Praise and Play

Praise and Play by Alison Harris was published by Barnabas in March 2009 and is our 12635th best seller. The ISBN for Praise and Play is 9781841015637.

Praise and Play! is based on the understanding that young children have a place in the faith community that values them for who they are and what they bring, as well as recognising their specific needs. As such, their significance lies in who they are now, not just what they will become.

The aim of Praise and Play! is to help young children and their parents or carers to feel comfortable and accepted in the church community, not be entertaining the children but by enabling them to experience what it means to worship God. The material includes suggestions for good practice and techniques for telling the Christian story (through visual storytelling, praying and wondering together) while at the same time imparting theological concepts such as life, death and miracles in clear and simple terms.

Praise and Play! includes twelve tried and tested service outlines designed to give a picture of Jesus, covering His life from birth to the post-resurrection stories. Each outline is based on the recognised worship structure of gathering, ministry of the word, response and conclusion and includes:
Suggestions for storytelling materials
Bible references
Ideas for setting up the story
Easy-to-follow, biblically based story scripts
Questions to explore the story
Simple prayers
Easy-to-do individual and group craft ideas
Easy-to-prepare snack time recipes

Photocopy permission for all scripts and craft templates is included.

Alison Harris was the Adviser for Children's Ministry in Chester Diocese for nearly nine years and then worked with BRF for two years as the Barnabas representative for the north of England. She recently trained for ordination at the Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham and is about to commence her first curacy at the parish church of Neston, South Wirral.