I have a number of posts about Godly Play, including posts about using Godly Play at home. More and more often, parents are finding creative and inexpensive ways to use Godly Play concepts to make the Bible a living part of their home environment.
I wrote about Creative Godly Play at Home – Old Testament. Please refer to that post if you’d like resources to help you get started using Godly Play at home. My other Godly Play posts, especially How to Add Godly Play to Your Homeschool and Fitting Montessori-Based Religious Education into Your Home, have helpful resources as well.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Parables in Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Programs
Between Epiphany and Lent, most Montessori-based Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs in churches introduce parables. In this post, I’ll be sharing some resources from both Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for introducing parables. Just choose what you feel will work best for your family.
The parable materials in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd are often beautiful 3-dimensional wooden materials, whereas many are made of felt in Godly Play. While I love the CGS materials, the Godly Play felt materials are generally more practical for home use (unless you have a carpenter in your family who would enjoy making materials for you). I have links to some examples here that work very well for home use.
The parable posts from Thoughts from the Sheepfold give a helpful overview of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd parables.
Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way has some fascinating posts about Godly Play parables.
Godly Play 101: The Genres from Explore and Express explains the basics of the sacred stories, parables, and liturgical lessons in Godly Play.
Creative Godly Play Ideas for Parables
2018 Update: Stories of God at Home: A Godly Play Approach by Jerome W. Berryman was published in April.
Young Children and Worship by Sonja Stewart and Jerome Berryman has patterns for making materials and older versions of scripts.
Parable of the Good Shepherd
This is the foundational parable for both Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
Some wonderful ideas for home use:
Wooden Peg Doll Good Shepherd and Polymer Clay Sheep (Photo from Explore and Express)
Sneak Preview (Parable of the Good Shepherd materials from Explore and Express
Good Shepherd Lesson (Photo from We Don’t Need No Education)
The Good Shepherd from We Don’t Need No Education
The Parables of Jesus (The Parable of the Good Shepherd): A Lesson for a Sensorimotor Preschool Experience Inspired by Godly Play from Training Happy Hearts
Good Shepherd and Sheep (Photo from Discovery Days and Montessori Moments)
Good Shepherd at Home (a lovely home version based on the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) from Discovery Moments
Good Shepherd Learning Activity and Craft (a version your child can make) from Catholic Icing
Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan (Photo from Explore and Express)
The Good Samaritan from Explore and Express
The Parable of the Good Samaritan from The Wonder Circle
Parable of the Good Samaritan from Elim Lutheran Church
Good Samaritan – Play from All Play on Sunday
Parable of the Great Pearl
The Parable of the Great Pearl (Photo from BeckyRamsey.com)
The Parable of the Great Pearl from BeckyRamsey.com
The Parable of the Great Pearl and Two Parables in Two Programs from Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way
Parable of the Sower
See my Godly Play – Parable of the Sower post for a roundup of lessons and activities.
Parable of the Leaven
The Parable of the Leaven (Photo from BeckyRamsey.com)
The Parable of the Leaven from BeckyRamsey.com
The Parable of the Leaven from Explore and Express
The Parable of the Yeast (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd lesson that works well at home) from Discovery Moments
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Parable of the Mustard Seed (Photo from Wondering through the Year)
Parable of the Mustard Seed from Wondering through the Year
Parable of the Mustard Seed from Explore and Express
Parable of the Mustard Seed from Elim Lutheran Church
Adapting Godly Play for the Inclusive Classroom (pdf with helpful ideas) from Stranmillis University College (insights for Godly Play in general and specific thoughts on the Parable of the Mustard Seeds)
Parable of the Loving Father (Parable of the Prodigal Son)
Parable of the Loving Father from The Wonder Circle
Judy Jowers at Flickr – Godly Play sets for many Bible stories, including parables.
Teaching Godly Play – Free Parable Videos
I have a post with many free parable videos that are very helpful for teaching Godly Play at home or in a group setting.
