Alice Buckley’s first book Play through the Bible is a brilliant new resource to help parents share Jesus with their children through play. From the publishing team behind Bake through the Bible, this is another great activity book for teaching small children from God’s Word. It’s colourful, inventive and full of fun, and we were delighted when Alice agreed to tell us how she wrote it …
We’re really excited about your new book Play through the Bible. Could you tell us what we can expect?
Ooh, thanks! It’s a book full of ideas to help parents make the most of telling their kids about Jesus in those tricky pre-school years. It has 20 stories based on the Gospel of Luke, with ideas for interactive storytelling. With each story are lots of play ideas to help you keep thinking about Jesus and to make it easier for chat about God to be a natural part of life.
What gave you the initial idea for Play through the Bible and how has it developed since then?
It began as a way of sharing Jesus with our eldest son who has Down’s Syndrome and Autism. But it became obvious that it was just a natural way of communicating with all our children. Our kids love the very simple interactive stories. We teach our children so many other things using everyday play, why should their discovery of Jesus be any different or any less fun?
It’s changed a little as I’ve tried to make it work for other families – it’s been important to make sure the book appeals to all sorts of ages, stages, and interests.
Why did you choose to use Luke’s Gospel in particular?
I had been reading it myself and was really excited about it – I tend to find my own enthusiasm is a good place to start! I love what I learn about Jesus through Luke, especially that Jesus is for anyone – including the ones you would least expect. I think that’s a pretty good message for our children to begin to grasp!
Readers of your blog will know you’re a busy mum with three small children. How on earth did you find time to work on the book? And do you have a writing routine?
When I started writing the book, my two eldest were at school and I would write like mad during our littlest’s naps! It was great to have that focussed time – I think it helped me to be more productive. I’m now in the exciting season of having all three kids at school, and I’m trying to work out how my writing routine will look now.
Why do you think it is important to combine playing with exploring the Bible?
Play is such a natural way to engage our children. When we teach our children their numbers, we don’t sit them down with an arithmetic book and get them to memorise times tables! We teach them while we count the steps up to bed, while we play hide and seek, when we’re counting how many grapes they have in their bowl. Using play shows our children that God is part of the whole of our lives and it’s natural to enjoy finding out about Him and getting to know Him.
In a post on your blog (playontheword.com), you give a refreshingly honest take on ‘the ideal woman’, a perfect mother who’s got everything under control. Isn’t Bible-based play time only for super-mums like her?
Oh absolutely – you should only buy the book if your house is as immaculate as your hair and you never hide in the kitchen to eat a biscuit 30 seconds after telling your children they’ve had enough!!
No, really, the idea of the book is to make it as easy as possible for parents to share Jesus with their children. The play ideas are very simple and usually only require things you’ll have in the house already. We play with our kids anyway, so why not make those natural moments of play opportunities to discover more about God?
I should make a disclaimer though – we can have such high expectations of ourselves that we perpetually set ourselves up for discouragement. My personal experience of Depression has taught me that there are some times when all we can do is the bare minimum – and that is enough.
Have you always been good at thinking up games to play with children, or is this something you’ve learned since becoming a parent?
I wouldn’t say I’m a naturally playful person – it is often hard for me to want to play with my kids and to think of things to do. I remember wishing there was something out there with readymade ideas for me to follow and, when I didn’t find anything that was quite right, I decided to create the resource myself.
Are the activities in the book based on ideas you’ve had playing with your own children? And were there any you tried out with them that didn’t make it into the book?
Yes, most of them are activities we’ve tried or are based on the kinds of things we do together. I suspect parents will be relieved I didn’t include my attempt at a recipe for bath paint – it came off the bath, but the kids were a faint yellow for weeks!
One of the exciting things about the book is the broad range of activities that are adaptable for children with different learning styles and challenges. Do you think we need more Bible teaching resources out there that do this?
I feel that we need to ensure we’re being like Jesus in the way we show our children the love of God. Jesus didn’t expect people to conform to a type before they could come to Him – He just invited them to come. I think it’s important we don’t simply favour one ‘type’ of child when we’re teaching about Jesus and make sure we’re making it easy for anyone to come to know Him.
Are there any other books about exploring the Bible with children that you’d particularly recommend?
Our family love the First Word Bible books from Pupfish and God knows all about me is a firm favourite. I also like listening to audiobooks in the car, and listening to The Jesus Storybook Bible has led to interesting chats with our 6-year-old.
How has playing through the Bible with children helped you to learn from the Bible personally?
It’s encouraged me to enjoy God and to see that discovering more about Him isn’t just a cerebral activity!
Thank you Alice Buckley for taking the time to answer our questions!
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