Making Painting Supplies Available

If we want our kids to experiment with and learn to paint, the supplies have to be readily available. All of the classic art books say this. It's also a Montessori principle: we help the kids to help themselves. This is a great idea, but actually doing it can be a bit tricky. What if I don't have enough space to make a paint corner or shelf? What if my kids get paint all over the house?

We live in a small apartment in Berlin and space is a huge issue. We are constantly getting rid of things to avoid clutter. It is a constant battle. And for years, I would pull out the paint supplies each time the kids wanted to paint, and then we would put it all back when we were finished. And then, for a long time, we didn't paint much at all because it was so much work to go through this process each time. 

Here is a simple idea that I want to share with you. One morning as the kids trekked into my bedroom for the 100th time to get the painting supplies (as I was trying to wake up and enjoy my first cup of coffee in peace!), I decided there had to be a solution and I was going to find it before the morning was over. I ended up emptying the books from one of the bookshelves in my son's bedroom and turning it into our painting shelf. (I sorted through the old books that we didn't read anymore to give away, and relocated a few others.)

In the picture above, you can see that I put paper, two trays, two sponges, paints, and a jar of paintbrushes. There are also two picnic tablecloths that the kids can spread on the floor to put their materials on. Behind the bookshelf are also two wooden boards that they use as a hard surface to paint on. With the tablecloths, each child can paint on the floor in his/her room without risk to the furniture and upholstery.: )

I then showed each child how to clean their supplies and put them back in a more or less orderly fashion. After a couple of times helping them, each child can now clean up after him/herself without leaving a mess. 

As for the paint itself, my kids use quality tempera or gouache paints that can be easily washed off of walls, rugs, furniture, etc. just in case an accident happens.

The result is that my kids have been painting much more frequently in their free time! You can see some of their work in my last post.: ) 

So, even if you you think you can't find a place in your house or apartment for the kids to have their own paint area, I encourage you to think again. Even a tiny space where the kids can get to things on their own can make a world of difference! 

 . . . . . . 

Ein großes Prinzip in der Kunsterziehung ist das Material den Kindern zur Verfügung stehen, unabhängig von Hilfe der Erwachsenen. Aber in der Tat kann das ziemlich schwierig sein zu realisieren. Was macht man, wenn es an Platz in der Wohnung mangelt? Wie meidet man eine große Kleckerei mit der Farbe?

Unsere Wohnung ist ziemlich klein, und mich quälte schon jahrelang die Gedanken, eine Malecke bei uns ist nicht zu einrichten. Eines Morgens nachdem die Kinder tausend mal in mein Schlafzimmer kamen um die Malsachen zu holen, müsste ich einfach eine Lösung finden. 

Ich habe dann alte Bücher bei einem Bücherregal im Schlafzimmer von meinem Sohn aussortiert und die Malsachen (oben im Foto) da verstaut. Jetzt kann jedes Kind sie unabhängig von mir nehmen und danach aufräumen. 

Die Kinder benutzen immer eine Tempera oder Gouache-Farbe, die man ohne großen Aufwand auswaschen kann.

Das Ergebnis: viel mehr Kunstwerke bei uns zu Hause!

Sketching and Painting

Well, I am happy to report that there has been a lot of sketching and painting going on in my household the past couple of weeks. 

I love it when children do multiple projects on an idea that they constantly return to. My daughter is fascinated by houses and the rooms within a house. Typical for her age, but I was surprised when she worked several days on the painting below of a house. She named each room, who lived in it, and its purpose in the house. 

My Mom recently sent us the art book below. Usborne books are generally well-written, and this one is one of the best art books that I have seen. It has precipitated a whole slew of projects from my children.

Here is some of their work and all use techniques inspired from the Usborne book:

"A Dark Castle" - loosely based on Hogwarts from the 

Harry Potter series that my son is currently reading.

 

A pointillistic snake from my daughter:

My son made this painted, torn paper fish collage:

 And in my quest to keep drawing things that I don't usually draw, 

here are a couple of horses:

My daughter also drew a horse:

 And I've been working on a few spring trees from the perspective of looking upward: 

You'll probably see the spring trees later on this week in an art project that 

I will be doing with a group of children!

 . . . . . . 

Vielleicht errinert ihr euch, dass ich am Anfang des Jahres vorgenommen habe 10 Minuten jeden Tag zu zeichnen.: )  Ich bin froh zu berichten, dass nicht nur ich, sondern meine Kinder auch, haben in den letzten paar Wochen viele Kunstwerke gemacht. 

