Overview
Children learn through play. They play school, they play house, they even play COVID, giving everyone shots. Do our children know enough about being Quaker to play Quaker? Children are fully spiritual beings. Meeting life needs to be as open and comprehensible to them as possible. Play is one important way in, especially for younger Friends.
Dover (NH) Friends Children’s Meeting (First Day School or Sunday School) made a Quaker meeting dollhouse as a vehicle to explore our identity as Friends. The life of our meeting is our curriculum. We call it “What Quakers Do.” This idea rose when Mary Anna Feitler, Indiana, asked for help to find “I Am A Friend,” a vintage Quaker curriculum. The approach was wonderful but needed some updating and reimagining.
Each week, we explore something from our inward journey and some aspect of our outward journey. We name the spiritual grounding of our actions. Holding it all lightly, we connect the inward and the outward, the personal and the gathered. The dollhouse is a delightful, concrete way to explore aspects of our Quaker life and journey that are abstract. Can we play our way to a foundation for Quaker faith formation?
Credits: Shared with permission from the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative