Saint Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church

Styles of learning vary as much as creative gifts. Some people learn most effectively when they see information written down, others when they hear it. Some people are kinetic; they need to move their bodies to learn. Some learn most effectively by working in small groups, others by concentrating on their own. There is no one proper way to learn; there are only individual styles of learning. Godly Play respects those differences.

In Godly Play, our Sunday school program for children ages 4-years through 2nd Grade, we tell stories with multi-sensory materials to appeal to a broad range of learning styles: auditory, because the story is spoken our loud; visual, because the handmade wooden figures represent what is happening in the story; kinesthetic, because the storyteller moves the materials around. Later, any child who wishes to learn to tell the story can respond in the same style.

In the “response time,” those children who work best together can pair off or form groups to work on creative projects. Those who work best alone have the time and space to concentrate on projects by themselves.

We gather the children in a circle for the storytelling, and at the end for a feast, because they thereby learn about being in community and working together. Everything we do in Godly Play contributes to learning. You can learn more about Godly Play at St. Gregory’s here. You can also learn the ten best ways for parents to support Godly Play here.