Godly Play: The Ten Best Ways to Live

This autumn, I have been telling all of the core Old Testament stories and adding a few enrichment stories at our Sunday brunches. Today we heard "The Ten Best Ways to Live", the Godly Play story about the 10 Commandments, one of the core stories. Im Herbst habe ich beim "Brunch mit Wort zum Sonntag" all die Kerngeschichten vom Alten Testament mit ein paar Vertiefungsgeschichten erzählt. Heute haben wir "Die zehn besten Wege zum Leben", eine Kerngeschichte in Godly Play über die 10 Gebote, gehört.

In case you are not familiar with the materials, they include the desert bag, wooden People of God figures, Mount Sinai and a heart-shaped box containing the 10 best ways and Jesus' summary of them in the New Testament (all pictured above). Das Material für die Geschichte besteht aus dem Wüstensack, Volk-Gottes Figuren aus Holz, den Berg Sinai, und einem herzformigen Schachtel mit den zehn besten Wegen und Jesu Zusammenfassung drin (siehe Foto oben).

They say that a child needs to hear a core story at least three times in order to begin to truly understand it. Each child today had heard this story 2-4 times, and I noticed a marked difference in their responses. There are also two versions of the story, a short one and a longer one. This was the first time that any of them had heard the longer version. Man sagt, dass ein Kind eine Kerngeschichte 3 Mal hören müsste um sie wirklich verstehen zu können. Jedes anwesende Kind beim Brunch hatte sie schon 2-4 mal erlebt und ich sah eine definitive Vertiefung in der Kreativphase. Es gibt auch 2 Variante von der Geschichte - eine kurze und eine längere - und ich habe heute zum ersten mal die längere Version erzählt.

As one of the options for the Response Time, I made blank booklets with the words from the story "Love God, Love People, God loves us" on the cover. I told the children that they could draw or write about one of the 10 best ways that they liked best or found particularly important on this particular day. I was delighted when a second grader took one and wrote two full pages with pictures about several of the commandments. Eins von den Möglichkeiten in der Kreativphase war eine leere Heft mit den Worten "Liebe Gott, Liebe die Menschen, Gott liebt uns" darauf. Da könnten die Kinder etwas schreiben oder malen zu einem Weg, der für sie besonders wichtig war. Eine 2.Klässlerin nahm die Heft sofort und schrieb 2 ganze Seiten und fügte Bilder hinzu.

We talk a lot in Godly Play about how children have profound theological moments in their play and one of these moments happened today. A girl in the fourth grade chose to play with the 10 Best Ways during the Response Time. She re-enacted the story and then diverged into her own imaginative play. She mentioned that the people of God were cold in the desert, because it was nighttime. Then she turned over Mount Sinai and placed the figures inside, "because God wants them to be warm." Wir reden viel in Godly Play-Kreisen darüber, wie Kinder manchmal auf tiefsinnige theologische Gedanken während des Spiels kommen. Heute gab es so einen Moment. Eine 4.Klässlerin nahm den Wüstensack und die heutige Geschichte und fing an sie nachzuspielen. Danach, wo sie in die eigene Geschichte ging, sagte sie, dass es dem Volk Gottes nachts in der Wüste kalt war. Dann drehte sie den Berg Sinai um und steckte die Menschen drin, "weil Gott möchte, dass es ihnen warm wird".

Then she took the part of the heart that says, "God loves us", and placed it very intentionally over the people in the "cave" and added, "God's love keeps us safe". What a powerful picture of God's love and care! Dann nahm sie den Holzteil mit "Gott liebt uns" darauf und bedeckte die Menschen in dem Berg bewusst damit. Dann sagte sie, "Gottes Liebe schützt uns". Was für ein beindruckendes Bild von Gottes Geborgenheit! 

Here's a closer look at my "shelves" and "classroom" and what's in it. Hier ist noch ein Blick von unseren "Regalen" im Godly Play "Raum" und was da steht.

Because my classroom is also my kitchen, I integrated my nature table into the Response Time activities. Here the children could make a work of art out of nature materials. Da mein Godly Play "Raum" bei den Brunches auch meine Küche ist, kann ich den Jahreszeittisch in der Kreativphase intergrieren. Die Kinder konnten ein Kunstwerk vom Naturmaterial machen.

