Bread of Life

The next few weeks we will be using texts in church. I decided this was a good opportunity to plunge in a little deeper and even spent a little money on materials that can be used for the next few weeks and stored for future use as well.  One of the items that I ordered and am anxiously waiting for is a bread play set to put in the sensory table.  There were much nice sets, but the price on this one pulled it ahead.

It add a little more diversity to the mix, I also went on a photo hunt and found some varieties of bread from throughout the world, a flag of origination to match and printed them in color on cardstock.  I printed flags and bread back to back to add into the sensory table.  I also added magnets to a set and put on a tray so an older child can try matching the breads to the flags.

While on Amazon, this little gem popped up in my items I might like and I couldn't resist.  This book , Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris, has great photographs and can open the door to conversations about diversity and God's love encompassing and providing for all people, all over the world.  I will have it on the table in our prayground during the series and relocate it the children's library.

I have a few more ideas that I would like to get added to this area so check back and hold me accountable for getting it done!

Worship that Sticks (literally!)

A coworker of mine was sharing about some dolls she once saw made to look like pastors.  It sparked an idea for me that has been peculating for some time now and I finally have it completed and ready to share!

I began by asking the pastors and inter pastor to pose for me with their arms outstretched.  Somehow I managed to convince all three.  I then went around and took  pictures of various things children may notice in worship like the altar, the pulpit, the Christ candle, Communion chalice and paten, and so forth.  Using my computer, I cropped the photos to size to coordinate with one another and fit on a metal cookie sheet that I purchased at Walmart.  The photos were printed in color, trimmed, laminated, re-trimmed and backed with a magnetic strip.  Now children can play worship as they observe what is happening in front of them with their very own magnetic church play set!

Piece Be With You

My blog today isn't a how to worship with children so much as it is a why to worship with children.  The other day my two-year-old had gotten his hands on a box of crackers.  Not only did he manage to get into the box and dump many of the crackers out onto the counter, in typical toddler fashion, he was in the process of breaking the crackers into little pieces.  I was covering the space between the kitchen doorway and him to put a stop to these shenanigans when he looked at me with a sweet smile, offered a broken piece of cracker to me and said, "Piece be with you, Mom!"  I laughed and he stood there with his open hand, offering me peace with his piece of cracker.  "Piece be with you, Mom, eat it."  I took the broken cracker, and he leaned to kiss me and said again, "Piece, Mom, peace."

Family of God

On Sunday, July 12th, we read the beginning of Paul's letter to the people of Ephesus.  Paul writes about God's love and our adoption into the family of God.  I knew I wanted to do something in the Seasonal Sensory table with people.  My first thought was to fill the table with some adorable multicultural counter people that I had when I taught preschool, similar to the rainbow colored counting bears that many people are familiar with.  Google, Amazon, and several other sources failed to find what I was looking for and I didn't want to drop money into something that wasn't what I wanted.  I considered re-purposing the little gingerbread figures from the healing service a couple weeks back, but couldn't find any darker paper to add to the diversity of the group.  I was really scratching my brain trying to think of just the right approach when it came to me.  Use real people.  Real faces of real people the children see every Sunday.  Use the children's faces too!  We had a photo church directory come out this year so I went to the office to get a spare copy.  I cut apart photo from photo, ran them through the laminator because these are something I can envision using more than once, trimmed one more time and viola!  A sensory table full of familiar faces to sort, count, compare and more with!  I added a sign that reads: "We are ALL part of God's family"

Hands-On Healing

Sunday, June 28th, the liturgy the Gospel reading is Mark 5:21-43.  This powerful story of healing is a perfect time for a laying on of hands healing service, which my congregation will be doing as part of worship on Sunday.  Knowing that many people may not be comfortable with laying on hands, or would rather say prayers for healing for others, I have put together this hands-on pray and play sensory station.

In the tubs, I have have cut out "people" from various shades of paper.  I only had ivory and white, but I wish I had darker colors to represent more diversity.  Each "person" has an ailment glued on.  I used broken bones to represent physical ailments and broken hearts to represent emotional needs for healing.  The "people" were then laminated for stability and reuse.  I then added cut strips of self-adhesive bandages and the sticky part of generic post-it notes to be used as bandages.

