1. Talk it through with your minister and the children’s workers at your church.
2. Invite in someone with experience with Godly Play to lead an evening training session with the group. BRF can help you here! You will probably see a story done, look at the materials and discuss the principles behind this approach.
3. Decide how you can create a special (sacred) space for your children’s work, which will be where they can sit comfortably in a circle each week. Make sure you have one key helper with you for each session – maybe more if you have a large group, though this approach works best with groups of about 12-15 children.
4. Set up a small focal table with a nativity scene, cross and picture of the risen Christ (representing the key truths of the Christian faith) along with a candle (Jesus the Light of the World) and a symbol or model of the Good Shepherd with his sheep. As you develop, there should also be low tables either side; with Christmas and Advent materials to the left; Lent and Easter materials to the right (as the children see it).
5. Decide on a story you want to tell. Perhaps start with a parable such as the Good Shepherd or the Great Pearl; alternatively start with a sacred story from the Old or New Testament. Collect or make attractive and simple 3D materials to tell your story. If it is a parable, put the materials in a mysterious gold box (a painted shoe box?). If it is a sacred story, arrange the materials neatly on a tray.
6. Welcome the children into their special place to be with God; to talk and listen to Him as well as to hear the stories of God. Teach a response such as ‘the Lord is here – His Spirit is with us’.
7. When the children are settled and ready to listen, tell the story simply from the heart, focusing on the materials not the children.
8. Take a pause and then ask ‘wondering questions’ about the story. If it is a ‘sacred story’ ask: Which part of the story did you like best? Which part of the story do you think is most important? Where are you in this story or which part is especially about you? Is there any part of the story we could leave out and still have all the story we need? If it is a parable, ask more playful questions about who and what the people and places in the story ‘really’ are? What names they might have? How do the people feel? What might happen next?
9. Give the children space to think about what ‘work’ they might like to do to respond to the story and show what they think about it. Have a whole tableful of craft materials available. Let them go up slowly in turn to gather what they need and find a space to work quietly.
10. At a given signal, draw the response time to a close and gather the children back into a circle for prayer; a reading from the bible that shows where the story came from; a ‘feast’ together, which models the sharing of the Lord’s Supper, but for the children it will be a drink and a biscuit. Make sure you try and end the session with an unhurried goodbye and an appropriate, affirming word for each child.
There, you have made a start. Keep to the same pattern week by week. It gives the children the security they need to play with the stories and to learn what God’s Spirit is saying to them. Don’t try and do too much in one go! Take small steps and keep praying!
Let us know how you get on!
Email us with your comments and questions.
‘We've made a slow start – only covering a few stories so far – but the response has been good. Some families even say they've ended up talking about the lesson during the week following! Other members of the congregation are also intrigued and interested in what is going on.’
Jackie Clarke, St Andrew’s, Woodford Green
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