I’d love to hear how you’ve introduced parables at home (or in your church)! 🙂
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Palmy says
February 9, 2012 at 6:22 amBeautiful! Make a hands on activity to know the parables!
Deb says
February 9, 2012 at 10:35 pmThanks, Palmy! I LOVE Montessori-inspired religious education. It truly brings religion to life for children. 🙂
Sheila says
February 9, 2012 at 7:25 amDeb, You have such a talent for pulling together interesting themes and sharing information! Thank you for featuring these pics and idea from Explore and Express along with so many other lovely blogs.
Deb says
February 9, 2012 at 10:37 pmThanks for your kind comment, Sheila! I have so much fun searching for activities online … and you always have such wonderful ideas to share! 🙂
Storyteller says
February 9, 2012 at 8:02 amThanks for linking to me again, Deb! I would underscore that Parable-stories are probably the easiest of Godly Play materials to create for at-home use. And it’s a wonderful way to introduce children to the language/genre of parables.
Deb says
February 9, 2012 at 10:51 pmThanks for your comment, Storyteller! I always enjoy reading your posts! I agree that parables are probably the easiest materials to prepare … of course, not some of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd materials. I do miss those beautiful CGS parable materials, though!
Mary Adams says
February 10, 2012 at 5:14 amexcellent post, excellent activity to do with my son, I love it, thank you very much
Deb says
February 11, 2012 at 9:44 pmThanks, Mary! Have a great weekend! 🙂
heather at wordplayhouse® says
February 11, 2012 at 6:51 pmMany great, inexpensive, and creative activities for Sunday school or homeschool here, Deb.
Deb says
February 11, 2012 at 9:46 pmThanks, Heather! I LOVE what churches and homeschools are doing with Godly Play and CGS now! 🙂
Kristin P says
February 12, 2012 at 10:08 amThis is just amazing. I love it. I’m slowly incorporating a similar Godly Play program from the book Young Children and Worship (co-written by the author of Teaching Godly Play) at home. I like it because it has ALL the templates for each lesson you would need to create lessons at home, and a step by step presentation that is very easy for me to follow for my kids.
http://www.amazon.com/Young-Children-Worship-Sonja-Stewart/dp/0664250408/ref=pd_sim_b_6
It is taking awhile but my children are really responding, and having a hands-on approach to religious education has been very meaningful for my autistic son.
Keep it up!
Deb says
February 12, 2012 at 6:49 pmThanks for your comment, Kristin! How wonderful that you’re using Godly Play with your children! I love that book for its templates, too. It isn’t recommended by the Godly Play trainers because there are newer versions of the scripts. I would hate to be without it, though! 🙂
Kristin P says
February 12, 2012 at 10:14 amSorry Deb – just saw that you’d already posted the link for Young Children and Worship – must be mommy brain……
Deb says
February 12, 2012 at 6:51 pmTotally understand Mommy Brain … I had that with little ones. Now that my kids are grown, I think I have Blogger’s Brain! 😉
Carolyn WIlhelm says
February 21, 2012 at 2:28 pmWhat a great idea to not try to stand everything up and use the natural play space of children! This is very child-friendly to use floor space and allow the child to retell the stories. Retelling is important in education. And, of course, such nice Bible stories! Thanks so much, Carolyn
Deb says
February 21, 2012 at 5:05 pmThanks, Carolyn! I really love both Godly Play and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It’s amazing the depth of thought children reach from working with the materials and retelling the stories themselves. 🙂
Carolyn WIlhelm says
February 21, 2012 at 6:45 pmI completely agree, children are very deeply spiritual and capable of amazing thought at very young ages. Thanks again! Carolyn
Jackie says
April 17, 2012 at 12:58 pmPutting across bible parables with use of creative art is fantastic and memorable way to educate young children.
Rebecca says
December 23, 2014 at 8:58 amI used to teach Godly Play at my old church, and we were blessed to have purchased materials. I would love to start doing lessons at home. Do you have any suggestions on inexpensive ways to create the parable boxes? I was thinking of finding cheap wooden prefab boxes that could be painted gold.