Bible ACT-ion Technique
Many, if not most, Bible stories can be acted out by children while a narrator reads from
Scripture; by including children in the lesson they are more likely to remember the Bible
story.
For example, to act out Moses at the Burning Bush: one child would pretend to be Moses,
one to be the angel of the Lord, a few to be the sheep, and a few more children to be the burning bush. To "act out" the bush,
the children would kneel on the ground around the "angel of the Lord."
When children hear the words flames, flaming, or fire, they must raise their hands in the air and move their arms and fingers to represent the flames.
The teacher can read directly from a child-friendly Bible or retell the story with
emphasized "action" words for the children to pantomime. The following
paragraph, from Exodus 3:1-6, is an example of retelling the story with "action"
words. The bolded words are emphasized by the narrator to indicate the action
for kids to imitate. Make sure to pause at the action words to allow time for
children to respond to their part:
"Moses was in charge of caring for his father-in-law's sheep. He
led the sheep to the right, and then he led them to the left. They
traveled a long
way through the desert. Moses must have been very tired. Finally they came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Suddenly the angel of the Lord rose up out of the middle of a bush and appeared
to Moses in a flame of fire. Moses looked, and saw the bush was
on fire, but it didn't burn the leaves! Moses scratched his head, he
couldn't understand how the bush was on fire, yet it didn't burn up! Then God called to him out of the
flaming bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses was surprised and said, “Here I am.”
Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for you are
standing on holy ground.” Moses obeyed; he took off his shoes. And God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. . .
."
Have you retold stories from Scripture using this technique? Tell us about it! Reply to this email or send it to: submissions@sundayschoolnetwork.com
Have
you seen our Bible
Skits for children's ministry? They can be used as stand
alone resources or incorporated into your existing programs.
Your
webservant,
Sarah Keith <><
