Explore and Express

Celebrating Lent Link-Up!

2012-03-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've been amazed at your creativity! I have had so much fun reading your posts and gathering new ideas.

Please keep the ideas coming so that we can all learn from each other!

If you are here for the first time, here is the scoop: for the entire six weeks of Lent, we are inviting any of you with Lenten-themed or Preparing for Easter posts that fit the following categories to share your ideas with us.

story-based religious activities
art projects
Montessori activities
nature-based projects
Please enter your submissions below. All we ask is that you kindly link back to both of our blogs, Explore and Express and Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way. Feel free to grab the button to the right to add to your blog post.

By participating you allow us permission to use your photos to share highlights. We will be re-posting each week!

OsterAG 2012 / Easter Club 2012

2012-03-08T12:22:00.005-08:00

Mit 16 Kindern aus einer Berliner Grundschule und viel Freude fing die Oster AG 2012 an. Das ist das dritte Jahr die AG zu veranstalten und manche von den Kindern sind all drei Jahren mit dabei gewesen. Sowie das Ostergras, das wir gerade eingepflanzt haben, macht es mir so viel Freude diese Kinder beim Wachsen zu sehen und ein Stück begleiten zu können. Easter Club 2012 began last week with 16 children from our local elementary school. This is the third year that we have organized the club and some of the same children have attended all three years. Like the Easter grass that we planted this week, it has been a joy to watch them grow!

Dieses Jahr haben wir's vor, neben den Bibelgeschichten und Kunstaktionen einen Seniorenheim im Kiez zu besuchen. Die Kinder werden ein kurzes Programm verantstalten und ein bisschen Osterfreude weitergeben. Da solche Einrichtungen bekommen Anfragen am meisten zu Weihnachten, haben wir gedacht, warum nicht zu Ostern? In addition to hearing stories that help us reflect on Easter and making art, we have decided to take the children to a senior citizen’s home in the last week of the Club, where they will put on a small program and spread some Easter joy. Since Senior centers are usually flooded with requests at Christmas, we thought, why not come at Easter instead?

Zum Anfang haben wir eine "Mini-Geschichte", "Das Geheimnis von Ostern" gehört. In dieser Handlung puzzeln die Kinder ein lila- und weissfarbenes Kreuz zusammen um den Rätsel von der Ostergeschichte besser verstehen zu können. Hier wird auch durch die Farben die zwei Seiten von Ostern betont, die traurige Seite und die frohliche Seite, die nicht von einander getrennt werden können. This week, we heard two stories: a mini-version of “The Mystery of Easter” and “Creation”. The first story is one of the best ways that I know of how to communicate to children the importance and reasoning behind the season of Lent. It also seeks to share both the sadness and joy of Easter, that both are essential and cannot be separated for one another. (If you want to know more about this story, click here and here.)

Dann gingen wir zurück zum allerersten Anfang mit der "Schöpfung", wo wir Gottes wunderschöne Geschenke an uns bewundert haben, z.B. die Sonne, die Sterne, die Tiere, das Wasser, usw. Oft nehmen wir diese Geschenke nicht wahr, weil sie einfach so groß sind! Und die Vorosterzeit ist eine passende Zeit darüber nachzudenken, da die Natur gerade im Gang ist sich zu erneuen. The Creation story helps children to see the beautiful gifts God has given us that we often don’t even notice, because they are so big and important like the sun, stars, animals and water. With nature renewing itself this time of year, it a great time to ponder these gifts.

Die Geschichte beginnt mit der Frage: "Was war das großartigste Geschenk, das du jemals bekommen hast?" The story begins by asking the question, “What was the greatest gift you ever received?”

"Mein Hochbett". "Mein rotes Kuschelkissen." "Meine Taufe." “My bunk bed.” “My red cuddle-cushion.” “My baptism.”

Dann wird die Geschichte von 1.Mose mit Bildern auf Holzbrettern erzählt. Der letzte Tafel ist mit Absicht leer, damit die Kinder selber entscheiden wie sie sich am besten ausruhen und wo ihr lieblings Ort ist über Gottes Geschenke nachzudenken. Then, the storyteller recounts the text in the first chapter of Genesis using simple drawings on wooden boards. At the end of each day, the storyteller makes the gesture of a blessing over each picture and repeats God’s words, “It is good.” The last board is intentionally left blank so that the children can imagine how they like to rest and their favorite place to be to think about God’s wonderful gifts.

Während des "Ergründungsgespräch" am Ende stellte ich den Kindern vier Fragen. During our “Wondering” at the end, I asked the four questions typical of this genre of Godly Play story:

Welcher Teil der Geschichte hat dir am besten gefallen? What part of the story did you like best?
Welcher Teil ist wohl der wichtigste? What part is the most important?
Gibt es einen Teil, der etwas von dir erzählt? Is there a part that tells something about you?
Gibt es einen Teil, den wir weglassen könnten, und trotzdem alles haben, was wir für die Geschichte brauchen? Is there something we can leave out and still have everything we need for the story?

Ich musste lachen (innerlich!) als ein 1.Klässler erzählte, dass er den Ruhetag weglassen würde. "Ich mag keine Pause machen," meinte er. Als seine Englischlehrerin kann ich die Wahrheit dieser Aussage nur bestätigen! I got very tickled by a first grade boy during the last question who answered that he would leave out the day of rest. Because “I don’t like to take breaks!” And since I also have him in English class, I can attest to the truth of this statement!

Christine-Maria, die Co-Leiterin der AG, half uns ein paar neue Lieder zu lernen, die wir eventuell beim Seniorenheim vorsingen werden. Da Musik leider nicht meine Stärke ist, habe ich mich darüber gefreut! My co-leader, Christina-Maria, helped us learn some songs that we will be singing at the senior citizen’s home. Since music is not one of my strengths, I am thrilled to have her doing this!

Während der Kreativzeit haben wir Ostergrußkarten
gemacht . . .
During the creative time, we made Easter greeting cards . . .

. . . und Ostergras in der Form eines Kreuzes eingepflanzt. Wenn es wächst, werden wir auch an den Seniorenheim schenken.
. . . began planting Easter grass in the form of a cross as a gift for the Senior Center. (I got the idea from this book.)

Mein Kollegin, Melinda, hilft den Kindern das Ostergras einzuplanzen.
My colleague and "partner in crime", Melinda,
helps the children with the Easter grass.

. . . und Kreuzpuzzlen aus Filz gemacht sowie in der Geschichte.

. . . and we made cross puzzles from felt like in "The Mystery of Easter". (Idea from So Many Joys. Thanks, Amanda!)

. . . und wir haben weiter Bibelgeschichten beim Fokus Tisch entdeckt.

. . . and we discovered other stories on the focus table.

Ein toller Anfang war es!

What a wonderful start!

This post is a part of the Celebrating Lent Link-Up Party!

Jonah and the Great Fish /Jona und der große Fisch

2012-03-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

On the Sunday before Lent, we put on a special children's service for the kids who have participated in the Advent and Easter clubs at our school. I told the story of Jonah, which might seem like an unusual story to tell at this time of year, when most people are either doing stories about the life of Jesus or the parables. However, I thought Jonah would be a great transitional story, because one of its themes is "returning to God", which is also a Lenten theme. God wants both Jonah and the people of Ninevah to return to him. The Ninevites do, but does Jonah? An dem Sonntag vor Ashermittwoch haben wir einen besonderen "Wintertreff-Kindergottesdienst" für die Kinder, die an den Advents- und OsterAGs bei unserer Schule teilnehmen, veranstaltet. Ich habe mich für die Geschichte, "Jona, das unmögliche Prophet", entschieden, obwohl sie zu dieser Jahreszeit nicht oft erzählt wird. Meiner Meinung nach ist Jona eine gute Übergangsgeschichte in die Passionzeit, weil diese Geschichte u.a. ums Thema "Rückkehr zu Gott" handelt, was auch ein Thema von der Vorosterzeit ist. Gott möchte, dass Jona und das Volk der Stadt Ninive zu ihm zurückkehren. Die Niniveten wollen das machen, aber Jona?

Jona, das unmögliche Prophet
Jonah and the Great Fish

The older children had heard this story many times before in other places, so it took a while for them to fully concentrate, while the younger children were very attentive. In addition to the usual four "Wondering" questions at the end of this Godly Play story, the German version of the story adds two extra questions: "How would you end this story?" and "What do you think Jonah did next?" The children were silent during the first question. Some were thinking really hard and some had never considered that this story might not be "complete". A couple of kids thought that Jonah probably went home afterwards. And one child wanted to know why God didn't just punish Jonah for not listening. A great question that tells us a lot about God's character: that out of his love for us he does allow us to disagree and act insolent at times without "bringing down the hammer" on us. Die älteren Kinder hatten die Geschichte mehrmals in anderen Kreisen gehört. Von daher fanden sie's schwieriger am Anfang sich zu konzentrieren (nach dem Motto "Ich kenne das schon!), aber die Kleineren, im Gegenteil, waren sofort drin in der Geschichte. Nachher kam das Ergründungsgespräch, wo ich den Kindern offene Fragen zum Reflektieren stelle. "Wie würdest du diese Geschichte beenden?" "Was meint ihr, was hat Jona zunächst getan?" Die Kinder schwiegen bei der ersten Frage und überlegten. Es fiel manchen zum ersten Mal ein, dass diese Geschichte eigentlich nicht "vollständig" sein mag. Ein paar Kinder einigten sich darauf, dass Jona nach Hause gegangen ist. Und ein Kind wollte wissen, warum Gott Jona letztendlich nicht schwer bestraft hat? Eine gute Frage, die uns viel von Gottes Charakter erzählt: aus seiner großer Geduld und Liebe erlaubt er uns auch mal zu diskutieren und meckern.

One of the great theological influences in my life has been Timothy Keller and his philosophy of "Christocentric teaching". I bring these influences into my Godly Play practice, because it is important to me that children see the links between the Old and New Testaments. Inspired by a passage from The Jesus Storybook Bible, I added something extra after the "Wondering". I layed out the symbols of the Trinity below and explained, "Many years later God would send another messenger, not just to Ninevah, but to the whole world. With the help of the Holy Spirit, this messenger would go willingly and even lay his life down for the people he was called to." Ein wichtiger Einfluss von mir im theologischen Bereich ist Timothy Keller und seine Philosophie der "Christus-fokusierter Lehre", wobei man versucht den roten Pfaden zwischen den Alten und Neuen Testaments beizubringen. Ich bringe diesen Einfluss in die Praxis von Godly Play, damit Kinder dies verstehen. Mit Inspiration aus der "Gott hat dich lieb Kinderbibel" habe ich eine zusätzliche Endung zur Godly Play Version hingefügt. Neben Symbolen der Dreieinigkeit auf die Filzunterlage erzählte ich: "Viele, viele Jahren später schickte Gott noch einen Boten auf die Erde hin. Dieser ging nicht nur zu Ninive, sondern zu der ganzen Welt. Und mit der Hilfe des Heiligen Geistes ging er freiwillig und voller Freude und er war sogar bereit sein Leben für die Menschen hinzulegen."

Symbolen des Vaters, des Sohnes und des Heiligen Geistes
Symbols of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

If you have read Godly Play on the Go, you know that my Godly Play spaces change often. For this special service, we rented a conference room at a hostel in the same neighborhood as our school. Below is how we set it up. Meine Godly Play "Räumlichkeiten" ändern sich oft. Mal ist sie auf der Schule, mal im Wohnzimmer. Diesmal haben wir einen Seminarraum bei einer Jugendherberge in unserer Nachbarschaft gemietet. Unten kann man sehen, wie wir das Zimmer eingerichtet haben.

Der Fokus-Tisch mit Material für anderen Bibelgeschichte.
The focus table with other Godly Play stories.

Kunstmaterial für die Kreativzeit nach der Geschichte.
Art materials for the creative time after the story.

