Embodied learning inspires embodied faith. To support embodied learning experiences, teachers need to create environments where learners can explore their surroundings with their bodies and interact with the world around them. Teaching biblical stories using a multiplicity of sensory methods allows a child or adult to experience the story with their body, which can create lasting memories and the bodily knowing of God’s great love.

Learning with Our Bodies: Jesus, Our Mother Hen

One Sunday, while I was serving as the children’s minister at a church in Washington, DC, I wore a chicken hat during the children’s story time. The children (ages 3–10) laughed when they saw my hat but quickly sat down to hear where the story would take them.

When preparing for a lesson for any age of learners, I try to bring multiple sensory elements to give the story flesh. This day, I brought my chicken hat, photos of a hen with her chicks snuggled close in her feathers (see this photo at Canva and this photo on Unsplash), the engaging story from Luke 13:31–35, and crafting feathers I found in the supply closet. I treasured this opportunity to teach a biblical metaphor about God as Mother, and my goal was to invite these learners not just to understand mentally, but to know physically in their bones the feeling of safety in knowing that God is a gathering mother who takes care of her chicks.

As we began the story, I handed out a feather to each child and allowed them to feel the soft fibers as I spoke. In the scripture, Jesus calls out to Jerusalem, evoking the image of gathering the city up together under her wings, like a mother hen. Through touch, the children felt what the soft wings of God might feel like. Through the pictures, the children saw that Jesus’ wingspan is wide, cuddly, and safe. Through the story, the children imagined a scene where Jesus spoke of his desire to gather all the people, even those who harm God’s messengers (Luke 13:34).

Modern research suggests that a sensory approach enriches learning (see “Somatic/Embodied Learning and Adult Education” by Sandra Kerka, Trends and Issues Alert 32 [ERIC, 2002]). When formation leaders have limited time on a Sunday or during VBS to share God’s love and story, formation that engages the senses can have a deeper impact.

Detailed below is some guidance if you’d like to enter a story yourself, poke around, and sense what God may be inviting you to share. These ideas can be used in children’s ministry, but I welcome you to consider how to use them in faith formation for any age.

Use Your Senses

When preparing a lesson, follow in St. Ignatius’ footsteps and begin by reading the scripture with your senses. Put yourself into the story. What can you feel? What makes the story come alive? Next, determine the heart of the text. Read some commentaries and pray for guidance. Remember that the sensory aspects of the storytelling can be the most memorable, so it is important to make sure the sensory experiences relate to the heart of the story.

Be mindful of the diversity of sensory experiences and needs among those in your care. Using multiple sensory elements can make the learning experiences more inclusive and accessible for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing children as well as blind children and those with low vision. Those who need less sensory stimulation should be offered a choice on whether to participate. It is critical to ensure that everyone feels both included and safe.

Here are some ideas for engaging learners in sensory experience of God’s stories. Many of the stories below are included in the Godly Play curriculum.

Visual

A picture can evoke imagination and emotion, but props can be even more visually interesting. Provide visually engaging props with which learners can interact during the story. Here are some prop ideas to spark visual engagement:

• star chart or projector: Abraham’s Promise for a Legacy (Genesis 15:1–6)
• staff: The Parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:10–25)
• vial of water: God Counts My Tears (Psalm 56:8)
• log: Do Not Judge (Matthew 7:3–5; Luke 6:37–42)
• first aid kit: Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37)

Auditory

While a story will almost always have an auditory element, learning can better be embodied when the learners are not only receiving sensory input, but also speaking it to themselves and their neighbors. For instance, when I dressed as a hen, I encouraged the children to say with me, “O, Jerusalem!” several times with fervor. Here are some phrases and verses that you can invite the learners to say together:

• Psalm 23 in its entirety: The Divine Shepherd (Psalm 23:1–6)
• “This is my beloved [child], with whom I am well pleased.”: The Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22)
• “Hosanna!”: Jesus Enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–11; John 12:12–19)
• “Peace! Be still!”: Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25)
• “Lazarus, come out!”: The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1–44)

Olfactory

While there may not be an olfactory aspect to every story, bringing the smelling sense into a lesson can be very powerful in light of the links that can form between smell and memory (see “The Connections between Smell, Memory, and Health” by Molly McDonough, Harvard Medicine magazine [Apr 2024]). Try essential oils or other smells that can invite your learners to experience the story:

• cinnamon: Anointing the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 30:22–33)
• frankincense and myrrh: The Magi Visit the Holy Family (Matthew 2:9–12)
• incense: Zechariah and Elizabeth’s Prayers Are Heard (Luke 1:5–20)
• olive oil: The Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1–13)
• sweet-smelling perfume: Mary Anoints Jesus’s Feet (Luke 7:36–49; John 12:1–9)

Somatosensory

Tactile elements are a good way to engage learners at any part of the lesson. When possible, bring enough for everyone so they can use the items to fidget with when quiet and appropriate. Some examples of items that aid stories are:

• mustard seeds: Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31–32; Mark 4:30–32; Luke 13:18–19)
• sheep’s wool: Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:10–14; Luke 15:1–7)
• linen cloths: Jesus Is No Longer in the Tomb (Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–10)
• mud: Jesus Heals a Blind Man (John 9:1–12) (Note: Bring wipes for cleanup!)
• leaves: The Tree for the Healing of the Nations (Revelation 22:2–7)

Another way to experience a story with a somatosensory approach is to act it out or to engage in a yoga pose or embodiment practice. If you are learning about Jesus serving breakfast in John 21, try the yoga fish pose. The moon pose and star pose can accompany learning about Joseph’s dreams in Genesis 37:5–11.

Gustatory

Gustatory refers to the senses relating to taste. Of course, we have the ultimate example of embodied remembrance of Jesus’s love for us in the gift of the Eucharist when we worship. Additional gustatory story elements can help create lasting memories too if you have caretaker permission to share a food that relates to the story:

• unleavened bread: The First Passover (Exodus 12:1–28)
• honey: Manna to Eat (Exodus 16:1–36)
• figs: You Will Know Them by Their Fruits (Matthew 7:15–19; Luke 6:43–45)
• breadcrumbs: The Woman with Great Faith (Matthew 15:26–28; Mark 7:24–30)
• locust (maybe not for eating, but for showing; available at some local sustainable organic grocery stores): John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1–6; Mark 1:1–8)

Conclusion

Your creative ideas for storytelling can open up God’s story so that learners can “live and move and have [their] being” (Acts 17:28, NRSVUE) inside of it. All learners are different, but the more sensory entry points there are to a story, the more accessible embodied learning becomes. May we give thanks for our bodies, our senses, and the invitation to enter into the cuddly, mothering wingspan of God.

Featured image is by Doretha Rost on Unsplash