Hands-On Worship Friends:
I wanted to check in periodically to provide some reflections on Godly Play/Young Children and Worship. Here are some thoughts:
- When one is starting a program and there are few stories available, stories can be spread out during the response time for re-telling. It can be arranged ahead of time for an adult or older child can sit with each story.
- Sometimes it works best to limit options for response times. The students could be offered three options, including one group activity. For example, students could retell the story using the figures, depict it in watercolors, or create a list of thoughts (an adult could be the “scribe”) from the point of view of one of the characters to further the “wondering” time. (For example, here are some reflections for the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus: I wonder what it would have been like for Zacchaeus to climb the tree. Imagine what it would have been like to be called down from the tree.)
- Students may state, “We have heard this story before!” We can be mindful that there are many truths to gain from a story, and re-visiting it is a way to notice something new. (“I wonder if you will see something differently.”)
Reference: Resource sheet Godly Play and Older Children adapted from work by Cheryl Minor
My prayer is that “these children experience God while learning about God.” (Young Children and Worship, pg. 13)
Blessings, Margaret
Hands On Worship 