Tour of the Atrium: The Room

My summer tour of the Good Shepherd Atrium is coming to a close! I thought today I would try to show you some pictures of the room so that you can see how all of the pieces fit together. I'm taking these pictures from my height so they can't be a real indication of how the room looks and feels to the children. But I wanted to sketch the broader layout for you. Bear with me as I try to get you oriented - I sometimes struggle with directions!

The photo above is of the room when you step in the door and look straight ahead. The walk in coat closet is on the left, several liturgical works are straight ahead against the wall, and the prayer table area is in the right corner of the picture.

Shifting your gaze to the right gives you this view. The Good Shepherd works are just in front of you, infancy narratives are in the white shelves facing you (in the middle of the room), and the parables are behind.

Shifting your eyes once more to the right gives you this view. All of the works which tell about Jesus' last days, and his resurrection are straight ahead and the water source and clean up area are in the closet on the right.

If you walk straight into the room about halfway to the back wall (alongside the liturgical works) and look to the right you see this view of the prayer table, parables, the liturgical calendar, and the art area in the back corner of the room.

Moving even further toward the back wall and looking back gives you this view of the practical life shelves in the front and the works about Jesus' death and resurrection and the clean up area in the back of the picture.

If you walk across the room and stand by the liturgical calendar you can look back and see the liturgical works along the wall (that were straight ahead when you first stepped into the room). You can also see the practical life works on the left side of the picture and the prayer table area on the right.

Moving even further towards the far wall and turning around shows you this view of the liturgical calendar, chasubles and prayer table.

I hope this makes some sense! If you have any questions or if I missed something you wanted to see on the tour please let me know.

Tour of the Atrium: Good Shepherd

Our tour of our atrium for 3-6 year olds is almost complete! But where would we be without the Good Shepherd? The Parable of the Good Shepherd has a special place in the atrium because it has such an important place in the children's hearts. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and he knows each one of us by name. We listen for his voice and he leads and protects us with love. 

This area is dedicated to the Good Shepherd works. The table on the left is only used for working with the Good Shepherd materials and the sheepfold always sits on top of it. The drawer on the left is where the sheep and Good Shepherd pieces are stored (although we often leave them out as they are in the photo above to attract the interest of the children). The drawer on the right holds the small altar, fair linen, and other pieces that we use with a later Good Shepherd presentation.

This little bookcase on the right holds booklets for the Good Shepherd works, line drawings of the Good Shepherd and sheep for tracing, a few images of the Good Shepherd, and words to the 23rd Psalm.

The Good Shepherd materials are loved by the children (and the catechists!) and this area is one of the first that you see when you enter our atrium.

Tour of the Atrium: Structure for Independence

In a recent post, I talked about parts of the room that allow the children to clean up independently in the Good Shepherd Atrium. Today I thought I would share some photos of other parts of the room that help children to function without adult help and keep the atrium running smoothly.

Just off the main room in the atrium is this walk-in shoe and coat closet. Every child stops here to take off his or her coat and shoes and take a deep calming breath before entering the atrium. 

Throughout the room there are small tables like this where children can bring their materials to do their work.

Rugs are available in this basket for children to  unroll and use to define their work space on the floor. One of our first lessons is how to unroll and roll a rug!

This is a special table set aside for presentations by catechists for the children.

We added this shelf a year or two ago. It houses some activities which can be used with little or no explanation. When a child visits us unexpectedly, we have this shelf of offerings that he or she can do without a presentation.

Because we have no sink in our room, we set up this drinking station. Here children can pour themselves a cup of water, drink it, and clean it up without adult help whenever they like.

We created this quiet corner as a respite space for a child with special needs, but it has become a great place for anyone needing a little quiet time. There are atrium related books in the corner which the children like to explore. Children also enjoy relaxing on the soft sheepskin rug.

This is a second area for reading and relaxing. Children can pick up a book from the shelf and sit on the stool to read it. We also have a small hand held labyrinth in a drawer in the little white table on the left that children like to sit and use.

Tour of the Atrium: Clean Up

One aspect of the atrium that often surprises visitors is the fact that everyone seems to know what to do!  The children are very independent in the atrium. In this post and the next I'll be showing you some aspects of the environment that facilitate the children's independence. This first post looks at cleaning up.

In the atrium children know how to clean up after themselves and return materials to shelves ready for the next person. Beans are dropped and swept up, water is spilled and wiped away, polishing cloths are used, put in the laundry and replaced - all without the advice or help of an adult. This is possible because of the time we spend demonstrating these tasks for the children at the beginning of the year, and the skills the children need are often introduced and practiced in their practical life work.

