Godly Play: Jesus and the 12

On Good Friday, our family remembered Jesus' last hours by hearing the Godly Play story, "Jesus and the 12". This is an enrichment story in Godly Play: Volume 4 - Spring about the Christ's last meal with his disciples before his crucifixion. I have to say that I had largely overlooked this story until my friend, Helen, mentioned that she was going to be telling it to some children before Easter. She inspired me to take a closer look at the story and I decided to give it a try as well.

The materials for the story are Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper . . . 

This is a restored version that I found on Google images.
I printed it and mounted it on a wooden board.

 and the shields of the twelve Apostles used in the Pentecost story.

Since Helen was telling the story in a Russian-speaking context, she decided to use a painting other than Da Vinci's - this one by the Russian icon painter, Simon Ushanov. I briefly considered using another painting as well, since I have never been a big fan of The Last Supper, and there are some obvious problems with it. One is the Renaissance dress and architecture in the picture, which is a far cry from being Jewish. (The first thing my 7-year-old daughter said when she saw it was, "Did the Upper Room really look like that?") Secondly and unfortunately, the only figure in the painting that looks remotely Jewish is Judas. But the reason that I decided to use it anyway is that the apostles all look so wonderfully human in their reactions to Jesus' prophecy that one of them will betray him that night. You see anger, bewilderment, shock, horror and sadness in their faces - the same reactions that each one of us might have had. 

The story then goes on to examine each of the individual apostles and the reasons for the various symbols on their shields. The Wondering questions for this story have a unique twist and provide a great opportunity to ponder their significance both on an overarching level in the biblical narrative and on a personal level:

What disciple do you like the best?

Which one do you think is the most important?

Which one do you think is most like you?

Which one could we leave out and still have everything we need for the story?

My son liked John and Peter the best. John, because he was a true friend, and Peter, because he liked to take action. My husband felt that he was most like Thomas - always asking the hard questions. And I identified with James and Thaddeus who both travelled a lot to tell the story of Jesus.

Both of my children were amazed/shocked by the number of disciples who became martyrs. The German version of the GP story states in different ways that these men were killed by people who did not understand them or their message.  I think both of my kids identify with being misunderstood, because they are first of all third culture kids and then have the double whammy of being pastors' children in a highly secular society. I sensed they were comforted to know that Jesus' friends were misunderstood as well.

Afterwards, we had communion together and used the crown of thorns bread that we had baked earlier that morning. (This is a tradition that I started last year.)

As you can see, we had a lot of fun making the dough!

We also managed to finish up some pysanky. Here my daughter is melting off the wax to reveal the painted design. Her first egg broke, so she was thrilled to have this one turn out.

I completed the day by joining a friend at the Taize Good Friday service in the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)!

 . . . 

Wir haben Karfreitag zu Hause mit dem eigenen Mini-Familiengottesdienst verbracht. Zuerst haben wir die Godly Play-Geschichte, "Jesus und die Zwölf" gehört. Sie ging um das letzte Abendmahl und die Lebensgeschichten der 12 Jünger. Das Material dafür war das berühmte Gemälde von Leonardo Da Vinci, "Das Abendmahl" und die kirchlichen Schilder mit Symbolen darauf für die Jünger. Wir haben danach uns gefragt, welcher mir am besten gefällt und welcher von ihnen ist am meisten wie ich? Es war eine gute Möglichkeit die Jünger näher anzugucken und fragen, was es für uns heute bedeutet.

Danach haben wir Abendmahl zusammen gefeiert und benutzen einen Teigkranz, die wir am Vormittag gebacken haben, als das Brot dafür. Noch haben wir Ostereier angemalt. Es war ein schöner, nachdenklicher Tag!

Easter Club 2013 Week 5

Das große Finale von der OsterAG war am Montag, den 18.3! Ich bin ein bisschen spät mit dieser Post, da ich letztens ziemlich doll erkältet wurde. We had the grand finale of Easter Club 2013 on Monday, March 18! I'm a little late writing this post, because I've been a bit under the weather the past few days.