Meine Mutter schenkte den Kindern neulich ein schönes Buch mit vielen Anregungen und Ideen drin: The Usborne Book of Art Ideas. Sie haben seitdem nicht aufgehört Bilder zu malen. Ihr könnt oben ihre Meisterwerke anschauen.:)

Und ich schaffe es mehr und mehr zu zeichnen, auch wenn ich platt müde bin. Es tut mir gut mich so intensiv konzentrieren zu müssen und die Welt 'rum herum für einen Augenblick zu vergessen.: )

Godly Play Outside of the Church: Part 3

A long time ago, I became convinced that Godly Play shouldn't just be for kids growing up in the church. The fun that children have with Godly Play and the linguistic and critical thinking skills that they learn are something that all children can benefit from. This was the motivation behind starting the Godly Play clubs at our local elementary school. I have also had a desire to share Godly Play with children in some of the less well-off parts of Berlin. Their spirituality needs to be acknowledged and nurtured as well.

Through Serve the City, I came into contact with a like-minded organization that is helping children in an area of Berlin predominantly made up of immigrants. The wonderful children's workers there are incredibly sensitive to the children's needs and offer them everything from tutoring to art and outdoor play.

On my first visit, I was asked to tell the Parable of the Good Shepherd. I was thrilled at how the children responded to the story and how animated and open they were during the Wondering, even though they had no prior experience with Godly Play. I was also struck by their openness and trust in me, a complete stranger.

This child wanted to explore the materials a little more after the Wondering was over.
For security reasons, I have blurred his face. 

Meeting these kids coincided with my beginning to read the book, From the Ground Up, by Kathryn Copsey. This book is about the author's journey in encouraging a healthy spirituality in inner-city children. She writes that all children are naturally open to others,  unless they have learned or been taught otherwise. They are are naturally open to the world and open about their feelings. Being taken seriously in these things, along with a healthy dose of play and laughter, helps them on the road to developing their own spirituality. 

I found these three types of openness to be true in these children, and it has made me want to be a part of their journey and learn from them as well. Melinda, my co-teacher, and I will be doing an art afternoon with these kids next week.  We also hope to be able to share more stories in the future. But right now, I am excited just to get to know them a little more and be a part of their day.: )

For other ways that I have used Godly Play outside church settings, see these links: 
- at school 
- with women involved in prostitution

If you are a Godly Play Storyteller, please be open to how you can share this gift with others. Jerome Berryman pioneered the development of Godly Play as a play therapist at a children's hospital and by using it with senior citizens at a retirement home. Who knows where God might direct your path?

Sneak Preview: St. Columba

Columba was always one of my favorite saints. Because he loved books. Because he made terrible mistakes and learned from them. Because he was Irish.  I'll be very excited to tell this story to my kids later on this year. 

The weather was cold and rainy on Saturday, so we spent most of the day inside having arts and crafts time. (Though we did get outside for an hour - I am a firm believer in spending time outside every day no matter what the weather is like!) And Mom got to work on some Godly Play materials.

This story in Godly Play Volume 7 calls for several items. The first is a Columba figure that I made out of a peg doll. I added some brown wool roving for his beard and a blue and yellow felt hat.

I also needle-felted a dove. I am very new to needle-felting, so this is the first time that I have tried to make a living thing. I used ideas from this tutorial about how to shape a bird's body. My daughter says it looks more like a white duck, but I think it'll do.

Then, I printed out and mounted pictures of the monastery at Iona and illuminated script from the Book of Kells on canvas board.

You'll have to wait until June, though, to hear more about the story.: )

Here's a look at all the saints that I have made so far:

L to R: Thomas Aquinas, Valentine, Patrick, Columba, Elisabeth of Portugal, 
Teresa of Avila

My next one will probably be Mother Teresa of Calcutta in September.

YCW: John's Vision of the Kingdom of God

Young Children and Worship is another Montessori-based form of religious education developed by Dr. Sonja Stewart under the tutelage of Godly Play creator, Jerome Berryman. While I do not feel that YCW has the depth of Godly Play, I do use it occasionally to introduce new stories to my own children. I do wish there were more New Testament stories in the Godly Play curriculum. Though there is a wonderful story about the life of Paul, and both the Pentecost and Last Supper stories touch on the lives of the apostles, there are no other GP stories that deal directly with the Book of Acts. 

This past Sunday, I told my own children a story called "John, Follower of Jesus, Teaches throughout the World". It is one of three stories about John's post-Pentecost ministry found in "Following Jesus", and recounts John's exile on the isle of Patmos and letters to the churches that he wrote there.

John travels far from Jerusalem to tell other about Jesus and show the ways of God's Kingdom. The people begin meeting in groups called churches. In Ephesus some people do not like what John is saying and arrest him. He is exiled to the island of Patmos.

This scene shows John's travels and his exile on Patmos.

John wants to write to his friends in the churches, but it isn't safe. He begins to write in a secret code that only his friends can understand. He writes to them about his vision of the Kingdom of God.

The yellow circle represents the spread of the kingdom of God and the scroll
contains a verse from the book of Revelation.

This scroll contains part of the "secret" message, found in the Revelation 21: 1-4:

"I saw a new heaven and new earth . . . and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling of God is with people. God will live with them, and they shall be God's people. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no death, there shall be no sadness, or crying, or pain anymore. The old way is gone . . . God is making everything new."

