I told the Godly Play story for Advent I on Sunday.
One child present made a drawing. It included representations of the materials used to tell the story and a picture of the king (with crown).
As I wrote that, I just put it together with the fact that this child had been a king for Halloween. Interesting.
Anyway, I was excited to see the evidence of engagement I think the picture represented.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Making Ribbon Sticks - and Doing Things Differently
My experiment in doing things differently is off to an encouraging start.
Today we made blue ribbon sticks for Advent after the 10:00 service.
There was also a Bishop's Committee report forum, led by Lou, which I believe included report of my attendance at the last Bishop's Committee meeting in which, among other things, I identified the need not to do so much of what I do at church in children's & family ministry alone.
Out of today's events comes the following.
Thank you to:
I feel like we did something together today. That seems good. That will make using the ribbon sticks all the better too.
I've had more than my usual amount of conversations with other people at church in the last couple weeks too. Being where more people are makes that possible. They haven't all been big conversations. But I feel like they're important.
* I only found out about this spilled juice episode later as my kids & I talked about the difficulties they had when I was so taken up with the other interactions of the activity that I wasn't responding to them very well....Mommy my juice spilled and I was trying to tell you but you didn't hear me and then that other lady got a napkin to wipe it up.... Note to Aron & Bishop's Committee: isn't this story an interesting juxtaposition with my story of the juice spill of a couple weeks ago?
Today we made blue ribbon sticks for Advent after the 10:00 service.
There was also a Bishop's Committee report forum, led by Lou, which I believe included report of my attendance at the last Bishop's Committee meeting in which, among other things, I identified the need not to do so much of what I do at church in children's & family ministry alone.
Out of today's events comes the following.
Thank you to:
- Everyone who brought blue ribbon
- Anthony(??) whose name have to ask his name again...for helping move the table
- Madge for volunteering to help a couple weeks ago, being right there today & making a point of inviting kids to participate
- Deacon Sandy for going around "ordering" adults to participate
- All the adults & children who participated. (I hope you enjoyed yourselves.)
- Patti for getting a napkin to clean up my daughter's spilled juice*
- Aron for putting the activity in the space it was in & for announcing it
- George for agreeing to staple the ribbons onto the sticks on Wednesday
- Ethel & Madge for their offers of help in the future
- People who I imagine were involved in ways I didn't notice or don't recall.
I feel like we did something together today. That seems good. That will make using the ribbon sticks all the better too.
I've had more than my usual amount of conversations with other people at church in the last couple weeks too. Being where more people are makes that possible. They haven't all been big conversations. But I feel like they're important.
* I only found out about this spilled juice episode later as my kids & I talked about the difficulties they had when I was so taken up with the other interactions of the activity that I wasn't responding to them very well....Mommy my juice spilled and I was trying to tell you but you didn't hear me and then that other lady got a napkin to wipe it up.... Note to Aron & Bishop's Committee: isn't this story an interesting juxtaposition with my story of the juice spill of a couple weeks ago?
Friday, March 09, 2007
Stories & Pictures by Kids
I have a new book. Someone came across it in a thrift store and bought it for me!
It's called Jesus, This Is Your Life, Stories & Pictures by Kids.
It's edited by Jeff Kunkel, a Methodist minister, dated 2001, published by Augsburg Fortress.
It's full of stories from the gospels written in the words of 5-12 year old kids, accompanied by illustrations also done by the kids.
Initially I got exited about it because of how the project of creating the book as well as the sensibilities of the editor relate to my own projects and perspectives.
I often give the kids in Sunday School time to create drawings, paintings and other art work in response to the biblical text or the topic of the day. The goal is to offer a way for them to work with the story and express themselves related to it. That process can also lead to something interesting and meaningful to the creator and other viewers. I haven't published a book like Kunkel has, but some of the kids' work was exhibited in the Christmas display, some is now on view outside the Sunday School rooms, and I have some more ideas rattling around.
As I've looked further at the book I've also become more interested in the stories. When I think about how I'm going to tell a Bible story to kids, I easily become bogged down in issues about faithfulness and accuracy related to the text. Without entering a discussion on the nature of Scripture and appropriate ways to handle it, I will contrast my experience with what I observe in the children's stories. The children's approach seems much more free and unconstrained. They re-tell the stories in their own words resulting in stories that are readable, relate-able, fun and interesting.
Those at Gethsemane can look for the book on the Kids' Table or ask me about it.
It's called Jesus, This Is Your Life, Stories & Pictures by Kids.
It's edited by Jeff Kunkel, a Methodist minister, dated 2001, published by Augsburg Fortress.
It's full of stories from the gospels written in the words of 5-12 year old kids, accompanied by illustrations also done by the kids.
Initially I got exited about it because of how the project of creating the book as well as the sensibilities of the editor relate to my own projects and perspectives.
I often give the kids in Sunday School time to create drawings, paintings and other art work in response to the biblical text or the topic of the day. The goal is to offer a way for them to work with the story and express themselves related to it. That process can also lead to something interesting and meaningful to the creator and other viewers. I haven't published a book like Kunkel has, but some of the kids' work was exhibited in the Christmas display, some is now on view outside the Sunday School rooms, and I have some more ideas rattling around.
As I've looked further at the book I've also become more interested in the stories. When I think about how I'm going to tell a Bible story to kids, I easily become bogged down in issues about faithfulness and accuracy related to the text. Without entering a discussion on the nature of Scripture and appropriate ways to handle it, I will contrast my experience with what I observe in the children's stories. The children's approach seems much more free and unconstrained. They re-tell the stories in their own words resulting in stories that are readable, relate-able, fun and interesting.
Those at Gethsemane can look for the book on the Kids' Table or ask me about it.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Chalk Art
The chalk board in the Sunday School room used to be a problematic distraction from the things I had planned for the kids. I tried putting away the chalk. The kids always got it out again. Finally I figured out the obvious: don't fight it, use it.
I don't let the kids use the chalkboard just anytime, but during the times I give them choices about what to do (modeled after an approach I picked up at a Godly Play training session), working on the chalkboard is one of the options. One or more of the children often choose to work with chalk and their work appears meaningful.
I've photographed some of their work before erasing it and plan to include some pictures in the display of personal Christmas items at church beginning Christmas Eve. They're pleased about this and I hope it communicates to them that their work is valuable, which I believe it is.
I don't let the kids use the chalkboard just anytime, but during the times I give them choices about what to do (modeled after an approach I picked up at a Godly Play training session), working on the chalkboard is one of the options. One or more of the children often choose to work with chalk and their work appears meaningful.
I've photographed some of their work before erasing it and plan to include some pictures in the display of personal Christmas items at church beginning Christmas Eve. They're pleased about this and I hope it communicates to them that their work is valuable, which I believe it is.
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