! KA - p12-13 - 19 September.indd 2
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Cool Colourings
s ed 6, ha g a , c a Isa drawing a s u t n se f the he did o er h Tow Elizabet s Big own a (also kn he name Ben – t e) ell insid of the b ink it’s th and we le! incredib
What a b drawin rilliant g, Isaa c! You’re such a n amazin g artis t alread y. P send u lease s more d some rawing s!
Abigail, aged 10, has done such an amazing job creating this World Art Day Colouring. We love those rainbows!
New Junior Soldiers
A junior soldier is a young member of The Salvation Army
Halle, Leo, Mabel, Martha, Boscombe.
How neat is this Firefighters Colouring from Ruby, aged 9? Great work, Ruby!
H a p py B i r t h d ay t o yo u !
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
22 September Desmond Ebinedia – age 13 24 September Gabriella Nkwocha – age 13
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nderful This wo rt Day World A g is Colourin s, ma from To . We aged 13 lour co love the tions! combina
This toy design is from Grace, aged 10. Robot cats – what a purr-fect idea. We’d love to play with them!
R il ey Age? 5. Favourite colour? Rainbow. Favourite food? Carrots! Favourite sport? Swimming.
G et I n To 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 bit of Kids Alive! ? Colouring page. Favourite Bible story and why? Mary, because she gave birth to Jesus. Favourite TV programme? YouTube videos of baby dolls of Anna and Elsa from Frozen. What do you want to be when you’re older? A teacher! Pets? Theo and Piper (my cats). Hobbies? Playing with baby dolls! Tell us a joke. Why is a car on a head? Because someone’s brushing their teeth with it! What special skill or talent do you have? Doing a handstand in the swimming pool. Tell us something interesting about yourself. I’m the most beautiful girl. Is there anything else you would like to tell us? I like to play with my friends at school.
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I’ve decided to become a private detective, Patch.
Why’s that, percy?
because i love watching tv programmes about them...
...and i figured that I could do that.
there doesn’t seem to be much crime around these parts for you to investigate, percy.
that’s where you’re wrong. with so many penguins around...
...everything is always a little bit fishy!
Published by The Salvation Army. © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory, 2026. Printed by CKN Print, Northampton.
KA - p16 - 19 September.indd 1
THE SALVATION ARMY – A CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND REGISTERED CHARITY
LOCAL INFO LOCAL INFO LOCAL INFO
Please Recycle Me! 11/09/2026 10:02