While the above description isn't the exact text due to copyright laws, it's pretty close. One of the problems in doing YCW with older children is that the stories tend to be a little too short, especially if the kids are used to Godly Play. (This can, of course, also be an advantage when working with 2-5 year-olds.) As soon as I finished the story and began the Wondering, my daughter (age 7) complained that the story had been too short. However, the Wondering proved to be quite deep, so maybe the length of the story wasn't so bad after all. It seems to have forced them to stop and take a closer look at the scripture.

I asked the following Wondering questions (the first one I made up and the second and third are from the book):
- What was your favorite part of John's secret message to his friends?
- What do you think his friend wrote back to him?
- What do you think they would have drawn in response to John's vision of the Kingdom of God?

My son hastily answered that his favorite part of John's message was that there would be no sadness. But then he thought for a moment longer and said that he didn't know how things would be without death and pain. 

"Maybe it would be good to not have death, but there has to be pain. Otherwise there would be no stories like 'Star Wars'," he said. 

I realized what an important thought that was. Pain is such a constant companion in this world that it really is difficult to imagine it being completely eradicated. It is so engrained in us as human beings that every good story has a conflict. We simply can not comprehend what existence without it will mean. My wondering about that continued long after we were through.: )

That whole conversation led to my daughter wondering what the new heaven and new earth will be like. Will they be real places? When it says that God will live with us, does that mean that we will be able to see him and talk to him face-to-face?

By the time we got to question three, both kids were pretty tired of thinking so hard, so they erupted in giggles and silly answers - their reward for so much deep theologizing. (If only all theological conversations led to laughter . . . !)

There is a companion story to this one called "A New Heaven, a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem". The text is exactly the same except the "secret message" (Revelation 21:22-26) and the Wondering questions that deal with the theme of God being our light in the new creation. I am not sure if I will try it, but I may make a scroll of the text and use it in an evening devotional.

Has anyone else out there tried this story? What have your experiences with it been?

A Note on Geography: Older children may want to know where to find this part of the world on the map. I would definitely explain to them that Patmos is enlarged for the story. In reality, Patmos is so tiny in comparison to modern-day Turkey (Asia Minor) that you can hardly see it.

Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

Creative Response to The Lord's Prayer

I wanted to highlight an idea for helping children go deeper with The Lord's Prayer that we used in the Easter Club this year.

After sharing a "Godly Play-style" story about The Lord's Prayer, we invited the children to a table where they could explore the prayer a little more.

We printed out copies of each verse of the prayer on strips of paper, and set them out on a table along with oil pastels, colored pencils, construction paper, glue and scissors.

We then invited the children to pick the verse that they liked best or that was most important to them. They could glue it onto a piece of construction paper, and then draw or write something about it.

This allows children to process individually and hopefully make the prayer their own.

My latest read: "From the Ground Up" by Kathryn Copsey

The latest book that I am reading about children's spirituality is called From the Ground Up by Kathryn Copsey. It was suggested to me by my friend Helen and got a resounding "yes" from Rebecca Nye (Godly Play Trainers' Trainer and author of Children's Spirituality: What it is and Why it Matters) when I was asking her about further reading. 

So far I have only finished the first chapter, because there was so much in it that I read it three times! What I love about this book is that Kathryn's experience and philosophy do not come from orderly, white, middle-class Sunday school rooms. Rather this book is the fruit of her long-standing work with urban children in London, the majority of whom have not had easy lives.

One of the most helpful thoughts from chapter 1 is the difference between spirituality and faith. Most of us know that children's spirituality is fairly hard to define. (I personally like Rebecca Nye's basic definition that spirituality is the attempt to connect to that which is beyond yourself.) And then to differentiate it from faith is even harder. Copsey had a group of children's workers brainstorm words associated with "spirituality" and "faith". The words that people came up with for "spirituality" tended to reflect awareness, mystery, and otherness. The words associated with faith, however, appeared to be more secure, grounded and linked to the beliefs and practices of a given religious community. 

She goes on to say that all children have a spirituality, and that faith is the framework that is built around this spirituality. A child might have a Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim framework around her spirituality. And it is even possible to build a secular atheistic framework around a child's spirituality. These sorts of statements are exactly what make the subject of children's spirituality a bit controversial in more conservative religious circles, because it becomes clear that spirituality is not limited to Christian children. In fact, all children are spiritual beings and some sort of framework will be built around it, either consciously or unconsciously.

And that is where our work as a Christian mentors comes in. Copsey writes " . . . as Christians, our belief is that spirituality reaches its full expression when a Christian framework is applied - when the original image of God imprinted in each person is consciously recognized and responded to in Jesus Christ." 

All children start out spiritually open, but far too many become less open to it and even closed to it in late childhood and adolescence. This happens in part because their spirituality is either not nurtured or ignored. My dream is to mentor children who will continue to be spiritual their whole lives.