29 Faces Art Challenge #26-28

I can't even begin to explain how much I have enjoyed the 29 Faces Art Challenge from Ayala Art! It has given me inspiration to practice drawing faces way more often than I would have without a "goal" to work toward. And my children have enjoyed it as well!

Face #26

Watercolor, watercolor pencils, oil pastel and acrylic.

Face #27

I drew this one mainly for the facial expression. I am trying to get better at conveying different emotions in my drawings.

Face #28

This is from my 10-year-old son, when told he could draw an animal face. : )

Face #29? 

My daughter is still working on this one. Hopefully, I can post it over the weekend!

29 Faces Art Challenge #24 & 25

Making progress on the 29 Faces Art Challenge!

Face #24
Another "guess who?"

I drew this one for Asmic from Amazing and Amusing and her husband. Our two families have a standing joke with sending one another faces of this particular person or pictures of us in front of statues of him.

For better or for worse, the shadow of this man has loomed over almost every city that I have lived in as an adult. And in one city, he literally loomed over us.: ) Growing up, my parents equated him with Satan. And I distinctly remember the irony I felt years later when watching old Soviet movies from the 50's and 60's with Russian friends where he and his followers were the "good guys". 

Anyway, I tried to capture both the harshness and colorfulness of his life with this quick portrait. 

Face #25

Inspired by a book I found in the library called "Zeichnen Lab", this is a silly animal portrait. I painted a watercolor blob and then drew the first animal that came to mind. 

29 Faces Art Challenge #20-23

Well, the clock is ticking on our 29 Faces Art Challenge. We have until next Friday to complete all of our faces. Will we make it? I don't know, but we'll sure have had a lot of fun trying!!

Face #20

Guess who?  Although men's faces are usually difficult for me to draw, this one was relatively easy. Could it be that the reason is because I've seen this face for most of my life? (Only in pictures, of course!)

Face #21

I told you I'd return to Nefertiti at some point.: )  I like this one much better than my previous attempt, but maybe I'm just more comfortable with this style.

Here is my 10-year-old son's work:

Face #22

Ironman, I believe.

Face #23 

And a knight!

I'm also sharing on Sunday Sketches at Blue Chair Diary Illustrations!

Spreading Godly Play throughout the world

I love seeing Godly Play spread to other parts of the world, and it's been a joy to me to be a small part of seeing it introduced to the Russian-speaking world.

Two of the ladies, Anastasia and Asmic,  who attended our Core Training in Minsk last October have now given an introductory seminar (Taster Day/ Kennenlernen Tag) in Moscow. 

Please read all about it on Asmic's blog, Amazing and Amusing. 

The beautiful faces of the people learning to mentor children will definitely encourage you! 

I was also encouraged to see pictures of men at the seminar. The majority of GP storytellers are women, but as Berryman writes in The Spiritual Guidance of Children, he and Thea intended from the beginning for both genders to be involved in mentoring children. It is definitely not a given in Russian culture (and especially in the evangelical church culture there) that men are going to be working with children.  I applaud these guys for their work and for being open to something new. 

I am also thrilled for Anastasia and Asmic for being able to pass on their knowledge and experience. May God bless their work and a whole generation of children through it!

29 Faces Art Challenge # 14 - 19

Here we are back again with the 29 Faces Art Challenge from Ayala Art! As I predicted, our posting slowed down after the winter school holidays, but we've been drawing nevertheless. In fact, I think we might even have more than 29 faces at the end of February.: )

Face #14

"Mystery" - I have no idea what she is looking at, but it makes her smile. Watercolor and chalk pastel. 

Face #15

Ayala encourages us to draw anything with a "face", so I chose to draw an owl. Like the picture above, it is watercolor with chalk pastel.

Face #16

My children and I attended an art exhibit called "Manga Mucha Mystery" that explored how the Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha influenced Manga and pop culture. My kids got to attend a Manga workshop, and I sat with friends sketching the pictures in the exhibition. You can see the Manga influence in this portrait I did below. I used a picture and changed the woman's features enough to make it original.: ) I used watercolor and watercolor pencils.

Face #17

A Manga drawing. I thought up the interesting headdress after some of studying Mucha's pictures. 