At the end of the day, I told my co-worker, Melinda, that this had been the most enjoyable Godly Play hour that I had experienced in a long time. Why? Because I finally had another co-worker in the room with a clearly defined role. GP is always supposed to be done with two adults, the storyteller and the "door person", who helps children that need help during the story and assists them with the art materials in the creative phase. I have rarely had such a person doing Godly Play with me and I noticed the difference right away. Am Ende habe ich der anderen Mitarbeiterin, Melinda, gesagt, dass dies war die beste Godly Play-Stunde, die ich je erlebt habe. Warum? Weil ich endlich eine Mitarbeiterin mit einer klargestellten Rolle mit dabei hatte. Godly Play sollte immer mit zwei Erwachsenen gemacht werden, einer ErzählerIn und eine "Türperson", die Kinder an der Turschwelle begrüßt, kümmert sich um unruhige Kinder, und mit dem Kunstmaterial hilft. Ich habe so selten eine solche Person gehabt und merkte sofort den Unterschied.

While Melinda helped the children with the art materials, I stayed by the stories and pulled out something to play with. Right away, two other children came to join me. One little girl pulled out the Parable of the Good Shepherd, which she has heard before in the Easter Clubs, and began with a few prompts to retell the story to me! That moment was absolutely priceless to me. Während Melinda den Kindern mit dem Kunstmaterial half, blieb ich bei dem Fokus-Tisch. Ich holte eine andere Geschichte und fing an genauer anzugucken. Sofort setzen 2 anderen Kinder sich zu mir um mitzuspielen. Ein Mädchen holte das Gleichnis vom Guten Hirten, die sie in den AGs schon paar mal gehört hat, und fing an die Geschichte zu mir zu erzählen! Ich habe ihr mit großer Freude zugehört und der Moment war einfach kostbar.

The art project I prepared was simple printmaking with sponges, bubble wrap and twine. You can see the three examples that I prepared below. Das Kunstangebot war eine einfache Drucktechnik mit Schwämmen, Luftpolsterfolie und Garn. Ich habe die drei Beispiele unten vorbereitet um den Kindern der Technik zu zeigen.

The kids, however, had other things on their minds, which is the beauty of Godly Play. There are simply no "musts" in how you spend time with God and reflect. There is freedom to express your thoughts however you want. Flowers and spaceships were more at the forefront on this particular Sunday. What I have seen often in the past two years is that children often go back to a story that they heard several weeks before rather than deal with what they have just heard. They will come back to Jonah, but it make take some time. Die Kinder aber haben andere Dinge auf dem Herzen gehabt. Und Freiraum für andere Gedanken zu geben ist eine Stärke von dem Godly Play Konzept. Die Kreativzeit ist eine Art "Offenes Atelier" und es gibt kein "muss". Blumen und Raumschiffe waren im Vordergrund an diesem Sonntag. Ich habe oft in den letzten paar Jahre beobachtet, dass Kinder selten Bilder über die Geschichte, die sie gerade gehört habe, malen. Sondern verarbeiten sie öfter eine Geschichte, die sie vor ein paar Wochen gehört haben. Die Kinder werden sicher sich Gedanken über Jona machen, aber es kann eine Zeit dauern.

Another lovely day in my life. Thanks for joining me on the journey!

Ein schöner Tag war das! Danke fürs Mitlesen!

Celebrating Lent Link-Up!

2012-03-01T01:53:00.001-08:00

It's time to share all of your wonderful ideas for Lent again!

I learned so much from all of you last week and have even used several of your ideas in our elementary school's Easter Club that began yesterday. (More on that to come!)

For the entire six weeks of Lent, we are inviting any of you with Lenten-themed or Preparing for Easter posts that fit the following categories to share your ideas with us:

story-based religious activities
art projects
Montessori activities
nature-based projects
Please enter your submissions below. All we ask is that you kindly link back to both of our blogs, Explore and Express and Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way. Feel free to grab the button to the right to add to your blog post.

We will be re-posting each week on Wednesday, although I am one day late this week!

Lenten Prayer Pots

2012-03-01T01:43:00.003-08:00

I am re-posting today about prayer pots for Lent, a project that we did last year, since I have had several questions about them this week.

Our prayer pots are kept on the table
where we eat as a constant reminder
of the things we are praying for during Lent.

The prayer pots are to be used during each Sunday of Lent. Children place specific objects in them to remind them of an aspect of God's character and their relationship with them. It is a great way for the whole family to pray together during Lent.

The idea for these came from Diane Laney Fitzpatrick and you can find her original instructions here. I loved her ideas, but modified them a bit to fit my cultural and pedagogical context better.

We made our pots out of air-drying clay purchased from a craft store. Then, we used wooden beads and sticks that we found outside to decorate them.

The sticks, beads and clay used to make the pots.

Inside the pots we place the following items and pray the following prayers. I also included some Bible verses that the family can discuss together before praying.

Ash Wednesday - The pot is displayed, but remains empty to signal that Lent is here and remind us to allow God to fill us anew.
First Sunday of Lent - A red heart to remind of God's love for us and that nothing can separate us from his love. Romans 8: 38,39
Second Sunday of Lent - A small bean to remind us that we are growing in our relationship with God and that we should tend to it the way we would a growing plant. Colossians 1: 10-12
Third Sunday of Lent - An almond, an ancient symbol of patience, to remind us that God is patient with us and that we should be patient with others. Ephesians 4: 2
Fourth Sunday of Lent - A piece of bread to remind us to share with others. Hebrews 13: 16
Fifth Sunday of Lent - A band-aid to remind us to help those who are hurt or sad. I Thessalonians 5: 13b
Palm Sunday - A piece of purple felt to remind us that Jesus is our King. Colossians 1: 15-20
Easter Sunday - A small stone to remind us of the empty tomb and that Jesus is with us. Matt. 28: 1-8; 18-20

The materials described above to be placed in the prayer pots.

Here are some photos of the children's pots from last year:

This post was written as a part of the Celebrating Lent Link-Up!

and The Magic Onions

and Kids Get Crafty at Red Ted's Art Blog

and Sharing Saturday at Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart2Heart

Lent: Helping Children Identify with the Poor

2012-02-27T11:46:00.001-08:00

Although my husband and I were both raised in the church, our family started observing Lent together only about three years ago, and we are still growing in our understanding of what it is all about. We became aware that identifying with the poor is an important aspect of Lent and this year we wanted to stretch ourselves a little more in that area.

Inspired by the book below which was written by an old college friend of my husband's, we began to think about how we might help our kids (and us!) become more aware and inclined to do something about the problem of poverty in our world.

Part of Lent is connecting with God's thoughts and heart in prayer first and then taking action. How could we as a family connect with God's compassion for the poor? My husband came up with a plan to pray for a specific part of the world each week of Lent and try to find meals from those areas, especially ones that poor people would eat. Although I thought his idea was brilliant, I was a bit concerned that the kids would get burned out if we ate bland meals everyday. In talking it over with my dear friend and mentor, Lyn, she helped hone our ideas into something pedagogically appropriate for our kids' ages.

When I mentioned that we sponsored two children with World Vision, Lyn suggested that on Sundays, our feast days (where we are free from fasting), we should have an expensive meal from whatever part of the world we are praying for. Then, on Monday evening, we would eat the poor person's meal. Next, we calculate the costs of both meal and the money saved on the poor person's meal would then be collected to give as an extra gift to the children that we sponsor.

The jar with pictures of the two children we sponsor through World Vision,
where we will collect the monetary gift for them.

This week, we begin with a continent close to our hearts, Africa. Last night, we ate "Djaba Dji", a chicken and vegetable stew from Mali. (This is a recipe from one of our all-time favorite books, I Lost my Tooth in Africa.) Afterwards, we talked about specific people that we know in Africa and what we could pray for them. My children then prayed some really touching prayers. My daughter, who usually doesn't like to pray out loud, surprised me by praying very thoughtful things for her friends Fiona and Rebecca, who live in Uganda. My son prayed, "Lord, please make me a super hero when I grow up so that I can help the poor." In my book, he's already a super hero! But just in case you think he's a saint, this is the same kid that burst into tears on Ash Wednesday because he already missed meat.: )

Tonight, we ate plain polenta (to mimic "pap", the corn mush eaten in many African countries) and beans (our staple on our trip to Uganda). Although the kids were less than thrilled with it, they ate it and understood why we were eating it. We then calculated that there was a 10 Euro difference in the meal, so we put that amount in the jar for the children we sponsor.

And then we prayed for children in Africa to have good medical care. To avoid this being too abstract, I explained that many African children didn't have a "Frau Dr. Märker", my kids' beloved pediatrician. I also used an example of a time they were both really sick to ask what would have happened if we had had no medicine.

An inspiring passage from Isaiah 58 says:

"Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?"

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter -

when you see the naked to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard."

Though fasting is difficult, I am motivated to do it when I hear God saying that he will loosen the chains of injustice and untie the cords of oppression. And I hope that my children will grow up understanding why we fast at Lent instead of dreading it!

This post was written as a part of the Celebrating Lent Link-Up from this blog, Explore and Express, and Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way!

and Catholic Icing

Lenten Nature Table 2012

2012-02-24T11:05:00.002-08:00

We just finished putting up our nature table to begin our Lenten journey in 2012. While there are some familiar elements from last year, we've added a few new things as well. These symbols of our faith are powerful reminders that we are on a special journey with God during Lent. We set aside more time to draw closer in relationship with our Creator, to allow him to change us, and allow him to prompt change in the world through us.

Below is our Christ Candle surrounded by the things we are finding in our park as of late. I love having the Christ Candle in our kitchen where so much real life takes place. We eat, talk, do homework, art and have breakdowns in that room. The Christ Candle is a gentle reminder that God is always there with me, no matter what our day may turn into. The leaves are from an evergreen bush much like holly and the berries are signs of life that show the winter is thawing. The red berries are called "Hagebutte" in German and they are often used to make tea. The white berries we call "Knallbeeren"("crack" berries), because they make a fun sound when you step on them.: ) And the dark berries we call "Vogelbeeren" (bird berries), because the birds love to eat them.

Four figures in the desert, one for each member of our family. This year, I let each person pick out their own figures. You can probably guess which ones are my son and daughter. A bowl of water reminds of God's power to cleanse and renew. It also reminds us of our baptism. And since our children have not yet been baptized, it reminds us to talk with them about what it is all about.

The puzzle pieces are from the Godly Play story, The Mystery of Easter. This is a brilliant story that helps children (and adults!) understand why we need six weeks of preparation to celebrate with God at Easter. In it, the storyteller and children put together a puzzle that is a cross. Since I couldn't fit my wooden cross puzzle on the window sill, I had the idea from So Many Joys to make one out of felt.

The puzzle pieces become this . . .

and then this . . .

The two colors represent both the deep sadness of the Crucifixion and pure joy of the Resurrection that we experience at Easter.

I couldn't resist picking up a yellow crocus to put on the table. These beautiful flowers are the heralds announcing that we are in a transition and that change is about to come. Also, our jar with the pictures of the children we sponsor through World Vision. (More about that in an upcoming post!)

And on the kitchen table, we have a single pillar candle and a prayer pot that the children made last year. Over the next six weeks, we will put objects in it that go with specific prayers that will lead us up to Easter.

May you be blessed on your Lenten journey!

This post is linked to the
Celebrating Lent Link-Up Party

and The Magic Onions

and Catholic Icing

and Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart

Celebrating Lent Link-Up!

2012-02-21T21:17:00.001-08:00

I am so excited to announce that Storyteller from Wonderful in an Easter kind of Way and I are co-hosting a new link party:
Celebrating Lent!

Lenten Nature Table from last year

Godly Play story, The Mystery of Easter

For the entire six weeks of Lent, we are inviting any of you with Lenten-themed or Preparing for Easter posts that fit the following categories to share your ideas with us:

story-based religious activities
art projects
Montessori activities
nature-based projects

Please enter your submissions below. All we ask is that you kindly link back to both of our blogs, Explore and Express and Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way. We will be re-posting each week on Wednesday!

Winter as a Spiritual Season

2012-02-18T06:47:00.001-08:00

If you live in a colder climate, the dark, overcast days of winter can wear on a person physically and emotionally after a while. It is easy to get down and negative and our children pick up on this quickly. In the natural world we know that winter allows the soil to rest and replenish. It also gives foliage a way to rid itself of old growth in order to make room for the new growth that comes in the spring. These natural processes of death and new birth carry over into our spiritual lives as well. How and what we communicate to our children about the natural season of winter can impact their ability to weather the spiritual "winters" that come in their later years.

Snow can be magical.