 Here are pictures to better show the detail, or simplicity rather, of the people cutouts.

Using the "bandages" people are invited forward during the laying on of hands to choose a "person" that may represent themselves or someone else that they would like to pray for.  They can quietly or silently pray as they bandage the cutout.

Following the service, bandages can be removed and the people can be put away for use again in the future.

Sensory Seasons

One of the ways I am trying to keep our Prayground worship space fresh while also having meaningful materials is through the use of what I am calling a Seasonal Sensory Station.  This takes the preschool loved activity of a sensory table and adds a liturgical twist to it.  The sensory table is filled with items to reflect what is happening liturgically in the church.  After I am done with a set of items, I am bagging them up, labeling the theme and storing together for future use.  Will every child who plays at the Seasonal Sensory Station get why the items were selected?  Probably not, but even so, seeds are being sown. Here are some examples of things I have done so far:

Red is for Pentecost

This was my first go at our Seasonal Sensory table and it was a a hit.  Red streamers, strips of red cellophane, red roses, red pipe cleaner hearts, red curling ribbon pieces, and some little red baskets made for a fun, creative activity.  Many of these items may be found in our church art supplies or purchased at a local dollar store.  I spent about $7 to get the baskets, cellophane and fake flowers.  Children sorted, raced to find the most hearts, waved streamers, and peeked through red cellophane.  Add a little sign reading "Red is the color for Pentecost" to clue older kids and parents in on what the fun is all about. 

Holy Trinity Sunday

 White and gold, so pretty and simple.  What little girl, or boy for that matter, could resist pulling out these elegant strips of fabric?  Digging around our Art Cafe, I was able to find many scraps of ribbon and lace in white and gold.  I added a few gold sequins for extra sparkle and fashioned some trinity rings out of gold pipe cleaners and viola!  A Seasonal Sensory Station for Holy Trinity Sunday at no cost to me.  If you don't have the scraps, ask someone crafty.  I'm sure someone has some remnants they would be happy to donate.  Don't forget a sign to remind people that white and gold are the colors we use to celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday.

Green: The Growing Season

 

Here we go into the loooong season of green.  Our first Gospel reading was on the mustard seed, so using that as a spring board, I created this garden.  Trimming pool noodles left over from VBS, I wrapped them in scrap green fleece to create the base of my gardens.  If I didn't have these materials, or if I was going to start over, I would just buy dollar store green pool noodles.

Our garden needed seeds, so I found these cute little envelops in a stash we had and color coordinated beads to put inside as seeds.  Seeds packets or plain envelopes would also work.  Or make your own out of card stock!

Seeds need water to grow.  These adorable little dollar store watering cans with ribbons "streaming" out are a perfect way to pretend water the garden.

Well cared for seeds are bound to produce some type of beautiful plant.  These fun, fanciful flowers are fashioned from pipe cleaners.  Add a child-size plastic shovel, hoe or hand rake and your garden will spark imaginations and sow seeds all through the growing season.

I plan to use our garden Seasonal Sensory Station on and off through out the summer.  As the liturgy sparks ideas, I will swap it in and out.  This coming Sunday, Jesus calms the storm.  What a fun time to have a simple water station if your space allows!

SPLASH Prayground

The first time I explained my idea of a special area dedicated to children in the sanctuary, I got a pretty quick no.  Not being one to give up, I brought the idea up a time or two more.  When I saw a Facebook post from Grace Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, Minnesota doing something similar, I re-posted it and tagged my coworkers.  My re-post got some attention, including attention from our senior pastor.  That same week he was in the area of Grace Lutheran and stopped by.  He came back and gave me the green light to give our own Prayground a go over the summer.  The next day he even brought a table and chair set from his home to loan to the cause.

We have had a lot of positive feedback about our Prayground and love to see it being used by children of all ages.  It currently includes puzzles, children's Bibles and books, crayons and activity sheets, small stuff animals, and a child-size wooden cross. 

The challenge is how to keep the area fresh so children continue engaging while also intentionally choosing materials that lend themselves to be used in meaningful ways.  The last thing I want to do is fill the space with quiet, keep busy materials that have nothing to do with worship.  I want this worship space to be part of the greater worship happening all around it; not separate.  Suggestions, questions, input welcome!