I suppose you could fall into traps focusing too much on sensory experience (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch). I suppose theology, learning, sensory learning and sensory experience would be an interesting paper for someone to write. Not me. I would get lost and get you lost rather quickly.
Where I've been coming from is believing that we underestimate the value of using the five senses that God gave us as legitimate and important learning tools, especially for children-especially for young children. When we see the need in every other sphere of learning, why not in our learning about God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and His Word? Kids learn that way anyway. Most children begin interaction with and learn about their world through their senses. They grow sensory memories that become points of reference for new associations and new learning.
Why would this be less true if we're learning about God than it would be if we're learning something else? Why not maximize those elements in His stories if they point us back to Him? True. God is invisible. True. Scripture says that. But scripture also says He is creator and that there are things to learn about God through what He has created. The exact quote is here. Focusing on how we learn specifically about "his eternal power and divine nature" through what He's made would be an adventure, wouldn't it.
We will always have the children (people) who are more receptive to sensory learning than to other learning. God made them that way. I want to say He did it for a reason - whether we think we know what it is or not. He is an amazing and awesome God. He took a big chance. He sent Jesus, His own son to become a real human being with human senses. To me, that in itself says something about God. Remarkable! He chose to be "God with us" in more ways than we can ever know. He didn't have to become a human being. He could have come up with another plan (He's God, after all).
There is no other god like Him. Thank You, Lord, for coming to us as someone like us (yet still God and very very different) and then giving yourself to reconcile us to the Father. Thank You for all that Your hands have made and that we can be a part of that. Bless You Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
jobs
Another sensory dimension to explore in Biblical stories.
Simon the tanner - what does a piece of tanned leather smell like? Do you know what other smells you would smell in a tanner's home or place of work? How 'bout the smells at Simon the Tanner's for an overnight guest? :_) What does Peter's willingness to stay there say about him? Maybe that's why he was on the roof, lol!! Maybe why he was having visions . . . just kidding.
What about a carpenter? The smells of fresh cut wood?
What about the lady who worked with purple dye? What did she look like? What did she smell like?
What does it smell like to be around a farmer or a fisherman? None of this seemed to phase Jesus...
I'm not trying to get weird with this but the way I understand it, smell is important to sensory memory. Smell may be important to remembering a story, making associations, or triggering learning that might not happen without it, even for children. I'm talking off the top of my head now but doesn't sensory memory help create cognitive memory?
God didn't have to tell us what so and so did for a living but He did. Maybe it was an identification tool like "son of" (an other term that brings multi-dimensions to a character because of his/her family and geographical history.)
Apart from job economics and social standing, think about the tools someone used to do his work, what kind of muscles would this person have? Shoulders? Strong fingers? Strong legs?
What kinds of "chemicals" or smells would fill his clothes, workplace, home? Was it sweaty work? Dirty work? Was he always apt to come in with dirt under his fingernails or maybe his/her hands were permanently dyed.
What would you see around the house of a tanner? a potter? a carpenter? a merchant? Maybe opportunities for more speakers or field trips tying past to present. Again, it might take some research to find out what those jobs were like 2000 years ago. And you don't want to overwealm your young audience so they tune out. Do you think it's out of line to use our God-given imaginations this way in order to interact with God's stories?
You can read this and say, it's not relevant to the story. It would take too much time or out-of- class prep or ...."it's a waste of time" but you won't really know what it adds to the story and the things God can show you or the things He might do until you try.
In it's simplist form? A piece of tanned leather when you talk about Simon. A bag of fresh cut wood chips when you talk about a carpenter. A piece of wet clay to smell when you talk about a potter. A farmer's T-shirt when you talk about a farmer. A myrex shell and freshly dyed cloth, when you talk about purple dye. 150 years ago in Upstate NY children could walk down the street and experience the sights, sounds, and smells from lots of jobs they might find in the scriptures and not even give it a thought. That kind of sensory understanding and association was part of life for most people. Not so today.
Simon the tanner - what does a piece of tanned leather smell like? Do you know what other smells you would smell in a tanner's home or place of work? How 'bout the smells at Simon the Tanner's for an overnight guest? :_) What does Peter's willingness to stay there say about him? Maybe that's why he was on the roof, lol!! Maybe why he was having visions . . . just kidding.
What about a carpenter? The smells of fresh cut wood?
What about the lady who worked with purple dye? What did she look like? What did she smell like?
What does it smell like to be around a farmer or a fisherman? None of this seemed to phase Jesus...
I'm not trying to get weird with this but the way I understand it, smell is important to sensory memory. Smell may be important to remembering a story, making associations, or triggering learning that might not happen without it, even for children. I'm talking off the top of my head now but doesn't sensory memory help create cognitive memory?
