The typical Sunday school lessons involve the teacher reading chapters of the Bible, followed by questions and general discussion from the students. Having gone through the entire Sunday school instruction, culminating in confirmation, in retrospect I must say that I wish my teachers had been a bit more imaginative.
Kids often have trouble with antiquated language, such as all those 'thees' and 'thous' not used in modern language. Some chapters and, indeed whole books, were so laden with these phrases, that it became difficult to focus your attention and discern what was being said. This factor unfortunately results in kids feeling that this is not a living history and contributes to some kids coming to believe that the Bible is just a series of stories someone made up. This failure to make the Bible come alive is a shame. One way to remedy this is to put on regular seasonal Sunday school plays, making authentic Biblical costumes and stage sets which simulate life in Biblical times.
So how do you, as the teacher, find sources of biblical costumes? One easy way is to use Google's image search feature, searching on a number of criteria. For example, if your play is about the times of King David's reign, you might search on 'biblical costumes King David'. A play describing Moses leading the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage would require a search which included Egyptian dress as well as the Israelites biblical costumes of that era.
You can print out those images which cover the spectrum of your play, with costumes for ordinary men and women, as well as nobility and priests, as suits your characters. Jewelry was worn by common people and the nobility and priests alike. For authentic Biblical costumes, you'll want to search out images of jewelry, eating utensils and bowls, homes, footwear, gates and other features of everyday life in order to lend the greatest degree of authenticity to your play. Believe me, the kids will love learning about how people actually lived and dressed during those times. This makes the Bible history come alive in a child's mind.
Once you've got your images assembled, it becomes a simple matter to construct the Biblical costumes that pertain to your play. Costumes were simple, so sewing these costumes is not complicated. Use one Sunday school session to construct jewelry with craft materials. If the kids don't finish the project, let them take the necessary materials and images home, as a welcome home work assignment.
Constructing the props, such as tables, cooking and eating items, decorations and such can be a group effort for another Sunday or two or three.
By the time all is ready, you'll have one enthusiastic class of Sunday school students who can't wait to rehearse their play in the Biblical costumes.
Another benefit of such Sunday school plays is that the costumes can be saved for future classes and plays. If you put on one such play each season, you'll soon have Biblical costumes which may be used in a variety of plays. Be sure that every child has an active role in each play.
You may also see an increase in Sunday school attendance!
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