Children begin to understand metaphors and put metaphorical meanings to words like "hot" and "cold" around the ages of 7 or 8. The cognitive experiences and knowledge that the child has gathered and will continue to gather are transformed into symbols that contribute to the development of abstract thinking that Piaget called the "formal operational stage". Thus, the ideas and opinions that children are exposed to about the natural world (including winter) help to shape their view of these things as positive or negative and these things take on metaphorical meanings in the child's later years.

So what does this have to do with winter, faith and spirituality? (Where is she going with this blog post anyway??!!) God crafted the natural world to be a reflection of his character. Indeed, the Bible is full of pictures and metaphors about the seasons, and our lives have a natural rhythm, an ebb and flow to them, that is from our Creator.

Psalm 74: 17 says, "You have made both the summer and the winter." As adults, sometimes it is spring or summer in our lives and we feel alive with new ideas and boundless energy. And sometimes it is winter. And sometimes it lasts a long time. We feel that parts of us are dying. We can't go on doing the same things and we need to rest. The "spiritual winter" seeks to give us rest, let things that need to die do so, and offers the hope of new growth. If we slow down and let it do its job, then winter becomes something that we can treasure and not just make it through.

Learning to ice skate on a frozen pond.

In shepherding the spiritual development of children, we can take care to pass on the beauty of winter to them. When we do enjoyable things with them in this season - telling stories, doing experiments and making art projects - we reinforce the truth that what God has created is good and useful. Even when it's hard at times. (It's also okay to be honest and let our kids know that the winter can be long and hard as long as we communicate the positive side, too.) Helping kids to see the natural season of winter in its many facets can then in the long run help them weather the spiritual one as well.

Feeding the birds

And then we pray and believe that God will communicate to our children as he has done for countless generations that all of the seasons on this earth are meant for good as well as all of the seasons of life.

My Top 10 Fun Things to do in Winter:

1. Explore the forest and see how many colors we can find.
2. Build a fort in the forest.
3. Hang home-made bird feeders.
4. Ice Skate!
5. Make a snuggle corner for reading books and drinking hot chocolate.
6. Winter arts and crafts (cutting snowflakes or making ice ornaments).
7. Science experiments with ice
8. Sledding!
9. Tell / read / make up winter fairy tales.
10. Learn about what animals do in winter and about arctic animals.

P.S. And if you live in a crazy hot climate like Texas, then you have a whole other reason to teach your kids about the beauty of winter, because it is the only time of year that you can actually enjoy being outside!

How do you make winter into a positive experience for your children?

Die Kirchenuhr / How the Church Tells Time

2012-02-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

Am Sonntag haben wir die Godly Play Geschichte, "Die Kirchenuhr", gehört. Diese Geschichte ist eine liturgische Handlung über das Kirchenjahr. Die Zeit wird durch Farben statt Zahlen erklärt. Das war mein erstes Mal diese Geschichte überhaupt zu erzählen und es hat mir sehr viel Spass gemacht. Ich war wie ein Kind mit einem neuen Spielzeug.: ) On Sunday we heard the Godly Play story called "How the Church Tells Time". This is a liturgical story in which the church calender is explained through colors rather than dates. It was my first time to tell this story and I was like a kid in a candy store!

Mir gefällt's in dieser Geschichte, dass das Kirchenjahr nicht als Kalendarium von Heiligen Tagen behandelt wird, sondern als ein natürlicher Rhythmus, der einem hilft sich an die große Geheimnisses Gottes zu nähern. Ein Rhythmus, wo jeder Anfang ein Ende ist und jedes Ende ist wieder ein Anfang. I like that the church year in this story is presented not as a list of months and Holy Days, but rather as a natural rhythm that moves us between times of preparation and times of entering into the great mysteries of God. It is a rhythm where each 'beginning' is an 'end' of sorts and each 'end' is a new 'beginning'.

Bei der Vorbereitung von der Geschichte musste ich ein paar Änderungen machen. Die deutsche Version der Geschichte ist für ein Kreis-Kästchen aus Holz geschrieben, wo man die Farbwürfeln herausnimmt und wieder mit den Kindern zusammenlegt. Eine tolle Idee, aber das Holz-Material für diese Geschichte ist ziemlich teuer und ich hatte mich für den Filzvariant schon entschieden. Also, ich musste dann ein großer Teil der Geschichte streichen und dann den Rest zusammenbasteln. In preparing to tell the story, I had to make a few edits. The German version is written for use with wooden church year that has colored blocks. The blocks are removed early on in the story and the storyteller is supposed to put them back in with the kids. It's a great idea, but since the wooden materials are way out of my price range, I had already bought the felt version. So I had to leave out a large section of the story and piece the important things back together.

Die Kinder waren meistens aufmerksam. Die Kleineren waren am Ende bisschen müde. Vermutlich gab es nicht genug Action für sie. Immer als ich auf Pfingsten gezeigt habe, hab ich "Autsch!" gesagt und getan, als ob der rote Würfel wirklich heiss wäre. Sie fanden dies lustig. The kids were attentive for the most part. The younger ones got a little restless towards the end, probably because there is not as much action in this story. Whenever I touched the red block for Pentecost, I pretended to burn my finger and said, "Ouch!" This got a great reaction out of the kids.

Das Ergründungsgespräch ("Wondering") war auch interessant. Ich habe die Fragen gestellt: Welche von den Farben magst du am liebsten? Welche ist wohl die wichtigste? Was meinst du, warum erzählt die Kirche von der Zeit mit Farben? Die Kinder hatten starke Meinungen darüber, welche Farbe die wichtigste sei. Ein Kind meinte, "weiss", weil es mit Weihnachten und Ostern zu tun hat. Ein anderes Kind meinte "grün", weil sein Geburtstag in der grünen, wachsenden Zeit ist. Our "Wondering" was also interesting. I asked the questions: Which of these colors is your favorite? Which one is the most important? Why do you think the church tells time in colors? The kids had the strongest opinions about which color was the most important. One child said that white was the most important, because it was the color of Christmas and Easter. Another child said green, because his birthday was in the green, growing season.

In der Kreativphase haben alle gemalt. Mein Godly Play Zimmer war diesmal unser Wohnzimmer, sodass ich konnte nur das Material für diese Geschichte zur Verfügung aufstellen und dann Buntstifte und Wachsstifte fürs Malen. Den Kindern hat's nicht gestört und alle haben friedlich gemalt. Ein Kind hat einen Vogel gemalt. Als ich nachgefragt habe, meinte er, dass der Vogel ihn an den Heilgen Geist errinert und er dachte an den Heiligen Geist, da wir über Pfingsten geredet haben. Ein anderes Kind malte 2 Prinzessinen und meinte, "Eine ist gut und die andere ist böse." Warum ist die 2-te böse? "Weil sie nicht auf ihre Eltern zuhört, " sagte es. Ich dachte in dem Moment an Paulus im Römerbrief, wo er über den Streit, den wir alle mit dem eigenen Willen führen, geschrieben hat. During our creative time, everyone decided to draw. My Godly Play room this time was my living room, so I only had the material for this story out and then some crayons and colored pencils to draw with. This didn't seem to bother the kids. One child drew a bird and when I asked more about this, he said that he drew it because he was thinking about the Holy Spirit. And he started thinking about the Holy Spirit, because we had spoken of Pentecost. Another child drew a picture of 2 princesses and told me that "one is good and the other is bad". "Why is this princess bad?" I asked. "Because she doesn't listen to her parents." At that moment I thought of the Apostle Paul's writings in Romans 7:15 about the struggle that we all have with our own will.

Es war eine schöne Zeit zusammen und ich bin dankbar dafür! Ich dachte nachher, ich habe den schönsten Beruf der Welt: mit kleinen Gruppen von Kindern über Gott und die Welt zu reden, Geschichten zu erzählen und kreativ zu sein. It was a great morning together and I was thankful for it! I thought afterwards, I have the greatest job in the world working with small groups of children, talking about God and the world, telling stories and being creative. What more could I ask for?

Valentine's Day at our House

2012-02-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

I have wonderful memories of Valentine's Day as a child and I try to pass this on to my children even though Valentine's Day is not really celebrated in our part of Germany. We have a few simple traditions that we began when my oldest was very little and continue year after year.

A little Valentine's ambience.

The day before Valentine's Day, we bake jam-filled Double Thumbprint Cookies (a Martha Stewart recipe that I found years ago). This is great fun for kids, because you roll the dough into two little balls, press them with your thumbs, and make a pointed end to form a heart. After baking, you then fill them with your favorite preserves. This year, we had lemon curd and sour cherry jam on hand! We make enough cookies for us and each of our kids' classes. (The teachers have started looking forward to us bringing something every year!)

Martha's original recipe torn out and
faithfully preserved in my Valentine's folder.
Our cookies never look quite as pristine as hers,
but we probably have more fun!

Then, on Valentine's Day, we make a special "red" meal together. The staple is always spaghetti with meatballs with sides of red peppers or strawberries or whatever we find that is red. A special red drink of cranberry juice in a sugar-coated rim with a lime slice tops it all off. I found these ideas in Family Fun magazine when my son was about a year old and they have been a hit ever since. The meal has gotten more fun over the years, because the kids can now help with it. Last year, my son decided we should make heart-shaped meatballs using a cookie cutter, and this year, he took on the job all by himself.

Our faux Valentine's margarita.
The Family Fun article said, " . . . with this drink,
your kids will feel like a million dollars."
It's true, they do.

Heart-shaped meatballs . . . leave it to my pint-sized
creative genius to think of that one.

"Hurry up, Mom, and take the picture!"

After dinner, we usually read the story of St. Valentine and 1 Corinthians 13 together and talk a bit about what true love and friendship look like.

I was initially overwhelmed thinking about what traditions to pass on to my children, but I have found that a few simple things like these year after year make a lasting impression.

We have a Giveaway Winner!

2012-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Rahelli ,

you have the won the

Montessori Training Giveaway!

With the not-so-high-tech help of my daughter,
your name has just been drawn from the hat!

Rahelli wrote: "Hab grad in der letzten Woche darüber nachgedacht, ob ich nicht einen Montessori Kurs machen sollte und dann les ich deinen Eintrag:) Würd mich freuen, wenn deine Tochter mich zieht." (Translation: I was just thinking last week that I should take a Montessori course and then I read your blog post. It would make me happy if your daughter drew my name.)

I hope that you enjoy Karen's course as much as I have! I will e-mail you Karen's contact information as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who entered! And for those of you who didn't win, I would still encourage you to look into Karen's course. She has several different payment plans, among others to pay $150 up front for the entire course. You won't find a deal like that anywhere else! Click here for more information.

Storytelling

2012-02-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

I am a storyteller. I just didn't know it for many years. I was under the mistaken impression for a long time that you had to be born knowing how to do certain things or be passionate about them from an early age. But I have learned that many things in life just have to grow.

I have always loved stories. Books were my best friends as a kid, and my best memories of my parents are when they read or told bedtime stories to me. My father, in particular, was a great storyteller, and now tells my kids stories about all kinds of things when they visit. And when I look back on my own childhood faith and spiritual development, my happiest memories are of the Bible stories that were told me with flannelgraph figures at church. I was riveted by tales of people like Moses, Deborah and the Apostle Paul. I never tired of hearing about Jesus feeding the 5,000 or his meeting with Zaccheus. Sometime after the third grade, the stories stopped and our Sunday School lessons became "topical" in nature. I became bored with them, and in hindsight, I became bored with God. For many years afterward, "God" in my childhood understanding was a set of rules rather than a Person within whose grand story I was living. (Please understand me, I am not placing blame on the "topical" lessons, but somehow they did not help my particular spiritual style further develop.)

I fell in love with Godly Play, because it was a form of storytelling that brought faith in God to life for children. It helped me see the familiar stories in a new way each time I told them and helped me to explain them to children in a way that honored their own exploration process.

But the idea of telling spontaneous stories always scared the pants off of me. When my kids were small, I started to hear, "Will you tell me a story?" on a regular basis. Even after I had just read several books. For a long time, I was afraid to even try. I would get tongue-tied. I was afraid of failing or disappointing them. But when my son was going through a particularly difficult time, he begged for stories and I began to try. Since he was into dinosaurs and the Corythosaurus (how many adults even know this dinosaur??!!) was his favorite, I made up silly stories about the Corythosaurus family whose adventures paralleled our own. There was a Mom, Dad, Big Brother and Little Sister Corythosaurus who were often running from T-rexes and always got saved by Bob the Pterodactyl's father who swooped down to save them in the nick of time. These stories led to ones for my daughter about "the littlest matryoshka" who is always getting lost and then found, and a little fairy who shoots fire out of her wings and feet when she gets mad and accidentally sets the house on fire. (That paralleled some of my daughter's temper tantrums!)

