What is Godly Play?

A creative and imaginative approach to Christian nurture, Godly Play

  • is based on long established, tried and tested approaches,
  • uses symbols and objects as well as words
  • values process, openness and discovery
  • and encourages people to make meaning for themselves

It invites listeners into stories and encourages them to connect the stories with personal experience.

Godly Play

  • is  a non-coercive way to encourage children to move into larger dimensions of belief and faith
  • uses wondering questions and open-ended response time
  • aims to develop a deeper understanding of stories, symbols and rites
  • a way of preparing children to join in the worship and life of their faith community.

Developed originally as a resource for children, Godly Play is now being used with a wide range of age groups in a diversity of settings.

It can be used in a variety of settings – churches, schools, care settings and hospitals, and among people with and without formal religious faith.

Godly Play is one of several variations of the Montessori tradition of religious education and was developed in the United States by Dr Jerome Berryman.

Join us on Facebook Facebook logo

The Godly Play UK Facebook page will help you to see some of what Godly Play has to offer. With well over a thousand members it offers many different experiences, opinions and testimonies. There is a chance to get advice from our 14 trainers as well as asking other users how they have done things. And you can also share your own successes, insights and findings.

Find us, Godly Play UK, and ask to join us!