God didn't have to tell us what so and so did for a living but He did. Maybe it was an identification tool like "son of" (an other term that brings multi-dimensions to a character because of his/her family and geographical history.)
Apart from job economics and social standing, think about the tools someone used to do his work, what kind of muscles would this person have? Shoulders? Strong fingers? Strong legs?
What kinds of "chemicals" or smells would fill his clothes, workplace, home? Was it sweaty work? Dirty work? Was he always apt to come in with dirt under his fingernails or maybe his/her hands were permanently dyed.
What would you see around the house of a tanner? a potter? a carpenter? a merchant? Maybe opportunities for more speakers or field trips tying past to present. Again, it might take some research to find out what those jobs were like 2000 years ago. And you don't want to overwealm your young audience so they tune out. Do you think it's out of line to use our God-given imaginations this way in order to interact with God's stories?
You can read this and say, it's not relevant to the story. It would take too much time or out-of- class prep or ...."it's a waste of time" but you won't really know what it adds to the story and the things God can show you or the things He might do until you try.
In it's simplist form? A piece of tanned leather when you talk about Simon. A bag of fresh cut wood chips when you talk about a carpenter. A piece of wet clay to smell when you talk about a potter. A farmer's T-shirt when you talk about a farmer. A myrex shell and freshly dyed cloth, when you talk about purple dye. 150 years ago in Upstate NY children could walk down the street and experience the sights, sounds, and smells from lots of jobs they might find in the scriptures and not even give it a thought. That kind of sensory understanding and association was part of life for most people. Not so today.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Supplies and rhythm instrument source
Discount School Supplies - an online source. If you do crafts with kids or home school, check them out. They also have rhythm instruments.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Bible Photos
Googled "photos Bible landmarks" Have you seen this? Bible Places. Interesting potential for walking tours. Take the places Elisha walked and find them on the left sidebar.
Then there's Bible Walks. Find the location on the map. Point and click for a photo.
More photos from Biblical sites at Sacred Destinations.
And check out Shutterstock.com
I'm sure there's more . . . check the copyrights, permissions and such ... I don't know if there are sources/software that will give churches permission to use the photos over and over within their church like they do song overheads especially if people are using Power Point more for Christian Education/Christian Formation & worship.
The obvious drawback is that kids are looking at ruins instead of a picture of the outside where they can imagine actually being there. Something to play with.
Then there's Bible Walks. Find the location on the map. Point and click for a photo.
More photos from Biblical sites at Sacred Destinations.
And check out Shutterstock.com
I'm sure there's more . . . check the copyrights, permissions and such ... I don't know if there are sources/software that will give churches permission to use the photos over and over within their church like they do song overheads especially if people are using Power Point more for Christian Education/Christian Formation & worship.
The obvious drawback is that kids are looking at ruins instead of a picture of the outside where they can imagine actually being there. Something to play with.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Elisha and the Water and engaging kids
Someone was looking specifically for this story Elisha & the Bowl.
But here's the thing. Water. Water is one of those things that most of us take totally for granted. Just turn the tap on anytime, day or night, and you not only have clean water but as much water as most of us would ever need. Have you or the kids in your class ever been in a situation where the only water that you have available was bad water - undrinkable water- water that won't even make plants grow? If not, how do you bring this to children?
I'm assuming that at the time of the story, unproductive land had to do with the inability to grow food and feed livestock. The land wouldn't grow anything they could eat and they couldn't use the water. Even the springs were bad. Isn't a spring usually the place where water is most fresh and clean?
How much do you know about water? What do we use water for? Why do we need good water? Why is it important? If you want to get into the science and social studies of water there are probably interesting lessons and info to be found that might give you more to think about or activities to use. If you have someone in your congregation or community who works with community water or at keeping the water clean, you could invite a speaker.
If I have bad water, put a little salt in a bowl or take a whole bowlful of salt and throw it in bad water will the water get better? Probably not. God did something special - something He doesn't normally do. He worked a miracle. He healed the water and made it better.
What does it mean if God heals you and makes you better? Something else we take for granted with all the doctors and medicine we have available. It's a miracle when God heals us but we don't see it that way until God's miracle is the last resort.
God healed the water and Elisha promised it would never get sick again. The water would stay healthy so the land and the people could use it without worry for generations. So whatever caused it to begin with wouldn't be happening again.
It was after this story that the youths tease Elisha. Maybe the two stories have to be told together in order for the "miracle" that Elisha did calling the bears and the horrible consequences in the second story to make sense to us.
