Welcome to the 3rd edition of Family Fun Fridays! I’m so glad you could stop by!
I grew up reading the Picture Bible and the six-volume Picture Bible for All Ages. It was all kinds of awesome.
I had this unabashed appreciation for the drama and adventure. It gave me a grounding in scripture and a comfort with the Old Testament.
Part of what makes the Bible real to me is the storytelling. Part of what makes me love it is the drama. Part of what makes me remember it is its truth.
How does that translate into my family?
Two drama-loving girls + a box of dress-up stuff + a coaching mother + an audience of Daddy = Bible Drama fun!
We have more than one Bible in our home. We have that original Picture Bible (which I should probably give back to my brother, since it has his name in the front–but oh, how I love that book!), along with the great My Big Book of Catholic Bible Stories.
We have a few other Bible story-type books by various illustrators (The Beginner’s Bible is a winner, and is tattered to prove it), biblically-based books, and other faith-related reading.
What you’ll need:
- Actors (mine are ages 7 and 4, both girls, though the 18-month-old mancub may make a guest appearance)
- Dress-up stuff (which may or may not include weapons)
- A Bible story (preferably from the actual Bible and possibly also from a story-type book)
What you do:
- Read the Bible story of choice together.
- With older kids, you might want to discuss the acting. With my younger crew, we’ll assign roles (and maybe do it more than once so that different people can play different parts) and probably retell it with acting.
- Have fun!
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Variations you may make:
- Instead of acting things out physically, you could do a dramatic reading of scripture.
- Tie your choice of scripture story into the Mass readings for the weekend. Get a sense of the context of the story you’re hearing by reading before and after what’s read at Mass.
What Bible story will you start with?
I think Esther would be a big win around my place, as would anything with action, like Peter walking on the water. We also have an affinity for animals, so we might have success focusing on David as a shepherd or Paul being thrown from his horse on the way to Damascus.
A few resources I found and loved:
- My Big Book of Catholic Bible Stories, published by Thomas Nelson – it’s great to curl up and read with your kids but could be the basis for your drama fun, too
- Ready-to-Go Scripture Kits, volume 1 and volume 2 – I don’t have these, but they’re high on my wish list, believe me.
- Bible stories and parables – this isn’t an exhaustive list (there’s nothing from Tobit or the Maccabees, for one thing), but it will give you an idea or three if you’re wondering where to start. There’s a ranking of stories, so you can tell at a glance what’s light-hearted and what’s pretty serious.
Can’t wait to see what family fun YOU are up to! Include a link back here, if you would, and enjoy the journey through the other submissions.
This post is also linked to 7 Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.
I just wanted to weigh in (a month late, I know) with the drama we put on a couple of years ago. Given that many children’s Bibles don’t include the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, I probably would never have thought of it. But we were working with KONOS for our homeschool at that time, and the idea of dramatizing this particular story was proposed under the Obedience unit. The kids loved doing it. We talked a LOT about the symbolic significance of that scene (how, in response to Abraham’s willingness to give up his son for God, God says to us, “No, I”LL give up MY son for YOU”–I think that emphasis came from Scott Hahn), and I have a lot of boys, who think violence is fun (ahem), so for my family this scene was not as problematic as one is afraid it would be for young children. It sure helps them remember it, too! That’s still one of the Bible stories they remember best.
Nicole, that’s awesome! Thanks so much for sharing it!!!