flea market furniture

Yesterday I made a pass through a local flea market. And what did I find? Two child-sized chairs, at only €4.50 each. And a few stalls later, a child-sized table for €5. The chairs are a bit banged up, and the table doesn't match the chairs, but I grabbed them for our Play and Pray area anyway. (If anyone from the congregation would like to paint them, that'll be fine with me!) 

I just left them in the car last night and unloaded them into the chapel today... whereupon I realized that they still had the price labels on them. Better bring some Goo Gone next week! The pencil tin on the table was also a new purchase, but as soon as I started to put the pencils into it, I realized it was TOO LOUD. I'll keep my eyes open for a fabric pencil case instead. 

Wouldn't you know it? One family was away at a retreat this weekend, and another couple of children ran late or something - just before the service started their mother scooted in alone and mouthed, "Sorry" to me from across the chapel.

However, that did mean I was able to focus on the Eucharistic prayer today.

• read more about Finnish flea markets in this post

another baptism doll

I've written here about finding and purchasing my baptism doll, and her/his christening gown. (The doll is anatomically correct, but he/she wears bloomers so that children can decide for themselves what the doll is.) While at the same flea (super-)market last week, I bought another one for our Play and Pray area at church.

This doll came wearing a badly stained dress but since I wanted to get a christening gown, that didn't worry me at all. The doll was also wearing a pair of white and pink shorts, which will be kept for now as an undergarment. This doll is a bit different than my first one - slightly smaller, mouth pursed for a bottle, one tuft of hair on the forehead, and a little more ambiguous anatomically. I didn't take time to hunt right through the market for the "best" doll (it's an ongoing struggle for me to curb my perfectionist and "maximizer" tendencies), but chose this from among three dolls at the same stall. This one was simply the one most like the one I had already, that the children were used to.

Now that I think about it, there would be advantages to a considerably smaller doll. A smaller doll would be easier to store, and more manageable for small children to work with. Here are two (poor-quality) snapshots of children working with my original doll. They cannot lay the doll in the crook of their arm as I do when I demonstrate what it would be like to baptize a baby.

On the other hand, it would have been harder to get a christening gown for a smaller doll. I was pleased to see that the doll clothes stall where I'd found the gowns the last time was still in business. There was a smaller selection this time, with only two gowns for sale, both with pink ribbons. So before I take this to church I'd like to replace the ribbon with one in a more neutral color - maybe green? 

Even on this doll (only slightly smaller than my other one) the gown is a little too big. [They're marketed as fitting a "Baby Born" doll.] The sleeves have to be pushed back up over the fingers to the wrists, and the neckline is large. But if I get a rush of energy and determination I could unpick the back placket and re-sew it (by hand - I don't have a machine) to give a better fit. Or I might just leave it - it's not impossible as it is. I gave the doll a wash before clothing it in this new dress and the tuft of hair went all funny... but I managed to curl it around a beeswax taper (!) which held it until it had dried into a cute curl.

new tab

I've added a new tab about my materials. I am a little embarrassed to do this because I am not a crafter, and my "advice" runs along the lines of I merely used regular white glue for this. But today (so say my "stats"), somebody came looking for "how to make", and I wonder how many of the others searching for "godly play faces of easter" are after the same kind of information.

At least this will serve as a place to collect and organize links to my various blog posts, plus links to others' helpful blog posts on these topics. For now this is, as they say, very much a work in progress!

flea market place-mats for the focal shelf

the Response Time

[written on 8 March; scheduled for automatic posting on 16 March]

Part of the pattern of a Godly Play session is that after a lesson or story is presented, there is usually some time for wondering about it together, out loud or silently or both. And then there's time (We have all the time we need) for each member of the circle to respond to the lesson in whatever way they feel is right for them that day.

• by touching and working with the story materials
• by writing a poem or a prayer
• by sitting quietly
• by working with art materials

There's also the possibility that they may want to return to an earlier lesson or an earlier unfinished art project. A person might notice that something needs doing - sharpening pencils or cleaning the art trolley. Ideally the focus is on the process rather than the product. It's a time to just be with God, working on whatever is important for you to be doing. 

