Even if you’re new to the Montessori-based religious education of Godly Play, you can learn a lot from free Godly Play video lessons. I love watching them as refreshers for my Godly Play training. Whether you’re a Sunday School teacher, homeschooler, parent, or caregiver, you can gain much of the Godly Play training through YouTube videos along with Godly Play books.
Today, I want to share a video that’s an adaptation used by Quakers. It’s a lovely lesson in listening for God with an emphasis on love and gratitude. These materials would be fairly easy to prepare, and the lesson is easily adaptable for any Christian denomination. It could also be adapted for non-Christian religions.
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Listening for God from “Faith and Play” – A Quaker Adaptation of Godly Play – GodlyPlayFoundation
I love the emphasis on listening and gifts of creation using the senses (“Sometimes God touches us through the gifts of creation … God touches our eyes….our ears ….God touches our skin….our nose….our tongue….God comes close to us and touches us through the gifts of creation”). This is an especially appropriate lesson for religious Montessori settings and fits well with our current gratitude unit.
Helpful Godly Play books.
The lesson above was taken from Faith & Play: Quaker Stories for Friends Trained in the Godly Play Method: Second Edition by Melinda Wenner Bradley (the storyteller in the video). I think the book is only essential for Quakers, since it’s easy to prepare the materials for this lesson using ideas from other Godly Play books.
Here are some great nondenominational Godly Play books for a variety of seasons:
A new Godly Play essential for parents and caregivers: Stories of God at Home: A Godly Play Approach by Jerome W. Berryman was published in April, 2018.
Teaching Godly Play: How to Mentor the Spiritual Development of Children
by Jerome Berryman. This is the most important Godly Play book to have for group work, since it gives a good introduction and goes through a Godly Play session.
The Complete Guide to Godly Play (Volume 2), Revised and Expanded by Jerome W. Berryman (2nd edition, June 15, 2017), (Presentations for Fall)
The Complete Guide to Godly Play (Volume 3), Revised and Expanded by Jerome W. Berryman , 2nd edition, September 15, 2017, (Presentations for Winter)
The Complete Guide to Godly Play (Volume 4), Revised and Expanded by Jerome W. Berryman, 2nd edition, January 17, 2018), (Presentations for Spring)
A new book of patterns for making Godly Play materials is planned. Until the book is published, it’s very helpful to have the patterns in Young Children and Worship by Sonja Stewart and Jerome Berryman. A word of caution, though: Godly Play has evolved since Young Children and Worship was written. Be sure to follow the presentations as they’re given in volumes 2-4 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play.
To learn more about the Godly Play philosophy, it’s also helpful to read Godly Play, An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education by Jerome Berryman.
More Godly Play Resources
Check out my Godly Play posts for lots of Godly Play resources adaptable for groups or home use.
Learn 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.
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