Summer: Jonah

If there's one story I remember from Sunday school growing up, it is Jonah. Probably Jonah and Noah are the two most famous in my memory, at least from the Old Testament.

Unlike many other scripture narratives, the story of Jonah is meant to be more light-hearted, even absurd, which is the interpretation given by a storyteller on this blog (recommended).

I really wanted to tell this famous story, but I did have a hard time with it, because it is part of the Godly Play® regular curriculum and I do not own the books for any of them. (They also don't come with patterns, unlike Young Children and Worship). I also don't use it in my regular schedule. The story is totally not new, but it was new for us.

I did end up using the basic GP story, but I learned it from watching a couple of other storytellers. I really liked how this woman used her hands.

I also made the pieces I needed myself. The waves were the hardest part to get, but eventually I found a clip art piece, and it worked perfectly.You are welcome to the patterns for Nineveh and Jonah as well.



We used a bright turquoise/aqua underlay and a rust-colored shore. It resembled the maps in the back of many Bibles, which is why I think we were drawn to choose it over a darker blue. Our waves are also aqua. It has a very beachy feel.

One thing that draws children to this story is putting Jonah in the fish and spitting him back out again. Godly Play has a very nice wooden fish, but we couldn't make that with our jigsaw. I did find a nice pattern, though and made our from denim off a pair of unrepairable jeans. It was tricky to sew the mouth open (not part of the directions) but it worked. I got my idea from the post linked here, but the tutorial here has a pattern.

For Jonah's "mercy" plant, I used an aquarium, weighted tuft of grass. Just the right size for our grumpy prophet.

The children did make a comment about how Jonah was a giant compared to little Nineveh, but given the scale of the whole story I think it was not a huge difficulty for them. The story is from Jonah's perspective anyhow, so if he, being up on the hill outside the city, was looking down on the city, it would be "smaller" from his vantage point.

This was a fun story to tell and wonder with the children about. It has seen alot of use since appearing on our shelves, especially by the younger children.

Summer: Ruth

I told the story of Ruth this past Sunday, and I am absolutely pleased with how it was received.

Almost everyone ended up doing artwork related to the text or made something to give to someone else, as we wondered about showing kindness to family and strangers. I love observing this spontaneous response.

I had no source for this story originally, and I didn't want to purchase a script blindly. I did find a very nicely told story of Ruth in this video by Alvan Kaunfer, a Jewish storyteller using the same method, and I made a transcript of his presentation verbatim (minus the Hebrew, of course). I thought it was that good. 

You can easily see the pieces necessary to tell the story. Instead of skittle people, we combined figure patterns from all of the books I own. They turned out beautifully. 

We had a bit of trouble finding something to use for "barley"  that would hold up to repeated handling by curious hands, but eventually we got some rubber-plastic wheat filler at Michael's. The bits I cut off are very small in comparison to what I bought but I plan to use other parts of it for a couple of the parables. Real grain would have been fun, but this is also less messy; always a plus.

The wondering questions were something I had to give some thought to. Our time of wondering wasn't as free flowing as it was last week with Moses, but everyone had interesting insights. It did take some time for a few of the children to think about how they had been kind or how God had been kind to them, but it was worth the wait.

The script with all the wondering questions is below. Our scripture reading was Ruth 2:8-12.

script: The Story of Ruth

This is such a beautiful story. I hope you enjoy telling it and watching the response unfold.

Summer: Moses & the Burning Bush

This enrichment lesson on Moses comes from I Wonder... More Stories for Young Children and Worship. This is an excellent book, in my opinion, and I am so glad I found it.

I find that children who have parents who read from the Bible to them welcome these stories not covered in the Godly Play or YCW books for the school year. Godly Play goes through the life of Moses more completely, but it is all in one lesson and a bit more challenging for the younger children to really play with, as it is more of a time line.

These objects from Godly Play in the UK were an inspiration to me. I particularly used the baby, the ark and the burning bush, but all for different stories. My burning bush looks almost identical to this one, actually. Last summer I tried it plain but the effect was really lacking, and the idea in the I Wonder book was for something I think would be less durable. So a couple of weeks ago I got out the paints. Much better.

The children in our church like this story, and in particular they enjoy pulling out Moses' staff and laying it in the sand and putting it back; so much so that we broke two staffs in a very short time. I hit the Dollar Tree and found this 100-pack of small, thin craft dowels the same size, so hopefully the story will now get good use, since it was last played with when the last staff broke.