Because we only see the children for a few hours each week, they sometimes need a reminder or adult help with clean up. But our goal is always to empower children to work independently and to be self directed (or Spirit directed!) as they move from activity to activity. The children themselves find it very satisfying! This arrangement also allows adults to spend their time presenting new materials to smaller groups of children and observing the children who are working.

Here are some areas of the Good Shepherd Atrium that allow the children to clean up independently:

We have no sink in our room. Instead on the left in the photo above is our water dispenser, where children and adults get the water they need for work. Water is disposed of in the bucket below. In the middle of the photo is a hand washing station for the children. On the right is a bowl for washing dishes used in atrium (such as the small bowls used in polishing, and the gluing brush and tray). There is also a towel for drying dishes hanging off to the right that I just missed in this picture!

Polishing cloths.

On the top shelf above are the small bucket and sponge used for cleaning up spills, tissues and hand sanitizer. The children use the cloths, sponges, and q-tips on the second shelf to replace the ones they use when working. The bottom shelf holds supplies for sweeping up spills on the table and on the floor, and wash cloths for drying hands and cleaning up spills.

A child-sized broom and sweeper that are used to clean up spills on the floor are kept along side the shelf above. There are practical life works designed to show the children how to use these tools and sweeping is a favorite!

The trash can, recycling bin, and laundry basket are next to the shelf on the other side and the children know which materials go into each and use them regularly.





Check back next week to tour other parts of the room that help keep the atrium running smoothly!

Tour of the Atrium: Art

Today on the tour, I want to share photos of the art supplies in the Good Shepherd Atrium. Making art is a great way for children to continue meditating on the piece of scripture or moment of the liturgy which they are exploring. Occasionally we offer the children a specific group project that they can help to create, such as making the "Alleluia" banner before Lent. But in general, rather than completing specific crafts as a group, a supply of good quality art materials is always available in the room and children choose what they would like to do on their own.

Many materials in the room have an artistic extension connected to them - for example after becoming familiar with the altar, children can make a booklet of rubbings of the articles of the altar. In the photo on the left, you can see a sandpaper representation of the paten (the plate that holds the bread). The children place a piece of paper over the clipboard and rub it with a crayon to make an impression.


After working with the colors of the Church year, children can make a collage of the chasubles labeling when they are worn. (You can see an example on the right). Extensions like these are available throughout the room and the children enjoy doing them over and over.


Here is a quick look at some of the art materials available in the Good Shepherd Atrium.

This is our light table, used for tracing. The basket on the left holds many simple religious images, and words of scripture that children like to trace and illustrate. On the bookshelf to the right are some clip boards, stacks of tracing paper and plain white paper, and trays of colored pencils that children can pick up to use at other tables in the room.

This shelf holds gluing trays and mats on the top shelf. On the second shelf you see crayons and pencils on the left, a cutting exercise (which is good practical life work) in the center, and a whole punch and rings or pipe cleaners for making booklets on the right. On the bottom shelf on the left, is a punching exercise (using a stylus with a pin on the end to punch out the image of a chalice or paten). On the right are the materials needed to learn to glue in the atrium. From time to time, we also set out stamps, modeling clay, and watercolor paints for the children to use for their reflection.

Tour of the Atrium: Life of Christ~Easter

This is the area in the Good Shepherd Atrium for 3-6 year olds where we meditate upon Jesus' last days, his death, and resurrection. Over the years, I have really come to love and respect these works, and have been awed by the gentleness of the approach and the deep connections they make possible for the children.

The Last Supper material is one of my favorites in the atrium. With it, children often make their own connections between the loving way Jesus offered himself to his friends just before his death, and the joy and wonder of receiving communion each Sunday in Church. For more on this presentation and pictures of the material, take a look at this post on The Last Supper.

The City of Jerusalem material (on the floor in the foreground of the first photo) is another favorite work. Following in the footsteps of Jesus in his last days seems to help us ponder his death and resurrection without focusing on violence and creating unnecessary anxiety. You can learn more about this work and see photos of it in another post on The City of Jerusalem.

A final work in this area is called the Empty Tomb. This material opens up the joy and power of the resurrection and extends our Easter meditation. You can see pictures of this material as it is found in the True Vine Atrium at this post called Making Connections: Easter.

These works are the focus of Lent and Easter in the Good Shepherd Atrium, but in my experience they are very popular with the children all year long.