In addition to the story shelves, our art materials included watercolor crayons, markers, colored pencils, the 10 Best Ways booklets, and wool for making wool pictures. Neben den Geschichten gab es auch Kunstmaterial zur Verfügung: Wasser vermalbare Wachsstifte, Filzstifte, Buntstifte, die "10 besten Wege" Heft, und Wolle für Wollebilder auf Jutstoff. 

It was a most lovely and  rewarding Sunday. Hope yours was, too! Es war ein sehr schöner und reicher Sonntag! Ich hoffe, deins war auch so toll!

Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

Expedition in the Desert: The 10 Best Ways to Live

Wir erreichten diese Woche das letzte Reiseziel auf unserer Expedition in die Wüste: den Berg Sinai, wo Gott seinem Volk die 10 besten Wege zum Leben gab. Wir kennen sie auch als die 10 Gebote.  This week we reached our final destination in the desert: Mount Sinai where the people of God were given the 10 Best Ways to live, also known as the 10 Commandments. 

Mose und das Volk erhalten die 10 besten Wege.
Die Herzen Tafeln sagen: "Liebe Gott, Liebe die Menschen,
Gott liebt uns".
Moses and Israel receive the 10 Best Ways.
The heart pieces read: "Love God, Love people,
God loves us".

Das Volk Israel war endlich von Ägypten frei. Sie konnten gehen, wohin sie wollten und tun, was sie wollten. Aber wohin sollten sie gehen? Welcher war der beste Weg? Wir hörten, dass Gott seine Volk so sehr liebte, dass er ihnen die 10 Besten Wege zum Leben schenkte. Sie sind sowie Wegweiser, die den besten Weg kennzeichnen. Und obwohl sie sehr alt sind und manchmal schwierig zu erfüllen sind, bleiben sie bis zum heutigen Tag die besten Wege zu gehen. The children of Israel were finally free from Egypt. They could go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. But where should they go? Which way is the best? We learned that God loved his people so much that he gave them the 10 Best Ways to live. These 10 Commandments are like signposts that show us the best way to go. And even though they are old and sometimes really hard to follow, they are still the best way to go even today.

Wir machen uns Gedanken über jeden von den 10 Wegen.
Discussing each of the 10 Best Ways.

Das Ergründungs gespräch war aufregend, weil wir uns Gedanken über jeden Weg gemacht haben, was es wirklich bedeuten könnte. Gibt es einen Weg, der uns am besten gefällt? Welcher ist wohl der wichtigste? Ist einer für mich im Moment besonders? Als wir zu "nicht lügen" kamen, ist ein bestimmtes Thema unter den Kindern hochgekommen: wenn etwas verloren geht und ein Geschwisterkind uns anklagt. Einige teilten Situationen mit, wo sie ungerecht anklagt würden, und wir fragten uns, was man darüber machen könnte ohne zurückzuschlagen. Gemeinsam kamen wir auf die Idee, es wäre besser nicht darauf zu bestehen, wer Recht hat, sondern das aktuelle Problem zu lösen. Nämlich das verlorene Ding zu finden und mit der anderen Person zu einigen, wo man vielleicht das Ding stehen lassen könnte, damit man's nächstes Mal findet. The Wondering for this story was particularly exciting, because we wondered about what each of the 10 Best Ways meant, and then if there was one we liked best, or was most important, or particularly meaningful to us at this place and time. One theme seemed to emerge among several of the children as we talked about "Do not lie": the age-old theme of siblings or friends placing the blame on us when something goes missing.  The children told about such situations where they felt unjustly accused, and we wondered together what we could do about it instead of arguing, trying to get revenge, or hitting the accuser. We came to the conclusion together that in such situations we needed to shift the focus away from who was right or wrong and try to solve the problem. For example, when something was missing, we could try and find it, and then agree with the other person to always put in in one particular place, so that it doesn't get lost in the future.

In der Kreativzeit haben die Kinder ihre Wüsten-Schatztruhen fertig gemacht. Nachdem sie die Schatztruhem anmalten, haben sie kleine "Schätze" aus Ton gebastelt. Die Schätze sollten etwas sein, das sie an Gott oder an einer Geschichte erinnerte. During our creative time, the children finished up their desert boxes. After painting the treasure boxes, they made "treasures" out of clay to put in the boxes. Their treasure could be something that reminded them of God or a story that they heard.

