Creativity is defined as using your imagination to come up with an idea, to create an object of art or to solve a problem. At the CEF conference in Des Moines, IA; I attended two workshops on the theme of Creativity in Faith Formation. In the first workshop titled: Nurturing Children’s Natural Creativity by Barbara Bruce; the author explained that the venture of creativity should be an ongoing endeavor starting at a very young age and something that we should strive for into our senior years. Often children loose that creative spark that they possessed in their early developing years. We as Christian educators need to strive to continue to provide opportunities for children, tweens, teens, adults, seniors to be creative. It is simple to provide opportunities for creativity – it can be as easy as giving children a large cardboard box to make into a church, castle, barn, etc. or throwing a tablecloth over a table so children can climb under for a place to read, draw or dream.
We as educators sometimes put up roadblocks to creativity. Product becomes more important than process. Stay away from providing examples of craft and art projects to your students. If you must provide a sample, consider walking through the project step by step with the students or have a sample done by a child of similar age. It’s not the end product that should be important to your students – it’s the process and the fun of the creating that should be important. This is an important point to make to parents who often are concerned with “what did you make today” in Sunday School. Encourage parents to dress their child appropriately for messy project days and don’t let the idea of getting messy stop your class from doing creative art projects. Encourage your students to think outside the box with fun games that encourage creative thinking, such as: Think of what purple means to you, When you think of snow what comes to mind. Encourage everyone’s opinion – no answer is right or wrong – they are all right answers.
In the workshop by Melissa Miller titled: Messy Monday she presents a hands on approach to creativity with a focus on the visual arts. Messy Mondays was an outgrowth of an idea by the presenter to fill a need – the need to provide a program for working parents on the many Mondays school age children have off during the school year. Messy Mondays grew into other art programs the presenter has done with both children, teens and adults – once again the idea of creative endeavors being a lifelong pursuit. The first Messy Monday Melissa offered had eight children (she kept it small because it was just her and one other volunteer) and was offered during the working hours of the participating children. The charge was $10 per child to pay for the supplies. The children brought their own lunches. The morning had art projects and a brief Bible lesson, followed by lunch, an outside activity and more art in the afternoon. Themes she has used for her Messy Mondays are: Bubbles, Trees, Forest Creatures, Galaxy and houses. Melissa also gave examples of other creative art programs she has offered including for teens: guided art (similar to the popular paint nights), meditative art, and Bible journaling. She has also done small group art gatherings for adults and they did the guided art and blessing boards. Because art is for all ages it lends itself well to intergenerational art experiences. Examples are an art night with rotations for three or four projects, baptismal intergenerational art project or a holiday project. Lastly, your creativity can lead you outside your church to provide art in hospitals (ask ahead if this is possible), long term care facilities or parks in your community. The ideas are as many as you allow yourself and others to dream on – be creative.
Roxie Weaver – Cherry Hill United Methodist Church
Workshops reviewed:
Nurturing Childrens Natural Creativity by Barbara Bruce
Barbara Bruce is an educator with a passion for the diverse ways people of all ages learn and grow in faith. She is the author of ten books that are devoted to teaching teachers to teach. Resources by Barbara Bruce can be purchased an Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=barbara+bruce
Messy Monday by Melissa Miller
Melissa Miller passionately believes that as spiritual beings, art gives us a way to connect to something bigger than ourselves. As a Children’s Ministry Director she has used ARTreach in faith formation to build a sense of community , to provide ministry for working parents and as an outreach to homebound friends. She has received a Certificate in Arts and Spirituality for Spiritual and Religious Leaders from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Last Updated on December 8, 2023