Face #18 

My 10-year-old son is back with the following portraits of Dad and Mom.: )

Face #19

I'm also posting this on Sunday Sketches. I just discovered Alexandra's blog. She is an amazing self-taught artist with an inspiring life story. It reminds me to pay even closer attention to the children in my care. Hope you will check out her blog and work!

Godly Play with Alzheimer's Patients

I recently became aware of Lois Howard's work with Alzheimer's patients and Godly Play in Lexington, Kentucky. In a fascinating article on the Key Resources website, Lois tells about her experiences and offers advice to those who wish to work with seniors. Lois has been a Godly Play storyteller for 25 years, and you can tell this by the wisdom and love that radiates from her writing. 

Here Lois tells the Parable of the Good Shepherd using
3-D figures to make it easier for her audience to see.
(All photos used with permission from Lois Howard.)

Part 1 of the article describes the path that led Lois to working with Alzheimer's patients after years of working with children. Be sure to read Part 2 of the article (which I missed the first time!), because it is a treasure chest of information on how to actually start working with seniors:

• a list of the Godly Play stories that she tells annually and that seem particularly effective
• adaptations to the stories
• advice for getting started
• ideas for Response Time

Bingo is a beloved activity for Response Time.

I find some of the adaptations that Lois makes particularly helpful. If you are familiar with Godly Play, you know that one of the hallmarks of the methodology is for the storyteller to keep his/her eyes on the story materials rather than making eye contact with the listeners. Lois wrote me, however, that she intentionally makes eye contact with her seniors, and started doing so after telling a story and looking up to find that all of her listeners had fallen asleep!

She also uses three-dimensional figures for the parables (rather than the traditional flat wooden figures) to make it easier for the seniors to see them. Also, she suggests using colored figures for the desert stories, so that there is a contrast with the sand. 

Response Time can also be rather untraditional with seniors. Because of difficulties with fine motor skills and taking into account the interest of the seniors themselves, Lois often sings or plays bingo with them. I have not yet had the opportunity to have a Response Time with my seniors, so this gives me some ideas.  

The most important part of any Godly Play ministry, connecting with others and sharing God's love. 

My favorite part of the article is when Lois lists the reasons and motivation for ministry with Alzheimer's patients, which can be applicable to all seniors living in care facilities, whether they suffer from dementia or not. At the top of the list is "to be a loving, accepting presence to people who are often forgotten".  Sounds a lot like Jesus to me. 

Godly Play with Toddlers

I am often asked by preschool teachers and parents if it is possible to do Godly Play with toddlers. The answer to that question is a resounding "yes"! That having been said, certain adjustments have to made in order to respect the child's developmental stage.

Godly Play, in the form that I write about on this blog, is for children "ages 3-99" to quote Jerome and Thea Berryman, who developed Godly Play. Toddlers, however, are at a completely different stage of developmental that is driven by a physical curiosity to discover the world through the five senses. Because of this, the emphasis on "getting ready" is completely different with the toddler. The toddler is, in her developmentally specific way, already "ready" - ready to see, hear, feel, smell and taste anything in his path. And asking a toddler to get ready in any other way is impossible for the child. 

Because of this, toddlers hear the story and "wonder" about it at the same time. (For a more detailed  explanation of Wondering in Godly Play, see this article.) They wonder in the physical sense by touching the materials, and it is important to let them do this. Whereas with children ages 3 and up, we ask them to refrain from touching the materials until the story is over, the Storyteller actually allows and encourages a group of toddlers to touch everything during the story. As a result, I personally think that a group of only toddlers and younger babies works best. Having a mixed group of toddlers and older children could be a potential disaster, because the older children would be distracted and might find it unfair that the little ones can touch everything. 

For the Response Time, it is wise to choose one activity for the toddlers. Too many choices can overwhelm children at that age. I would also try to have a Co-teacher if the group is larger than 2-3 toddlers. 

My Godly Play mentor, Ulrike Labuhn, has written a book in German about "theologizing" with toddlers, having tested  her theories with preschool teachers and toddlers at a preschool in Potsdam. Her book is called,  Der Neugier der Kleinsten Raum Geben: Kinder fragen nach Gott und der Welt (Making Room for the Curiosity of Toddlers: Children ask about God and the World) , and you can read more about her ideas here. What I have learned about Godly Play with toddlers comes from her. 

If any of you are working with toddlers, please leave a comment or link below. We'd love to learn from your experience!