Little by little, my courage and talent in telling stories has grown. Stories of all kinds. I recently read a wonderful book called Storytelling with Children by Nancy Mellon that has encouraged me even more. (If you read my quote of the week on Sunday, you may have guessed what one of my posts would be about this week!)

There were many valuable things that I read in this book. One is that most everyone is afraid to tell stories at first!! Whether you are doing scripted ones like in Godly Play, telling a fairy tale or making up a story spontaneously, it takes practice. But the more you do it, the more your confidence rises and the more fun it gets. Hence the quote on Sunday, about not giving up!

Nancy Mellon has so many wonderful ideas for stories and suggestions of how to start. She talks about the importance of telling children stories from your own childhood, because it helps your children to form a sense of identity. She writes that even if your childhood wasn't happy, there are still things that you can see anew through a child's eyes and tell stories about. I grew up in suburbia and never thought there was anything very interesting about my childhood. But spurred on by this encouragement, I have come across some simple memories that do indeed make good stories.

In Storytelling for Children, there are good suggestions for creating stories from memories and everyday experiences or how to create stories to help a child through difficult situations like illness or death. There are also ideas about how to use props or incorporate songs and finger games. While I really loved this book, there are times when Mellon's opinions get a bit too esoteric for me. But if you can "swallow the gnats and spit out the camels", so to speak, I highly recommend it.

Since the beginning of the year, I've found myself telling more stories (rather than reading them) to the children in my English classes as I have been reading this book. The oral stories sharpen the children's listening skills and their expressions as they listen are treasures that I will keep with me as long as I live. And it gets easier the more I do it.

I am also gaining more confidence in telling my children unscripted Bible stories. There is not, for example, a Godly Play story about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and this is my daughter's favorite Bible story that she has been asking for lately. So I am working on props to tell it very soon in children's church.

I also have a story that I have been working on about my children's experiences in Uganda. I dream about finishing it someday, having it published, and giving any proceeds from it to the children of the family that we spent so much time with there.

How has storytelling with the children in your life developed? Did it come naturally or was it something that you had to work at?

Winterwald / Winter Forest

2012-02-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Während der Winterferien von der Schule machten wir einen Ausflug in dem beliebten Grünewald. Ich gehe gern zu jeder Jahreszeit in den selben Ort hin, damit die Kinder den Vergleich haben, wie anders der Wald aussehen kann. During the winter holidays from school, we visited our favorite forest, the Grünewald. I love going to this same place in each season so that the kids really notice the differences in the way the forest looks.

Wir üben für den Zirkus!
Practicing our balancing act.

Die Waldfeen bräuchten ein Häuschen . . .
The fairies needed a house . . .

Und wir auch . . .
And so did we . . .

Zum Glück gab's unheimlich viel Äste am Boden.
Fortunately, there were lots of branches lying around!

Und Voila, unser Häuschen! Wenn es ein Sturm gäbe,
weiss ich nicht . . . aber es hat Spass gemacht.
And voila, our little house!
I'm not so sure how it would stand up
to the Big, Bad Wolf, but it sure was fun.

Und mit Leckerei für die Vogel ist alles perfekt geworden.
The final touch: adding a bird feeder.

Beim Spielen auf einem erfrorenen Teich.
Es hat uns inspiriert am nächsten Tag
Schlittschuhlaufen zu fahren.
Playing on a frozen pond.
This inspired us to go ice skating the day after!

Versteck in Sumpfplanzen.
Hide-and-seek among the pond foliage.

Die beliebte Kiesgrube.
Auch der Sand ist im Winter ganz anders.
Our beloved Kiesgrube ("Sand pit").
Even the sand has a different texture in winter.

Drei Stunden in der Kälte macht hungrig! Wir haben uns danach über die deutsche Küche gefreut: Schnitzel, Königsberger Klopse, und gebratene Ente mit Rotkohl.: )

After three hours in the cold we were starving! Fortunately, there was a restaurant

just outside of the forest with some of our favorite winter dishes: Schnitzel, Königsberger Klopse (meatballs in a cream sauce with capers on top of mashed potatoes) and baked duck with red cabbage. Gotta love living in Germany on days like this!

linked to The Magic Onions

Montessori Musings: DIY Moveable Alphabet

2012-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

The moveable alphabet is one of my favorite Montessori materials and one that I use the most both in my English classes and with my own children. I have a really nice wooden one purchased from a German company for 90 Euros that I use at school:

However, I have been wanting a second one for use at home with my children for after-school activities. Without a car, it quickly got old carrying the big one to and from school. I've seen some really great ideas on the internet (see this post from Living Montessori Now and this one from What did we do all day?), and decided to give a DIY a try. It turned out to be an adventure!

First, I purchased these wooden craft letters called "Woodsies" that cost around $10. I chose them because there was a label on the package that told how many of each letter were supposed to inside. I say "supposed to be", because in reality the letters G, Q and X were completely missing! I was a little mad about that and had to make the missing letters out of stiff cardboard. For that reason, I would not recommend this particular brand of wooden letters.

I then painted the consonants red and the vowels blue according to standard Montessori procedure. There were also some numbers included, so I painted them green, since the sandpaper Montessori numbers are always on green boards.

For the case, I purchased this box with 32 compartments for about 5 Euros on Amazon. The measurements of the compartments were not included in the description, so I just crossed my fingers that the letters would fit in. They did! Definitely worth the money!

This project took a lot of time and effort, but it did save me about 70 Euros, which made it worth it. The missing wooden letters were particularly frustrating! But my daughter really loves the smaller moveable alphabet, because she can find the letters easier. And I can easily stick it in my backpack as a second moveable alphabet for my classroom on the days that I need it.

linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

Inspiration for the Week

2012-02-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

"As a parent or grandparent, you have an innate right to be a storyteller. Don't give up! As you practice, the stories and children will give you more and more confidence."

- Nancy Mellon in Storytelling with Children

Just wanted to remind you about the Montessori Training Giveaway to be announced on Feb. 12!

Godly Play: St. Thomas Aquinas

2012-02-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

January 28 was the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas and I told the children his story on this quiet Saturday afternoon. I have to admit that I fell in love with this story of the saint who "thought for God". In this story, we learned that Thomas had many questions about God and wrote pages and pages about God and his two favorite kinds of books, the Bible and those by Aristotle. But in the end, he found that the most important things about God were beyond words and could only be expressed in being close to God.

Our materials for the story of St. Thomas Aquinas

For the story, we needed:
- a St. Thomas figure
- two felt books to represent the Bible and the works of Aristotle
- a wooden ox, because Thomas was called "the silent ox"
- a map of Italy to show where Thomas was from (a piece from a Europe puzzle)
- a bit of straw, because Thomas felt at the end of his life that all he had written was like straw in comparison to being close to God

My 6-year-old daughter, who was so eager to play with the materials as I was making them, said she did not really like the story. (In fact, she is still playing with them as I have added them to our Candlemas Winter nature table.) My 8-year-old son, who was not so impressed by the materials, found the story riveting. I'm not entirely sure if the different reactions were due to age or personality or a combination of both.

Our Wondering phase was fairly quiet until I mentioned that the part of the story that told something about me was that Thomas loved books (just like me!). My son suddenly became attentive again and exclaimed, "I like books, too!" Then, my daughter started examining the felt books and asked if she could draw in them. When I explained that we might need them to tell the story again, she asked if she could make her own book. Since I had some extra felt in a closet, I thought, "Why not?" and pulled out the materials for her. Then, my son decided that he wanted to make one as well. They made the two books pictured below, cutting the felt themselves and binding the paper with a needle and thread. The red one is my daughter's and the black/green one is my son's.

The felt books that my children made during the Creative Phase.

My daughter drew detailed pictures of Mickey Mouse in hers (which is, of course, just fine). Expecting my son to draw super heroes in his, he shocked me by writing out The Lord's Prayer in English in his book. (He knows this prayer much better in German and usually only wants to say it in that language.) Then, he drew a "map of heaven" as he has been trying a lot lately to picture what heaven might be like. Then, he drew detailed sketches of the human body including the outer layer and then the internal organs. And when we visited the Berlin Aquarium on Monday, he insisted on taking the book with him to make sketches of the fish.

A peek inside their felt books.
(I asked their permission to take this picture!)

So suffice it to say that our Creative Phase turned out much differently than I had expected or could have planned. But then again, that is one of my greatest joys in working with children: you never know what they are going to do next!

I will always treasure this story of St. Thomas Aquinas, because of what we learn from his relationship with God and for how my children have perceived and experienced it.

linked to Catholic Icing

Montessori Training Course Giveaway

2012-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Many of you have read my blog posts about the things I have been learning and experimenting with as a result of being a student in Karen Tyler's World Wide Montessori on-line training course. Through my Godly Play training, I became interested in Montessori and wanted to learn more. However, as a mother of two young children with two part-time jobs, attending a Montessori Institute in Berlin was not logistically possible. And most of the on-line courses of study were way out of my price-range. Then, I heard about Karen's course and knew immediately that it was for me.

Karen, who is AMS trained pre-primary teacher with over 30 years of experience, believes that Montessori should be for everyone. Because of this, she offers an on-line course that is unbelievably affordable (read the options here). It can be completed in either 12 or 24 months and at the end you have 12 valuable Montessori albums ranging from the core subjects of Math and Language to extra subjects like Botany and Geography. (If you had to buy albums like these from a Montessori supplier, they would cost far more than the cost of Karen's course!) You work at your own pace, but are able to be a part of an on-line community for discussion and advice. Karen also offers personal consultations per Skype as well. While the course is aimed at work with preschool children, I have been able to use the principles and much of the material in my work with both preschool and elementary-aged children. The course is perfect for home-schooling parents, children's ministry workers, teachers or anyone working with children who would like to learn more about Montessori! For more details on the course, please see Karen's website.

Now for the amazing offer: Karen is beginning a new class on March 1 and one lucky reader will win a place in her class tuition-free and be the proud owner of 12 Montessori albums!!

For a chance to win this Montessori Training Course giveaway, please leave a comment below stating why you would like to take Karen's course. On Sunday, Feb. 12, I will let my daughter draw the lucky winner's name from a hat. (No high-tech drawing programs here!)

Extra entries if you blog about the giveaway on your blog and link it back to Explore and Express. Just leave me a note in the comments with a link. This giveaway is open to anyone anywhere in the world!

Empowering Children to Serve

2012-01-31T23:35:00.000-08:00

In Children's Ministry that Fits: Beyond the One-Size Fits All Approaches to Nurturing Children's Spirituality, David Csinos writes about four spiritual "styles"(or ways of drawing closer to God) among children: word-based, emotional, symbolic and action-oriented. Of all these styles, the action-oriented one can be the most challenging style for most churches or parents to facilitate (for children in particular), because it requires observation, creativity, planning and lots of flexibility.

While this is not the dominant style of many children, I am committed to exposing children to ways that they can serve with the hope and prayer that we as a church are empowering them to use their gifts to make a difference in the world. I am learning more about how to do this all the time and one of my teachers just happens to be my 8-year-old son . . .

Coming to and from school we pass a lot of homeless people who appear to have alcohol and drug problems. When he was about 4 years old, my son heard the story of St. Martin giving half of his coat to a beggar for the first time. Since then, he has been very concerned about the homeless and has wanted to help them. This year, during Advent, he expressed the desire to take them some gifts. After Christmas Day was over, when we had time off from school, I suggested that we bake cookies to distribute. We baked all day, my son tied all the packages with ribbon, and then my husband set out with both children to pass them out. Well, on that particular day it was cold and rainy, so they didn't find anyone . . . not one person in all the usual places. And then they set out on another day and the same thing happened . . . not a single person to be found. Pretty frustrating . . .

So when some friends from our Serve the City chapter decided to throw a party at the local Salvation Army soup kitchen, the kids and I decided to join in . . .