Wir haben dieses Jahr etwas Neues zum Schluss probiert. Da wir die letzen 4 Wochen mit dem Leben, Tod und der Auferstehung Jesu gebracht haben, haben wir einen großen Sprung nach vorn zum Pfingsfest gemacht. Der Grund dafür war, dass unsere Gruppe nie die Möglichkeit hat sich nach Ostern zu treffen und die meisten Kinder wissen ganz wenig über diesen wichtigen Feiertag. I tried something this year that I've never done before in the Easter Club. Since we spent four weeks on Jesus' life, death and resurrection, I decided to jump ahead to the next part of the story: Pentecost. Our group never has the chance to meet in the days following Easter, and although Pentecost is a public holiday in Germany, many people have little idea of the significance of this day. 

In dieser Godly Play-Geschichte hörten wir wie Jesus sich von seinen Freunden verabschiedete und versprach ihnen die Kraft des Heiligen Geistes. Und als dieser kam, waren die Freunde und Freundinnen mit unglaublichen Freude und Kraft erfüllt. Daraus ist die weltweite Kirche entstanden - also, der Geburtstag der Kirche war es. In our Godly Play story, we learned about how Jesus said good-bye to his friends, but promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit came, the men and women that followed Jesus were filled with incredible joy and strength. And this day became the birthday of the worldwide church. 

Wenn man das Gleichnis vom Guten Hirten kennt, sieht man, dass das Obergemach (wo die JüngerInnen auf den Heiligen Geist gewartet haben) ähnlich wie der Schafstall in dem Gleichnis aussieht. If you are familiar with the Parable of the Good Shepherd, you can see parallels in the picture above, where the Upper Room where the disciples waited looks a lot like the sheep stall in the Good Shepherd.


Im Bild unten sind die JüngerInnen "Aposteln" gennant und werden ausgesendet. Das Endbild errinert an den Weihnachtsstern und Hoffnung. In the pictures below, the disciples are sent out and named "Apostles" - ones who are sent. The end picture reminds one of the Star of Bethlehem.

Statt Holzfiguren (die in vielen Godly Play-Geschichten) sind die JüngerInnen hier von den historischen, kirchlichen Schildern mit Symbolen darauf dargestellt. Es gefällt mir, dass es auch Schilder für die, "deren Namen wir nicht wissen", gibt. Ich habe mich vorher gefragt, ob die Schilder vielleicht zu abstrakt für die 1. und 2.Klässler wären. Aber im Gegenteil wollten viele gleich die Geschichten hinter den Symbolen hören. Rather than using actual wooden figures, the disciples and Mary are represented by the historical coats-of-arms assigned to them by the early church. I like that there are also ones for the male and female disciples "whose names we don't know".  I worried that these symbols might be too abstract for the first and second graders, but as you can see in the picture below, several of them were eager to hear the stories of the disciples behind the symbols. 

Ich eine Kontrollkarte für die Symbolen der Jünger gemacht,
damit die Kinder wissen konnten, wem jedes Schild gehört.
I made a control card for the disciples' coats-of-arms,
so that the children could figure out who was who.

Unsere Kreativzeit war diese Woche eher bescheiden, da wir alles danach nach Hause kriegen müssten. Die Kinder konnten die vorherigen Projekte fertig machen, oder mit Pastelkreide, Ölkreide und Buntstifte malen.   Our Response Time was pared down this week, since we had to take everything home from the church afterwards. The children were able to finish up the projects from the weeks before and draw with oil pastels, chalk pastels, or colored pencils.

Und natürlich konnte man mit den Geschichten ein letztes Mal spielen. And, of course, there was one last chance to explore and play with the story materials.

Während die Kinder kreativ arbeiteten, hat Melinda, die Co-Lehrerin, Ostereier im Kirchenhof gesteckt. Das war mein allererstes Mal Ostereier im Schnee zu suchen! Trotz der Kälte haben die Kinder Spass daran gehabt. While the children were being creative, Melinda, my co-teacher, hid Easter eggs in the church's courtyard. I have to say that this was the first time that I have ever hunted Easter eggs in the snow! Despite the cold, the children were delighted.

