FrühlingsAG / Spring Godly Play Club - Week 1

Zum allerersten Mal haben wir eine FrühlingsAG angeboten, die vor zwei Wochen anfing! Unsere AGs fangen immer mit einer Geschichte an, und in der 1.Woche hörten wir eine Auferstehungsgeschichte, da wir noch in der Osterzeit sind. Es ging um die Emmaus-Jünger, die Jesus auf dem Weg trafen, aber ihn nicht erkannten.  For the first time ever, we offered a Spring Godly Play Club that kicked off two weeks ago! Our first story was a Resurrection story called "The Emmaus Disciples". It is not part of the Godly Play "canon", but rather a story told in Godly Play style that was developed by some of our German storytellers. 

Die zwei Freunde treffen Jesus auf dem Weg nach Emmaus.
The two friends meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

Kinder finden diese Geschichte toll. Es ist für sie faszinierend, warum die 2 Freunde Jesus gar nicht erkannt haben. Nach der Geschichte gibt es ein Ergründungsgespräch, wo ich den Kindern offene Fragen über die Geschichte stelle. Sie dürfen alles sagen, und es gibt keine richtige oder falsche Antworte.  Children just love this story. They find it fascinating that the two friends of Jesus don't recognize him at first. After the story, we have a time of "Wondering" in which I ask the children what they liked best or thought was most important about the story.


Einige sagten, es hat ihnen am besten gefallen, wo alle drei am Tisch saßen, und plötzlich erkannten die 2 Freunde Jesus, als dieser das Brot teilte. Ein anderes Kind fand's toll, dass Jesus in dem Moment verschwunden war! Die Kinder haben auch vermutet, warum die 2 Jünger nicht kapiert haben, wer Jesus wirklich war. Vielleicht waren sie einfach zu traurig oder die ganze Zeit den Boden  angeguckt. Oder vielleicht sah Jesus irgendwie anders aus.  Many of the children said that their favorite part was when they all sat down at the table together to share bread and finally the disciples figured out who Jesus was. Another child thought it was cool that Jesus disappeared at that very moment! The children speculated as to why the friends didn't recognize him. Maybe they were just too sad or maybe they were looking down at the ground. Or maybe Jesus somehow looked different. 

Die 2 Jünger erkennen Jesus, als er das Brot teilt. 
The two friends recognize Jesus when he breaks bread with them.

Nach der Geschichte gibt es eine Kreativphase, in der die Kinder Beschäftigungen aussuchen um entweder weiter sich Gedanken über die Geschichte zu machen oder über ein anderes Thema auf dem Herzen nachzudenken. Die Angebote sind bei Stationen aufgestellt, und die Kinder können sich frei dazwischen bewegen. After the story, the children had a Response Time in which they could choose from various activities in order to think more about either the story or something else on their hearts. The activities are set up in stations, and the children can move from one station to another when they are finished with one project. 

Station 1: Nähcollagen - hier gestalten die Kinder eine Collage mit Filzstücken, die sie an einem aus Jutestoff Hintergrund zunähen. 
Station 1:  Sewn Collages - here the children make cut collage pieces from felt and sew them onto a burlap background.

Station 2: Blumentöpfe malen - wie wäre eine FrühlingsAG ohne etwas einpflanzen zu können? Diese Wochen haben einige einen Topf angemalt, und nächste Woche wird's eingepflanzt.
Station 2: Painting Flower Pots - It wouldn't be a Spring Club if we didn't plant something! This week we painted, and next week we'll begin planting.

Station 3: Skulpturen mit Ton und Naturmaterial - hier haben die Kinder mit Ton u. Naturschätzen gearbeitet.

Station 3: Clay Sculptures with Nature Material - Here the children created with clay and added nature material to their work. 

Am Ende der Kreativphase haben wir zusammen aufgeräumt und für unser kleines Fest vorbereitet. Dann aßen wir gemeinsam ein gesundes Snack- für viele Kinder ist dies das wichtigste Teil des Tages! Ein Junge in der Gruppe spielte ein paar Lieder am Klavier und machte dabei eine schöne Stimmung.  At the end of Response Time, we clean up together and get ready for our small feast. Then, we enjoy a snack together - for many children, this is their favorite part.  One of the boys in our group plays the piano really well and agreed to serenade us during our feast!

Teil 2 kommt bald!

Part 2 coming soon!

Update: You can view Week 2 and Week 3 by clicking the links!

Godly Play with Seniors: The Desert Stories

So much has been going on lately that I haven't had time to document it all in blog posts! Since I last checked in about my work with seniors, I've begun to tell the desert stories. In April, I told "The Great Family" and in May I told "Exodus". 

My German colleague, Dr. Martin Steinhäuser, commented once that the desert stories can lead to a powerful release of thoughts and emotions in seniors. This has been my experience with my small group of ladies. 

