Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education

Israel Education

Using Stories to Teach about Jerusalem To Young Children

1. Choosing the story:
   1. What is the "feeling picture" of Jerusalem the story brings to the children? Is it presented as a place of interesting events, community, celebration, of beauty and royalty, of feeling close to G-d?
   2. Does the story present experiences with which the child is at least somewhat familiar?
   3. Does the story have a "safe" ending - does it resolve conflicts successfully for the characters involved, and in a way that is appropriate for the children to hear?
   4. Is the message of the story one for which the child will find use in his/her own life?
   5. What does the story teach children about G-d?
   6. Can the story be rendered in a dynamic way so that the children can participate with the leader in telling it?
   
   
   
2. Bringing the story to life:
   1. Who are the characters in the story? What motions or props can be used to identify each of them?
   2. How can the story's conflict be demonstrated so that the children experience the characters' difficulties, and so that they can help suggest possible solutions?
   3. What parts of the story allow for an imaginative contribution by the children (e.g. telling what they "see" of the walls of the city and the colors of the flowers in Solomon's gardens, the sounds that they "hear" of all of the people coming to pray at the Bayt HaMikdash - the Temple)?
   4. What opportunities does the story contain for physical involvement in the actions of the characters?
   
   
   
3. Sample Stories:
   • The Two Brothers: Introducing the Foundation of the Temple
   • King Solomon and the Bee
   • The Traveller and the Lions
   
   
   

By Lyndall Miller, Consultant for Early Childhood Education, Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education

Picture of Jerusalem courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.org