• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

  • HOME
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • PR/Advertise
    • Privacy Policy
  • About Montessori
    • About Montessori
    • Resources
    • ABCs of Montessori
    • Overview
    • Principles
    • Free Printables
    • Materials
    • Homeschool Classroom and Materials
      • Circle Time Activities
    • Techniques
    • Training
      • Free Montessori Video Lessons
    • Inspiration
  • Activities
    • Circle Time Activities
    • Art
    • Cultural
    • Language
    • Math
    • Practical Life
    • Practical Life – Grace and Courtesy
    • Sensorial
    • Unit Studies
    • PreK + K Sharing
    • Monthly Themed Activities
    • Holidays and Celebrations
  • Homeschooling
    • Homeschooling
    • Homeschool High School
    • Montessori Homeschool Classroom and Materials
    • Unit Studies
    • PreK + K Sharing
    • Circle Time Activities
    • Monthly Themed Activities
    • Holidays and Celebrations
    • Free Montessori Video Lessons
  • Free Printables
    • Free Printables
    • Sign up for the Living Montessori Now Newsletter & Get Monthly Subscriber Freebies!
    • More Than 13 Years’ Worth of Free Printables and Montessori-Inspired Activities
    • Free Montessori Geography Album
  • Holidays
    • Resources for Upcoming Holidays
    • Holidays and Celebrations
  • Subscribe
    • Sign up for the Living Montessori Now Newsletter & Get Monthly Subscriber Freebies!
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • Products
    • My Products

Creative Godly Play at Home – Parables

February 9, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 20 Comments

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.

Creative Godly Play at Home - Parables

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.

Christina at 2 12 using Catechesis of the Good Shepherd materials, 1993

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.

The current Godly Play parable scripts are also in The Complete Guide to Godly Play: Volume 3, Revised and Expanded (2017)

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)

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

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 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 Shepherd from Becky Ramsey

Parable of the Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan (Photo from Explore and Express)

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

Good Samaritan – Play from All Play on Sunday

Parable of the Good Samaritan from Becky Ramsey

Parable of the Great Pearl

The Parable of the Great Pearl (Photo from BeckyRamsey.com)

The Parable of the Great Pearl (Photo from BeckyRamsey.com)

The Parable of the Great Pearl from Becky Ramsey

The Parable of the Great Pearl and Two Parables in Two Programs from Wonderful in an Easter Kind of Way

Parable of the Sower

Godly Play - 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 (Photo from BeckyRamsey.com)

The Parable of the Leaven from Becky Ramsey

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 Watkins Every Flavor Beans)

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 Becky Ramsey

Parable of the Loving Father (Parable of the Prodigal Son)

Parable of the Loving Father from The Wonder Circle

Parable of the Loving Father from Becky Ramsey

Judy Jowers at Flickr – Godly Play sets for many Bible stories, including parables.

Teaching Godly Play – Free Parable Videos

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)! 🙂

Deb - Siganture

Montessori at Home or School - How to Teach Grace and Courtesy eBookLearn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

The Montessori at Home! eBook and Montessori at Home! eBook and Materials Bundle are AMAZING resources! You can learn more about them here. Buy them in the Living Montessori Now shop.

If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching! And please follow me on Pinterest (lots of Montessori-, holiday-, and theme-related boards), and Twitter. You can find me on bloglovin’, Instagram, and YouTube, too.

And don’t forget one of the best ways to follow me by signing up for my weekly newsletter. You’ll receive some awesome freebies in the process!

Filed Under: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Godly Play, Montessori-Based Religious Education Tagged With: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Godly Play, Montessori-based religious education, Parable of the Good Shepherd, parables

Previous Post: « Heart Project Giveaway – 2 Melissa & Doug Trunkis (ARV $40 Each)
Next Post: If You Can’t Say Something Nice… »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Palmy says

    February 9, 2012 at 6:22 am

    Beautiful! Make a hands on activity to know the parables!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 9, 2012 at 10:35 pm

      Thanks, Palmy! I LOVE Montessori-inspired religious education. It truly brings religion to life for children. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Sheila says

    February 9, 2012 at 7:25 am

    Deb, 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.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 9, 2012 at 10:37 pm

      Thanks for your kind comment, Sheila! I have so much fun searching for activities online … and you always have such wonderful ideas to share! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Storyteller says

    February 9, 2012 at 8:02 am

    Thanks 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.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 9, 2012 at 10:51 pm

      Thanks 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!

      Reply
  4. Mary Adams says

    February 10, 2012 at 5:14 am

    excellent post, excellent activity to do with my son, I love it, thank you very much

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 11, 2012 at 9:44 pm

      Thanks, Mary! Have a great weekend! 🙂

      Reply
  5. heather at wordplayhouse® says

    February 11, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    Many great, inexpensive, and creative activities for Sunday school or homeschool here, Deb.

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 11, 2012 at 9:46 pm

      Thanks, Heather! I LOVE what churches and homeschools are doing with Godly Play and CGS now! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kristin P says

    February 12, 2012 at 10:08 am

    This 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!

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 12, 2012 at 6:49 pm

      Thanks 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! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Kristin P says

    February 12, 2012 at 10:14 am

    Sorry Deb – just saw that you’d already posted the link for Young Children and Worship – must be mommy brain……

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 12, 2012 at 6:51 pm

      Totally understand Mommy Brain … I had that with little ones. Now that my kids are grown, I think I have Blogger’s Brain! 😉

      Reply
  8. Carolyn WIlhelm says

    February 21, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    What 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

    Reply
    • Deb says

      February 21, 2012 at 5:05 pm

      Thanks, 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. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Carolyn WIlhelm says

    February 21, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    I completely agree, children are very deeply spiritual and capable of amazing thought at very young ages. Thanks again! Carolyn

    Reply
  10. Jackie says

    April 17, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Putting across bible parables with use of creative art is fantastic and memorable way to educate young children.

    Reply
  11. Rebecca says

    December 23, 2014 at 8:58 am

    I 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.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

What Are You Looking For?

...and get free geography album, monthly subscriber freebie, and access to the Living Montessori Now Resource Library! 

 I respect your privacy

Categories

Shop Living Montessori Now!

Living Montessori Now Sponsors

Montessori Print Shop

Alison's Montessori
Montessori for the Earth

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives

I Recommend (My Affiliates)

Montessori by Mom

Shop Montessori Services
Shop For Small Hands

How to Get Kids to Listen without Nagging, Reminding, or Yelling



Shop KiwiCo

Shop Little Passports for Award-Winning Adventure

Printed Alphabet Wood Tracing Board

Little Passports

Footer

Connect with LMN



Supervision

The activities shared on this blog require adult supervision at all times. You know which activities are appropriate for your children and/or the children under your care and are responsible for those children's safety.

You Can Also Find Me

Bits of Positivity PreK + K Sharing Spring Snow Publications

Subscribe by Email


Copyright © 2025 Deb Chitwood · Web Design & Hosting · Servously.com