It doesn't require this in the story text, but I used our Mount Sinai in the desert box when I told this story this time, since it is part of the biblical text. It had a great effect.

One thing I appreciate about telling some of these biographies in shorter increments rather than one long narrative is that the children remember them better. 

Have fun with Moses and the burning bush!

Summer Plans

So...over the last year we basically just covered all the stories we have done from YCW the first time I worked through it. This is somewhat like reading through the Bible again after you finish. There is always something new to learn.

Some of the re-tellings were well-received, some less so. But hey, I figure that's what it's like with the Bible in real life. We read not to get our ears tickled, but because "man lives... by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). 

This summer, I was looking to spend our weeks covering some of the famous narratives that aren't in the curriculum. Godly Play does have these narratives, but I feel that they are less appropriately presented for my group, and with some, like Daniel, I'd like to spend more time "playing" with them.

We are planning to tell the following Old Testament stories over the course of the summer:

• Joseph
• Baby Moses
• Moses and the Burning Bush
• Ruth
• Esther
• Three Brave Friends (a.k.a. Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego)
• Daniel in the Lion's Den
• Jonah

I hope to be putting up what I have for these as the summer progresses. My heart is full of excitement and anticipation of what God is going to do with the little hearts in my care through His Word about these amazing people of God from Old Testament times.

Summer: Joseph

I was so pleased to find a version of Joseph! I found a fantastic script and presentation for the life of Joseph here. I particularly like the story cloth (pictured below).

This was a more involved story to prepare for, since I needed to buy the fabric and make a pattern for it and sew it together, but it really gave me alot of time to meditate on the story itself. I used fabrics like those pictured, but just cutting and gluing felt onto a larger felt back would probably work just fine for people who don't sew.

Figures

My husband is a gem and cuts all my figures. I used an image of the same Pharaoh who was ruling at the time of Joseph, but I didn't color it in (contrary to the photo above). We also just used his figure without the paraphernalia in his hands and on his belt. 

For Joseph we used the priest figure from Young Children and Worship session 13 and for his father Jacob we used the nativity Joseph from session 22 (hope that makes sense). The Ishmaelite trader is Zaccheus from session 34, and the camel is also from the nativity session 22. Some mix of Jesus' disciples from the New Testament stories works well for Joseph's brothers.

Due to copyrighting, I can only say where I got these from in the book.  Of course, you don't have to have cut figures at all. They can all be skittle people, as suggested for Joseph's brothers, but I have found that when the figures are less realistic they are not used (tried it once in a pinch for time and NO ONE used it until we cut realistic figures). This may not be an issue for you.

A jig saw is a low cost tool, and clear pine from a home improvement store, some safety gloves and sandpaper are all you need to make figures cheaply yourself, possibly more cost effectively than skittles. But again, it is not a necessity.

"Dreams"

I also have the images for the dreams in the story of Joseph here:

Joseph's first dream

Joseph's second dream

The chief butler's dream

The chief baker's dream

Pharaoh's 2 dreams

I am taking two weeks to tell this story, as suggested, to keep them from getting lost in the length of the narrative. It kind of builds suspense. Hopefully soon I can get my things together for Ruth to share with you, as that is just 3 weeks away. We already have Baby Moses and Moses & the Burning Bush from last summer. Until then, enjoy this version of Joseph's story.

Summer Enrichment and Baby Moses

I have had many, many thoughts about how to fill in the Sundays from my scheduled curriculum until the start of the next year's cycle in the middle of August. There were several possibilities I explored, but in the end, I decided to use the four stories that were only lacking in one existing in-print story script with figure patterns. Life in summer is so busy, and this was the simplest path. So for the four weeks we have available we will be covering Moses and David in the following summer lessons:

• Baby Moses
• Moses and the Burning Bush
• David the Shepherd Boy
• David & Goliath

I was so thrilled when I found I Wonder... More Stories for Children and Worship when I was in the initial stages of considering whether or not to adopt the sensorimotor curriculum (since financially it seemed to be potentially out of our budget ability as a baby church), and I ended up ordering it. 

There are many "extra" stories in this book, as well as a sample schedule covering a several year span to incorporate them. The only story not in this line-up is Baby Moses, but I felt confident someone had already done it, so I searched, but again, not much was around. 