A desert landscape in the Sinai Peninsula

These women were all children during World War II. One lady shared during the Wondering for "Exodus" that she identified with the children of Israel when Pharoah's army was coming after them. As a 10-year-old, her family had been driven out of Stettin (now a part of Poland) and forced to relocate near the Baltic Sea. She knew the feelings of fear and uncertainty very well.

That generation has not typically had the opportunity to talk about the things that happened to them, because the culture at that time encouraged people to keep their feelings to themselves and just keep going. That makes these conversations all the more important in being able to process their memories in the context of faith. 

A couple of the ladies really like to just run their hands through the sand in my desert bag. It's easy to forget that they no longer have opportunities to do this. Although the nursing home has a beautiful garden that the ladies can visit, they obviously don't play in a sandbox. 

I have still not really figured out how to do a Response Time with these ladies. I am not musically gifted, so singing the older German hymns is difficult for me. Lois Howard, whom I've written about before, often plays Bingo with her seniors. Perhaps that would be an option if I could find the time to make the Bingo cards.

My 8-year-old daughter has been accompanying me to our Godly Play sessions with the seniors. This last time, she had spent the night with her class at school the evening before, so I gave her the option not to go in case she was too tired. To my surprise, she insisted on going with me. One of the ladies that we are particularly close to at the nursing home gave her a small stone that her son had brought back from Bethlehem. My daughter was delighted and told me afterwards, "I'm going to always keep it, so I can remember her  after she dies." Such a wise child. 

Catching Up

Hi there, Just wanted to say hi and let you know how we are. Many of you sent kind e-mails when my father-in-law was injured just before Easter. He and my mother-in-law were able to return to the US two weeks later and are doing well, though it will be several more weeks before he can walk again. 

Though our Holy Week and Easter turned out differently than we planned, we still managed to find a few bright moments. 

The mad race to find the Easter eggs was hysterical to watch.: )

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and made us smile.

And I was able to make this lamb-shaped cake filled with raspberry cheesecake for Easter Sunday. 

After the Easter holidays, we had three days of school and then more holidays to celebrate May 1. We used the chance to take our bikes out to the forest and let the kids go. There aren't many places in Berlin where they can take off and ride as fast as they want. So much fun to watch!

Though it's rainy and overcast now, we also had some really warm weather, and enjoyed an afternoon at one of Berlin's many lakes. 

There were so many kids that registered for Easter Club this year that I had to turn several of them away. So, we decided to do a three week "Spring Club" (FrühlingsAG) that starts tomorrow.  I'll be sure to update you on how it goes!

Easter Club Week 4/OsterAG Woche 4

Als Abschluss zur OsterAG besuchten wir einen Kinderclub in einer anderen Bezirk von Berlin. Diese Bezirk hat leider nicht den besten Ruf in Berlin wegen Kriminalität und einer hohen Zahl am Immigranten, aber sie ist trotzdem kinderreich und hat viele Familien, die ihren Kindern nur das Beste im Leben wünschen. Wir erzählen unseren Schülern die negativen Infos nicht, weil wir möchten, dass sie ihre eigene Eindrücke, weg von Stereotypen, formulieren.  Dadurch hoffen wir, dass wir zukünftige Brücken bauen können, die diese Bezirk positiv sozial und wirtschaftlich prägen können. Our last week of Easter Club was spent visiting a children's after-school club in another part of Berlin. This children's club is in a part of Berlin that doesn't necessarily have the best reputation, although we do not share this information with our children. One reason we make this trip with our kids is that we believe that by building bridges early on, we can help shape the social and economic future of this district in a positive way.

Mit den begabten Mitarbeitern des Kinderclubs haben wir einige Angebote für die Kinder organisiert. Wir schauten auch darauf, dass die Gruppen sich mischten, damit die Kinder ein bisschen aus ihren Komfortzonen kamen. Along with the gifted staff of the children's club, we organized several activities for the children to choose from. We also made sure that each activity involved children from both our school and the club to encourage the children to mix with one another rather than staying in their comfort zones.

Bei einem Projekt konnten die Kinder Sämlingen, die im Winter von den Mitarbeitern des Clubs angebaut wurden, in Töpfe einpflanzen. Unten kann man die Blumenerde und Sämlinge auf einen Tisch sehen und die Vasen u. Wasserkannen auf dem anderen. Obwohl die Sonne schien, war das Wettervorschau etwa unsicher gewesen und wir entschieden uns dafür drin mit der Aktion zu bleiben.  One project involved planting seedlings (cultivated over the winter months by the staff of the children's club) in pots for the children to take home with them. Below you can see the gardening soil and and seedlings on one table and the decorative vases and watering cans on the other table. Although it was a beautiful day outside, the weather forecast had been a bit "iffy", so we opted to do the planting inside.

Während manche Kinder warteten um einzupflanzen, konnten sie Brettspielen mit einander spielen.  While waiting for their turn to plant a seedling, the others played board games in another room. 