Tour of the Atrium: Life of Christ~Christmas

It's a funny time of year for it, but I wanted to share a few photos of the shelves in the Good Shepherd Atrium that we use to meditate on the events surrounding Jesus' birth. These shelves hold prophecies, infancy narratives, and the geography materials.

On top of the first shelf from the left, you can see the prophecies. The prophecies give us insight into who Jesus is, and the children enjoy tracing and illustrating them in the Advent season. You can learn more about the prophecies in another post, called Advent Prophecies in the Atrium.

The infancy narratives are kept on the first and second shelves from the left. These include small 3-D people and furnishings, along with environments (such as a house or stable) to place them into, and a booklet which isolates the specific scripture being considered. Children love to work with these materials year round and wonder about Mary's visit to Elizabeth, or the appearance of the angels to the shepherds in the fields. You can read more about this work in another post called The Infancy Narratives.

The third shelf from the left holds the geography materials, which help us to know that Jesus was a real person, who lived in a particular place and time. These are favorites with the children who love to run their fingers over the topographical map of the Land of Israel and find the three cities which meant so much to Jesus. You can read more about these materials in the post Geography.

In addition to these materials, there are several extensions on top of the second and third shelves from the left, including packets of images for tracing that correspond with the infancy narratives, and maps to trace, label with the city names, and color. Advent is always a joyful time in the atrium!

Tour of the Atrium: Parables

These are the parable shelves in the Good Shepherd Atrium. We present five parables to the 3-6 year old children, each focusing with wonder on the Kingdom of God. You can read more about the beauty of sharing parables with children in this post, called Parables in the Atrium.  Some parable materials include 3D environments, such as a house and courtyard, with baskets of pearls and a 2D figure of a man, to explore and meditate on the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price.  Others include images to ponder, seeds to touch, and even the ingredients needed to prepare and watch yeast rise! In addition to these primary materials, the parable area has line drawings of each parable that we explore on laminated cards, which can be traced, colored and put together into booklets.

The first parable we present is the mustard seed, and you can read more about it in this post called The Kingdom of God and the Mustard Seed.

The parable shelves are very popular year round, but particularly so when we present parables in the Season after Epiphany.

Summer Plans

Summer is well underway! I am planning to step back a bit from blogging, as I rest with my family and begin preparing for next year. I'll be posting once a week, sharing some pictures of the Good Shepherd Atrium for you to see. I began a tour of the atrium last year with a look at the liturgical works, but never found the time to continue it during the busy school year. Keep reading this summer to see pictures of the different areas of the room, and learn more about what we do in atrium. 

Some of my summer posts will be scheduled to go live while I am away on vacation, so I may be delayed in replying to comments, but I hope you will still share your thoughts and questions! I promise to respond as soon as I return.

Peace and blessings to you this summer!

Tour of the Atrium: Liturgy

As the blog unfolds, I would like to help you become familiar with our atria, beginning with the Good Shepherd Atrium for 3-6 year olds.  In this post, I'll show some of the works in the Good Shepherd Atrium that help us to meditate with the children upon the liturgy (the worship) of the Church. I hope to share more information about individual works as the blog posts roll along, but for now I'll just give you a quick look.

Generally speaking, these works help the youngest children to connect with the sights and sounds (and even the smells!) of Church.  The liturgical materials we have gathered allow the children to prayerfully set the altar, mediate with their bodies while making the gestures that they see in worship, and identify the season of the Church year just by taking a quick peek up front! We don't expect young children to be attentive to the entire service. Instead, through our liturgical works, we hope to help them "tune in" to the most essential moments of our worship and to participate more deeply.

ALTAR

Our beautiful model altar, lectern, sacristy cabinet, and 
baptismal font were handmade for us by parishioner Charlie Buss.

At the model altar we learn the names of the objects we see in Church, and lift up some of the key moments of Holy Communion through the gestures that accompany them.  Our altar work focuses on the great gift of receiving Jesus' presence in the bread and wine each week.

BAPTISM

Here we discover the joy and significance of baptism.  The children explore the gifts of baptism (water, the light, oil) and the gestures that are a part of the sacrament.

LITURGICAL COLORS

With the liturgical color works we explore the seasons of the Church year. In worship the color of the hangings around the altar and the vestments Rev. Peter wears give us a visual awareness of the season of the Church year.

Prayer

In truth, everything in the atrium is preparation for prayer.  But the prayer table is a special place where we gather each week to pray as a community. Making silence together at the prayer table is one way that we learn to make our bodies and minds peaceful and ready for worship.