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Becky Ramsey | Author & Children’s Minister
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What is Godly Play?
According to the Godly Play Foundation, Godly Play is a creative and imaginative approach to Christian nurture.
Godly Play is about understanding how each of the stories of God’s people connects with the child’s own experience and relationship with God.
Godly Play respects the innate spirituality of children and encourages curiosity and imagination in experiencing the mystery and joy of God.
Read more about Godly Play here.
How do we do Godly Play at First Baptist Greenville?
Christians of many different denominations use Godly Play and probably do it differently, even within the same denomination. In this blog, I describe Godly Play by sharing the way our church does it. That doesn’t mean that it’s the best way or the prescribed way, or the only way, of course, but it’s the way that suits us best.
What are we here for?
We meet here to talk about Godly Play, to share what it’s all about and to discuss how to do it better.
The weekly blog posts are designed to help Sunday school teachers prepare for their Godly Play lessons, and the individual pages (see the tabs at the top of this page) share information about how we do Godly Play at First Baptist Church, Greenville, SC.
We’d love to hear from teachers everywhere, not just the ones at our church! We hope you’ll join our circle and share your ideas!
What Godly Play is Not
Godly Play is quite different from the traditional model in which the teacher tells the children what they need to know. Godly Play is not about things that are that simple. It is not just about learning lessons or keeping children entertained. It is about locating each lesson in the whole system of Christian language and involving the creative process to discover the depths of meaning in them.
The Third Sunday of Advent
Welcome to the celebration of the Third Sunday of Advent.
This Sunday we introduce the third advent card, focusing on the angels’ visit to the shepherds and the angels’ song of Good News.
The themes you might wish to explore include:
1.The shepherds were the first people, besides Mary and Joseph and family, to be told of the Good News. What does it mean about God that they were the ones told first?
2. The angels’ message itself: Don’t be afraid. We bring tidings of great joy: Peace on earth and good will to everyone. A child is born. Go see the child who will change everything. How would he change everything?
3. The shepherds’ response to the angels’ message. They chose to do what the angels said. Don’t you wonder what they were thinking?
Make a Gift for God Ideas
1. Make a mural of a host of angels. There is butcher available, and the children could paint it as a mural if you’re feeling adventurous, (the kids would LOVE it) or use markers or watercolors. How many angels could we fit on one mural? I wonder if all the angels looked the same or if they were different.The mural could include a hillside with shepherds and sheep, or just be focused on the angels.
2. We could make ornaments of angels or lambs or shepherds.
The angels could be made from clothespins and felt or tissue paper, (see last week’s lesson.) The shepherds could be done in a similar way, with felt or tissue paper for clothes. Use sharpies to make the faces and yarn or whatever the kids want for the hair.Or, if you don’t want to use clothespins, check out these sites for more ideas (keeping in mind that the more choices you give the children in directing and making their work, the more invested and excited they’ll be about it):
3. Angel ornament ideas
http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/silvery-angel-tree-toppers-and-ornaments
4. Lamb ornament ideas
http://crafts.kaboose.com/cotton-ball-lamb.html
http://crafts.kaboose.com/fluffy-lamb-ornament.html
http://crafts.kaboose.com/pom-pom-sheep.html
5. Could you make an entire nativity scene from clothespin people? Or cut out from paper?
What about a mural of the scene? How about a (child) life size one to hang in your Sunday school room or on a bulletin board?
It’s wonderful when children come up with their own original ideas. Here a young lady thought about how we’re all on our own road to Bethlehem and decided to make her own 3D map.If you look from left to right you see an angel, some mountains, the great star and the moon, as well as an arrow in the road, pointing to a “G” which stands for God.
6. You could also focus on the song the angels sang and make some music of your own. Make musical instruments and sing Christmas carols and play the instruments. Make sure somebody videotapes this!
Here’s a site that tells how to make 9 different instruments:
http://www.familycorner.com/family/kids/crafts/9_musical_instruments.shtml
Here’s another site with a few other ideas on instruments:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/music/
Find more art response ideas on my Pinterest page here.
Here are some wondering questions to help the children process and internalize the story:
1. I wonder what your favorite part of the story was today.
2. I wonder why you think God chose the shepherds to hear the good news first.
3. I wonder how the shepherds felt when the angels appeared and sang.
4. I wonder what the shepherds thought about as they made their way to see Baby Jesus?
5. I wonder where you are in today’s story? I wonder what message God has for you?