Friends from Serve the City

As soon as we got there, my son, who doesn't like crowds, got a bit shy. To help him overcome his shyness, he wore a headband pushed down close to his eyes.: ) A Serve the City friend helped him pull out some board games and he immediately got into an intense game of Sorry! with an elderly lady.

An intense game of Sorry!

We also baked chocolate chip cookies (again!) for the occasion and they turned out to be a huge hit with the regular visitors. Every single one was eaten!

My son eventually chatted with several of the people sitting at the tables. I asked him afterwards how he felt about the whole experience and he said that he had a blast! I am sure that he brightened the day of some of the visitors to the Salvation Army that day, and he also got some valuable experience in mixing with people who are different from him.

Dad and friend giving a mini-concert for everyone.

My six-year-old was a little too young and didn't have such a great time. She complained about being bored a lot and was not really in the mood to talk to anyone. Oh well, it was another lesson for me about what kinds of projects are best for which age groups.

I'm really glad that we took a couple of hours out on a Saturday afternoon to do this. My son was able to give in child-friendly, age-appropriate way and I know that the action side of his spirituality is being developed through it.

I'd love to hear more about service projects that you have done with children. If you would like to share, please leave your ideas or links in the comments!

linked to One Hook Wonder

and The Magic Onions

and Sarah Bessey's Practice of Parenting Carnival

Sensorimotor Worship: Caring for a Pet

2012-01-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

Sensorimotor Worship* can be defined as a spiritual lesson or experience that involves all of the five senses and incorporates visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles.

Animals are a unique part of God's creation and the Christian scriptures teach love and respect for them. From Adam's tender care of them in the Creation Story to the exhortation in Proverbs that " . . . a righteous man cares for the needs of his animal . . . " to Isaiah's prophecy that someday the lion will co-exist in peace with the lamb, one can see that part of honoring God is taking care of the animals that he creates. And whether you are religious or not, you can't easily miss the wonder in a child's eyes when they come into contact with an animal or dismiss the therapeutic effect that pets have on lonely people. Animals are amazing and taking care of them can be a part of showing love to our Creator.

My son received a hamster for his 8th birthday last August. "Hammy", as we call her, has become a member of the family. When Hammy first came into our home, we explained to our son that he was being given the awesome responsibility of taking care of one of God's creatures. He would be the primary caregiver by daily feeding the hamster and cleaning her cage. Along the way, Hammy has also provided some important spiritual lessons:

Lesson #1: Responsibility for another living thing. Learning the value of being a caregiver as a child can certainly make it more natural when that child becomes an adult. Also, in an age where children are often exposed to violence in the media, caring for a pet cultivates the value of life and the natural world.

Lesson #2: Choosing to love and respect even when you don't necessarily feel appreciated. Hammy was not an easy hamster at first. She bit often and my son ran to us many times with a bleeding finger and crying that Hammy didn't appreciate all that he did for her. (We, of course, explained to him that Hammy wasn't being "mean", but rather signaling that she was scared or didn't want to be bothered at the moment with the only means of communication that she posesses.)

Lesson #3: Consistency. With few exceptions, my son cleans Hammy's cage every other day no matter how tired he is or how late it is. Hammy depends on him, and since our son is not naturally an organized person, this helps teach him rhythm and discipline. (For this reason, many Montessori curriculums recommend pet care for children.)

These are all things lessons that we need to understand and reflect the character of God (no matter how big or small we are!). How fun to learn them through one of His cutest creations!

* "Sensorimotor worship" is a term coined by Dr. Sonya Stewart, co-creator of Young Children and Worship, that is rooted in the Montessori educational philosophy. I use it to describe spiritual experiences involving the five senses beyond the church envirionment.

Inspiration for the Week

2012-01-29T14:09:00.000-08:00

"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."

-Carl Jung

Art & Child Development: Two Great Resources

2012-01-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

If you want to set up an artistic atmosphere for children where they can explore the world of art, then it is helpful to know something about the developmental stages that young artists go through. The ability to recognize what stage a child is in can help you set up user-friendly ways for him/her to make art, treasure their baby steps and also keep you from overwhelming the child by demanding more than he/she is developmentally ready for.

When my son was very young, and although I was artistic myself, I was fairly clueless about child development and how to even begin doing art with him. I knew enough to start with finger paints when he was about a year old, but that was about it. I began to do some research and stumbled upon some great resources that I have learned a lot from. And two of these resources can be found for free on-line.

The first, Drawing Development in Children, is a pamphlet of sorts compiled by Susan K. Donley based on the work of Viktor Lowenfeld and Betty Edwards. It provides concise explanations of the various developmental stages that children ages 2-12 experience in drawing. Click below to view the pamphlet.

Drawing Development in Children

The second, Young in Art, is "a developmental look at child art" written by Dr. Craig Roland, a professor of art at the University of Florida. An easy read with helpful real-life examples of different stages, I often go back to this for a quick reference.

Young in Art

Roland also includes examples of constructive questions to ask a child about their work in order to encourage their verbal skills. For example, he advises caregivers of children in the scribbling stage: "As the child gains control of scribbling, comment on the variety of movements and different marks the child has made . . . As the child starts naming his or her scribbles, listen to the child’s comments and use the meanings offered by the child as a source for dialogue." Doesn't that make more sense than the negative commentary usually give to scribbles?

I hope these articles are as helpful to you as they were to me! And I hope that you'll never look at scribbling quite the same again!

linked to The Magic Onions

Art at our House: Super Heroes

2012-01-25T09:51:00.000-08:00

When my son was about 6 years old, he became frustrated when trying to draw human figures and asked me to teach him how to draw them better. I gave him some lessons and tips found in Mona Brook's Drawing with Children. (If you are new to my blog, I am a huge fan of the "Monart" method and highly recommend it, especially if you are uneasy with your drawing skills, but want your children to learn to draw.)

Brooks divides the body into a series of circles and tubes that make body parts easier to "see". She does the same with the head and neck and then gives helpful tips and examples of how to position facial features in kid-friendly language and illustrations.

Well, after those short lessons, my son, who had drawn mostly animals before, started drawing all kids of people - real ones, characters from films and more than a few made-up ones. These days he is into super heroes. So, we have sketchbooks and literally reams of paper filled with drawings of super heroes.

This is "Sonnemensch" ("Sun Man"), one of his made-up super heroes.
Sonnemensch harnesses energy from the sun and puts it to useful purposes.

At first I was a bit uneasy about his preoccupation with super heroes and wondered if we were exposing him to too much pop culture. "Wouldn't he be better off drawing more plants, animals and trees?" I thought. But apparently, he is just doing what comes naturally to boys aged 8-10. (He's 8 as of this writing.) Renowned art educators Betty Edwards and Viktor Lowenfeld write this in Creative and Mental Growth about what they term "The Stage of Complexity": "At nine or ten years, children try for more detail, hoping to achieve greater realism, a prized goal. Concern for where things are in their drawings is replaced by concern for how things look-- particularly tanks, dinosaurs, super heroes, etc. for boys . . . "

Almost the entire Marvel Universe on one sheet of paper.

And Craig Roland, an art professor at the University of Florida, writes in Young in Art that " . . .while many children simply copy their favorite super heroes and comic-book characters, some also invent their own characters and narrative plots . . . Rather than discourage such creative activity, teachers and parents should take full advantage of children’s fascination with popular culture and use it to develop their drawing abilities beyond the most basic level."

So, my sweet child is right on schedule and I can relax a little. And admire the amazing developmental steps that he is making: )

Making St. Thomas Aquinas

2012-01-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

Homemade materials for the Godly Play story of St. Thomas Aquinas

Last week in this post, I mentioned that I had purchased Godly Play Volume 7 and was planning on telling my children the story of St.Thomas Aquinas on January 28. Because the materials are expensive and I also wasn't entirely satisfied with the suggested materials, I began making a St. Thomas peg doll.

After carefully studying images of St. Thomas from the internet, such as the one below . . .

Source: http://www.marypages.com

I began the work. First, I painted the peg doll's hair and white monk's robe. I intentionally left off any facial features (other than the distinctive haircut) to encourage the children to use their own imaginations during the Wondering phase. (For a great discussion of why this is a good practice, please see this post by Storyteller at Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way.) Then, I cut out three pieces of felt: two brown ones for the monk's cloak and a yellow dot to represent the sun that usually depicts St. Thomas' heart.

Voila! With the help of a little glue and thread, St. Thomas Aquinas emerged . . .

Below are the completed materials for the story:
- St. Thomas
- a wooden ox from our Nativity since St. Thomas was called the "silent ox"
- his two favorite kinds of books, the Bible and anything by Aristotle, made with red felt and paper
- a bit of straw to represent the important revelation at the end of his life

And just for fun, here is the fire stacking toy that I am painting for Pentecost. My son saw it and said. "Wow, that's the burning bush that Moses saw!" (Brilliant - why didn't I think of that?) I've always been a fan of these, but they cost around 30 Euros each. Through another website, I found unpainted DIY ones at Clickety Clack that are very affordable. They are beautiful and well-cut, so I highly recommend them.

Stay tuned to see how the storytelling goes!

linked to Frontier Dreams

Inspiration for the Week

2012-01-22T05:07:00.000-08:00

"Education is the most interesting and difficult adventure in life. Educating – from the Latin educere – means leading young people to move beyond themselves and introducing them to reality, towards a fullness that leads to growth. . . . For this reason, today more than ever we need authentic witnesses, and not simply people who parcel out rules and facts; we need witnesses capable of seeing farther than others because their life is so much broader. A witness is someone who first lives the life that he proposes to others."

- Pope Benedict XVI (Message Celebrating World Day of Peace, 2012)

Winter Nature Table

2012-01-19T06:05:00.000-08:00

. . . with a Candlemas theme

On Candlemas (February 2) we remember the story of Baby Jesus being presented in the temple. We rejoice with Simeon and Anna that God's gift to the world has come, and that we, who might otherwise walk in darkness, have a Light.

Beside Giotto's painting of Jesus' Presentation in the Temple are beeswax candles that my son made at school before Christmas.

Baby Jesus has moved from the Nature Nativity to a bed of soft snow with a path leading to the forest. My son's favorite whittling stick turns into a tree adorned with snow-covered pine cones recycled from our Advent candles.

Our Christ Candle is surrounded by acorns that we found on our recent trip to Georgia (a type of acorn that we haven't seen here) where winter looks and feels much different than it does in Germany.

Lord,

You are the fullness of life, of holiness, of joy.

Fill our days and nights with the love of your wisdom,

that we may bear fruit in the beauty of your holiness,

like a tree watered by running streams.

Linked to The Magic Onions

and Natural Suburbia

and Sharing Saturday at Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart to Heart

and Raising Memories

and Monday Madness at Art 4 Little Hands and Let Kids Create

A Fun Treat

2012-01-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last week my daughter and I made an unexpected trip to the States to visit my Mom, who has been very sick. Seeing her granddaughter was the best medicine in the world for her, and we are so thankful that she is much stronger now. While there, I picked up a treat for us . . .

The latest Godly Play Handbook: Volume 7,
16 enrichment sessions focusing on the lives of the saints

Volume 7 is not yet available in continental Europe and there are no plans of yet to translate it into German. I bought it mainly as a supplement for my own kids, although I am sure that I will do some rough translations in the future for German-speaking children. This is also the first GP material that I have ever owned in English, so that makes it all the more exciting.

I have been reading the stories devotionally and wondering on my own. I really like the stories, but am not sure about some of the suggested materials. The individual stories call for props that relate to the saint's life (for example, a wooden ox for St. Thomas Aquinas and a hazelnut for Julian of Norwich) and then a booklet featuring a picture of the saint, a map of his/her home country, a timeline and then the full story of his/her life. Though informative, the booklets do not seem very playful to me. I am pretty certain that my children would not be very interested in them.

St. Thomas Aquinas set with booklet from Godly Play Resources

While Godly Play Resources does make flat wooden figures of the saints for the introductory lesson entitled "Introduction to the Communion of the Saints", they cost $127; so needless to say, I won't be buying them anytime soon.

Sooooo . . . . I am currently working on a peg doll right now for St. Thomas.: ) I plan on telling the story on Jan. 28, which is his feast day. I'll let you know what the kids think.

The future St. Thomas along with a stacking flame
that I am painting for Pentecost.