If you wanted to talk about salt, you could probably find out more about salt. If it was a whole bowl of salt - that's a deadly amount of salt for people. With older kids you could send them home with questions to think about and have them come back with the answers they find. Send one group with questions about water and one group with questions about salt. It might speed the process and engage them. What kind of bears lived in Israel thousands of years ago? How common were they? That kind of thing...
The other thing, if you know your kids, some kids would love going home and finding information to share. Some will love acting it out. Some will love bringing a science experiment about water and presenting ways we can help keep our water clean. Some would love to draw or write a poem or create a diorama or build a vehicle or a house or lead a song. Why not use the wealth of skill, talent, and personality that your kids have to learn and to worship? Why does everyone have to do the same thing? You will find that when kids are doing what they love, even if everyone is doing something different that it will get very quiet in your room and they won't want to quit. Let the group people work in groups and the individualists do their individual projects. Not to say you can't ask them to operate out of their element once in a while or more than once in a while. Can you use elements like this to reward & give meaning to kids who really don't want to be there? Make your active energetic child the game leader. Let him/her bring a game to share each week. When class goes smoothly and you finish early they get to play the game (inside or outside). Your leader may have to have a stack of 3 minute games, 10 minute games, and 15 minute games. But use your imagination!
And for all the times I forget to add this... what are you learning about God and His Word? When you finish a lesson do you know Him better than you did before? He's God! Ask the kids. What did you learn about God? See if it takes you into a worshiping place. There's always more of Him. Eternal life is to know Him. We get to start anytime. He's not just one dimensional. He's not just 2 dimensional. Enjoy all that God has created - "always giving thanks" to the God who made it.
But here's the thing. Water. Water is one of those things that most of us take totally for granted. Just turn the tap on anytime, day or night, and you not only have clean water but as much water as most of us would ever need. Have you or the kids in your class ever been in a situation where the only water that you have available was bad water - undrinkable water- water that won't even make plants grow? If not, how do you bring this to children?
I'm assuming that at the time of the story, unproductive land had to do with the inability to grow food and feed livestock. The land wouldn't grow anything they could eat and they couldn't use the water. Even the springs were bad. Isn't a spring usually the place where water is most fresh and clean?
How much do you know about water? What do we use water for? Why do we need good water? Why is it important? If you want to get into the science and social studies of water there are probably interesting lessons and info to be found that might give you more to think about or activities to use. If you have someone in your congregation or community who works with community water or at keeping the water clean, you could invite a speaker.
If I have bad water, put a little salt in a bowl or take a whole bowlful of salt and throw it in bad water will the water get better? Probably not. God did something special - something He doesn't normally do. He worked a miracle. He healed the water and made it better.
What does it mean if God heals you and makes you better? Something else we take for granted with all the doctors and medicine we have available. It's a miracle when God heals us but we don't see it that way until God's miracle is the last resort.
God healed the water and Elisha promised it would never get sick again. The water would stay healthy so the land and the people could use it without worry for generations. So whatever caused it to begin with wouldn't be happening again.
It was after this story that the youths tease Elisha. Maybe the two stories have to be told together in order for the "miracle" that Elisha did calling the bears and the horrible consequences in the second story to make sense to us.
If you wanted to talk about salt, you could probably find out more about salt. If it was a whole bowl of salt - that's a deadly amount of salt for people. With older kids you could send them home with questions to think about and have them come back with the answers they find. Send one group with questions about water and one group with questions about salt. It might speed the process and engage them. What kind of bears lived in Israel thousands of years ago? How common were they? That kind of thing...
The other thing, if you know your kids, some kids would love going home and finding information to share. Some will love acting it out. Some will love bringing a science experiment about water and presenting ways we can help keep our water clean. Some would love to draw or write a poem or create a diorama or build a vehicle or a house or lead a song. Why not use the wealth of skill, talent, and personality that your kids have to learn and to worship? Why does everyone have to do the same thing? You will find that when kids are doing what they love, even if everyone is doing something different that it will get very quiet in your room and they won't want to quit. Let the group people work in groups and the individualists do their individual projects. Not to say you can't ask them to operate out of their element once in a while or more than once in a while. Can you use elements like this to reward & give meaning to kids who really don't want to be there? Make your active energetic child the game leader. Let him/her bring a game to share each week. When class goes smoothly and you finish early they get to play the game (inside or outside). Your leader may have to have a stack of 3 minute games, 10 minute games, and 15 minute games. But use your imagination!
And for all the times I forget to add this... what are you learning about God and His Word? When you finish a lesson do you know Him better than you did before? He's God! Ask the kids. What did you learn about God? See if it takes you into a worshiping place. There's always more of Him. Eternal life is to know Him. We get to start anytime. He's not just one dimensional. He's not just 2 dimensional. Enjoy all that God has created - "always giving thanks" to the God who made it.
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