My friend Shera told me about it as we were watching our friend Reagan open baby gifts at her shower one day. In the local church Shera's a part of, they use the Godly Play approach to teaching their church's children about God. It's rooted in Maria Montessori's ways of teaching and uses hands-on story-telling to invite children into the story being told, to wonder about the story, all in hope that the Holy Spirit will move in each child in a personal, meaningful way.
A few months ago we started using Godly Play as part of how we learn about and relate to God. And it's been a wonderful addition to our homeschool, in fact, to our lives. I encourage you to read all about what Godly Play is here. But one of my favorite Godly Play stories so far is the story of The Last Supper.
These are some of the materials I used to tell this story. The Godly Play manuals (which you can purchase on Amazon) clearly tell you what materials you need for each story, and there is a script for each story too. Also, there are videos on YouTube in which Godly Play teachers show us what it looks like to tell the stories.
For this story, we needed the twelve disciples, Jesus, a miniature table, a miniature cup, a miniature plate, a lamb and purple and white cloth (I used felt). There are people who make and sell Godly Play materials (you'll find them on eBay). But I chose to make my own because it was a lot less expensive... and really not that hard.
For the disciples and Jesus, I ordered Wooden People off Amazon, then cut out some felt for their clothes, glued them on, and tied some string around the waist. The miniature table, cup and plate we already had as part of E and R's dollhouse. The lamb we already had as well.
The story creates the opportunity to teach about, and take, communion with your kids. I told the Godly Play story before my husband went to work so that he could be a part of taking communion too (especially since this was the first time our kids had taken communion, or that we had taken communion as a family).
This was such a special morning for our family. I highly recommend Godly Play!
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