13 February 2011

"Store not your treasure here below"

One of the things I really want to blog about is my hunt for Godly Play materials. A lot of people find Godly Play off-putting because they see that the Finnish Noah's ark costs almost €280 or that the American Mystery of Christmas costs $230. That's for a single lesson that might only be used once a year. But the point of Godly Play is not about spending lots of money. One of my Godly Play trainers told us that the best presentation she'd ever seen was done with clothes pegs and pine cones!

The Godly Play ideal is just to provide attractive materials - materials that will attract the children. Materials that signal, "These are not merely toys, but liturgical materials". Materials that say, "Children are important to this church". (If your church can afford a silver chalice but your children are still fobbed off with plastic and cardboard, then that could signal a problem.)

I've been inspired to see the creative solutions that others have come up with, like these Advent Cards made out of felt. [EDIT: This post by the same blogger is also very useful.]  And similarly I'd like to share what I've come up with. I don't have any woodworking tools, I don't have a sewing machine, and I'm paying for this myself. And so I'm really excited about my nice Baptism materials! But I don't want this to become a materialistic blog, all about my shopping trips and my beautiful things.

image by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos (licensed image)

6 comments:

  1. Sheila13 February, 2011 14:38

    Hi Storyteller, I totally agree that Godly Play should not cost an arm and a leg! I love that Jerome Berryman wrote in the Intro to Godly Play that he started out with styrofoam and cardboard figures. Thanks for encouraging people to be creative in their choice of materials.

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  2. seethroughfaith13 February, 2011 18:55

    I have a sewing machine. I don't sew though so won't do anything for you ... but you'd be welcome to come here and use it if /when you need to

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  3. Elizabeth in Austin31 July, 2012 00:15

    One really beautiful lesson that I feel like must be homemade is The Creation Story -- I simply asked one the artists at church to paint me 6 plaques. I gave him The Young and Children worship book and the Fall Godly Play book so he would know what to include. He simply bought 7 small canvases about 6" x 8" and did one painting on each (the 7th is plain white). We have two Godly Play classes at church so he made two sets -- each one quite different. It's a joy to tell the children Gary painted these.

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    1. Storyteller31 July, 2012 09:16

      Welcome, Elizabeth, and thanks for joining this conversation. How fortunate to have willing artists at in your congregation. I'd add that the Creation cards can be done in a very stylized way, so even those of us who don't feel particularly artistic can tackle them. :)

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  4. Elizabeth in Austin31 July, 2012 00:22

    Another hint to homemade -- parable boxes can be large shoe boxes spray painted gold (sometimes very large like men's shoes or boots work well). I copied the characters from Young Children and Worship on white card stock, then I used colored pencils to color them, then I glued them on "stiffy" felt. This gave them more substance and durability without the "shiny" effect of laminating them. Wool felt, or a wool blend, is becoming more available and even though it can be a little more expensive, it lies down better and is thicker for pieces (like the Mustard Shrub or The Good Shepherd. I love your blog. Thank you.

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    1. Storyteller31 July, 2012 09:18

      Absolutely, yes, the Parables are among the easiest materials to make at home. Thanks for these hints!

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