Und als der Osterkorb zu voll war, steckten wir sie in die Taschen und Mützen! And when the baskets were too full, we used our hands, hats and pockets!

Was für eine tolle Gruppe! What an awesome group!

Und zum Schluss schenkte Melinda jedem Kind Osterbrownies! 

And Melinda had special brownie treats for each child!

Ich bin so dankbar für diese Kinder und die gemeinsame Zeit zusammen! 

I'm so thankful for these kids and our time together!

Ich wünsche euch alle ein schönes Osterfest!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter celebration!

If you would like to see what we did in the other weeks, click here for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4.

Another Lenten journey . . .

While our Lenten journey is winding down with Holy Week at hand, many of our brothers and sisters in Orthodox countries are just beginning theirs! And when I look outside here at the 8-10 cm of snow on the ground, I start to think that celebrating Easter a month later would make a lot of sense.: )

Just wanted to give you a tip to watch my friend, Asmic, over at Amazing and Amusing. She has already started sharing her family's Lenten traditions and she will continue to inspire you over the next few weeks!

In the meantime, have a blessed Holy Week! We are busy making Pysanky and enjoying the break from school. Hopefully, I'll get the last Easter Club post up soon and share the last of the art projects that we worked on!

Madonna and Child
St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

Art Project: Sculptures from Clay and found Nature Material

Working with clay is a tactile experience that seems to be an essential part of a child's development. Making sculptures out of clay and found objects from nature is a great way to offer open-ended play and encourage creativity. This project also allow, for easy set-up in the art room,  is cost effective, and is also wildly popular with children. They work for an art class setting, the Godly Play classroom, and at home.

All you need is:

- clay (I use the air drying variety)

-  glue

- a few objects from nature, such as leaves, sticks, rocks, moss, etc.

- a little imagination (and children have no lack this!)

Sometimes we go to the park and find the nature treasures ourselves  . . . 

And other times I bring nature material and set it out on a tray to save time . . . 

The children then begin to sculpt, and usually one does not have to give them any suggestions of what to make. They flow with their imaginations and come up with the most amazing things. Sometimes, at Easter I add eggshells or cress seeds to the mix, as in the picture below.

It is important to have glue available and show the children how to glue pieces together at the "joints", so that they do not fall apart when drying. In the picture below, we glued the figure's head to the body as well as the walnut and body to the bark. 

Isn't it amazing what children come up with to create?

 . . . 

Ein lieblings und einfaches Kunstproject von mir besteht daraus, Skulpturen aus Ton und Naturmaterial zu gestalten. Man braucht dafür nur den Ton, Naturmaterial und Kleber. Die Kinder denken dann super kreative Sachen aus. 

Manchmal gehen wir draußen und sammeln die Naturschätze selber und manchmal bringe ich sie um Zeit zu sparen. Wichtig ist den Kindern zu zeigen, an welchen Stellen den Bastelleim benutzt werden soll, damit nichts beim Austrocknen kaputt geht. 

Die Ergebnisse sind echt wunderschön!


Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

and Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

Montessori Cards: Stations of the Cross & Stations of the Resurrection

I want to share a wonderful, free resource with you that I found last year through another blog. On our nature table, we have the Stations of the Cross as 3-part Montessori cards, so that the kids can use them anytime they want. 

You can download them at a blog called The Bookworm here.

My son has especially enjoyed them, since he can already read. Here are some photos of him putting them in order and matching the captions with the pictures after breakfast on a leisurely Saturday morning.

The same site has the Stations of the Resurrection, also known as "The Way of Light", as well. You can download them here.

Stations of the Resurrection

After Easter we use the Stations of the Resurrection in our devotional times. I let the children use them to pick a story that they want to hear, and we either read it in the Bible or I simply tell them the story. 

I am so thankful for bloggers like The Bookworm who share their wonderful resources!

Art Project: Pastel and Glue Pysanky

If you follow this blog on a regular basis, then you know that I am a big fan of Pysanky, the ornate Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Though I love to make real ones with children, the time constraints of the Easter Club just don't allow for it. So I decided to introduce the kids in to them in a different medium: glue and chalk pastel.