Einige Schatztruhen und Ton-Schätze.
The treasure boxes and some of the clay treasures.

Einige haben neue Bilder entweder mit  Kreidepastellen auf Schleifpapier  oder mit Sandfarbe gemalt. Some made new sandpaper drawings with chalk pastels or painted with sand.

Andere arbeiteten bei der "Danke, Gott" Station, wo sie etwas an Gott geschrieben haben oder ein Bild für ihn gemalt haben. Others worked at the "Thank you, God" station drawing a picture for God or writing something for him.

Diese Woche baten wir den Kindern Hefte an, wo sie weiter sich Gedanken über die 10 besten Wege zum Leben machen konnten. Es gab leere Seiten in der Heft, damit die Kinder schreiben oder malen konnten.  This week, we also gave the children a booklet where they could write or draw about one of the 10 Best Ways that they wanted to think more about. 

The cover has the summary of the 10 Best Ways from the  story:
"Love God, love people, God loves us"

Zwei von den Jungs haben mir die Geschichte von Mose erzählt! I was also treated to a story when two of the boys decided to tell me the story of Moses.

Nun ist unsere Expedition jetzt vorbei und wir haben Herbstferien. Es war eine wünderschöne Zeit mit Gott und einander! Now our expedition is over and it's fall break here. It was a wonderful expedition together and with God! 

See our other expeditions:

Expedition in the Desert: Joseph

Expedition in the Desert: Moses

Expedtition in the Desert: Abraham and Sarah

For more about "The 10 Best Ways to Live" click here.

(For my Godly Play Readers: This is one of the core stories in the Godly Play curriculum. There is a short version for younger children and a longer one with more historical background for older children. I used the shorter version since the children had already heard the historical info in the story of Moses and so we could focus more time on each commandment.)


Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

and Seasons of Joy

The Ten Best Ways to Live

When I ask my son where he feels closest to God, he always answers in the forest or somewhere in nature.  Following his cue, on a recent family trip to the forest, I took along materials for one of my favorite Godly Play stories, "The Ten Best Ways to Live". As you may have guessed, this story is about the Ten Commandments given to Moses in Exodus. The title here says so much: we tend to think of commandments in our modern language as being something harshly restrictive, but these commandments  are meant to show us how to live life to the fullest.

I brought along a portable desert sack that is smaller than the one I use in church and knew where I could get some sand in the forest. Then, I took 7 small wooden figures, a rock for Mount Sinai, and the heart-shaped box that holds the commandments. 

In case you have never seen the box that holds the commandments, it looks like this:

There is a strong non-verbal message going on in this story that is communicated through this box.  The heart shape communicates the motivation behind the commandments themselves: not a divine Kill-joy who tries to control everything, but a wise Father who loves us enough to give some healthy advice and boundaries. 

There are two versions of this story, an abridged version for small children and a longer version for older ones.  The last time my kids heard the abridged version because we were with younger children, so I chose to tell them the longer version this time. My favorite part of the longer version is where Moses asks to see God's face and God explains that no man can see God's face and live.  Instead, God places Moses between two rocks and allows him to see God from behind.  The GP storyteller then makes the statement that seeing God face to face is too much for us.  But if we see him from behind, we can then follow Him all the days of our lives.

The heart in the foreground has the two greatest commandments
that Jesus said summed up the 10 Commandments:
Love God, Love people, and a reminder that God loves us.
The Ten Commandments themselves are on the other plates to the left.

During the wondering phase, my son found the most important and best thing to be how Moses always put God first.  Both children were pretty aghast that the children of Israel would worship a golden calf, which led to a discussion about what kinds of things people today worship. The only single commandment that either child seemed to mention or identify with was the first one, probably because we have been learning the commandments together. That's one of the great things about "Wondering" in Godly Play: you can focus on the things that speak to you at that particular point in time and then find something new at a later date.  In that respect, GP is a lot like Lectio Divina.

We have been learning one commandment a week during our family time before the kids go to bed each night.  I have been using a kid-friendly version of the Ten Commandments that you can find here.  I let the kids make up hand motions to go with each commandment and this has been effective in helping them to remember.

Do you have any interesting ways to teach children about the Ten Commandments?