How would Jesus Bounce?
This months reflective service took a very different approach to the concept of ‘reflection’ by using children and play as a vehicle for thinking about God in new ways (or perhaps that should be very old ways that we’ve forgott as we’ve ‘grown up’)
Motivation:
Most of the services we run at Unboxed Worship are pretty unfriendly for kids. They involve a lot of silence, quiet prayer, and candles. So it’s always been a desire of ours to do something totally kid-friendly. Moreso, we wanted the kids to lead us – To show us how to be like kids again and see the world through their simple eyes.
Environment:
To help us do this the service had no structure or liturgy. Instead we set up a series of ‘play stations’ where kids and adults could mix and mingle and play together. To help give a reflective edge to the service and help the adults frame their thoughts and prayers as they played (grown ups need a bit of help to play after all!) we put together a small pamphlet which guided them through the stations. That constituted all the guidance and structure the service had. The rest was simply playing…
The readings from the pamphlet were as follows:
Introduction:
This evening’s reflective service depends on you.
There will be no structure. No liturgy.
No prayers. No readings.
Instead there will simply be kids playing.
You are invited to play too.
As you do, open your eyes and ears to the
word of God present in play. Take note of
things of youth that you had forgotten, or
perspectives that these kids have that you
might not have known.
And when this service is over, find some
quiet space and time to reflect and share
with God your feelings and experiences of
tonight.
Allow God to use his children to speak to
you about how we can come to him as
children.
We are all children of God.
Bouncy Castle
I don’t believe that there is a single adult out there, even the most serious and joyless, who wouldn’t want to have a bounce. Who, if left alone and in private with a bouncy castle, wouldn’t sneak a bounce.
Go ahead (one adult at a time though!) – Just let go and remember what it is like to just have fun. It doesn’t have to be meaningful. It doesn’t have to purposeful. It can just be fun. That’s ok.
Balls.
You can’t really play ball
on your own…
Perhaps a childor adult will
play with you?
Lego, play-dough.
What would you make if you just were given the tools
and told “make something!”. Do you go practical? Do
you try and make it perfect? How are the kids around
you doing it? What do their works tell you about
what’s important to them and how they see the world?
Don’t think too much. Try and create the same way
Musical instruments
Make a joyful
noise….
It doesn’t have to
sound good!
Toy cars, toy food, etc.
What worlds do children create when they play? What world would you like to create?
What do the worlds that these kids create tell you
about the things they are seeing and hearing?
Board Games
It’s hard to play board games on your own.
Grab a person or two and play together. Share the experience of winning and losing in a space where it doesn’t really matter, and where winning and losing aren’t positives and negatives.
Story books
Jesus told a lot of stories.
Every story tells us something, as well as something
about ourselves if we listen hard enough.