I found some wondering question samples in one spot and a couple of simple script ideas in another, but nothing concrete. So, as is my custom, I made one myself. Using patterns in the back of I Wonder... I sketched figures. From the sample story lines I designed a script. I am making them both available to you here to freely use in your homeschool, Sunday school, or worship center. If you'd kindly link back to this blog, I'd be grateful. Enjoy!!

Baby Moses figure patterns

Baby Moses script

Update: June 2015

The story of Baby Moses has been one of the most used stories in our classroom over this past year. I don't know if it is because it is about a child, because it is so "famous", because they really like the little plants to put in the sand or putting the baby in the basket and into Pharaoh's daughter's arms. Whatever the reason, I am so pleased that it was well-received!

I am also thinking of setting out this craft as an example for inspiration of those choosing to do artwork in response time. Enjoy!

A Tale of Two Prayers

This week's lesson is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. I was surprised to find quite a few resources on this subject.

Presentation
The presentation for this parable is like many, very simple. Two figures, some cynlinder-shaped blocks and a background. I tweaked my simple figures to have chenille stem (aka pipe cleaner) arms, so that the Pharisee has arms raised, as noted in the parable, and the publican has hands folded or near to his heart, also as noted by Jesus.

Song
I taught them Humble Yourselves in the Sight of the Lord and used simple hand motions. They were willing, quick learners and have enjoyed this new element to our class time.

Object Lesson
It's been months since I used a good object lesson, but a good one is always memorable. This uses only a balloon, or maybe two, if you want to really expand on it. The concept is to re-tell the parable (either exactly or using examples of thinking relevant to children in your class age group. Blow each balloon only part way up, like a normal "head". You can also draw a simple face if you have a Sharpie marker, but it's not necesssary.

As the pharisee or proud character develops add increasing breaths of air to the balloon so it is puffed up and huge, but keep the second ballon as-is (if you use it). Talk about what's inside the big ballon (alot of air, nothing) and what will eventually happen to it (burst, self-destruct). Ask about the second ballon (less likely to pop at all, even with a pin, since it is not "puffed up with pride"). Then make the application.

There is a fabulous example of this ready for you to use from Christianity Cove here.





Craft
I chose paper bag puppets, because they are utilitarian, the children can retell the parable to each other in class and possibly at home, and it is a visual reminder of the lesson, if the presentation is handled well (esp. in drawing out the questions at the end).

I found this example that I will modify. (The monk will have a full hat and be the tax collector and the "mother Theresa" will have a dark blue or black body and be the Pharisee.) Supplies are bags, construction paper, glue, scissors and bobble eyes.

Coloring/Activity Sheet
You have probably noticed that I make a point to include at least one sheet per week. Some people think of coloring/activity sheets as "busy work", in a negative sense. They are more than just time-fillers, though they do fulfill that role; however, I believe it is secondary to re-enforcing the message of the lesson, especially if the sheets are well-produced.

The coloring sheet I chose for this week is below. It so clearly depicts the postures of pride and humility.

There are many activity sheets for older children such as crosswords, word scrambles, word searches, etc. at Sermons4Kids.com.

Snack
For our snack, I had a few ideas. "Resurrection rolls" from the Easter lesson would serve as a nice object lesson, since they are empty though they are all puffed up, like the pride of the Pharisee. In the "Little House" books, Ma bakes vanity cakes; same idea.

I also found a nice, seemingly child-friendly recipe for humble pie at Cooks.com, but the weather is on the warm side and I chose not to heat up our house any extra. So, I settled for jello, a very tummy friendly option. The idea is to have jello cups, lids on. Then, while they start to eat, you ask:

What's on the inside of your snack?
How do you know it's there?
Why doesn't what is on the outside hide it?

Then talk about how sometimes we try to hide what is going on in our hearts by showing something different on the outside. When we do that with God and pretend that there is nothing wrong, it doesn't fool God because He sees our hearts and knows what is there.

You can use commercially prepared Jell-O, which I don't think is the best for anyone, especially young children, or prepare your own. There is a fabulous recipe (including flavor variations) at Out of the Box Food which works very well and takes less than 10 minutes to get into the refrigerator. I made some strawberry gelatin last summer using the same principle, but from this recipe.

Extra Materials
If I ever have a permanent classroom and get to teach through these again as a full curriculum, I want to have other materials also on the shelves that deal with each parable and further the point. This book, Fool Moon Rising, is definitely one that interests me on this topic.