Inspiration for the Week

2012-01-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

A thought as we move into "Ordinary Time" . . .

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

-Mohandes K. "Mahatma" Gandhi

and a prayer . . .

Lord,

You are the fullness of life, of holiness, of joy.

Fill our days and nights with the love of your wisdom,

that we may bear fruit in the beauty of your holiness,

like a tree watered by running streams.

(Source: ChurchYear.net)

Pioneering Godly Play in Russia

2012-01-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Experimenting with Godly Play in Moscow.

My friend, Asmic, whom I have written about in this post, is pioneering Godly Play in a Russian language context. She is incorporating Godly Play into ministry with her own children, their friends and children at her church. In bringing Godly Play to a new context or culture, there are all kinds of things to consider. Will the symbols and original language of the story communicate what we are wanting to communicate? What do we do if they don’t? How should the materials look and how do we get them?

This year, Asmic invited several children from their local elementary school and their parents to a Godly Play Advent afternoon. She decided to tell the Godly Play Advent stories in one session. (GP Storytellers have the option of telling them in four parts or all at one time.) In considering how to best translate the story into her culture, she wrote, “It's not traditional in Russian culture to light Advent candles or have a wreath. Even to me it's something I have to get used to and just learnt about. I have an idea of incorporating art masterpieces into the GP story. I've seen pictures on plywood cards in some GP materials. So I had an idea of printing up some artwork depicting Isaiah, Mary and Joseph, the Magi, and glueing them on the cards instead of those with candles.”

In Russian culture whose religious language and symbolism has been impacted for centuries by Orthodoxy, wreaths, for example, are not at all associated with Advent. Rather they are usually only seen at funerals. I found this very astute and wise of Asmic to consider what works best in her context rather than to merely import something from the West.

Many people find GP daunting at first, because of the materials. There is not, of course, a GP supplier in Russia and importing the materials from Europe is not a cost-effective solution. So, Asmic dealt with the situation by making her own Advent cards for the story. Then, she asked a friend to cut wooden figures for her, and used her children’s wooden blocks for the model of Bethlehem.

She writes, “I was very pleased with how the materials came out. I changed the cards, since doing the silhouettes would be simply repeating the wooden figures. So, I found online some masterpieces depicting the characters, had them printed on a matte paper in a nearby shop, and then glued them on 20x20cm cardboards. I loved Giotto di Bondone’s images which you used in The Mystery of Christmas! I used one of them, too. Since most of the art depicts the shepherds and wise men already adoring Christ, I didn’t want to bring it on the scene too early. So I had pictures of Mary and Joseph, the magi and shepherds on the way to Bethlehem, and on the other side put the adoration ones. I reversed them with the words ‘today ALL of us are in Bethlehem to meet the Christ child’.”

Asmic's alternative to the traditional Godly Play Advent cards.

“On the Tuesday before Christmas, we had the party for my son’s classmates. We had 6 first graders come and one brought his 4-year-old sister. Their moms got to stay too. The original plan was the story, the creative phase, and then tea & cakes. For the creative phase, I was going to have the kids draw their favourite character of the story and then make a nativity scene with all of them. I also wanted to challenge them to think of others in the season of waiting for presents from Ded Moroz (“Grandfather Frost”). So another option was to make a card for someone who they think needs some extra love now, including their teacher whose mother is badly ill.”

Well, as anyone who works with children knows, the best-laid of our plans have a way of changing depending on the mood of the children at that particular time.: ) Asmic writes further, “But telling the story turned into a real challenge. While waiting for everyone to come the kids played some crazy games that involved swords and shields, so it took a while to cool them off and sit down. I started off with a question about what they think Christmas is about. Most answers were that it’s a time for playing in the snow, sledding, skating and having fun, for the tree and presents, etc. One girl said it was the birth of Jesus Christ and was 'corrected' by the other - 'No, it’s Easter when Christ was born.' I showed them how to sit with their legs crossed, but still they stretched them and moved the materials. I explained we will have a special time to talk and ask questions later, but they kept asking me and wanting to tell me something. When I began lighting the candles, they wanted to turn off the light – and they did twice without asking me!”

The Advent figures cut by a friend and the children's blocks
that Asmic used to make a model of Bethlehem.

“The wondering phase turned into a wandering phase. I tried to ask some questions, but lost their attention. They were fascinated by the snuffer and I let each one of them snuff the candles for several times. It turned out to be the most exciting thing. Not wanting to force them to do anything more, I let them get back to play.”

Exactly the right thing to do! If the kids aren’t able to pay attention any longer, it’s useless to force them. The space, the type of storytelling, and the Christmas story itself were new to these children and no one can expect them to get it the first time. I’ve also learned that when we think children aren’t paying the least bit of attention, they still soak in all kinds of important things.

“The party itself was a good thing. The kids had a blast and the moms got some kind of a team-building experience. I LOVE these ladies and feel so blessed to be given such a gift of friendship!” Asmic concludes.

Implementing Godly Play and working with children are an amazing adventure! The thing I love the most about Asmic’s journey is that she is stepping out and doing it. She is not waiting for the perfect moment or all the right materials. And that is something that I want to encourage everyone with a vision for GP to do. We learn the most by simply doing. And God takes our baby steps and brings something beautiful from them.

Epiphany Ideas

2012-01-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

This year for Epiphany my daughter and I will be on a plane travelling to see a sick family member, so I will probably not be able to try out any new ideas. But here are some ideas from last year's post just in case you are looking for inspiration:

Warm/Cool Color Epiphany Star

A classic Montessori exercise for training motor skills:
wrapping wooden blocks as "presents" for the Christ Child

And of course, telling the Godly Play enrichment story of Epiphany.
The children actually get to see gold, frankincense and myrrh!

Linked to Monday Madness at Let Kids Create and Art 4 Little Hands

Montessori Musings: Sound Cylinders/Geräuschdosen

2012-01-02T05:40:00.000-08:00

Handmade set of 6 Sound Cylinders.
Handgemachtes Set von 6 Geräuschdosen.

We did a lot of baking during Advent this year and used a lot of cookie decorating sprinkles. Dr. Oetker, the German Betty Crocker, sells their sprinkles in plastic cylinders. Each time one of those cylinders was empty, I thought to myself, "What a waste to throw these away . . . I should make something out of them." But what? Wir haben während Advent oft gebacken und deswegen viel Gebackschmück gekauft. Bei Dr. Oetker gibt's das Zeug in netten Plastikdosen. Es tat mir immer Leid die Dosen einfach wegzuschmeissen, und ich habe mich gefragt, was ich aus ihnen machen könnten.

And then when pondering what sort of educational and age-appropriate gift to give a friend's two-year-old son, I had an idea. They'd be perfect for homemade Montessori sound cylinders. Sound cylinders are part of the standard Montessori Sensorial materials for preschoolers. They come in two colors and the child must figure out which two cylinders make the same sound. A cylinder from each color corresponds to one of the other color. Als ich überlegte, was ich dem zweijährigen Sohn einer Freundin schenken könnte, das altersgerecht und pädagogisch sinnvoll wäre, habe ich plötzlich eine Idee bekommen. Sie wären perfekt für Montessori Geräuschdosen! Geräuschdosen gehören zu Sinnesmaterial in der Montessori Kindergartenpädagogik. Sie bestehen aus Dosen in zwei Farben. Das Kind muss die Geräusche unterscheiden und die entsprechenden Paare aussuchen.

This is how the original cylinders looked.
Die Dosen von Dr. Oetker sahen so aus.

Step 1: Paint the insides of the cylinders. Mine took 2 days to dry.
Schritt 1: Male die Innenseite der Dosen. Meine haben 2 Tage gebraucht auszutrocknen.

Step 2: Fill with granular material. I used decorative gravel, polenta and glass beads.
Step 3: Glue the lids with a non-toxic glue.
Schritt 2: Fülle die Dosen mit fein- und grobkörnigem Material.
(Ich habe Maisgrieß, Kieselsteine und Glassteine benutzt.)
Schritt 3: Klebe die Deckel mit giftfreiem Bastelleim.

I also included a note explaining to our small friend's parents the purpose of the Sound Cylinders and for safety reasons to only let him play with them when they were in the room. (Just in case he somehow managed to get them open!) Ich habe auch Hinweise an den Eltern von dem Kleinen geschrieben und sie aus Sicherheitsgründen gebeten, dass er nur mir den Dosen in ihrer Gegenwart spielt. (In dem Fall, dass er die Deckel doch offen kriegen könnte!)

Our small friend received his gift on New Year's Eve and played with it on and off the whole evening happily comparing each sound to the others! Unser kleiner Freund hat sein Geschenk zu Sylvester bekommen und die Freude war groß!

linked to Montessori Monday

Russian New Year: "Yolka"

2011-12-29T12:31:00.000-08:00

We have a lot of Russian friends in Berlin and one of them invited us to the traditional "Yolka" celebration. "Yolka" is the word for Christmas tree in Russian. (It can also mean fir tree depending on the context.) As I mentioned in this post, holiday trees and presents in Russia are given at New Year's and not connected at all with Christmas. However, because Christmas is huge in Germany, a Russian-speaking organization in our neighborhood, Karussel e.V., puts on a the "Yolochka" just before Christmas rather than at New Year's.

Having just been to Russia in November, my daughter was thrilled to be going! Children usually wear costumes for the celebration and my daughter wanted to go as "Snegurochka" ("Snow Maiden"), the granddaughter of Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost", the Russian version of Santa Claus).

Braiding the hair is an important aspect of any event for little Russian girls . . .

In the Snegurochka outfit, sitting on the front row, waiting for the theatre piece about Ded Moroz. (Of which she didn't understand more than a handful of words!)

Ded Moroz and Snegurochka leading the children in a dance around the Yolochka. Notice that Ded Moroz's hat is flat on top and does not have the pointy tip and pom-pom that Santa's has.

Enjoying the goodies from Ded Moroz!

С наступающим Новым Годом!

Happy New Year!

Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!

Christmas Eve / Heiligabend 2011

2011-12-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

In Germany, the crescendo to the holiday festivities is Christmas Eve. In Berlin on this day, called "Heiligabend" ("Holy Evening" in German), people gather with family and friends for a special meal and opening presents. And many people also attend Christmas services at church even if they aren't that interested in religion the rest of the year.

Our church plant's tradition is to have a special Christmas Brunch together and then go to a local hospital to sing Christmas carols for the patients. This year after the meal, the adults gathered together for a short time of worship and I had a special service for the children. Since the other kids in our project were away for the holidays, it was just my two kids and me.

I had saved an orange crate a couple of weeks ago with the idea of turning it into a manger. Frontier Dreams has a lovely post about growing grass for the manger that I want to try next year. However, I started too late this year, so I have to admit that I used the nesting grass we buy for our hamster instead.:) I made a simple altar in the kitchen with nativity figures, the Christ Candle and the Godly Play Christmas board and placed the manger on the floor in front of it.

My daughter immediately wanted to know why it was empty and offered to get one of her dolls to put in it. I told her it was empty on purpose and reminded her that Advent was a time of preparing our hearts to receive God's gift of Jesus. Today we would receive God's gift new and fresh in our lives and I didn't want to put a specific "face" on that gift.

At the same time, we would also think about what we wanted to give Jesus as a gift. I then gave each of us some modeling clay and told the kids that we would make something out of clay that we want to give Jesus. It was a very informal, sweet moment with my children and God.

Some of our gifts for Jesus.

My daughter working on her gifts for Jesus.

This was our third year in a row to sing at the hospital and it has come to be one of my favorite parts of Christmas. The patients are usually elderly and the familiar songs bring comfort to them as they spend Christmas Eve in strange place. Each year we have seen men and women moved to tears as we sing. We take our kids along and that it is an added blessing for the patients to see happy, healthy children.

Our singing group.

My son is old enough to read the words to the songs now!

Our family Christmas portrait.

Being Americans, my kids have to wait until Christmas Day to open their presents. They don't seem to mind even though all their friends get to open theirs on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is then a very relaxed day of being together, playing games and eating good food. (My husband and I bake a goose each year.)

And in Germany, we get two days for Christmas. Dec. 26 is also an official holiday and most businesses are closed as well. Everyone spends the day with family and resting from the previous stress. It's a great tradition and I think that every country should have two days for Christmas!

