The Parable of the Leaven

Hi Godly Play Teachers, Welcome to our lesson for July 15, the Parable of the Leaven, found in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21.

It will be interesting to see what the children make of this parable. As Godly Play often encourages us, it's good to remember that the children may find meanings that we haven't even thought of- meanings we can learn from- so it's important not to steer them too much towards our own understanding.
It's also good to share how much three measures of flour is. I've read that it's enough to make a dozen loaves of bread- enough bread to feed 100 people!

Be sure to use the wondering questions to help them tease out their own thoughts from their heads. I'm afraid I've forgotten to print out the questions for you, with space to document the answers, and since I'm off to camp with the kids tomorrow, I won't be able to get that done. If I don't have them for you, please do jot down their responses on your own. I'd love to be able to share them with the parents in the newsletter, without names attached, of course.

Idea Sparkers for the Make a Gift to God time.
1. It might be fun to depict the parable by drawing out exactly how much bread this tiny bit of leaven can make rise. The children could make a mural showing the title of the parable, a drawing of a small amount of yeast, the dozen loaves of bread, and the baker woman. They could write out the short parable at the bottom, and we could put it on one of our big bulletin boards. Drawing out the dozen loaves would bring home how much bread the parable is talking about.

2. Eat bread! Let children shape croissant dough from the refrigerator aisle of the grocery store. If there's time, they could even "paint" it before baking with egg white colored with food coloring.
You could also compare unleavened bread with leavened bread by sampling each. Test what happens to warm sugar water with yeast in it.

3. The older children could work on the question of how do you show your leavening--or what kind of leaven are you? How do we participate in the kingdom of God? What things do we do to "make the bread of the kingdom rise?" To further the God's kingdom- to make the world like God wants it to be? This could be done in drawings, with a collage, a poster that the class works on together or separately.

4. Kids could also continue our hall project for the summer, making close up drawings of scenes from Jesus' life. Use the Easter tiles as examples.
Thanks, y'all!
Enjoy!