Eine andere Gruppe von Mädels und Jungs entschied sich für Fußball. Another group of girls and boys went out to the soccer cage for a tournament.

Am Ende kamen wir alle zusammen mit der riesen Springseile zu hüpfen . . .
 We came together at the end to jump rope  . . . 

und den Pokal an der gewinnenden Mannschaft zu überreichen.

and present the "trophy" to the winning soccer team composed of kids from both places. 

Wie die Zeit vergeht, wenn man Spass hat! Bald waren wir auf dem Weg nach Hause. Wir tauschten unsere Eindrücke kurz aus, während wir auf die Strassenbahn warteten. Viele von uns äußerten, wie nett sie die Kinder dort fanden. Das Einpflanzen und  Springseilspringen waren unter den lieblings Aktivitäten. Time flies when you're having fun, and before we knew it, we were on our way home. Waiting for the tram, we talked about what we had experienced. Our kids commented on how nice they thought the other children at the club were. Planting the seedlings and jumping rope were among the favorite activities. 

Ein Junge erzählte auch, dass es alles zu viel für ihn war und dass dieser Teil der AG nicht sein lieblings gewesen war. Ich war dankbar für seine Ehrlichkeit. One child also voiced that there had been too much going on, and that the visit to the children's club had not been his favorite part of the Easter Club. I appreciated his honesty. 

Im Großen und Ganzem war diese Aktion sehr wertvoll und ein schöner Weg gewesen um zu Ostern vorzubereiten! All in all, it was a meaningful way to spend our time and prepare for Easter!

If you missed the other "episodes" of Easter Club, please click below:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Happy Easter!

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Der Herr ist auferstanden!

Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!

Hopefully some Easter grass will begin growing here during Eastertide!

Happy Easter!

Frohe Ostern!

A Song for Good Friday

On this Good Friday, I want to share with you one of the songs that we sing with our children each night before they go to bed. It was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during his stay at Tegel prison here in Berlin shortly before his execution. 

The song is called "Von guten Mächten" and roughly translates as "By Gracious Powers". Below is the original German followed by the most popular English translation. 

Von guten Mächten

Von guten Mächten treu und still umgeben,
behütet und getröstet wunderbar,
so will ich diese Tage mit euch leben, 
und mit euch gehen in ein neues Jahr.

Refrain:
Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen
erwarten wir getrost, was kommen mag.
Gott ist bei uns am Abend und am Morgen
und ganz gewiß an jedem neuen Tag.

Noch will das alte unsre Herzen quälen,
noch drückt uns böser Tage schwere Last.
Ach Herr, gib unsern aufgeschreckten Seelen
das Heil, für das Du uns geschaffen hast.

Und reichst Du uns den schweren Kelch, den bittern,
des Leids, gefüllt bis an den höchsten Rand,
so nehmen wir ihn dankbar ohne Zittern
aus Deiner guten und geliebten Hand.

Doch willst Du uns noch einmal Freude schenken
an dieser Welt und ihrer Sonne Glanz,
dann woll'n wir des Vergangenen gedenken,
und dann gehört Dir unser Leben ganz.

Laß warm und hell die Kerzen heute flammen
die Du in unsre Dunkelheit gebracht,
führ, wenn es sein kann, wieder uns zusammen!
Wir wissen es, Dein Licht scheint in der Nacht.

Wenn sich die Stille nun tief um uns breitet,
so laß uns hören jenen vollen Klang
der Welt, die unsichtbar sich um uns weitet,
all Deiner Kinder hohen Lobgesang.



"By gracious powers"

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning,
and never fails to greet us each new day.

Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
Oh, give our frightened souls the sure salvation
for which, O Lord, You taught us to prepare.

And when this cup You give is filled to brimming
with bitter suffering, hard to understand,
we take it thankfully and without trembling,
out of so good and so beloved a hand.

Yet when again in this same world You give us
the joy we had, the brightness of Your Sun,
we shall remember all the days we lived through,
and our whole life shall then be Yours alone.

Übersetzung: F. Pratt Green

You can hear the melody to the song here in German and in English here. 

A note about the translation: Green's translation is the most readable, but this one more accurately reflects the original German, although the sentence constructions render it difficult to read.

In our sketchbooks . . .

If you read our last post, you know that we've been spending a lot of time at the hospital. Between visits to Grandpapa, we've managed to make some art. 

This is a picture inspired by sketches of trees that I saw on furniture at the Art Nouveau Museum here in Berlin.

And another phoenix. The phoenix is an ancient symbol of Christ's resurrection that I have been exploring during Lent. 

This is the Michaelis Kloster (St. Michael's Monastery) in Hildesheim, Germany that I recently visited.

My 10-year-old made a linocut of some Marvel superheroes. Guess who?

And my 8-year-old loves cupcakes and horses.

We're joining Friday Sketches at Dion Dior's beautiful blog.