We spent our second Christmas day by taking a stroll in the park, playing games, learning with my daughter to knit (she got knitting needles and a how-to book for Christmas) and watching "A Christmas Carol".

Hope the next few days are peaceful for you as we count down to 2012!

2011-12-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Have a joyous Christmas!

Frohe Weihnachten!

"A Gift for Our City" - Part 3

2011-12-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Hier ist die aufregende Klimax der AdventsAG 2011, "Ein Geschenk für unsere Stadt"! In unserer dritten und letzten Woche zusammen waren wir bereit einen "kleinen Schritt" zu machen und der Stadt etwas zu schenken zu Weihnachten. Was schenkt man einer ganzen Stadt? Möglichst etwas, wovon viele profitieren können. Und deshalb haben wir uns für eine Müll-Sammeln-Aktion in einem Park nahe der Schule entschieden. Here's the exciting conclusion! In our third and final week of Advent Club, we were ready to take a "small step" together and give our city a Christmas gift. What do you give a whole city? Well, you try and give something that will benefit a lot of people in some small way. We decided that our gift would be to pick up trash in a park near our school.

Wir suchten einen von den Kindern bekannten Platz aus, damit unser "kleiner Schritt" konkret und sinnvoll für die Kinder wäre. In dieser Gegend wird der Müll oft schneller auf den Boden geworfen als die BSR aufräumen kann. Die BSR hat uns vorher mit Handschuhen, Steckern, und großen Mülltütten gut ausgerüstet. Die Kinder fanden die Stecker besonders toll! We chose a place that the kids knew well, so that our "small step" would be something concrete and meaningful for them. Our school is also in an area that a lot of tourists visit, so often the trash gets thrown down faster than the city's sanitation service, the BSR, can pick it up. The BSR graciously provided us with gloves, tongs to pick up the trash and large blue trash bags. The kids loved the tongs!

Am Tag der geplannten Aktion haben wir Donnerwetter gehabt und ich habe mich darauf vorbereitet, dass wir vielleicht die Aktion absagen müssen. Aber von Mittag bis ungefähr 16 Uhr hörte der Regen auf. Wir haben dann ein bisschen Sonne bei der Aktion gehabt und blieben trocken. Dann sobald die AG vorbei war, fing es wieder an zu regnen.: ) On the day that we planned to do the trash pick-up, it was raining cats and dogs and I had even prepared myself that we might have to cancel it if the weather didn't clear up by the afternoon. But from about lunchtime to 4pm, the skies were clear and we had lots of light. Then, as soon as the Advent Club was over, it started raining again.: )

Die Kinder haben unterschiedlich reagiert. Für manche war es die reine Freude . . .

The reactions of the kids ranged from sheer glee . . .

Andere fanden die Arbeit ziemlich ekelhaft . . .

to being fairly grossed out . . .

Dieser Junge meldete sich für die AG nur wegen der Müll-Aktion

und seine Leistung war unglaublich!

This guy signed up for the Advent Club just so he could pick up trash and he was amazing!

Wir haben eine ganze Stunde Müll gesammelt, was für Grundschulkinder eine lange Zeit ist. Einige Anwohner haben uns beobachtet und sich bei uns bedankt. We picked up trash for an hour, which is a long time for elementary school children! We also were thanked several times by grateful passers-by who couldn't believe that children were doing this voluntarily.

Jede Ecke untersucht . . .

Searching every nook and cranny . . .

Als die Stecker sich in Licht-Schwerte verwandelt haben, gaben wir die Müll-Tütten an der Schule ab und gingen in die Kirche zu feiern! Just as the pick-up tongs turned into light sabers, we deposited our trash bags at the school and headed to the church down the street to celebrate our time together.

Mit Kakao, Lebkuchen, und Spekulatius, haben wir die Aktion ausgewertet. Obwohl ein paar Jungs das Müll-Sammeln so toll wie den eigenen Geburtstag fanden, haben die meisten die Aktion als harte Arbeit wahrgenommen. Sie haben festgestellt, es kostet uns manchmal etwas um anderen zu helfen. Und hoffentlich in der Zukunft werden die Kinder empfinden, dass die Kosten sich lohnen. Over hot chocolate, gingerbread and cookies, we discussed how our time had been together. Though some of the boys thought it was the most fun they had ever had, most everyone else agreed that it had been hard work. We realized together that sometimes it costs us something to do something for others. And hopefully the kids will find in the future that the cost is worth it.

Frohe Weihnachten, Berlin!

Merry Christmas, Berlin!

Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of our Advent Story if you haven't read them yet!

Linked to The Magic Onions

"A Gift for Our City" - Part 2

2011-12-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

Diese Woche in der AdventsAG, "Ein Geschenk für unsere Stadt", haben wir die ganze Weihnachtsgeschichte gehört. Und über viele Fragen gewundert. Warum braucht man vier Wochen um sich für Weihnachten zu vorbereiten? Woran denken wir bei jedem Adventssonntag? Warum ist Gott als kleines, hilfloses Baby auf die Erde zu uns gekommen statt als großer, mächtiger König mit Palast und Reichtum. Und was bedeutet diese ganze unglaubliche Geschichte für uns als Kinder in unserer Stadt? This week in Advent Club, "A Gift for our City", we heard the whole Christmas story and wondered together about several questions. Why do we need four weeks to prepare ourselves for Christmas? What do we think about on the different Advent Sundays? Why did God come as a small, helpless baby to earth instead of as a powerful king with an army, palace and riches? Und what does this crazy story mean for us as children in our city?

Die Godly Play Geschichte hier erzählt die Weihnachtsgeschichte
und was man im Advent zu bedenken hat.
The Godly Play story of Advent tells the Christmas story
and why we need four weeks of preparation.

Am Ende haben wir die Kindern mit diesen Gedanken gelassen: das Licht von Weihnachten können wir das ganze Jahr mit uns überall mitnehmen. Und wie Jesus mit kleinen Schritten angefangen hat, der Welt Gutes zu tun, so können wir auch. Und Gott nimmt unsere kleine Schritte und macht etwas Schönes daraus. At the end we left the children with these thoughts: the Light of Christmas is something that we can keep with us the whole year and take with us everywhere we go. Just as Jesus began by taking small steps (that eventually had a great impact!), we can start taking small steps to help the world as well. And God will take our small steps and make something beautiful come out of them.

So . . . wir machen nächste Woche einen kleinen Schritt zusammen und schenken unserer Stadt etwas! Was kann man einer ganzen Stadt schenken? Ich verrate nicht, ihr musst auf die nächste Folge warten!! So. . . next week we will take a small step together and give our city a Christmas present. What can you give a whole city? I'm not going to give it away, so you'll just have to wait until the next post to find out!

In der Kreativphase haben die Kinder wieder einige Angebote gehabt: 1) mit dem Geschichtematerial zu spielen; 2) malen mit Ölkreide; 3) Anhänger aus Bienenwachs anzufertigen; 4) eine Weihnachtskrippe aus Naturzeug zu basteln. Das letzte war der absolut Hit mit den Kindern! In the creative phase after the story, the children again had several options: 1) play with the story materials; 2) draw with oil pastels; 3) make tree ornaments out of beeswax; 4) make a nature nativity. The last option was the big hit with the kids!

Schaut mal, was für Ideen die Kinder hatten:

Look at the great ideas that the kids had:

ein bisschen Schnee . . .

a little snow . . .

einen Weihnachtsstern aus Ton . . .

make a Christmas star out of clay . . .

Maria und Joseph hinzufügen . . .

add Mary and Joseph . . .

ein Häuschen fürs Christkind . . .
a hut for Baby Jesus . . .

ein Turm für die Kerze . . .

a tower for the candle . . .

Die letze Folge kommt bald!

Stay tuned, the last episode is coming soon!

Falls ihr Teil 1 verpasst habt, findet ihr hier.

Changing the Story to fit the context: "The Great Family"

2011-12-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well as promised . . . what exactly are Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus doing in the desert with Isaac and Rebekah?

The Godly Play story, "The Great Family", is from the faith genre and helps children deal with the question of identity. It tells the story of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah to make them in to a great nation that would be a blessing to all the earth. The way the story is presented is pure genius and I love telling it. However, as I have told this story the past few months in two different languages and two different contexts, I found the need to make a few adjustments.

The change in the picture above was in the context of an Advent Club for German elementary school children. I chose to tell the story of Abraham and Sarah, because I wanted the children to consider where Jesus came from, what kind of family he was born into, and where he learned to take small steps of faith. This story does a great job of helping answer these questions, especially with the small changes that I made.

Why did I need to make changes? First of all, the German version of the story does not mention Jesus. (Does the original English story mention him? I recently saw Jesus in this story on someone's blog, but I`m not sure if it was added as well.) The German version ends with Isaac and Rebekah having children, their children having children, etc. Then, it mentions that the Great Family produced the Jewish people, that the worldwide Christian Church also came to be as a result of this Great Family, and that the children are now themselves a part of the Great Family. It is an appropriate way to end the story. But for Advent, bringing Jesus into the story sheds a very important light on how the Old Testament is connected to the New.

Secondly, there are children in the Advent Club who don't necessarily believe in God and don't consider themselves Christians. The GP story was originally written for children within an Episcopal parish context with many children who were growing up in the church. The last line says, " . . . and one day your grandparents had children, and then your parents had you, and now you are a part of the Great Family". To assume that, however, with the Advent Club kids would be to deny their current worldviews and their ability to think and choose.

So . . . after the sentence about the Jewish people arising from the Great Family, I told the children that, " . . . one day Mary was born in to this family; Joseph was born into this family, too; and then Jesus himself, the Christ Child, was born into this Great Family. Jesus opened the door for everyone who wants to be a part of this Great Family to become a part of it. This is how the Christian Church came to be. And if you wish to be, you can a part of this Great Family, too."

The other time that I changed this story was in November when I told it in a Russian church in Irkutsk. Again, I was in a context where most of the children's grandparents and great-grandparents were / had been staunch atheists. I couldn't be intellectually honest with my listeners and use the normal text. So, again, I brought Jesus into the story and told them that He opened the door for us all to be a part of the Great Family.

For me, Godly Play is a tool (a brilliant one!), but not a canon. I would never completely change the stories and still call them Godly Play. However, I do feel that there are times when one has to consider the audience and one's own theological persuasions.

Four Candles Burning

2011-12-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Fourth Advent! This week at church, we heard the Godly Play story, "The Mystery of Christmas". This story is based on a series of frescos by Giotto and contains parts of the Christmas story that are not as frequently told, but nonetheless important. The story was written for older children, so I left out some parts for the younger children in our group.

The panels are normally found in a wooden, golden parable box. Since I only had a backpack today to transport my materials in, I wrapped them in gold paper with a bow. The children immediately made the connection with the parables before I began speaking.

"This is the most mysterious parable of all: that God became a human being, that He entered our world as a baby . . . "

I didn't tell this story last year, because I couldn't find a copy of Madeleine L'Engel's The Glorious Impossible that the Godly Play German books recommend purchasing for the storytelling. This year, however, I discovered that all of the paintings were on-line here and here. So I downloaded them, mounted them on canvas, and varnished them with Modge Podge.

Middle: The Birth of Jesus; Counter-clockwise from top left: The Annunciation,
Mary's Visit to Elizabeth, Presentation in the Temple, The Visit of the Magi,
The Murder of the Innocents in Bethlehem, and The Flight to Egypt

I think this will now be one of my favorite Godly Play stories. Not only does it fill in some blanks for children about the events surrounding Jesus' birth, it also introduces them to some amazing art. The 8-year-old in the group was riveted, but it did get a little long for the younger children. There is no "Wondering" phase at the end, and I was going to try it anyway, but the smaller children were too tired by that point to try.

For the creative phase, the children could either draw or make more beeswax ornaments. (I've certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of this craft this Advent season! Thanks again, Naturkinder!)

Then, came a special Advent feast thanks to a good friend who prepared it for us and let us use her apartment for the children's service!

On Fourth Advent, we also spend time remembering the wise men who followed the star from the east to find the Christ Child. We also spend some more time thinking about Mary on this Sunday as well, because without her, there would be no baby.

The Godly Play board for the Fourth Advent Sunday.

Our old East German-made cabinet is running out of room!

Hope you are finding peace in the midst of the sometimes crazy last week of Advent! Blessings and joy to you all!

Christmas Reading

2011-12-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, I hope this isn't too far off topic from the rest of this blog, but since reading is such a huge part of our Advent experience each year, I thought I'd share a few books that have become classics in our household. These are the books that the kids ask for time and time again along with a few new ones that we discovered this year.

In English:

The First Christmas - This is a simple text with vivid illustrations that preschoolers just love.

Mortimer's Christmas Manger - This brilliant story is about a mouse who is tired of his creepy, dark hole. At Christmas he discovers this little house with strange statues, decides to move in and kicks out the statues. Until he discovers who they are . . . Will Mortimer find a home just right for him?

Mr.Willowby's Christmas Tree - A whimsical recycling story.

Shall I Knit You a Hat? - This story made me wish I could knit! Little Rabbit designs hats for all of his friends and his mother knits them. It even comes with a pattern for a bunny ear hat.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - A hysterical story that reminds of what Christmas is really all about. My third grade teacher read this to me many years ago. Then, I read the excellent German translation, Hilfe, die Herdmanns kommen!, after moving to Berlin. This year, I read it to my kids for the first time and I can't ever remember laughing so hard during Advent before.

A Christmas Carol - Victorian English or not, this is a timeless classic that older kids (8 years and up) can really enjoy. We actually read this on-line version, a shorter version that Dickens himself condensed for public reading. I read it to my 3rd and 4th grade native speakers at school. Of course, I had to explain a lot of the archaic language, but the kids definitely got the gist of what was happening.

In German:

Das erste Weihnachtsfest - A simple retelling of the story with nice pictures.

Mischas Reise zum Christkind - We found this adorable story in a bookstore when my son was three. He is eight now and we are still reading it! It is about a bear named Mischa, who collects gifts from the animals for Baby Jesus and journeys to Bethlehem to present them.

Tinas Tannenbaum - A sweet story about a little girl who turns an ordinary fir tree into a Christmas tree with the help of the forest animals.

Olles Reise zu König Winter - Another timeless story of a boy who meets King Winter and falls in love with his kingdom. Last April, my kids went around shouting at "Mrs. Thaw" when the snow started melting just like the boys in the books.

In Russian:

Школа снеговиков or "Snowman School" - This is a relatively new book from a series about "Ded Moroz", the Russian version of Santa Claus. Ded Moroz decides to make himself some helpers and brings a bunch of snowmen to life. Then, his granddaughter, Snegurochka ("Snow Maiden"), gets to be their teacher. I read each sentence to the kids in Russian and then translate it to English. It is very funny and though some of the humor gets lost in translation, we have still enjoyed it.

What are some of your family's favorite Advent books?

Godly Play on the Go

2011-12-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing I am a near expert on, it's how to do "church-in-a-box". None of the church plants that I have been involved in, whether in Russia, the US or Germany, have ever owned their own building! As a result, transporting things and setting up spiritual spaces in creative places has become a way of life for me. I've turned kitchens, classrooms and other small places into Godly Play rooms on many occasions. So, when the local church near our school generously offered us the only room that wasn't previously taken for Advent festivities, I was ready.

One of the biggest jobs is actually transporting the materials. With Godly Play, you always have lots of stuff, so it's not uncommon for religion teachers in Germany to carry around a suitcase or trolley with their GP stuff in it. Since I always have art supplies, art boards, and cushions (to sit on) in addition to the actual story materials, I need a bicycle trailer to get it all around. Where I live in Berlin, a car isn't always terribly helpful, since it is impossible to find a parking space!

Unloading the bicycle trailer in front of the church office.

When I first walked into the room (below) where we were to meet, I wasn't sure how we would fit 10 children and 3 adults in here. With the pastor's permission, I basically cleared out the entire room and put most of the furniture and objects in the room next door. This made the room almost twice as big and you can tell by looking at the cushions below, we could all easily fit even if we were a little snug.

I removed everything from the desk in front of the room and made a focus table with the Christ candle, cross, and two of the three stories that I would be telling.

Then, I relocated everything that was on the lower shelves, so that I could place the art supplies that the children would be using there.

And then, I just prayed that God would come and make this a joyful and welcoming space for the five boys (did I mention that they are very active boys?!) and five girls that would be coming. And though we were rubbing elbows (literally) at times, it worked beautifully!

For more about setting up Godly Play rooms, please see the post, Godly Play 101: The Space, and the commentary that ensues.

Three Candles Burning

2011-12-14T10:19:00.000-08:00

On the Third Sunday of Advent we remember the shepherds who were watching their flocks at night near Bethlehem. They had to stay awake to keep the wolves away from the sheep. Suddenly, a great light shone from the sky and it was so bright that it hurt their eyes.

The shepherds were afraid and their hearts started beating. If they were able to hear anything above the pounding of their own hearts, they thought they heard singing? That made them more afraid until they listened to the singing. There were angels who sang something like this: "Fear not. We bring you tidings of great joy. Unto you is born a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. You must go now to Bethlehem! Something wonderful is about to happen that will change everything!"

The third board in the Godly Play Advent story.

Moving further along the journey to Bethlehem.

This week in our family Advent devotion, we spent some time wondering together why God chose to proclaim his good news to the shepherds. We wondered who were they? How did they feel rushing to find a stable in the middle of the night? And how did they feel after they looked into the baby's eyes? What did Mary and Joseph think about a bunch of shepherds coming to see their child in the middle of the night?

Mom had a nasty cold this weekend and couldn't get out, so we baked meringue cookies beforehand and had them after our devotion with Kinder Punsch and coffee.: )

These are the chocolate meringue cookies
and my kids' favorite Christmas past time: cracking nuts.
It's also a great activity for fine motor skills!

Nature Nativity

2011-12-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

This is another lovely project that I learned from Birgit, the Waldorf educator at our kindergarten: a nativity scene made with nature materials.

To begin you need the following materials: assorted treasures from your nearest park or forest (moss, sticks, chestnuts, rocks, tree bark, acorns, pine cones, fir tree branch, etc.); walnut shell halves, air-drying clay or plasticine, glue, terra cotta saucer for a flowerpot, a small piece of material, a small piece of cotton, gold paper, and a candle.

Next, place the moss in the flowerpot saucer.

To make baby Jesus, wrap a tiny piece of cotton inside a small square of material. Then, tuck it inside a walnut shell half. (Mine stayed in place without any glue.) Then, make a small head out of clay for baby Jesus.

To make a small stable, I used clay and glue to attach sticks to a piece of tree bark. Then, add other elements using the nature materials you have on hand, such as a pine cone or fir tree branch as a tree. You can also cut a golden star out of paper to hang either on the tree or attach it to another stick. To top it off, add a small candle.

Three and four year-olds generally need a lot of help from an adult to do this project, but older preschoolers and elementary age children can do it most of it by themselves. Such a simple, yet enchanting project!

I can't wait to see what the kids in the Advent Club do with this project!

Linked to Monday Madness at Let Kids Create and Art 4 Little Hands

The Magic Onions

Crafty Moms Share

Frontier Dreams

Raising Memories

"A Gift for our City" - Advent Club 2011

2011-12-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

Gute Nachricht: Die AdventsAG 2011 dürfte diese Woche anfangen! Die evangelische Gemeinde in der selben Strasse von unserer Schule hat uns Räumlichkeiten im letzen Moment besorgt. (Einen großen Dank an die Pfarrerin!) Good news! Advent Club 2011 started last week with a group of 10 children from our local elementary school. The local church located in the same street as our school graciously provided us with a room to meet in at the last minute. (A big thank you to the pastor of the church!)

Das Thema diesmal ist "Ein Geschenk für unsere Stadt". In der AG machen wir uns gemeinsam Gedanken darüber wie Gott seinen Sohn auf die Erde sandte: nicht als mächtiger König mit Armee und Reichtum, sondern als kleines, hilfloses Baby. Danach machte dieses Baby kleine Schritte, die die Welt auf den Kopf gestellt haben. Wir möchten den Kindern damit kommunizieren, dass Gott so öfter wirkt - durch die kleinen Schritte von uns Menschen. Kinder sind sehr wichtig und können auch "kleine Schritte" machen um ihre Welt zu verändern. Während dieser 3 Wochen zusammen, werden wir auch "kleine Schritte" machen und unserer Stadt ein Weihnachtsgeschenk geben. Our theme this year is "A Gift for our City". In the Advent Clubs, we consider how God chose to send his Son, not as a king with a powerful army and riches, but as a small, helpless baby. This baby then took many small steps that led him to turning the world upside-down. We seek to communicate to the children that this is how God most often works - through people taking small steps - and that they as children can begin to take small steps now to change their world. In our three weeks together, we will also take some "small steps" together and give our city a small Christmas gift.

Die Kinder waren ein bisschen überrascht als wir mit der Geschichte, "Die Große Familie", von Abraham und Sarah anfingen. Diese Geschichte ist normaleweise nicht im Vordergrund während der Adventszeit! Meine Absicht war den Kindern mit ein paar Fragen zum Nachdenken zu bringen. Woher kam Jesus? In welche Familie ist er eingeboren? Woher lernte er "kleine Schritte" im Glauben zu machen? Ich habe öfter erfahren, dass Kinder manchmal die Verbindung zwischen dem Alten Testament und Jesu nicht mitbekommen. "Die Große Familie" hilft Kindern zu verstehen, dass Jesus nicht einfach aus der Luft erschienen ist. The kids were a bit surprised when we began with "The Great Family", the story of Abraham and Sarah. Not usually the first Advent story that kids hear! However, I wanted the children to consider where Jesus came from? What kind of family was he born into? And where did he learn to start taking "small steps" of faith? In my experience, children (even though who attend church each Sunday) often do not make the connection between the Old Testament stories and Jesus. "The Great Family" helps children understand that Jesus didn't just appear out of thin air.

If you are familiar with "The Great Family", you might be wondering why
Mary, Joseph and Jesus are in the desert with Isaac and Rebekah.
More on that in another upcoming post!

Nach dem Geschichtenkreis hatten die Kinder drei Möglichkeiten um kreativ über Advent zu reflektieren. Die erste Beschäftigung war mit den Materiallen von der Geschichten zu spielen. Zuerst waren die Kinder ein bisschen schüchtern sie von dem Regal zu holen. Deshalb fing ich an allein mit dem Wüstensack und Figuren zu spielen. Dann kamen ein paar Mädchen um mitzuspielen. After the story, the children had three options. The first was to explore the stories further by playing with the materials. (I also had the story for next week on the focus table.) At first the children were too shy to take the stories off the shelves, so I pulled out the Desert Sack and began to play alone. Then, the children joined in and I quietly moved out of their way.

Die zweite Option war mit Ölkreide und Buntstiften zu malen. The second option was to reflect on Advent and draw something of their choice with oil pastels and colored pencils.

Die dritte Option was Weihnachtsanhänger aus Bienenwachsplatten auszustecken. Diese Idee kam von einem lieblings Blog, Naturkinder. (Bitte liest die originale Artikel.) Bienenwachs sieht herrlich aus und duftet lecker auf dem Weihnachtsbaum. Mit einem Tipp von der Naturkinder habe ich die Bienenwachsplatten von einem behinderten Werkstatt bestellt. The third option was to make ornaments from beeswax plates using cookie butters. This idea came from one of my favorite blogs, Naturkinder. (Please read the original post here.) The beeswax looks and smells amazing on a Christmas tree. Using a tip from Naturkinder, I ordered beeswax plates made in a workshop that employs handicapped people.

Mit den Anhängern haben wir die Kinder ermütigt den ersten kleinen Schritt zu machen. Wir baten sie darum ein paar an jemanden zu schenken, der gerade ein bisschen Freude gebraucht (z.B. Freund, Nachbar, LehrerIn). With these ornaments, I encouraged the children to take our first "small step" together. I asked them to think of someone that needs some joy right now (maybe a friend, neighbor, or teacher) and give the ornament to them.

Am Ende haben wir Kinder Punsch getrunken, festliche Brownies gegessen und Weihnachtslieder gesungen. To end out time together, we feasted on Kinder Punsch (a warm, spiced, fruity drink for children) and Christmas brownies, and sang Christmas carols.

Mit diesen Kindern zu sein war der Höhepunkt meiner Woche! Being with these kids was definitely the highlight of my week!