Godly
Play
What is Godly Play? In short, it is a Montessori approach for Sunday School
to communicate the sacred stories of Christian scripture.
For more information about Jerome Berryman’s Godly Play, please refer to the
Godly Play website.
At our parish we have found it a helpful resource in our Sunday School toolbox, but the
resource can be a bit pricy. In steps the Garage Shop.
If your faith community needs Godly Play resources please feel free to
contact us,
we will be happy to see if we can help. We do not sell Godly Play resources, but
like all other projects of the Garage Shop; we do from time to time accept
commissioned work for the cost of materials only.
Jerome Berryman is also an Episcopal priest; his material is well worth a
look.
Blessings,
--Mark
Selected Godly Play Resources
The Church Year
Math is NOT my friend. Getting a straight stick of wood to wrap around a
circle with 7” radius in 52 equal segments took some noodle scratching. Our
liturgical calendar is a bit larger than the GP site sells. Our base is 19.5” in
diameter. It is made from 3/4” Baltic Birch plywood.
The plywood had some defects, so I painted it with a latex paint. The 52
segments represent the 52 Sundays of the Liturgical (Church) year and are
removable as per the needs of the story teller.
Here are two calendar commissions ready to
be shipped. Notice that I do not put a finish on them, as you
will want to utilize the liturgical colors used in your parish
community. Same dimensions as above, these are square with
rounded corners. I also ship a few extra calendar pieces as I am sure
some will get lost!
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The Temple of Solomon
The temple is made from walnut and poplar. it measures 10
1/4" X 19 3/4". The floor of the temple and frame are walnut
while the the temple is made from 8/4 blocks of poplar. The
laver (bowl) and the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the two
columns (not painted Gold as yet) by the front door attach to
the base via a 3/8" pin and hole. They are all made from Poplar.
Here is a picture of the temple with one side and roof removed.
The Temple also has four Artifacts: the
table of bread , the incense altar, the menorah, and the Ark of
the Covenant. I have placed a D cell battery to give some scale
to the furniture. When I first checked the price on the Godly
Play website, I was surprised by the cost--not much wood here.
Then I began to create them. It DOES take a few minutes to
reproduce these miniatures! Now their cost makes sense!
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Ark and
the Tent Tabernacle structure
The Structure of two outside walls which are 5” x 13” x 1/4”,
and three interior walls measure 5” x 6 1/2” x 1/4”. The
interior walls and the sidewalls hook together using 1/4"
vertical slots.
The front piece has five pillars and a top lentil with a
purple curtain covering the entryway. The centerpiece, which
separates the Holy of Holies, has four pillars and a black
curtain.
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The Desert Box
 The
Desert box is simple a 32”x 24”x 4” box on casters with a Plexiglas insert to
keep the sand in and little hands from turning it into an indoor sand box when
not being used by a storyteller. It is a central tool in Godly Play
storytelling. Many of the stories utilize the Desert box. The
concept is pretty simple. Almost all of the sacred stories of scripture are told
from the desert. Since it is hard to bring a group of kids out to the desert,
you bring the desert to them! The kids love it as a story telling tool, it makes
the stores become "alive" for them.
Ours Desert Box is made from 3/4” Red oak plywood and trimmed in White oak. The
Plexiglas insert/cover is 1/4” and has White oak handles. 50 pounds of sand
fills it about half way. I used ball casters to give the sand smooth ride and so
the storyteller can maneuver the box with ease.
Here
is another version of the Classroom Desert Box. This one was
made for St. John's
Episcopal Church. It is made from Baltic Birch sheet goods
and trimmed with Birch. I keep experimenting with different
looks, I like this one. I will not use Birch again, however, too
brittle--makes it had to work. On this box, like the one
below, the cover sits on corner blocks. I like the look.
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The Desert Box
(the
off-road version)
A colleague asked me to make a box for her
parish (St. Edmund's Episcopal Church, Pacifica) and there is
considerable aggregate around the church. I was worried how my
original design would hold up rolling along that rough surface
Sunday after Sunday. So, I came up with the “off-road” design. I
simply reinforced the corners both inside and out with the some
Alder. Additionally, the inside corners allow the lid to sit
flush. I really like the look. I also added a pull rope on this
one and fixed casters in the rear. It works pretty well.
Materials are Birch plywood (the Home
Center kind) and solid birch edging. The sheet goods from the
Home Center are disappointing to say the least. The top veneer
is so thin; it is very difficult to achieve the final finish
without blowing through it. Slow going with a block plane that levels
the edge and in spots the second layer is just beginning to peek
through. Very frustrating. Next time, it will be Baltic Birch!
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Jonah and the Whale
Our boat is 9 1/4" x 4 3/8" and is made from Ash, Walnut and
White Oak. The mast stands 5" tall. There is not sail on the
mast as I will let our Godly Play teachers decide what color
sail they want. The five blue waves are about 11" X 3/4" and
made from white pine. I may have to make these up again, we will
see how the pine holds up with little hands playing with them.
Our Nineveh is 3" square and made from a Walnut base, topped
with Alder. Our Jonah is 3 5/8" tall and is also made from
Alder. Our whale is 3 3/8" x 9 1/4" long and is made from
Poplar. Everything first received a coat of my favorite finish:
a mixture of polyurethane, Boiled Linseed Oil and Naphtha; and
ten all items received a light coat of very blonde shellac. Here
is a close up of the boat.
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Days of Creation
These seven 5.5” x 8” x 1/4” “cards” are used in telling the story of
creation. The art work for our cards was painted by The Rev. Jennifer Hornbeck.
These cards are made from 1/4” hardboard and all the edges are rounded over
with a 1.8” round over bit.
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The People of God
The People of God are designed to be generic people shapes. These too are
used in many of the Godly Play stories.
Ours are made from Ash, Hard Maple, Red Oak and Walnut. Finished with oil.
Our version even has an infant person (top center).
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The Great Family
The materials for telling the story of Abraham and Sarah are a great example
of how easy it is to come up with your own Godly Play materials. A couple 2" x
4" x 3/4" blocks of wood (our are Alder), a few rocks (we used polished ones)
and some blue yard is all you need.
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Moses
Moses is used in the “Exodus” story as well as “The Ten Best Ways” story.
Our Moses stands with his staff and arm raised to lead God's people. He is 4”
x 2.5” x 3/8” and made of Red Oak and finished in oil.
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Ten Best Ways to Live
Ten
best ways tells the story of the Ten Commandments.
Out heart
shaped tablets are simply 1/5" hardboard. Our 'Mt. Sinai' we
found out in the back yard!
Apostle's Shield Mobile
We made these shields of the 12 Apostles in our
Sunday morning program as we prepared to celebrate the feast of
All Saints. The Godly Play shields are used in the story of
Pentecost, but those shields are about an inch tall.
Our version of the shields are 3.5" x 4" hard
board suspended by some 3/8" hardwood dowels and rainbow colored
nylon cord. The kids glued blue or red fields and then the icons
for each individual Apostle. It took a bit to get all the
materials together for each child to make a mobile for her/his
bedroom, but the effort was worth it as this is great project
for teaching the story of the Apostles.
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Risen Christ
Our Risen Christ is made from Alder and the
base is made from Walnut. It measures 6”x5” plus the base.
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