The
children of our Meeting have recently been blessed with the
introduction of Godly Play. To help understand what Godly Play is,
we have to know what it’s not. First, Godly Play is not a complete
children's First Day (Sunday) School program. Christmas pageants,
vacation Bible schools, children's choirs, children's and youth
groups, parent-child retreats, picnics, service opportunities and
other components of a full and vibrant First Day School are all
important and shouldn’t compete with Godly Play. What Godly Play
contributes to the glorious mix of activities is the art of knowing
and knowing how to use the language of Christians to explain life
and death.
The originator of Godly Play, Jerome Berryman, calls
it his interpretation of Montessori religious education. It’s an
imaginative approach to working with children, an approach that
supports, challenges, nourishes and guides their spiritual quest–in
other words, a form of spiritual direction.
Godly Play isn’t about theater, although drama can
sometimes enter into its sessions. It’s more about using play to
teach children who have some experience of the mystery of the
presence of God in their lives, how to use language and
understanding to express it. In Godly Play, children learn through
parables and sacred stories to discover God and one another in the
world around them.
In
Godly Play, our First Day School teachers prepare a structured
environment in which our children can work with adult guides. Two
teachers guide the session, making time for the children:
-
to enter the space and be greeted
-
to get ready for the presentation
-
to enter into a presentation based on a
parable or sacred story
-
to respond to the presentation through
shared wondering
-
to respond to the presentation with their
own expressive work
-
to prepare and share a feast
-
to say goodbye and leave the space
Godly Play is different from many other approaches
to children's work with scripture. Unlike
church
school pageants and vacation Bible schools where kids have fun with
scripture, Godly Play seeks to give children deeper, more respectful
experiences with scripture so that can fully understand it.
Our First Day School teachers have been practicing
the art of patience when it comes to doing Godly Play. Our Religious
Education Committee has chosen to incorporate Godly Play into its
greatly enhanced curriculum. At Downingtown Friends, we’re lucky
to have a large open space–the alcove on the upper level of our
Schoolhouse–in which to conduct Godly Play on the first Sunday of
each of our seasonal First Day School sessions. Within this
boundaried environment, our teachers help our children to make
constructive choices regarding both the materials they use and the
process by which they work toward shared goals.
Typically, one of our teachers acts as the
storyteller and sits at the top of a circle waiting for the children
to enter. A second teacher helps children get settled within the
circle. The storyteller relates a spiritual story using props such
as a sandbox and wooden models of buildings and people. After
telling the story and eliciting responses from the children, the
other teacher helps the children break away to work on expressive
art work or other projects.