Rachel Elder
What is Godly Play? How do you teach it to children? And how can it also benefit adults?
Godly play is where a teacher uses different techniques and ideas to help illustrate to children, the understanding of the Word of God. After reading this article and seeing this idea actually in practice made me see the importance of Godly play. A child can learn on so many different levels and at differnt stages, and a teacher needs to know how to make the Word not easier for the child, but more meaningful in a way that they would understand and relate to it. This idea of Godly play is not to "play down" the Word of God, because you don't go into as much detail, but take it more as an approach for a younger child to understand the whole book of Solomon. A childs brain can not comprehend that, but if you make it into a story that they can better relate to then it will be easier for them to understand.
Godly play is also a time where children can interact with crafts, toys and games to help them relate to the story. We all know children are more likly to have a short attention span, so you need to make sure the lesson can be focused around them in such a way that they can hear the story, then act out the story, and then retell it in their own way to show the understand what is really going on.
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Ben Evans
ReplyDeleteGoing along with what Rachel said, I had never heard of teaching in this form until we used it in class. This is cool to see the different elements that we have learned in different education and psychology classes. Making the lesson real to the students is something that I am interested in learning more about. Making it real and helping them come into the story and apply it to their own lives while associating it to objects that they probably interact with on a weekly basis should be effective because it will continue to help them think about it even after the lesson is over.
Teaching it to children is going to be effective if you have different things that will be around them at church on a regular basis or even at home, then it can help them to think about the story at different points in their life. Kids can learn well if different tools such as arts and crafts can be used and so that it helps to reach all sorts of learning styles.
Adults can learn from this also because of the same reason that it can be effective with children. There is something strong that comes from an object lesson when it comes to how we remember something and how it is triggered in our mind.
Emalee J. Dunkle:
ReplyDeleteI've been learning more and more about Godly Play since Jan. The first time I heard about it I was confused but it grew on me after thinking about it. I really enjoy the idea because it gives children a hands-on experience with the story, it also gives them a visual way to learn.
On top of that, while you are telling the story they are hearing it and this attends to those who are auditory learners. All of the learning types are attended to in this type of program. This is really important because each child has a different style of learning and attending to each of them is necessary to effect them through our ministries in a positive way.
Godly play is a way to introduce the word of God to children by making it fun and exciting. It helps to approach children with the scripture through storyteller, activities and art. It relate to them by allowing them to start spiritual journey by creating interest with artifacts, as the result it seeks to give children more understanding and deeper proper experience.
ReplyDeleteChildren like attention and like to copy, because of that it is important for you to paint a picture in a form of Godly play so that it will stick in their mind and they will not forget it. One of the ways it benefits adult is by children recreating and retelling the story, sometimes by singing or acting it at home. This makes the adult know that their children are being taught religiously in a positive way. It helps the parents, because their children learn to socialize and parents know that their children are protected from worldly influences.
I think Godly play is using what comes naturally for kids (playing and imagination) to teach biblical stories and principles. Obviously, kids are not going to get much out of someone coming in and talking to them for half an hour. Godly play interacts them in learning.
ReplyDeleteYou teach Godly play be repeatedly giving deeper meaning to every toy and every game. If you are constantly using things in their everyday life to teach about God, kids will associate things things with God.
For adults, Godly play can be beneficial for the same reasons. When you are intentially looking for ways to integrate biblical teachings into everyday life scenarios for kids, you will begin to do it for yourself as well.
Very good comments so far everybody else!
I see Godly play as a way of bringing biblical stories and principles to children in a way they can better understand. What better way then playing, kids already know how and love doing it. It really helps them relate to the story and let them put their own spin on it.
ReplyDeleteYou teach it to them by allowing them to take the story and tell you about it in their own way. They can act it out or draw it but it really helps them to apply it their world.
I think it is good for adults because it helps to simplify the stories in the Bible. Instead of trying to understand these big concepts you can break it down and take your own part out of it.
Mike Smith
ReplyDeleteI go right along with what Tyler Gentry was saying in the Godly play uses what is natural to a kid's environment. Something that I learned in another class that goes along with this is that kids need to play and use their imagination to help them mature, and as a church trying to help cultivate Christian maturity, we need to make sure we work with them on their level. In allowing the kids to use their imagination and have fun with it, it becomes more real to them, and when they get older they will already have concepts and ideas based off the lessons they learned engraved in their thoughts.
Tyler Cheek
ReplyDeleteGodly Play is something that I feel is sometimes overlooked as an important aspect of our lives. While it is especially important in the live of children, Godly play can be very beneficial to other age groups. Teens and adults can benefit from stories in the Bible being brought into a new light through things such games and drama. I wouldn't suggest getting the class of Senior Citizens to play a game of Red Rover to demonstrate the battles of the Old Testament but other means it can "stick" in their minds better. Godly play is good thang.
i see Godly play as an amazing way to incorporate scripture in actions. its a great way to interact and have fellowship and at the same time you can actually LEARN something.
ReplyDeleteto children, you can read them a story and act it out with different voices, puppets, figurines, you name it... and it gives them a visual image for a concept that could seem absolutely foreign if it was just brought to them as simply words.
for the adults administering the Godly play... this is a great way for them get OUT of their comfort zone and be more... childlike for a moment. its a way to connect and to uplift and its totally a needed thing for all parties involved.
I really liked the class session with Godly play. I have heard of it before (in J-term we talked about it in a Jane class) and my church is looking into starting it as well. It was really cool to see how the whole lesson, from start to finish, is applied with children. I really enjoyed hearing Brooklynn retell the story in her own words and with all the different materials she had to use. It really showed how creative children are, and really allowed me to take a step back and see that children really do understand the stories we are telling them.
ReplyDeleteJustin Metz
ReplyDeleteGodly play is a truly phenomenal way to teach the scripture to children. To be sadly honest I do not know too much about children. One thing that I have always been bad at is underestimating just how much children can learn. For some reason I just think that they don't have the capabilities to even begin to comprehend what's going on. But in class the girl in my group surprised me so much. Not only could she repeat the story right back to only going over it once but she could see how God was involved in the story and the characters in the story. I know I may sound like I'm out in right field but that just amazed me. I think that Godly play is an essential tool that must be used when teaching the scripture to young ones and even with adults.
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ReplyDeleteColby Layton
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the responses above and I think all the areas of how Godly play can help children grow have been hit on and that it is not just for children, but for all age groups and we can all benefit from Godly play at any age level.
I think with Godly play it is important for the teacher to go in with an open mind about learning, because as we grow older we become more narrow minded and the children have not yet been exposed to the world enough to be narrow minded and so sometimes we can learn much more about God from the child repeating what they see the story meaning than what we would have learned on our own reading. And letting the children know you are learning from them will really help them too because they will see that #1 you care what they are saying and you are listening and #2 will let them know the Bible is possible for them to understand and #3 show them how easy it can be to share the Bible stories with their friends.
Godly play is new approach to teaching scripture to children for me, but it has ways of making scripture come life that typical teaching methods can't do. For children it is beneficial in helping them to become involved in the story and to help keep their attention on something tangible. Godly play is a technique that should be utilized more often in teaching scripture to not only children, but all ages of people.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed having an opportunity to teach a lesson using Godly play. It was definitely a learning experience for me in trying to structure it in a way that incorporates both play and scriptural truth.