We have several very young children in our group, and I'm not at all certain that they really see a connection between the lesson and their artwork yet. I hope that will come. I trust that they nonetheless feel that they are in Godly space while they explore ways of flattening plasticine or enjoy the bright colors of glitter glue or learn how to squirt a spray bottle of cleaning fluid. 

Here's what our art materials looked like for the first month:

Since then, I've been scouring the flea markets looking for small upright baskets, suitable for displaying pencils and crayons in an even more appealing way. I was also really pleased to find little plastic trays for rolling out plasticine on and a (new but inexpensive) child-sized rolling pin.

Another great flea market find was a folding magazine rack for only two euro. It meant I could get the drawing paper, cardboard sheets, and the "work in progress" folder out of those paper shopping bags.  I think it makes the paper look much more appealing; it's easier to see the range of choice available. The only down-side is that individual sheets of paper materials can slide out through the bottom and onto the floor. But I explained that that happens sometimes and not to worry. The fact that the rack folds up means it's easy to transport back and forth every week. I love it!

Trinity

The most dramatic thing that happens in the Baptism lesson is the pouring of water onto a baby doll's head, to show what happens externally when a person is baptized. Probably the most emotional thing that happens is that each person in the circle is recognized and named, and a candle is lit for them.

But also very important is that the lesson begins with a symbol of the Trinity - three overlapping white circles - and "images of action" are placed on each one. Water for the God the Creator, the light of the Redeemer Son, and the dove and scented oil to represent the Sustaining Holy Spirit.

My white circles are a very soft white, maybe even cream. They aren't felt, but fleece, cut from a flea market blanket. My dove was bought new - a Christmas ornament from the Finnish design shop, Pentik. The oil is sandalwood massage oil, not ideal except that it's a very strong scent (the existence of the scent is emphasized in the lesson) and that the lid seals tightly. It's a plastic bottle, so won't get broken, but I'd like to replace it with a pretty glass bottle if I can find an inexpensive one. The ones at the flea markets all tend to be missing their tops!

I am most pleased with my pitcher and glass bowl. The bowl is really too small for the purpose, but it's so pretty, and goes so well with the little jug. I got them from two separate stalls at a flea market several months ago. I think they look great together, and the jug seems to fit perfectly into the base of the bowl. Even though some of the water dribbled onto the floor and one of the white circles during the baptism demonstration, it was easily wiped up with the white cloth I had used to dry off the doll's head.

So those are currently my baptism materials!

My baptism doll

The Baptism lesson was the lesson I presented during my Godly Play training course. It’s also the lesson that seems easiest to furnish from a flea market or charity shop! So one of the first items I bought for Godly Play was a baby doll.

Finnish flea markets are like big supermarkets. The sellers are not present: all the stuff for sale is just labeled with a price and a stall number. The customer pays for their goods at a cash register by the exit, and the market itself keeps track of what was bought from whose stall. The disadvantage, I suppose, is that you cannot haggle – the price on the tag is the price you have to pay. But a big advantage to my mind is the lack of hassle! You can pick up an item and carry it around with you until you find a better one (or a cheaper one) in somebody else’s stall. And then you can put the first one back.

I started browsing for dolls. Funnily enough, it hadn’t occurred to me how many dolls have hair. I wanted a smooth head that would be easy to dry off. Soon, though, I found a nice bald doll wearing a little track suit. Then I started hunting through the stalls of baby clothes, trying to find a white dress or shirt that might work as a christening gown. Nothing seemed right – they were all too big for the doll, not fancy enough, and otherwise unsuitable. Imagine my delight then when I came across a stall selling doll clothes (brand new – this seemed to be a stall rented out by a seamstress)… including a range of christening gowns!

I stripped off the track suit to make sure the gown would fit and – Oh. It’s an anatomically correct doll. Ok, I’ll take one pair of bloomers as well, thank you!

(It’s not just a matter of propriety. It’s that I would like the children to be able to imagine the doll as whatever they want it to be, boy or girl. At least until the first time a child takes its bloomers off.)

Ah, Finland. A land where so many babies are baptized that there’s a good market for dolls’ christening gowns, and where the dolls are likely to have, um, all their parts. :)

 

To read about my other Baptism materials, click here. In July 2012 I bought another doll for our church to use, and mused on a couple of downsides to this doll. You can read that here.