This is a technique that I have seen on many art blogs, such as this post by That Artist Woman. Chalk pastels can be difficult for elementary-age students to work with, because it so easy to accidentally smear everything together and end up with a big mess. While I am a big fan of allowing children to explore different mediums without a lot of instruction, many children become seriously frustrated when using chalk pastels and left to their own devices. 

In this technique, the children draw a pattern and then trace it with glue. The glue, when dried, makes a natural boundary that helps keep the smearing in check. The American sites show pictures where the glue stands out from the page and is an extra element in the artwork. Unfortunately, our glue here in Berlin seems to have a different consistency than Elmer's, so it became transparent and dried a bit flatter. Nevertheless, it did help make these boundaries for the children to aid them with the chalk pastels. 

For this project you will need:

- colored paper

- chalk pastels

- glue

- pencil 

- ruler

- examples of symbols found on Pysanky (I found this page helpful.)

- a black permanent marker 

First, you have the children draw an egg shape and divide it into 8 sections, by drawing a vertical line down the middle and then a horizontal one.  Then you divide each of these four sections with a diagonal line. I encouraged the children to use a ruler. 

Then, I provided the children with some simple ideas for symbols that they could draw on their eggs. But, of course, I gave them full freedom to draw anything they wanted. 

The next step is to lightly sketch the symbols in each quadrant of the egg.

Next comes the fun part of tracing with the glue.

After the glue has dried, you color in each section with oil pastels. (We did this step a week later.) As a finishing touch, some of the finer details can be outline with a black permanent marker (such as a Sharpie).

The picture above and the eggs below are some of the examples of the children's artwork. Aren't they lovely?

. . . . . . . 

In der OsterAG haben wir "Pisanki" (ukrainische Ostereier) mit Bastelleim und Pastelkreide gemacht. Da Pastelkreide nicht gerade leicht für Kinder zu steuern ist, hat sich eine Methode in der Kunstpädagogik entwickelt, in der die Kinder zuerst das Bild mit Bastelleim umskizzen. Nachdem der Kleber getrocknet wird, kann das Kind mit der Kreidepastellen in diesen "Kleber-Grenzen" leichter arbeiten honen das ganze zu verschmieren. Danach kann man ein schwarzes Edding nehmen um Details nachzuskizzen.

Ich habe den Kindern Ideen gegeben, was für christliche Symbole sie zeichnen konnten, aber sie haben die Freiheit gehabt zu malen, was sie wollten. 

Die Kinder haben sich Mühe gegeben, und ich fand die Ergebnisse toll!

Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

and Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

Art Project: Wooden Easter Tree Decorations

This is one of the projects that we did in Easter Club this year. It was directly inspired by this post at April's Homemaking. April, who always has great ideas, sawed thin discs from her Christmas tree trunk and made them into ornaments for next year. 

In Germany, people make "Easter Trees" out of branches placed in a vase. (You can see one of ours here.) When I saw April's post, I immediately thought, "Oh, we could do that to make Easter Tree decorations!" 

Not having access to an electric saw, I then tried in vain to do it with a hand saw. I eventually gave up, but the idea stayed in my head. Later on, I asked my children's godfather, who is quite the handyman, if he perhaps had an electric saw. He did indeed have one and sawed beautiful discs from a plum tree branch at their summer house.

Here are the wooden discs . . . 

Then, I carefully screwed metal hooks into each disc.

At Easter Club, we made small "stands" out of modelling clay, so that the children could paint both sides with ease.

The ornaments drying . . . 

The last step was to tie ribbons on the ornaments. And here is the finished product ready to hang on our Easter Trees at home!

. . . 

Diesen Osterstrauss-Schmuck haben wir bei der OsterAG gemacht.

Wir liesen eine Ast vom Pflaumenbaum in Scheiben gesägt werden. Dann haben wir Schraubösen herein geschraubt. Dann haben die Kinder die Scheiben angemalt und eine Schleife daran zugebunden.

Voila! Etwas Buntes für den Osterstrauss!

Linked to  Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions