We share Bible Stories with children using Godly Play.
Godly Play aims to:
- make religion come alive for children
- assist their spiritual development
- help Christianity become part of daily life
- make the language of religion familiar
Godly Play assumes:
- children are individuals with different needs
- children have a variety of ways of learning
- play is an important way of learning for all children
- religion is about daily life, not Church on Sunday
Where has Godly Play come from?
- The Montessori tradition of education
- Sofia Cavalletti's work on religious formation of the child
- A US group called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
- Twenty years of experience in churches in the USA & Canada
Godly Play involves:
- telling the religious stories using three dimensional materials to invite listeners into the stories and to connect the stories to their personal experience
- moving to wider dimensions of faith with the use of open questions and a time of responding to the story with a creative activity
- allowing the children to decide for themselves on a way of responding to the story, which may be learning to re-tell the story by using games, books, maps or puzzles or by responding to the story by doing some artwork; (Children have a variety of learning styles, if the leader chooses one activity for everyone, the style of that activity will not suit all the children equally. If they choose for themselves from a range of options, they are likely to choose a learning activity that suits their learning style.)
- organizing the group's time and space so that it models the Christian community we seek to be. The room can then become a peaceful place in which the mystery of God can be experienced
Source: An article by Margaret Dean in May2000 edition of Together With Children
For more information visit the Godly Play website